“On his latest solo album, Ry Cooder intones, “Time is all you got,” and it’s the ravages of time that have informed the California trilogy he wraps up with “I, Flathead.” But while 2005’s “Chavez Ravine” and last year’s “My Name Is Buddy” pondered losses—of places, communities, solidarity—”I, Flathead” takes us back to a time gone by, when California was in the early throes of modern development. The fictitious singer/ songwriter Kash Buk and his band the Clowns provide the aural travelogue of the Golden State. Buk and company take us to Bakersfield (”Johnny Cash,” “Spayed Cooley”), the Mexican border (”Filipino Dance Hall Girl,” “My Dwarf Is Getting Tired”) and the beatnik clubs (”Flathead One More Time,” “Can I Smoke Here?”). It’s a wild ride through another place and time, but Cooder keeps a steady, and trustworthy, hand on the wheel.—Gary Graff”
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