Texas Tornados – “Little Bit is Better Than Nada”: The Nada Mixes
Archive
Posted On March 1, 1997
I was confounded, too, by jungle, techno, drum ‘n’ bass, rave and electrosnot until Texas rock patriarch Doug Sahm explained it all on these remixes of a 1996 Tornados single. British hipsters droning the same line gets old quick, but Sahm’s weary voice plugged into the billion-beats-per-minute rave machine is somehow catchy and powerful.
Frankly, Sahm and his once-super group — Flaco Jiminez, Augie Meyers and Freddy Fender — are stuck in the Tex-Mex rut. Last year’s Four Aces had decent hooks and a comfortably worn country feeling, as usual, but there was nothing as explosive as, say, 1991’s “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone.”
Remember what happened to Suzanne Vega’s pretentious and boring song “Tom’s Diner” after remixing geniuses DNA got through with it? The resulting dance hit was so cathartic it inspired an entire album of fascinating versions by all kinds of musicians — and new inspiration for Vega herself. Why not the Tornados? Why not now?
