Coming From Reality

I went to see Sixto Rodriquez in Bristol on the 1st December and bought his CDs afterwards. I saw him due to all the hype I'd read about the documentary Searching for Sugarman, had seen him on Later With Jools and also because I love the Bristol band that were supporting him during all his UK tour dates; Phantom Limb.I wasn't expecting much, knowing that his CDs were recorded in the 1970 and 1971 and there isn't much music from that era, that stands up that well now - apart from the absolute greats: Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, Pink Floyd, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Roxy Music. However I was very pleasantly surprised. All the songs he played live were instantly memorable and I'd only heard Sugarman before the gig. His voice was much better than it was on Later With Jools and indeed his voice is really distinctive - in a good way! He sounds like a cross between, Donovan, Rod Argent (ex the Zombies), Nick Drake and Dylan (but better tone than Dylan). The audience were very responsive, knew all his lyrics and welcomed him as the long-lost hero he surely is. They particularly went mad for Sugarman, Climb Upon My Music, I Think of You (just lovely - beautifully poignant lyrics and melody), Inner City Blues, I Wonder and To Whom It May Concern, but most of all the other numbers were given a standing ovation too. The support he got from Phantom Limb was amazing - you would think they had played back-up to him for years. They really deserve a big break too. Yolanda Quartey's voice is HUGE, she'd blow Aretha out. I hadn't been to a gig for ages where the audience were so responsive. Elbow was the last gig when I came out on a similar high.Anyway, getting back to the albums, some of the lyrics are those of that time; Sugarman's references to drug culture, jumpers, coke, Mary Jane, etc., and I think some of his lyrics might be "American-specific." I don't understand some of them, but that's just the same with poetry; the words have an "other-world" kind of beauty. I've come across descriptions of his work as "psychedelic", which I find odd. To me his music is in the folk-rock singer-songwriter genre, but very melodic. The majority of his songs have really beautiful melodies, and I find myself humming one or other of them all the time now and my iPod is constantly playing his stuff. I have pre-ordered the Searching for Sugarman DVD but am gutted that it isn't out before Xmas - that must rank as the biggest marketing faux-pas in many a year - missing out on the Xmas market. No doubt now Rodriguez is a legend, he will get the worldwide recognition that he so thoroughly deserves. A real fairy tale/Cinderella story to warm your heart with a moral - just shows you should never give up! I'd recommend that you buy both albums, as both are equally great.

Rodriguez has recently shot to fame via the brilliant documentary 'Waiting for Sugar Man'.The singer/songwirter from Detroit made two full albums - the first 'Cold Fact' was the one that because such a cult classic in places like South Africa, and it certainly deserves it with many songs that were both high-qulity ane individually distinctive.Whilst 'Coming from Reality' may at first listen to seem relatively muted and perhaps without as many stand-out efforts, two or three more listens and it had me hooked. It has more of an overall album feel to it, with a warm production and relatively restrained but nicely-done arrangements. The shift from 'Cold Fact's late-60s to 'CFR's early-70s style is clear, but doesn;t make it inferior to cold fact adn gives it tht warmness that those 70s records have.Tracks such as 'Street Boy' are simply with highly catchy tunes and whilst 'A Most Disgusting Song' shows Rodriguez at his grittiest lyrically.I'd thoroughly recommend getting both this and 'Coming from Reality' as two great albums by a brilliantly talented artist who's finally had his due recognition.

I just don't like it compared to Cold Fact

I suppose like a lot of people who bought this I had never heard of Rodriguez until the movie "In Search of Sugarman". His story was so incredible (un-credible?) that I began to think that I was being conned and it was just a movie pretending to be a pseudo documentary. After watching the movie I decided to buy his two albums from Amazon. I have listened to a lot of music (I'm a music teacher) for over 40 years and I couldn't believe my ears. How was this guy missed? He could teach Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Bruce Springsteen, a thing or two about writing songs. His songs are almost perfect. His voice is sublime; as seductive as james Taylor but with an edge (not as harsh as Bob Dylan) that makes you believe in what he's singing about. If you like music, buy this, you won't be disappointed - this is a masterclass in writing songs about the struggles of the working man.

How Sixto has never done another album since the 70s is quite beyond me - every fan knows his song writing brilliance - and the doc Searching For Sugarman brings that to the for nicely for todays generation - this album is the perfect companion to Cold Fact - Cause is heart breaking - but no new album for 30 years is even more so from a fan point of view ......still buy this and enjoy - very different to likes of Dylan and Tom Waits but you can see that Rodriguez's quality and originality and artistry is no less than theirs. Just brilliant and essential listening.

Everything about the music and the man has been covered in other reviews. Great songs etc. My only problem is the quality of the sound on some of the tracks. It may be the source but Im not so sure. Ive got some 70s stuff on mp3 and it sounds good. I have a feeling that this is victim of poor "remastering" for mp3 players. Without getting technical, they boost the quieter bits of the music at the expense of the higher and lower end so some tracks sound brittle and distorted. A real shame as proper remastering could make this sound fantastic. Check out the dvd soundtrack for a comparison. Wonderful album but get the cd instead

If you find this album and do not already have " Cold Fact " You must, must get both. You will never regret it. You may never dance to these poetic stories but your soul will swell and be moved. The work of Sixto Rodriguez is more than just music. He must have been made to deliver to us some difficult truths and hard to swallow honesty, and somewhere, somehow, it didn't quite go to plan. But now you have the chance to face up to some of your own REALITY. Sung to you by a fascinating man. As sweet as Sugar. Listen to the album[s] as a whole and be satisfied you made a good choice today.

Recency saw the re-run of the docu-film about him... Love his songs.