Rodriguez: The Real Raw Footage

Considering the title of this post, you probably thought I was gonna write about Ice Cube's Raw Footage, didn't you? Nah...I'm talking about real raw. Light In the Attic, a label truly on a roll this summer after releasing the Greatest Album By A Local Band Of 2008, the Saturday Knights' Mingle, have just dropped a grand reiusse of Cold Fact, the 1970 debut of an elusive singer-songwriter named Rodriguez.

Rodriguez hails from Detroit, MI. Still lives there, as a matter of fact. But he's a phenomenon of Dylan-esque proportion in such far-flung locales as Australia, South Africa, and Middle Earth...er, I mean, New Zealand. Apparently he never removes his sunglasses, often performed with his back to the audience in the 70s, and was working construction when he was "rediscovered". But mythologies aside, his record Cold Fact is some bad-ass stuff, with songs about dope, inner-city unrest, crime, etc., etc...cold facts, in other words. But for all the raw subject matter, Rodriguez's music was quite palatable. Comparisons have been made to Dylan, Arthur Lee, and a hipper, early James Taylor (see Monty Hellman's cult classic Two-Lane Blacktop for proof the dude was once cool) His voice is a mix of honey and dope smoke. His melodies are plucked out on a classical guitar for added mellowness. They are all pretty much oozy street grooves, like a not-so-white-knuckled On the Corner (with the exception of "Only Good for Conversation", which is a monster fuzz onslaught!) Everything on this album is solid, and his lyrics and melodies will be stuck in your head...permanently. Check out the track posted above ("Sugar Man"), then go buy this sucker immediately.

Topics: CD review

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