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The Beach Boys :: That Same Song (with Gospel Choir)

The Beach BoysPosted on

This clip, from an NBC special on connection with the release of the 15 Big Ones album, featuring the Beach Boys singing "live" with the Alexander Hamilton Double Rock Baptist Choir, is eyebrow-raising for many reasons, most obviously Brian's physical appearance as he was clearly struggling with health issues connected to his "prescribed" public re-emergence from the reclusive lifestyle he adopted in the late 60s and early 70s following his retreat from live performance. The marketing tagline for album was "Brian Is Back!", which arguably didn't ring fully true until fairly recently; nevertheless, it . . .

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Patti Smith :: Redondo Beach / Distant Fingers (Demos)

Patti SmithPosted on

The second disc of Patti Smith’s 2002 compilation, Land (1975-2002), is comprised mostly of live recordings and a handful of outtakes. However, sitting side by side are two beautiful demos - both of which are a must-hear for Patti enthusiasts, or really anyone interested in her saga-oriented, meticulously crafted, art-rock.

First up is a demo of “Redondo Beach,” found on Smith's masterpiece 1975 debut, Horses. The demo differs most noticeably from the studio version in that the drums are . . .

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Silver Palace :: Mr. Jews (Will Oldham / David Berman)

David Berman Silver Jews Will OldhamPosted on

One thing fans of Chicago-based Drag City Records have always hoped for was a full-album collaboration by their two all-star players, Will Oldham and David Berman.   To this date, that has yet to happen. However, this rare 7”, Silver Palace — Mr. Jews, released in 2005 and limited to 500 copies on Drag City/Sea Note Records, attempts to resolve any remaining inquests surrounding this topic. What follows are some tough questions given straightforward answers by the artists themselves...sort of.

Silver Palace . . .

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Posted on David Berman Silver Jews Will Oldham

A Different Kind of Tension (Part 2): Mission Of Burma’s Roger Miller Details A Week in The Ukraine

Diversions Mission of BurmaPosted on

Diversions, a recurring feature on Aquarium Drunkard, catches up with our favorite artists as they wax on subjects other than recording and performing.

As the guitarist for post punk legends Mission of Burma, Roger Miller has played in some pretty crazy locales over the years, but he has never before boarded an airplane intent on playing in a divided country balancing the tensions behind a potential outbreak of civil war. What had before been an expected week of exciting performances with Alloy Orchestra (in which Miller plays keyboards) was now filled with curiosity as to how the people of the Ukraine were reacting to these developments, and what would it mean for the band and the concerts? There was only one way to find out, so he took his seat on the plane to Kiev and wondered what lay ahead… Part one can be found, HERE.

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Posted on Diversions Mission of Burma

Melanie Safka :: Ruby Tuesday

MelaniePosted on

It’s always a trip to hear a cover that takes a piece of music and flips it on it’s head. In addition to countless original compositions, 70s folksong seamstress Melanie is no stranger to the art of a finely crafted cover...giving them not only a fresh tone and perspective, but at times a completely different story. Here, the stalwart British monotone of a young Mick Jagger is replaced by an anxious-sounding quiver of a voice leading up to a wailing symphony of . . .

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Posted on Melanie

SIRIUS/XMU :: Aquarium Drunkard Show (Noon EST, Channel 35)

SIRIUSPosted on

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can be heard twice every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST. Our compadres Twin Peaks guest host the first hour and a half of the show today. Pick up their new full-length, Wild Onion, here.

SIRIUS 351: Jean Michel Bernard — Générique . . .

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Posted on SIRIUS

Eddie Ray :: You Are Mine

Eddie RayPosted on

If you’ve yet to check out our Blue August Moon mixtape, you can remedy that, here. Setting the vibe early on is Eddie Ray’s haunting and transcendent “You Are Mine.” Carried only by guitar, congas and Eddie’s deep, raspy and, at times, tortured voice, the song speaks volumes for the . . .

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A Salute To The All Electric Fur Trapper :: A Mixtape

MixtapesPosted on

In the United Kingdom of the early 70s, the rock scene wasn’t all about the pillaging of the blues and progressive rock excess. Outside of the hustle and bustle of London, musicians cooped themselves in cottages on the country side attempting to emulate what was coming from the west coast of America at the time. Their American dream sound conglomerated the pristine songwriting of the Laurel Canyon crew, the wandering jams of the Grateful Dead and maybe a little bit of the down home groove of The Band. The English twist they spun on their abstract visions of open . . .

