BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Once in a while, there is an album with such rawness that it becomes almost irresistible. This doesn’t happen often, but it’s certainly what can be found in this “Handmade Music 1999-2003” EP, by Daniel Catarino, in this case under the alias Long Desert Cowboy.

From the raw tape recordings of the opening and closing titles, to the aesthetical beauty of “Sacred Vows of Mother Earth” and the melodic growth of “Poor But Honest”, this album, recorded, according to the author, from the age of 16 to his 20th birthday, is not a work of perfection, but it shows an immense creativity and a desire to turn simple melodies into instrumental songs.

Those who are familiar with Long Desert Cowboy’s previous works, will certainly notice obvious differences when compared to the “horror-spaghetti” ambience of the debut EP’s “Sandshoes” and “Western Spaghetti”, since it’s more of a rock record than a ambient/field recording exercise. Nonetheless, some of the present characteristics are there, and it cannot be an act of randomness.
It is important that you don’t let this album slip through your fingers without listening to it.
Carlos Gonçalves