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Los Lobos - Rare on Air, Vol. 1 Audio CD

A fair review of the Los Lobos "Rare on Air, Vol. 1" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Los Lobos reviews here, or go back to the Los Lobos tabs.

Los Lobos Band: Los Lobos
Title: Rare on Air, Vol. 1
Rating:
Release Date: 1994-04-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Silent All These Years - Tori Amos 2: Cordoba - John Cale 3: Always in Disguise - Peter Himmelman 4: My Drug Buddy - Evan Dando, Juliana Hatfield 5: Coal - Michael Penn 6: Arms for Hostages - X 7: God's Hotel - Nick Cave 8: Mexico - Beck 9: Peace - Los Lobos 10: Never Going Back Again - Lindsey Buckingham 11: Moderns - Mark Isham 12: Captive Heart - Brendan Perry 13: How You've Grown - Natalie Merchant 14: Which Will - Lucinda Williams 15: Chet Baker's Unsung Swan Song - David Wilcox

Live Air
One track contains overdubs, the rest features the musicians huddled around a couple of microphones, almost all of this music is acoustic. This is a CD of 15 tracks of artists performing live on air to a two track DAT.

The broadcasting station is KCRW, independent public radio for most of Southern California. The show is called: "Morning Becomes Electric", a very proper title. This is great radio, and it transfers to CD as an alternative to just about every other form of art, that you have been forced to undergo. . . this is a different experience for the ears. . . this is a pleasure.

With the exception of a couple performances that are a little harsh and disturbed, this is an easy flow, as if one artist finishes and another right by their side begins to play. And the artists? Well, with: Beck, Tori Amos, Lindsey Buckingham, X, Los Lobos, John Cale, Natalie Merchant and a spoken word prelude by Leonard Cohen, many different paths are explored herein over these 64 minutes.

Beck is weird, Los Lobos is cool as a night frog, Lindsey's nylon strings are outta-tune, Tori Amos & John Cale sound a world apart from each other on the exact same piano, Evan & Juliana are hangin' with their Drug Buddy, and Mark Isham sounds like Miles Davis chopped down his family tree!

The sound quality of this disc is as good as it gets, the performances are right in front of you from start to finish. This CD has been produced with great care and is well thought out. No, I don't care for every single song on this but, what I don't find pleasing might be your personal favorite. Some of this music may be of your past, but for me, most of this material is brand spankin' new to my ears.

This is one of the most unique discs that I have listened to in ages. Right here, on this disc. . . is my kind of radio!
4. 5 Stars!!!.


Living in the Mission
Most of us were supported by that city's municipal welfare program (General Assistance, or "G. I used to listen to this while living in San Fran's Mission District with a houseful of bohemians. A. "). We did various things to have fun and feel better about ourselves, and this album was one of my favorite things. Someone had brought it home from her used-record store job. . . I think her name was Holly.

It's only just now, searching for it during this nostalgic evening of clicking-around, that it occurs to me why this compilation is so powerful. It's an album about addiction. This is perhaps most clear from the final track. Search for the lyrics to Wilcox's song. It's a powerful testament to the hope and sadness of recovery. The boat imagery there is wonderful. Take also the Dando & Hatfield track, which chants "I'm too much with myself, I wanna be someone else. . . "

There's a lot more on here about it beyond that. . . I mean, just scan the titles. Directly or sideways, this album is all about highs and lows. It's brilliantly compiled -- just wonderful. I could easily sit here for a few minutes and link every single song's title to the topic of substances and addiction. But won't. I have a full life to lead, now.

.


Natalie Merchant "Rare On Air"
Natalie Merchant sings like an angel and this album is so cool
every song is a winner!.


Awesome
The performances are great, and there's a real cohesion in them in terms of production. I bought this collection some ten years ago, and it has aged very, very well. Whoever produced the CD really loves music, and must have made many mix tapes in his/her life, because it has the ebb and flow of a really excellent mix tape, with shifting moods and styles. I enjoy quite a bit of it, but the highlights for me are Lucinda Williams' cover of a Nick Drake song, the David Wilcox song, and the Peter Himmelman song, which also features an *amazing*, beautiful, lyrical guitar solo coming straight from the heart. In fact, "Always in Disguise" is really my favorite song overall from this collection. BUY IT TODAY!!! .


A benchmark for live to radio compilations
And, in my humble opinion, it has never been bettered. This compilation is, at the time of writing, the best part of ten years old. Production quality is first rate, performances are almost flawless and the mix of music is spot on. You and yours can't fail to be sucked in by this one. John Cale's first poem blending seemlessly into Tori Amos doing 'Silent all these years', Beck's 'Mexico' is hilarious and wry even after all this time, The Modern's just don't want to end and you won't want them to, Lindsay Buckingham comes up with a magnificent arrangement for an old Fleetwood Mac tune (since copied badly by The Dixie Chicks) and a just wonderful ode to Chet Baker to finish. This is a CD that makes much of modern chill out laughable and shows what can be acheived by a group of people who really love music. It is a primer for the rest of the Rare on Air series and a great place to begin. Grab this while it is still in print.


You can see a complete list of all Los Lobos discography, or go back to the Los Lobos tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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