D o you enjoy the blues? I enjoy the blues. A lot of hipster douches come into the store and act like "Oh, the blues are in now, I should get hip and start listening to the blues," but they are easy to spot, because they only seem to ask about John Lee Hooker, and most of those questions are whether or not he sometimes went by the name Earl. Or, they just pick up a re-issue of King Of The Delta Blues Singers and call it a day. There's no interest in exploring what is beneath the [...]
Well, it's Wednesday again... and I still got them hump day blues. This week's selection includes some deep cuts from artists you won't find in the blues section of your local record store. It's a mixed bag, but it's all 100% blues. Stay tuned for the next installment, featuring some great stride blues tracks from the likes of Professor Longhair, Dr. John, and Otis Spann. Happy rest of the work week from the Stranger Dance crew. MP3s: Bob Dylan - Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat [...]
My previous post on Sam Cooke featured a brief aside about drummer Earl Palmer. At the time, I wasn't sure if Palmer manned the kit for "Bring It On Home To Me" ... I since found out it was actually Frank Capp ... but in researching the "did he or didn't he" factotum, I found myself listening to a decent sampling of Palmer's recorded work. Which brings us to today's discussion. Too often, "greatest ever" musician discussions become a roll call of showoffs and shredders. You know who I'm talking about. The [...]
I Know A Little - Lynyrd Skynyrd Two States - Pavement The Smurf - Tyrone Brunson (Admittedly, a classic) Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Roy Ayers We Need Love - Johnny Osbourne (a reggae classic) Hey Now Baby - Professor Longhair Blowin' [...]
Aujourd'hui un petit détour par la case sample. Un procédé qui est aujourd'hui aussi largement répandu que l'harmonie, voir plus. Combien de fois nos rêves ont semblé voler en éclats à l'écoute d'un sample original, qui remettait en perspective notre goût pour le titre. On peut adopter la posture du penseur, et réfléchir sur la nature même de la musique, reconnaître la victoire du sample sur le reste, et saisir l'ironie de la chose quant au recyclage permanent de la musique, ou encore, et c'est le plus agréable, s'amuser à détecter les emprunts, en sachant qu'on en verra jammais le [...]
New Orleans is one of my favorite places. I've only been there three times. Once in the Springtime for a college road trip and twice in the muggy heat of July. Each time has been a blast. No other location has the same combination of music, drinking, history, character, and spirit. But I've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Maybe one of these years... In the spirit of the day, here are some New Orleans tunes to enjoy with your chicory coffee (or Hurricanes ): [...]
Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen It's Fat Tuesday, folks! Mardi Gras! For several years the Old Blue Bus was parked on a small lot of land in Boutte (Boo-Tee), Louisiana, just off Hwy 90 west of New Orleans. Your humble driver managed to survive the annual 'round-the-clock party that is Carnival Week in New Orleans for three years in a row. I was fortunate enough to share the good times with some fellow gypsies and very good friends such as this happy reveler, our good friend Joey. [...]
Music follows my rant. New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricane Katrina has become nothing more than an afterthought since the fickle attention of the rest of the country has shifted to more pressing matters like celebrity rehab. Public shock and outrage dissipated as soon as the cameras were turned off, packed up and moved away. I am just as guilty, otherwise I would be blogging about this everyday instead of music. Trust me, if you haven't actually been to the area since the disaster, you [...]
Were he still with us, Henry Roeland Byrd, a/k/a Professor Longhair , would have turned 89 just a few days ago, on the 19th. It's been a while since I posted anything by Fess, so I thought I would do one from way back that mentions Christmas, and something from one of his better live recordings. I'm also throwing in one of James Booker's festive, razzled-dazzle numbers for holiday lagniappe. Enjoy. "Curly Haired Baby" [...]
Team Drunkard is heading out to New Orleans, our 'spiritual' musical home, to check out this year's Voodoo Fest - if you are going, be sure to shoot us a comment and tell us who you plan on seeing; oh, and obviously we wanna hear what late-late shows you're planning on hitting up. After [...]
