Keepin our little South American theme intact-this time by way of Chile-I just wanted to peck out a few words in regards to Alvaro. Maybe you know him maybe you don't-he certainly ain't for everybody-but if your in the throes of embracing the 'real people' music trend, then you best brush up on this dude & quick.
Here are some perfunctory notes regarding Alvaro Pena-Rojas; he's known as "The Chilean with the singing nose" (wouldn't you like to know), came to London in '74 & formed (w/Joe Strummer) the 101ers, released his 1st lp 'Drinkin My Own Sperm' on his own Squeaky Shoes label in 1977 which is namechecked on the Nurse With Wound list. Not an easy record to wrap a brain around, let's just say it's a dedicated mixture of naïf experimental, classical & strained pop. Or as Alvaro himself refers to it, Transitional Music. In a nutshell sort of like Wildman Fischer & Charlemagne Palestine locked in a studio. Since then he's put out a bunch've other releases, all of which are fantastically singular, diverse & entertaining. While they may not share alot in common musically, I've come to regard Alvaro w/the same mythic respect that I hold for Moondog. That's just how I roll.On this 7"-done to celebrate his 50th birthday-Alvaro goes busker; his tunesmithing on the a-side recalls the more chuffed moments in the Bonzo Dog Band repertoire while the flipside is reminiscent of the eccentric strum/croon ala Tony Snell via his lp on ESP-Disk. So why am I bothering to write about a record that's 13 yrs old? Because besides it bein a cool, highly unregarded record, it's also AVAILABLE & worth the 6$ it'll cost for those who wanna take the plunge. Personally I haven't had a session w/the man in a few yrs & last week said what the hell? & decided to fork over some hush money I'd been savin & blow it on Alvaro records. And I ain't sorry I did. Distributed (in the US) exclusively by Fusetron there's plenty Alvaro in stock to keep your head spinning morning, noon & night. Go to http://www.fusetronsound.com/ or if your wary, check out the Alvaro website at; http://www.don-alvaro.net/ & hit the downloads. Let the revival start now! Viva Alvaro!
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