Monday, January 9, 2012

Artist: Bodega, Album: Without A Plan, Song: Don't Have A Clue

Bodega was a rock band from Toronto, Ontario.  Andrew Rodriguez was the primary member and founder of the band.  He wrote all the songs and self produced their debut in 1997.  Andrew was actually born in Sweden but moved to Montreal as a child and later relocated to Toronto.  His music has often been described as 60's inspired yet I would add very unique and hard to categorize.  His songs certainly push the boundaries of popular music and that is likely why his debut received such a favourable response upon it's release.  It led to cross Canada tours as well as a Juno nomination in 1999 for Best Alternative Album Of The Year.  Unfortunately, Bodega lost out to Rufus Wainwright.  Nonetheless, the exposure helped the band befriend former Flaming Lips' producer, Dave Fridmann, for their sophomore release in 2001, entitled, Without A Plan.  The album was produced in upstate New York and was another strong offering which featured the talents of Toronto musicians, Kurt Swinghammer and Howie Beck to name a few.  Don't Have A Clue, is the hardest rocking song on the album and perhaps in their entire discography.  It is the polar opposite of 60's inspired pop music and it clocks in just under 2 minutes.  It's one of those tunes that you wish was 4 minutes in length.  You can check it out on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1GAiIGjyJo&list=UUppSJ2-WmKhVgELd07MXO3w&index=3&feature=plcp).  The band would break up following this release and Andrew would begin to release music under his own name.  He released his first full length album in 2007 and appears to be still playing and recording.  You can follow him at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-Rodriguez/.  He also worked with Sam Roberts on his debut single, Brother Down, and joined Melissa Auf der Maur's band for a brief stint following Bodega's breakup.  Bodega's albums aren't widely available today but you can purchase Without A Plan from Zunior.com, CDBaby.com as well as Maplemusic.com.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!