Squeeze Box King

So you just put in this disc and you’re confused, because you’re not really sure why this Mexican accordion player and his band are playing “In Heaven There Is No Beer.” Well, first of all, because it’s a kick-ass drinking song; second of all, because polka is a huge part of Texan and Mexican music, having been brought down there by all the German immigrants so many years ago; third of all, because it’s even more of a kick-ass drinking song when it’s sung in Spanish AND English AND Dutch.

So now you’re like, okay, cool, but who’s Flaco Jimenez? Here’s a hint: the disc has another title: “El Rey del Acordeón.” Y’see, young’un, Flaco Jimenez helped to invent Tex-Mex music as a collaborator of Doug Sahm and one of the original Texas Tornadoes, he’s played on a bunch of records you’d never expect him to have played on (including discs by Bob Dylan and Buck Owens and Brian Ferry), and he’s still going strong after FIFTY YEARS as a musician. He’s probably one of only three cool accordion players in the world, and one of them is Weird Al. (The other one is named Isaac “Campa” Valdez. He’s in the best band in the world. They’re called El Gran Silencio.)

So now you’re like, okay, but is the rest of the disc worth paying any attention to at all? Well, that depends on whether or not you like fun. If you do, then you will get completely into fun cumbias like “Cuando Te Quiero, Te Vas,” excellent rancheras like “Ojitos Negros” and the horribly sad two-stepper “La Rosa Negra,” and sexy boleros like “Soy Romantico.” The main singer, Raul “Nunie” Rubio, has one of those melty-type voices, and Flaco’s fine leads float right along the same way they’ve been doing since your parents were still in diapers.

No, it’s not the coolest music on the block, but if you’re still worrying about that then you’re a sucka. This is truth, yo, la verdad real, and you pass it up at your peril. 11-Mar-2004 11:55 PM