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Posted on Mixtapes

Wax Wonders :: Soul Unknowns – Part One

Wax WondersPosted on

As a long time fanatic of ’60s soul and rock & roll, there’s no shortage of records whose information is either completely or mostly lost to history. And it wasn’t just small time/small pressing local releases - many were released on moderately large or massive labels (such as today’s offerings). Caveat lector: just because something is rare and/or obscure doesn’t automatically pique my interest; it has to be a great record. These four are very special, and records that (to my ears) had big time hit potential, or in the case of Doris & Kelley . . .

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Posted on Wax Wonders

Al Kooper & Shuggie Otis :: Lookin’ For A Home

Al Kooper Shuggie OtisPosted on

Al Kooper gets a lot of flack for being a storyteller of the ‘That Fish Was This Big’ variety. As biographer Clinton Heylin (Dylan: Behind the Shades) would have it: "there are lies, damned lies, and Al Kooper’s recollections."

But what else, really, do you expect from someone who went professional at the age of 14; who stumbled into classic sessions with Dylan and the Stones; who vouched for the American release of the Zombies Odessey and Oracle and wrote the liner notes himself; who shows up in the credits of The Who Sell Out and Who’s Next . . .

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Posted on Al Kooper Shuggie Otis

David Kilgour & The Heavy 8’s :: End Times Undone

David Kilgour & The Heavy 8'sPosted on

All hail the Brothers Kilgour! David and Hamish (along with Robert Scott) are still best known as the founders of The Clean, the unfathomably great New Zealand band that started way back in the late '70s and continues to this day. The Clean are playing a few select stateside dates this summer, but the band doesn't seem to have any new material on the horizon. That's alright, though, because both David and Hamish have excellent solo albums for us to enjoy.

David's new one with . . .

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Posted on David Kilgour & The Heavy 8's

SIRIUS/XMU :: Aquarium Drunkard Show (Noon EST, Channel 35)

SIRIUSPosted on

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35, can be heard twice every Friday — Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.

SIRIUS 351: Jean Michel Bernard — Générique Stephane ++ Mammane Sani et son Orgue — Tunan ++ Mulatu Astatqe — Yekermo Sew ++ Eddie Ray — You are Mine ++ Harumi — Fire by the River ++ Odetta — Don’t Think Twice, It’s all Right ++ Irma Thomas — Ruler of my Heart ++ Hawa Daisy Moore — Really Love Me ++ Africa — Here I . . .

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Posted on SIRIUS

Aquarium Drunkard Presents :: Blue August Moon – A Mixtape

Aquarium Drunkard Presents MixtapesPosted on

Fade out of the humidity and into this. Looming ominously, the following one hundred and thirty eight minutes are a product of their time: rising sea levels, sweltering temperatures, dense fog and waves of radiation. Governed equally by the spiritual and the secular, by science and superstition, magic and economy: Mammane’s organ, Odetta’s baritone, Patsy’s guitar. Soul, Jazz, Country, Gospel, Ambience. There are ghosts residing in guitars and synths alike, the instruments transporting them across space and time. Embrace the transience, listen to their stories and surf the rising tides where solace awaits you . . .

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Posted on Aquarium Drunkard Presents Mixtapes

Africa Unbound: A Tale of Cross-Cultural Influence

Girma Beyene K. FrimpongPosted on

As you might expect from a  vast continent consisting of a number of countries and thousands of languages, African music is not so easily categorized. Unfortunately, the tendency has been to bag it all together in much the same way  we do African literature. Like the sameness of African book covers, we use Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Fela Kuti, and maybe Ali Farka Toure . . .

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Posted on Girma Beyene K. Frimpong

Aaron Neville / Allen Toussaint :: Hercules (1973)

Aaron Neville Allen ToussaintPosted on

As Brett Ratner’s Hercules wallows in the steroid-spill of yet another summer blockbuster season, it's an opportune time to think about the nature of myth. Sure, the classic image of Hercules is all brawn and virility, thrashing his way through obstacles–but myth is a flexible, amorphous thing forever being retold. New spins on old yarns.

Take for instance the hero of Allen Toussaint’s "Hercules" (1973). As embodied by Aaron Neville on the Toussaint-produced single, the character is . . .

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Posted on Aaron Neville Allen Toussaint