Cold Fact

Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0826853003629
Label: Light In The Attic
Manufacturer: Light In The Attic
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Light In The Attic
Release Date: 2008-08-19
Studio: Light In The Attic

Editorial Review:

Product DescriptionIt s one of the lost classics of the 60s, a psychedelic masterpiece drenched in colour and inspired by life, love, poverty, rebellion, and, of course, jumpers, coke, sweet mary jane . The album is Cold Fact, and what s more intriguing is that its maker a shadowy figure known as Rodriguez was, for many years, lost too. A decade ago, he was rediscovered working on a Detroit building site, unaware that his defining album had become not only a cult classic, but for the people of South Africa, a beacon of revolution. Sixto Diaz Rodriguez was born in 1942 to Mexican immigrant parents in Detroit, Michigan. He recorded Cold Fact his debut album in 1969, and released it in March 1970. It s crushingly good stuff, filled with tales of bad drugs, lost love, and itchy-footed songs about life in late 60s inner-city America. Gun sales are soaring/Housewives find life boring/Divorce the only answer/Smoking causes cancer, says the Dylan-esque Establishment Blues. But the album sank without trace, thanks, in part, to some of Rodriguez s more idiosyncratic behavior, like performing at an industry showcase with his back to the audience throughout. As his music career became a memory, Rodriguez s legend was growing on the other side of the world. In South Africa and, to a lesser extent, Rhodesia, Australia and New Zealand, Cold Fact had become a major word of mouth success, particularly among young people in the South African armed forces, who identified with its counter-cultural bent. But Rodriguez was an enigma not even the label knew where to find him and his demise became the subject of debate and conjecture. Some rumors said he d died of a heroin overdose or burned to death on stage. But the tide began to turn in 1996, when journalist Craig Bartholemew set out to get to the bottom of the mystery. After many dead ends, he found Rodriguez alive, well, free and perfectly sane in Detroit, ending years of speculation. Rodriguez himself had no idea about his fame in South Africa (the album had gone multi-platinum, Rodriguez has received not so much as a Rand in royalties), and embarked on a triumphant South African tour followed, filling 5,000 capacity venues across the country. Rodriguez was still largely unknown in the northern hemisphere until 2002, when Sugar Man, the album s extra-terrestrially wonderful lead track, was picked up by David Holmes. The DJ discovered the album in a New York record store, and included it on his Come Get It, I Got It compilation, re-recording the song with Rodriguez for his Free Association project a year later. Now, Light In The Attic is set to commit Cold Fact to CD for audiences in the UK and America, who can finally find out why halfway across the world Rodriguez is spoken of in the same reverent tones as The Doors, Love and Jimi Hendrix.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Brilliant!
Previous reviewers have said everything already! This album was recommended to me by Pandora on a Dylan radio station, suggesting I'd like this if I like Dylan... and sure they know their stuff!

Rating:

- commentary in poetry
First released in 1970, this album is a commentary in the tradition of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan but with a style and vibe of it's very own.
Each song is something original and new in itself but running through it is a theme of drugs : "Dancing Rosemary, disappearing sister Ruth
It's just your yellow appetite
that has you choking on the truth
You gave in, you gave out, outlived your dream of youth "

social alienation : "Now you sit there thinking feeling insecure
The mocking court jester claims there is no proven cure
Go back to your chamber, your eyes upon the wall
'Cos you got no one to listen, you got no one to call"

, cynicism and angry condemmnation of the corrupt materialism of the wealthy : "And don't try to enchant me with your manner of dress
'Cos a monkey in silk is a monkey no less
So measure for measure reflect on my said "

And a focus on the plight of the poor: "The ladies on my street
Aren't there for their health
Welfare checks don't pave
The road to much wealth. "

Rodriguez never was a star in the USA but had a massive following in South Africa, Zimbabwe , Australia and New Zealand.

My personal favourites are: "CRUCIFY YOUR MIND " , "I WONDER" "LIKE JANIS" and "JANE S. PIDDY".

If you enjoy the genius Leonard Cohen you will want to sample Rodriguez.

