On Phawker Radio: LOS CUBANOS POSTIZOS

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To mark the timely death of Augusto Pinochet (could not have happened to a nicer guy) and the impending depature from this mortal coil of one Fidel Castro, we bring you this wonderful 1998 collection of ersatz bueno vista social clubbing by Marc Ribot & Los Cubanos Postizos. What’s that you say? Who the fuck is Mark Ribot? Oh, buddy, good thing you found us! Here, let’s check out his CV from his web site:

Mark Ribot (pronounced REE-bow) was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1954. As a teen, he played guitar in various garage bands while studying with his mentor, Haitian classical guitarist and composer Frantz Casseus. In 1978, Ribot crossed the river to New York City, where he served as sideman for such musicians as jazz organist Jack McDuff and legendary soul shouter Wilson Pickett. Ribot began hisribot_16.gif five-year stint as a member of the Lounge Lizards (John Lurie’s innovative and influential Downtown jazz ensemble) in 1984. At the time, Marc’s playing, which blended elements of classic Blues guitar with the ironic No Wave/Knitting Factory aesthetic, caught the ear of a number of artists who were also interested in amalgamating and disrupting disparate musical traditions. Ribot performed on some of these singer/songwriter’s finest records, including Elvis Costello‘s SPIKE, MIGHTY LIKE A ROSE, and KOJAK VARIETY; Marianne Faithful‘s BLAZING AWAY; and Tom Waits‘ RAIN DOGS, BIG TIME, FRANK’S WILD YEARS, MULE VARIATIONS, and the recently released REAL GONE. All the while, the increasingly in-demand guitarist continued to explore the ever-changing terrain of New York’s New Music scene, working with musicians such as Arto Lindsay, Don Byron, Anthony Coleman, T-Bone Burnett, the Jazz Passengers, Evan Lurie, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Chocolate Genius, Bill Frisell, Medeski Martin & Wood, and John Zorn in any number of incarnations. Ribot also composed and recorded his own brand of Downtown soul music with his bands, Rootless Cosmopolitans and Shrek.[…] In 1998 Atlantic Records released the critically acclaimed MARC RIBOT Y LOS CUBANOS POSTIZOS, featuring Ribot’s beautifully slanted interpretations of material by the great Cuban songwriter Arsenio Rodriguez.

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