Click above for photos and more info.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2008
Critics Praise Ry Cooder's New Album/Novella 'I, Flathead' (Nonesuch / Perro Verde)
"An Unqualified Success" - Associated Press
Completing Cooder's California trilogy (which began with 2005's 'Chavez Ravine' and 2007's 'My Name is Buddy,' both GRAMMY nominated), 'I, Flathead' (Nonesuch/Perro Verde) tells the story of Kash Buk, a hard-boiled salt-flat racer and roadhouse musician living in a post-war California filled with deserts and seedy dance halls. Here's what the critics are saying:
"An unqualified success."
- Scott Bauer, ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 24, 2008
"By turns sultry (the mariachi-R&B opener 'Drive Like I Never Been Hurt'), comic (the Western-swing gag 'Spayed Kooley') and romantic (the cantina-band yearning of 'Filipino Dance Hall Girl')."
- David Fricke, ROLLING STONE, July 10, 2008
"Classic Cooder."
- Julianne Shepherd, NPR BRYANT PARK PROJECT, June 24, 2008
"It's a wild ride through another place and time."
- Gary Graff, BILLBOARD, June 28, 2008
"'Flathead' is revving on all cylinders."
- Steve Rosen, PASTE MAGAZINE ONLINE, June 27, 2008
"I'll never drive through the California desert the same way again."
- Robin Young, HERE & NOW, July 8, 2008
"A fascinating journey by a maverick who won't be harnessed."
- Steve Morse, THE BOSTON GLOBE, July 8, 2008
"He's outdone himself."
- Eric Danton, THE HARTFORD COURANT, June 27, 2008
"A project that affirms Cooder's acute sense of place and musical history.'"
- Neil Spencer, THE OBSERVER (CD of the Week) (UK), June 15, 2008
"The music is sharp and enjoyably coherent throughout, but Cooder's delightful accompanying novella seals the deal. Featuring a cast of the dislocated, including socially invisible Japanese-Americans, mystical natives, a mechanic from another planet and a Cadillac-driving Ford dealer, it is a joy throughout."
- Steve Jelbert, THE TIMES (UK), June 15, 2008, * * * * review
"Part of one of modern American music's greatest works. Cooder's been making wonderful music since the Sixties but this trilogy confirms his place among the all-time greats."
- Simon Cosyns, THE SUN (UK), June 20, 2008, * * * * * review
"A diversely detailed portrait of outlaw spirits in a land of shrinking opportunities, where lives are built on dreamy foundations, and broken by disillusion."
Nick Coleman, THE INDEPENDENT (UK), June 22, 2008, * * * * review
