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THE UFO HAS LANDED • Ry Cooder
At first, the notion of cramming a talent as original and authentic as Ry Cooder's into a compilation package rings a bit awkward. I don't know, seems like Cooder has always functioned simultaneously within the system and totally outside the lines. He's a generation's master synthesist of traditional and popular idioms whose music truly stands apart from anything else out there. In short, not a greatest-hits kind of guy.
But why quibble? For relative newcomers or those with gaping holes in their Cooder collections (or, for example, for those whose original vinyl LPs have been taken hostage by a vengeful ex--been there, done that), The UFO Has Landed is a godsend.
A double-disc, 34-track treasury that spans the slide guitarist extraordinaire's nearly 40-year career, the anthology was assembled and produced with meticulous care by his son, percussionist Joachim Cooder. The boy done good.
Every stage of Cooder's remarkable journey through the roots music of America and points beyond is well represented. From the early, Stratocaster-stung country blues that introduced Cooder to the planet at-large (and drew him briefly into the orbit of the Rolling Stones, who, ahem, borrowed liberally from his bag of licks), through the pioneering World Music excursions and film soundtracks (Paris, Texas; Alamo Bay; Crossroads; among others), it's all here.
Longtime Cooder aficionados typically hold certain career periods near and dear, and for me no jolt hit harder and cut deeper than the recast and rocked-up folk and blues nuggets of the early years. If I had to name five musicians who most influenced the way I hear the electric guitar, Cooder would be on that list, and near the top at that. Therefore, to have chugging classics such as "On A Monday," "Billy the Kid," "Boomer's Story" and "How Can You Keep Moving (Unless You Migrate Too)" clustered together on one convenient collection is hot shit indeed.
As for Cooder neophytes, I say figure out what material on The UFO Has Landed flicks your switch and by all means explore the man's illustrious catalog in detail. To my mind, that would be the suitably Cooder-esque thing to do. But in the meantime, this is a damn good place to start.
• Mike Thomas
listen to clips return to covers dig this
for sale here or here (the UFO page at Rhino) or here
