Caveat emptor: The following is recommended for fellow Sonic Youth nerds only, so no comments about 'banality' below, k? Alright, for those of you still reading, this is like a late 80s lower east side version of Cribs in which (over the span of two videos) Thurston takes the viewer on a guided tour of the apartment he shared with Kim Gordon. If nothing else it's worth watching for the story of the genesis of the become a member or log in.
Thanks to the tireless Southern Shelter for both capturing and hosting this show. Recorded in Athens, GA at the tail end of August, the six song set captures Hardy Morris and Walker Howle exploring haunted, damaged, outsider folk. A world away from the sounds of their day job. Full show available here. Photo by Mike White.
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Wednesday night Aquarium Drunkard presents David Vandervelde at the Echo in Los Angeles. The Fling support. We’re giving away three pairs of tickets to AD readers. To enter, leave your name and a valid email we can reach you at in the comments. Winners notified Tuesday, tickets held at will-call. Also, be sure to check out Vandervelde's Lagniappe Session from last week.
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Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can now be heard twice, every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.
SIRIUS 215: Jean Michel Bernard - Generique Stephane ++ Ramones - 53rd & 3rd ++ Mission Of Burma - New Disco ++ Guided By Voices - Captain's Dead ++ The Jesus & Mary Chain - Taste The Floor ++ Joy Division - Day Of The Lords ++ Iggy Pop - Sister Midnight ++ My Bloody Valentine - Loomer ++ Pure X - Twisted Mirror ++ The Cure - Screw ++ Fugazi . . .
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One of their very best, The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands was released in 1968 off the White Whale label. The concept is pretty clear for once, with the Turtles presenting a different band on each track (greasers, a country band, surf rock group, indian tribe, psychedelicists, and so forth). This makes for an eclectic listening experience for sure but somehow the band makes the album gel together quite well.
Battle of the Bands is the . . .
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(Welcome to the fifth installment of Clifton’s Corner. Every other week on the blog Clifton Weaver, aka DJ Soft Touch, will be sharing some of his favorite spins, old and new, in the worlds of soul, r&b, funk, psych and beyond. — AD)
One of the things that keeps me collecting records (besides my possible hoarding problem) is that the best records create their own . . .
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Finding Smile: A litany of “Fifth Beatles” may continue to spark debate among fans, but when it comes to the Beach Boys, a handful of external collaborators ought to garner similar recognition. Darian Sahanaja is among them.
Having impressed Brian Wilson as part of his live band in 2003, Sahanaja was asked to employ this encyclopedic knowledge of Smile–the Wondermints founder had been collecting bootlegs since the early 1980s–ProTools and his Apple G3 iBook to arrange and rearrange the disparate puzzle pieces of the famously unfinished 1967 project Wilson once called his “teenage symphony to God.”
Sahanaja’s detailed work was first used as a roadmap for live Smile performances and, ultimately, the re-recorded Grammy-winning version, Brian Wilson Presents Smile, in 2004. Now it is the official template for The Smile Sessions, a new, lushly expansive collection devoted to the original sessions of the Beach Boys’ abandoned masterpiece and the most famous unreleased album of all time, due out Nov. 1 in both deluxe box set and 2-CD packages.
As a current member of Wilson’s band and a consultant to Capitol for The Smile Sessions, Sahanaja opened up about all things Smile in the weeks leading up to this highly anticipated release.
Aquarium Drunkard: Given that the track list for Capitol’s release of The Smile Sessions is based heavily on the work you and Brian Wilson did together for Brian Wilson Presents Smile, it seems you have played and continue to play a tremendous role in the legacy of the Beach Boys. What are your thoughts on your role in the group’s legacy and history?
Darian Sahanaja: It’s interesting because here we are, eight years later and I still feel very fortunate that I was in the right place at the right time. I mean, at the end of the day it was always Brian and Van Dyke Parks’ creation, and I merely facilitated their ideas. That being said, of course, I feel extremely flattered when people show such deep gratitude. Some have suggested that along with being in the right place at the right time, that I was perhaps the right person. Looking back, I’m at a point where I can accept that.
AD: I’m always curious to ask insiders to pick favorites. What is your favorite piece of Smile music?
Darian Sahanaja: I remember around 1984 or ’85 getting one of the first cassettes with Smile bootlegs floating around and hearing this version of “Wonderful” with Brian playing harpsichord. That pretty much changed my life. It sounded to me like the natural link between Pet Sounds and “Heroes & Villains.” So amazing. Even now, when I think of Smile I think of that piece.
AD: Do you know of any newly discovered session tapes or recordings that The Smile Sessions were able to utilize that you and Brian did not have access to when writing and recording BWPS?
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Lagniappe (la ·gniappe) noun ‘lan-ˌyap,’ — 1. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. 2. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.
Welcome to the fifth installment of the Lagniappe Sessions in which we invite some of our favorite artists to cut exclusive covers paying tribute to some of their favorite artists. This week we shed a light on the rarely witnessed acoustic side of David Vandervelde. Below the multi-instrumentalist takes on . . .
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Alright, this is it. Promise. One more cover of Springsteen's "I'm On Fire," this one courtesy of L.A.'s own White Arrows. Similar arrangement, spirited results. h/t Scottie Diablo.
Related: Sevens :: Bruce Springsteen - I’m On Fire
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A friend hipped me to this describing it as having a 'shoe-gazy Ritchie Valens' vibe. I totally get it. "Ends" is culled from The Morning Clouds full-length out today via Lefse Records.
MP3: The Morning Clouds :: Ends
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A couple of months back we dug in deep waxing on Springsteen's "I'm On Fire." Between that and catching AA Bondy gig here in LA the other night, this cover's been getting a lot of play of late. And for good reason.
Related: AA Bondy . . .
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Trailer for the upcoming Big Star Documentary Nothing Can Hurt Me: The Big Star Story
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Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can now be heard twice, every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.
SIRIUS 214: Jean Michel Bernard - Generique Stephane ++ Bleached - Dazed ++ The Damned - New Rose ++ The Starlets - You Don't Love Me ++ Dum Dum Girls - Those Eyes (Vagrants Cover) ++ Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Jello And Juggernauts ++ Portugal. The Man - So American ++ Yellow Ostrich - Left Behind (Beat Happening) ++ The War On Drugs - Baby Missiles ++ Kurt . . .
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Dion DiMucci may not be a name often associated with underground rock and roll. As the New York teen behind such inner city oldies as “The Wanderer” and “Runaround Sue,” Dion is usually branded as representative of the slick, early-1960s pop sound that came to replace teenagers' grittier rock and roll heroes like Elvis Presley or Chuck Berry. Through the years, however, the singer has shown himself a cat of many clothes, whether through rediscovering life as a soft-rock songwriter in the early 1970s or acting muse to Phil Spector's wall-of-sound later in the . . .
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“…That night I met someone who would be very important in my musical education. He was engineering in the studio and cooking burgers in the Dairy Queen. He had a Robert Mitchum hair cut and a slow humorous style…He was one of the coolest people I ever met. He was Packy Axton.” — Jim Dickinson
As endorsements go, I'd say it doesn't get much more real than the late Jim Dickinson. While I've spent a good deal of time in Memphis over the years, the contents . . .
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