The Hold Steady :: Heaven is Whenever

The Hold SteadyPosted on

Killer parties almost killed The Hold Steady, but then they didn’t. Hallelujah swept up the spotlight; she cleared the dust that kept coming up after all those killer parties. And then we all got up to have a real sad time together but it ended up being not all that sad; that killer party almost saved us, but it didn’t, so we died. And when it all got bloody and we all fell down together, not even Joe Strummer could save us, and we all gently raised our hands like . . .

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Sevens (90s One-Hitters) :: For Squirrels/Mighty K.C.

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(Sevens, a recurring feature on Aquarium Drunkard, pays tribute to the art of the individual song.)

AD is spending the month of May looking at some one-hitters from the 90s; an age rife with overlooked "alternative" gems from the days of 120 Minutes and the just below-the-surface power-pop scene that was bursting with great music. Sevens takes a look at a handful of these singles.

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The Bitters :: East General

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Siouxsie and the Banshees' debut album The Scream (1978) is a beautiful rash of music and personal moment of clarity for yours truly, a rite of passage if you will. It scratches and burns with reckless fury, hammering drums and a snarling, brutal style that scares the shit out of most parents. It was also the gateway record that pointed me in the direction of influential bands like The Smiths . . .

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Keith Richards :: Umano Non Umano (Film), 1969

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Eat your heart out Jonny Greenwood. That is indeed Keith Richards in Mario Shifano's 1969 film Umano non Umano.

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Our Boy Roy :: A Garage Rock Tribute To Roy Orbison

Cheater Slicks Jacuzzi Boys Roy OrbisonPosted on

What I find really appealing, not to mention refreshing, about Our Boy Roy, a garage rock tribute to Roy Orbison, is that it puts the music first. The songs first. It would be very easy (and predictable) to to treat such a project with kid gloves---an all too precious ode to a legend, carefully tip-toeing through the material. Thankfully, there is no chance of that happening here. While I can't say all of the tracks do it for me, I very much . . .

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Lux And Ivy’s Favorites

The CrampsPosted on

I first caught the Cramps on a humid day in the summer of 1992. It was bizarre, unconventional, amazing and above all else, eye-opening.   In the span of their set I saw the band mix up Buddy Holly, Johnny Thunders, Link Wray and the Ramones; turn it on its head and spin it into some kind of monstrous goo. I was 16 and there was no turning back -- it just worked for me. This strange beast---an unholy amalgamation of surf-rock, voodoo, latex, B-movie comic . . .

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The New Pornographers :: Together

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Four albums into their career as one of the most accidental of "super-groups," the New Pornographers seemed to have hit a bump. While Challengers was a solid record, it wasn't nearly the equal of its predecessor, the near-perfect Twin Cinema, and the interim between albums had seen masterful releases from both A.C. Newman and Dan Bejar's Destroyer and only a quasi-return to the fold for Neko Case . . .

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Tommy Womack :: The Replacements

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On his third solo record, 2002's Circus Town, Tommy Womack, former member of the Bis-Quits/Government Cheese, recorded this sprawling paean to the Replacements. The song is full of allusions to classic rock tropes - album titles are incorporated as adjectives, and a full-on Dylan impression erupts at one point. But gently, lovingly, just as all the best stories are told, Womack winds out an Odyssian tale of coming to adore the band that made him "drive home white-knuckle . . .

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The Masked Marauders

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It's 1969. Rolling Stone magazine alludes to a mysterious super-group called the Masked Marauders comprised of John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. The group is reportedly set to release an album, although sub rosa, produced by Al Kooper (himself hot off the success of Super Session). Sounds good, no?   Too good, as it turned out to be a hoax dreamed up . . .

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Avi Buffalo :: The Aquarium Drunkard Session

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Friday, during the first hour of the SIRIUS/XMU show, I am re-airing the Avi Buffalo session recorded last Fall at Infrasonic Sound Studios in Alhambra, CA. A stripped down set with Avi on guitar/vocals, and Rebecca Coleman on keys, the following three tracks present a different side of the group than the psychedelic pop found on the self-titled Sub Pop become a member or log in.

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The Cellos :: Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am The Japanese Sandman)

The CellosPosted on

"Who are you?"   "I am the Japanese Sandman." And so begins the 1957 Doo Wop jam that is "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am The Japanese Sandman)." I'm working on something that I realized needed a bit of context prior to my posting it on AD, so if you have yet to discover this forgotten Apollo Records gem, there is no time like the present. Dig.

MP3: The Cellos :: Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am The Japanese . . .

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The Love Language :: Heart To Tell

The Love LanguagePosted on

The Love Language: "Heart To Tell" from their forthcoming Merge release, Libraries (July   13th).

MP3: The Love Language :: Heart To Tell
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Sevens :: Paul McCartney & Wings/Arrow Through Me

Paul McCartney Sevens WingsPosted on

(Sevens, a recurring feature on Aquarium Drunkard, pays tribute to the art of the individual song.)

"Arrow Through Me," off 1980's Back To The Egg, finds McCartney dipping into his Stevie Wonder bag of tricks, employing both a laid back, slightly gruff, low-end Michael McDonald coupled with a high falsetto. All good, but what really sets the track apart, and grounds it . . .

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Tom Waits/DJ Lee ‘Baby’ Sims :: Jim Jarmusch’s “Down by Law”

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Jim Jarmusch and Tom Waits go together like, well, a shot bourbon and a glass of beer. But you already knew that. Back when I was still doing free-form radio, downtown, prior to the show on SIRIUS, I would occasionally air Tom Waits' riff (as DJ Lee "Baby" Sims) to John Lurie, from Jarmusch's Down By Law,

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