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by David Levine

Well I thought I might turn you people on to some things I've been listening to but didn't have time to review. Just some stuff that you might check out if you aren't interested in the things I review.

An Argentinean friend of mine turned me on to two records from her home country. One band, Los Fabulous Cadillacs, is worth a listen. They do a version of Strawberry Fields Forever with Deborah Harry -- kind of cheesy but interesting. The rest of the record is a mix of Latin and pop styles, all well played. The other record is Argentinean folk music by a band called Los Fronterizos; great guitar playing and singing and even better than all the South American bands that infested the New York subways a few years back.

I also saw the Don Was documentary about Brian Wilson. Very interesting. Enough so that I picked up a copy of Pet Sounds, the highly touted Beach Boys record that is considered a recording technology milestone. It is good and consecutive listening does reveal layer after layer. I still like the Boys live double album from the early '70s better. Don Was keeps telling us how lucid Brian is now but he still looks like a fruit cake to me.

I also went to see a Jaques Brel musical performed by the fabulous Love Creek Company (see how eclectic I am). Man, that guy could really write songs. Great melodies, fantastic lyrics, wide variety of subject matter incredible sense of anguish, irony, and humor.

And finally on a personal note (I love saying that), it's such a friggin' strain to try to be hip and on the edge. I can't do it by myself. I need help. So I'm begging music fans of all kinds to throw me some hot, hip, tips. If you have a band that you think must be heard (they have to have a CD) or you want to tell me how damn insightful I am, please contact me at levinedv@is.nyu.edu. I might actually listen to you. No promises, though.