Rodriguez

Detroit songwriter Sixto Rodriguez is getting a second hearing lately for the music he first put out in the early '70s, when it sounded in line with the prevailing protest-folk sounds, only not quite. For one, the lyrics on 1970's Cold Fact and 1971's Coming From Reality have as much in common with blunt, wry country writing as they do with heady leftist ramblings. In the same spirit, there's also a welcome handful of grit in even the records' more psychedelic arrangements. Perhaps yesterday's hippies weren't up for this intersection of Dylan and Detroit, but it may well find a place in the hearts of today's recession-battered liberals.

Updated 04/02/2009