Tex Stories

Pieces by nine very different composers make up this fascinating collection of works for string quartet entitled Short Stories, performed by the Kronos Quartet. Elliott Sharp's Digital (1986) is a hard-edged rhythmic study using the instrument bodies as drums, with objects inserted in the strings to create rattling, shaker, and tambourine-like sounds. Steve Mackey's arrangement (1989) of the classic Chicago blues tune "Spoonful" (1960), by the prolific Willie Dixon, exaggerates the gestures of the song and employs complex harmonies and modernistic devices like string crunches, etc. John Oswald's Spectre (1990) opens with the naive sound of the quartet tuning up.

Various Artists - The Devil's Swing: Ballads From The Big Bend Country Of The Tex-Mex Border (2000) {Arhoolie 480}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 465 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 33 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2000 Arhoolie | 480
Latin / Tejano / Corrido / Mexican Traditions / Norteno / Tex-Mex

These 19 performances in traditional Tejano styles were recorded in the mid- to late '90s during the making of the documentary film The Devil's Swing, which examines the region where the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos meet. At this point on the Texas-Mexico border, around the towns of Ojinaga in Mexico and Presidio in Texas, the isolation from large urban centers has helped preserve the traditional ballad "corrido" styles that are heard on this CD. On the surface this is just another disc of traditional border music: brisk numbers with soulful vocal harmonies, accordion, and pulsing bass, as well as some sax and occasional drums.

New Jersey-born blues-rocker Walter Trout spent decades as an ace sideman, playing guitar behind the likes of John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, and Joe Tex. In 1981, he was also tapped to replace the late Bob Hite in Canned Heat, remaining with the venerable group through the middle of the decade. While filling in one night for an ailing John Mayall, Trout (also a Bluesbreaker for some five years) was spotted by a Danish concert promoter who agreed to finance a solo tour. Assembling his own backing band, he released his debut LP in 1990, Life in the Jungle, trailed a year later by Prisoner of a Dream. Albums including 1992's Live (No More Fish Jokes), 1994's Tellin' Stories, and 1997's Positively Beale Street followed.