Rating:

- Discovered Rodriguez in Mozambique
I was in the Peace Corps in Malawi in the mid-90s, was hitching through Mozambique with a couple of other volunteers in the spring of '95, just after the war. The only other "mzungus" we saw the whole time there was this South African couple we met in a restuarant in Nampula who invited us to stay at their house on the beach. They were working there to rebuild the roads and put on this album while we were hanging out that night. It floored me immediately.

I asked who it was and the guy looked at me oddly and said "Rodriguez, he's AMERICAN" as if he thought I was a nutter for never having heard of the guy. And he was right. The next time I was in SA for holiday I snapped it right up.

Listening to it right now. If he tours here I would go in a heart beat. His songs definitely have a Dylan quality to them as many have mentioned, but his voice reminds me a Jim Croche. You won't regret buying this album.

I am now a SAHM, living in the 'burbs, my 1.5 year son is playing with the CD cover right now. My how times change, but when I put on this album I am a wandering 20something, saving the world and hitchhiking through southern africa, where ever the ride takes us. I am RIGHT THERE.

Rating:

- COLD FACT Is a Hot Album
First released in 1970 and almost entirely forgotten (at least in North America) over the three and a half decades since, COLD FACT is the first of two albums by Jesus "Sixto" Rodriguez, a gifted singer/songwriter from Detroit whose reputation has apparently fared far better in the southern hemisphere than in his homeland. A latterday Australian compilation, AT HIS BEST (six of whose eleven tracks are taken from this album), is the only other Rodriguez CD currently available; so anyone who owns and likes either of these discs is strongly encouraged to pick up the other, repetitions notwithstanding.
And indeed, withstand they don't, as COLD FACT manages to fit no less than a dozen neat, clever, poignant and musically diverse nuggets into its regrettably brief 31:45 running time. Opening with the bizarre "Sugar Man," a whining ode to a drug dealer which makes surprisingly effective use of an oddball arrangement of bass clarinet, theramined guitar and various sound effects; then segueing into the misogynistic pre-heavy metal of "Only Good for Conversation" and the pretty, lightly orchestrated neo-Biblical folk of "Crucify Your Mind," COLD FACT shows Rodriguez employing a different approach on nearly every track, with consistently strong and intelligent lyrics riding atop the results. Other highlights include "Establishment Blues," with its sly laundry-list of urban woes capped off by the stinging "...and you tell me that this is where it's at"; a tearjerking two-minute ballad, "Forget It"; the lopingly infectious "Inner-City Blues" (no relation to the Marvin Gaye tune of the same title); "Rich Folks Hoax," with its dour and self-explanatory message; and "Like Janis," which closes the album on possibly its strongest note with a beautiful arrangement backing some equally beautiful poetry ("Don't try to impress me; you're just pins and paint. And don't try to charm me with things that you ain't."). Each song is a gem in its own right, even the rare flawed one ("Gomorrah," an appealing straight blues for the most part, has a rather silly chorus with the singer backed by what sounds like a group of children), and the result is a sadly underappreciated collection by a tragically underappreciated talent which holds its own against almost any of its contemporaries - and that's saying a lot. Open your ears for this one, folks; it's more than worth the 31:45 investment.

Rating:

- a prophet is never recognized in his hometown
Other reviews on this page describe the music. I write to say that this music is drawn from that hidden universal stream from which all truth and great art emanate and from which only they who have transcended the human condition may reach into with their ladle to fill our barren bowls. Humanity has served up many such messengers across the ages, poets, painters artists and musicians. Rodriguez is just such a man. Other reviews have compared him to Dylan especially, and this is understandable I suppose if you're looking for a shortcut to explain in words just what this music may be like, but believe me, this is no Dylanite - Rodrigues is every bit an original..and his songs are very much his own and so too his sound - the imagery of his lyrics is every bit as superb as Dylan at his best perhaps better, the messages powerful and inspired, these songs will move you, and because the themes are so universal and the music itself so honest, this is a timeless album which meets all the criteria of a masterpiece. If this were not enough, the music is infinitely listenable...I've been fortunate enough to have known this music since 1975 and I just never get tired of it because you can't get tired of masterpieces, they have that perfect blend of magic that keeps us forever spellbound and if I could only keep 10 cds, this will always be one of them no matter how many more cds they ever press. This is not Dylan or Young or Cohen.. this is Rodriguez as himself. To Mr. Rodriguez I say thank you on behalf of two generations of South Africans. God bless you.

