Smoke my smoke, drink my wine

I wrote last time about listening to music while on vacation, and here's another song that I found myself listening to while driving around Cape Cod.

Alejandro Escovedo - Always A Friend.

I've liked Alejandro Escovedo since I became a Bloodshot Records fan seven or eight years ago. It was his astounding cover of Mick Jagger's "Evening Gown," from the 2000 Bloodshot comp Down To The Promised Land that did it. I then checked out his album A Man Under The Influence, which blew me away. Escovedo is one of those artists who defies categorization: he's got country in him, but also plenty of rock, and his musical upbringing was in punk. His sound includes all of these, and when you mix in his ample songwriting skills, you've got some great music.

I especially love this one for its punch. You've got your no-nonsense guitar, your clever but offhand lyrics, your "oh-oh, oh-oh." In other words, it's all here.

Escovedo's new album Real Animal may have bad cover art (sorry, good people at Manhattan Records), but I highly recommend it. It was produced by Bowie and T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, and while it doesn't sound like either of those artists, it's a very well-produced record. You can buy it from Amazon or your local independent record store.