Beauty from East Los


I really seem to be getting the hang of this blog thing because here I am with yet another music recommendation and I’m sure just about everyone who buys this album will love it! The brand new Los Lobos album The Town and the City is simply one of the most realized albums Los Lobos has done since Kiko. I am totally serious here. There was a period not too long ago where the boys were going from what seemed to be record label after record label and putting out 35 minute gems but not what most would consider total albums (Colossal Head and This Time being great records but far too short). When Good Morning Aztlan came out I thought, “Alright then! Here we go!” …Aztlan is a solid album that seemed to mix old Los Lobos, or pre-Kiko Lobos with Post-Kiko Lobos very well (My friend, musician/music collector and fellow Los Lobos fan Tony Palmer cites Los Lobos as quite possibly the Beatles of the 1980’s and 90’s. We both figured that Kiko was Los Lobos’ Rubber Soul album).
A couple of years later they released The Ride which was nice with some great cuts, but it was one of those albums where there seemed to be too many guest artists and not enough Los Lobos. They then released a few weeks later a companion EP Ride This which was a covers album of Los Lobos doing the guest artist’s music from The Ride Another must have if you already don't. Are you with me so far? Whoo! I don’t want to go on and on about it too much(too late?), so I’ll keep this blog short but I just wanted to tell the two or three of you who actually waste your time reading this that this album is an extremely beautiful, dreamy Chicano masterpiece. The album was produced by Los Lobos themselves which I don’t think they have done before. I have been playing this album since its release this past Tuesday at work, El Rancho de Skybunker around 4 to 6 times a day! Yes, it’s just that good. Also, great cover art by fellow Chicano cartoonist Jaime Hernandez (of the comic book Love & Rockets fame).
I recommend that you go out and buy this album right now….preferably at a local, independent CD/book store! My favorite cut so far is Little Things….WOW!