REVIEW: Alejandro Escovedo, More Miles Than Money Live
1994-96
- Tracey Bleile
I recently had the opportunity to see this elder statesman of the Austin music scene play here in my town, but as the rest of you working stiffs with a day job knows, live shows on a weeknight wreaks all kinds of havoc on you when you gotta get up at 5:30 the next day. So, regretfully I passed. I figured I would console myself with More Miles Than Money, a collection of Alejandro Escovedo performances taken right off the sound board from five different shows spanning about three years of his endless touring.
Well, it half-worked. It really only made me wish I had taken the trouble to see the live show. The sound board recordings retain the warmth and immediacy of the music's presentation, which, when coupled with the performance consistency and flexibility that is Escovedo's trademark, makes this recording a joy to hear. The material covers all the ground of his solo career with a couple of staple cover tunes - including a snarly shouted Iggy Pop's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" - that date back to his True Believers days. Songs that were originally heavier rockers, as in "One More Time" from Gravity take on a new force when slowed way down, and with a backdrop of steel guitar and cello, becomes an exercise in hearing a confession set to music, painful and beautiful at the same time.
The disc closes with a medley, if you will, of a song that exists in two versions, "Gravity/Falling Down", quiet on Gravity, noisy on the Buick MacKane album. Escovedo starts out at the quiet end, builds it up, and then seamlessly flows into Lou Reed's "Street Hassle" back down again to the last quiet verses, bringing the command performance for you to a shimmering end.
So you better believe this is a live show worth seeing (yes, even suffering for if it happens to be on a night where you gotta be somewhere too early the next day). I won't make that mistake twice.
For more information, check out Bloodshot's web site at http://www.narl.com/bloodshot