Originally released in 1986 Atlantic Blues was a four disc collection with one disc each devoted to Vocalists, Chicago Blues, Guitar, and Piano. Today's selections all come from the piano disc. MP3 : Professor Longhair - Tipitina MP3 : Joe Turner - Roll 'Em Pete MP3 : Floyd Dixon - Hey Bartender Buy Atlantic Blues: Piano
August 29th is the two year anniversary of one of the saddest and worst catastrophes the modern United States has ever faced. Days later, a city was left in ruin and essentially dead. One of the most vibrant and eclectic cities in this country was destroyed, and for former residents and others who had adopted this great city, New Orleans will never be the same. One thing is for sure, the music is slowly returning and will continue to return. Here's a little taste. Professor Longhair - Tipitina [...]
It's time to pay our respect to Louis Jordan . This record is uncharacteristic of his sound. No jump blues, but it's a swinging one-two punch nonetheless. The A-side, the standard "Paris Blues" is a lovely ballad with a sweet sax solo by Jordan, I'll send this out to our readers in France. In case you don't know it, Paris in the springtime is cold and rainy. The B-Side is a mambo of the New Orleans classic. I first heard it as a slightly enlightened, yet ignorant teenager by another group of degenerate English record [...]
These are three esteemed songs that bring to pass some recycled goodness. Side Note:I can't really elaborate on my posts because my keyboard has decided that it will only let certain keys work, which makes lucid writing pretty much impossible... chill son son, it'll work out. Rare Pleasure - Let Me Down Easy Professor Longhair - Big Chief Ahmad Jamal - Swahililand
James Gandolfini in the Bacchus parade So me lady and I went to see the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Sunday night. Amazing performance! Treat yourself the next time these guys make it to your town. A highlight for me was a version of the gospel standard "I'll Fly Away" which morphed into the tail end of - get this - "Purple Rain!" I tell you, the purple guy follows me everywhere. They picked it up at the part where they sing "ooooooh-ohhhh"(you know, where Prince has everyone wave their arms from side to [...]
Michelle Shocked has written a new song for Mardi Gras (Feb 20) called Hardcore Hornography. It's rockin' and fun and totally in the Carnival spirit and keeps our awareness up about the need for continued support of New Orleans. The song features Troy Andrews on trumpet and Trombone Shorty on trombone. It also features the NewBirth Brass Band (Tanio Hingle/bass drum, Kerry Hunter/snare and Jeffrey Hills/sousaphone). Michelle is preparing a new album that will be released in August and she will be performing solo/acoustic later this month at The North American Folk Alliance Conference in [...]
The James Booker re-post from last week has reinvigorated my interest in my New Orleans funk and soul collection which -- with Mardi Gras in a couple of months -- couldn't have happened at a better time. So consider the Booker post the first in a series of NOLA themed features from now until Fat Tuesday. Some of you really dug on the Booker sessions at Montruex and requested more information on his style of playing, etc. The short answer is that it all leads back to Roland (Roy) Byrd, better known as [...]
The James Booker re-post from last week has reinvigorated my interest in my New Orleans funk and soul collection which -- with Mardi Gras in a couple of months -- couldn't have happened at a better time. So consider the Booker post the first in a series of NOLA themed features from now until Fat Tuesday. Some of you really dug on the Booker sessions at Montruex and requested more information on his style of playing, etc. The short answer is that it all leads back to Roland (Roy) Byrd, better known as [...]
M.I.A. and Diplo ( photo credit ) Diplo has a couple new things on his myspace page, both of which are worth mentioning. Of course, it could be argued that we post every single fucking thing that Diplo does, but that's beside the point. First up, an alternate version of the new M.I.A. track "XR 2"; according to the myspace page, this version will be included on Piracy Funds Terrorism 2 : M.I.A. XR 2 Turbo mp3 [...]
Continuing with new music... Remember Arctic Monkeys ? (I posted about them here and here .) They were a sensation due to their MySpace page . Here comes the next MySpace superstar: Lily Allen . Now that would probably be the best reason for me to blow her off, except for a few things that endear her to me. She's cheeky as hell, with an attitude perfect for a proper pop star ( read this profile ). She takes [...]
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Setting The Woods On Fire
Old Blue Bus
Visions and Revisions
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An Aquarium Drunkard
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IckMusic
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Lindstrøm leaks Oneohtrix Point Never remix of ‘Call Me Anytime’
Pinkpop 2012 - The Highlights
Oh No – Dues n Dont’s ft. José James & Phife Dawg **Stream**
