As we mentioned last month, Aquarium Drunkard is excited to have teamed up with the classic reggae/dub label, Trojan Records, to help commemorate the their 40th anniversary. As any genre aficionado will tell you, when it comes to this shit, Trojan is where it’s at.
What this means for A.D. readers - who are reggae/dub enthusiasts - is the opportunity to get your paws on some excellent, free, Jamaican classics. Throughout the next five weeks, or so, we will be giving away one classic title, per week, from the Trojan archives. Each week one winner will receive the record featured that week (i.e. this week is Desmond Dekker) and 5 other titles from the Trojan 40th Anniversary campaign, plus Trojan pins, a turntable mat, backpack, etc. Check back weekly for updates.
We’re going to kick this thing off with 1969s This Is Desmond Dekker which got the reissue treatment last year tacking on additional songs to the already classic LP.
To get your hands on this stuff: Leave you name, a valid email address, and your fave reggae/dub album, and why, in the comments. The winner will be alerted (via email) by Sunday evening.
Download:
MP3: Desmond Dekker :: 007 (Shanty Town)
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Amazon: Desmond Dekker - This Is Desmond Dekker
The Lightning Bug Situation’s new LP A Leaf: A Stream at times feels like a bedroom-indie, American interpretation of early ’70s piano driven Pink Floyd, all gauzy and wrapped in some sort of cotton psychedelic headspace. Or, as one of their fans noted, in a parrelel universe it could have been the soundtrack to director Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solaris. A sound often attempted, but rarely executed so well.
The Lightning Bug Situation is the nom de plume for San Francisco musician & songwriter Brian Miller when he’s not contributing to his main gig, The Speakers. Throughout the 15 songs (50 minutes) the album interweaves electronic ambient textures with organic traditional instrumentation creating a seamless flow that is occasionally augmented by the voices of Miller’s family (a la Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon). Great stuff.
Download:
MP3: The Lightning Bug Situation :: Under Your Jacket
MP3: The Lightning Bug Situation :: Topher’s Last Song
MP3: The Lightning Bug Situation :: Iraqi Man And Baby Daughter
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Purchase: The Lightning Bug Situation - A Leaf: A Stream
www.myspace.com/thespeakerssf ++www.thespeakers.info
I am the queen of the secondhand "great idea"—I always come across simple, fantastic ideas that I can't believe I didn't think of first. The "Austin Unsigned: Austin's Best Kept Secrets" cd series is a great example of those forehead-slapping moments.
The series' first disc harbors ten varied tracks from local musicians like Blake and Fallon, Topher Williams and Dave Madden. One of my favorite local groups that I've mentioned on this blog before, Meridianwest, also graces the album.
Continue reading "Austin Unsigned: Austin’s Best Kept Secrets"
Venus Hum is one of the few experimental/electro/indie rock groups I really like to listen to. My discovery of their quirky music is exactly what makes SXSW important—I somehow wandered into their 2000 show and have kept up with them ever since.
Continue reading "Venus Hum EP : Surgery in the Sky"
Guitarist for the group is/was Tom Morello, a tall, slender man with a seemingly perpetual smile. When Rage split up, he moved on to play with Audioslave, fronted by Chris Cornell. But it didn't satiate his artistic needs. As a side project, Morello started playing his activist folk rock under the name the Nightwatchman in 2003, bringing up political subjects as few have.
Continue reading "Tom Morello as the Nightwatchman"
Rufus Wainwright is an acquired taste, or at least he was to me. Before I began appreciating his sound, I recognized the name as an established singer known for dramatic, theatrical pop, and as one member of a prestigious musical family. Both Rufus and younger sister
Martha Wainwright (a powerful singer in her own right) follow in father
Loudon Wainwright III's footprints, whose distinguished career as a singer-songwriter spans decades, dating back to the late '60s. (He's also got an appearance in the upcoming Apatow comedy, "
Knocked Up," for which he co-created the score.)
Continue reading "Rufus Wainwright’s “Release the Stars”"