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Nick Bradbury: Signs of Life

Nick Bradbury just had a tumor removed from his head. Glad to hear he's doing well:

The fact that I'm able to type this blog entry less than a week after the operation has me hopeful that recovery will be quicker than I was led to believe, but it will still be a few weeks before I'm able to really tackle any serious work.

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iPhone 2.2 Update Review: Go Get It Now [Apple]

As expected, the new iPhone 2.2 is here and we have tried it night and morning. Like Apple says in their documentation, the stability and performance seems to have improved, but the spotlight falls specially on the new and improved Maps application, which has been polished almost to perfection thanks to its public transport and walking directions, as well as the smooth, fast Street View, and many other interface details. There are a lot of unexpected new features—no, no cut and paste—and fixes as well, and we have tried them all here:

Enhancements to Maps

• Public transport and walking mode: The most impressive part, at least for a public transport user like me, is the new public transport and walking directions mode. They work as you can expect, no glitches. This mode has all the information you need, at least here in New York, and it showed me the fastest way to get from my house to Gawker offices (cleverly avoiding the damn 6, which is always arriving late for me).

Not only it showed the route clearly, with nice new icons, but it also gave something unexpected: subway timetables. As you can see in the gallery, it tells you what's the departure time for the next Manhattan-bound L train, telling you how many minutes you have to get there on time. It can also calculate the total time of your trip, which is always useful.

• Street view: It works great. You can't access street view by clicking on any place in the map, but the way Apple has implemented it makes sense. When you do a search (or drop a pin) an new little guy icon will appear in the address pop-up. You just have to click on it and the map will zoom and smoothly change into Street View mode, rotating the display to the left automatically. From there you can navigate easily, using one finger to look around the panorama and clicking on the overlaid arrows to navigate. It works hot-butter-over-pancakes smooth.

• Other new features: When you drop a pin, it displays the exact address of the location. You can also share any location via email very easily, just by clicking on the location itself and hitting a Share this location button. It's a quick cut and paste substitute (of course, no cut and paste yet).

iTunes and App Store

• Podcasts over the air: As expected, they work flawlessly, both audio and video. I accessed the new feature and I was downloading them in no time. Unfortunately, the artificially-imposed 3G network 10MB limit is easy to reach for video content. While the TED Talks downloads work great over wireless, the store will tell you that you can't download them over 3G. One good thing: It leaves the podcasts in a queue so the next time you get into a Wi-Fi spot, they will download automagically.

• App store reorganization: It has been sightly reorganized. The interface has been polished. The categories, for example, now display bigger and with icons. As I speculated in our iPhone 2.2 rumor round-up, the icons shown seem to show the top free application

Fixes

• Improved stability and performance in Safari: In my informal testing, it feels a bit faster to me, specially on javascript heavy web sites.

• Resolved isolated issues with scheduled email: Wasn't able to test this one, as I don't use scheduled checking to save on battery life.

• Improving wide HTML email display: If you have ever ran into this problem, you know it's extremely annoying. When somebody sends you an HTML styled email, sometimes it displays very long lines and tiny text. I received a mail like that the other day from my sister and went immediately to try it. Unfortunately, the fix hasn't worked for me on that one, but it did work in another email I got from a company. Weird.

• Decreased in call set-up an call drops: Too soon to tell. So far, so good.

• Improved sound quality on voicemail message: I saw this yesterday so I went and tried them in 2.1. Indeed, there were pops and hisses. After the update I tried under 2.2 and yes, they have better sound quality.

Other little additions

• Clicking the home button while you are in the home screen takes you to the first page of the home, which is very welcomed, as that's where I store my main applications and I have several pages of additional apps and page links.

• Safari: They have streamlined the interface for address and search, like we already saw in previous leaks.

• Preference to turn auto-correction on and off: This is a welcome addition for me, because quite frankly, no matter what Jason says, my iPhone corrects fuck with duck every single time. So duck auto-correction for a little while. I'm going to ducking see if it affects my ducking speed or not.

Verdict: It works as expected, feels smooth, and the new features are a must to have, specially the new Maps application. Ducking good. Go get it now.

via Gizmodo

Cold Fact

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