This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
THE YEAR: 1996.
THE STORY: Texas troubadour Alejandro Escovedo is one of those guys whose work tends to slip through the cracks. Mainly because he refuses to lower his standards. For a decade now, he has been honing a particularly ambitious and artful strain of roots music that incorporates a wealth of ingredients and influences — the gritty punk rock of his youth, the passionate melodies of his heritage, the propulsive percussion of his family (he’s Sheila E’s uncle), the elegant strings and orchestrations of his left-brain and the yearning lyrics of his right. The mesquite-voiced singer-guitarist’s third solo album With These Hands, like most of his work, integrates them all seamlessly and beautifully into a dark, moody and moving masterpiece. Albums like this are the reason reissues were invented.
THE GOODIES: The obsessed Put You Down, the pathetic Pissed Off 2 A.M., the gritty Sometimes and the Stonesy Guilty are some of the best songs you’ve never heard.
THE EXTRAS: A full CD of live recordings from the same year. Pity it doesn’t include Escovedo’s trademark set-ending cover of The Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog.
