Astral blues. More freeform interstitial airwave debris transmitting somewhere off the coast of Los Angeles.
Direct download, below; subscribe to future transmissions via iTunes and/or through the RSS, here. First four transmissions can be found, here, become a member or log in.
(Sevens, a recurring feature on Aquarium Drunkard, pays tribute to the art of the individual song.)
It’s science: We live in the Age of the Sad Song. Bright melodies, major chords, and “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah-isms” are greeted with suspicion by our tired and cynical ears. We can’t help it — who’s wearing optimism well these days?
That’s part of what makes “Get Up and Go,” from Jason Lytle’s new record, Dept. of Disappearance such a rare tune. Just a few clicks over two minutes long, the song’s a brisk pop mantra repeating the phrase, “Get up and go/you can do it/everything is gonna be alright,” over bubbling new wave synthetic strings and multitracked acoustic strums.
Lytle isn’t always so sunny; one could argue that melancholy is the man’s go-to mood. His catalog with Grandaddy -- the indie pop outfit he fronted from 1992-2006 (and reunited with for a series of shows this year) -- and as a solo artist is mostly shaded blue, populated by characters in various states of destitution. Malfunctioning androids, drunks passed out in Datsuns, those trapped in old photos, posing with pets that have died and been buried — these are the denizens that populate Lytle’s songs.
It’s not generally cheery stuff, but that’s what makes Lytle’s proclamations of positivity feel so honestly uplifting. “Get Up and Go” feels like a sequel to “Yours Truly, the Commuter,” the title track of Lytle’s 2009 solo debut. “Last thing I heard I was left for dead/like I give two shits about what they said,” he sang then, through cracked and busted lips. “I may be limping/but I’m coming home.” Lytle has a trick, of course. That voice of his, creakier than his lyrics suggest, is a high lonesome thing, making each word sound hard earned and fought for.
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Boo. 34 vintage spookers from the grey haas spanning 1957-1972. Download/tracklisting after the jump. For more undead, last year's Halloween mixtape is still available, here.
Download: Aquarium Drunkard Presents: Trick Or Treat, Volume 8 (A Halloween Mixtape)
01. The Strange Ghost - The Pastel Six (1963)
02. . . .
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Wednesday night, October 24th, Aquarium Drunkard presents Calexico at The Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood with the Dodos. The band is presently touring behind their ninth full-length LP, Algiers, released in September via ANTI Records. We’re giving away five pairs of tickets to the show to the . . .
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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.
Download: Mondo Boys, here and Monster Rally, here.
SIRIUS 265 . . .
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Try to think of someone cooler than Bob Wills. You cain’t. That’s not him singing--that’s him shouting over the verses like a real jazz cat and dancing with his fiddle like it’s a sack of money. Then he tosses in a solo just because he wants you to know that he can. Charlie Daniels’ Johnny beat the devil with the third verse of this traditional, but nobody’s got any business messing with “Ida Red” while this footage still exists. That’s what makes Bob holler. words/ become a member or log in.
A collaboration a long time in the making, our guest mixtape series returns this week with Monster Rally. Self-described as a "collection of influences, prime vinyl gems, voice mails, stories, day dreams, and straight funk from across the globe", the set is - in a word - simpatico. Monster Rally guests this Friday on our SIRIUS/XMU show.
MP3: Aquarium Drunkard Presents :: Monster Rally - A Mixtape (continuous stream)
Tracklisting after the jump…
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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.
Note: the first 25 minutes of today's show can be downloaded, here.
Jean Michel Bernard - Generique Stephane ++ Simon & The Piemen - Cut It Out ++ Ify Jerry Krusade — Everybody Likes Something Good . . .
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Ain't it funky, now. Chicago's Numero Group, in celebration of the label's tenth birthday, is dropping a limited edition Eccentric Soul 45 box set next week entitled Omnibus. Which, naturally, contains 45 7" singles. Each record comes tricked out with its own replica label and sleeve, coupled with a 108-page hardback, clothbound, book.
The label has been announcing the individual tracks daily on their blog over . . .
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Early on in this clip from The Old Grey Whistle Test, Kevin Coyne admits that he “knicked” his version of “I Want My Crown” off the song’s originator, Big Joe Williams. Coyne’s interpretation is more spritely, melodic, and memorable than the bluesman’s–it’s the work of an art-school lifer caught in a moment of mainstream success. “Crown” was featured on what is still Coyne’s best known album . . .
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Beyond The Audiodrome (A Mixtape . . .
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When vocalist Brian Hyland set out to reinvent himself in the late ‘60s, he already had a couple of hit singles to his name, including "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," a novelty song he cut at the tender age of 16, and “Sealed With a Kiss,” recorded two years later. But those bubblegum gems don’t really indicate where Hyland would head with his self-titled 1970 record, a remarkable album of soft psych, blue-eyed soul, and power pop.
Del Shannon, no stranger to the pop charts sat in . . .
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Sidecar, fourth transmission: Black sand blues. More freeform interstitial airwave debris transmitting somewhere off the coast of Los Angeles.
Direct download, below; subscribe to future transmissions via iTunes and/or through the RSS, here. First three transmissions can be found, here, become a member or log in.
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.
Matt Sullivan from Light In The Attic Records is my guest this week. Recorded Sept 18th at the label's HQ in Hollywood, CA.
SIRIUS 263: Jean Michel Bernard — Generique Stephane ++ The High Numbers - I'm The Face ++ The Orwells - Mallrats (La La La) ++ Los . . .
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We're heading to New York, so come party with us. Aquarium Drunkard - CMJ 2012 - No Jacket Required. October 16th at Mercury Lounge. Tickets available, here. Let's do this.
Dent May ~ The Orwells ~
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