The Animals :: Animalism (Reissue)

The Animals don’t seem to garner the attention that some of the other early British Invasion bands of the sixties continue to reap. This is a powerful shame, as Eric Burdon and the band were tops at what they did, only matched by the Stones during their early R&B days. Inter-band fallout and infighting led to a relatively quick demise, but what they did put down on tape is an incredible listen if you’re into the Brits take on American blues music.

These young British musicians, obsessed with an American art form that was mostly ignored by it’s own countrymen, revitalized the music and spit it out with their own unique stamp, thus popularizing the original American bluesmen and their legacy. These early blues-rock romps and garage bands of the time, in hindsight, seem like a distant precursor to the punk that would surface a little over a decade later.

The album Animalism was originally released in 1966 and chock full of blues covers from across the pond. Allegedly an American actually makes an appearance long before he would gain notoriety as a solo musician: Frank Zappa. Finally reissued after being long out of print, collectors can let their vinyl copies rest and spin a CD. How 2oth century, no? Hip-O-Select has the reissue which has also been remastered for all you audiophiles (myself included). I’ve also been eyeing The Animals Retrospective at Amoeba Records, but that’s for another time in another post.

Download:
MP3:
The Animals :: Hey Gyp
MP3:The Animals :: Smokestack Lightnin’
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The Animals – Animalism (Reissue)
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+ Visit
The Hype Machine for additional MP3s.

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I received a press copy of Joseph Arthur’s Nuclear Daydream in the post the other day having never heard a note of his music. There obviously must be a big PR/Press push behind this guy because he seems to be all over the place everywhere I look; TV, Web, Posters, etc. At first listen it seems to be an o.k. album, but I’m not particularly sold either way yet.

Thoughts? Any of you fans? Lovers/Haters? Ambivalent? Drop me a comment below.

DOWNLOAD:
MP3: Joseph Arthur :: You Are Free
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Amazon: Joseph Arthur – Nuclear Daydream
www.josepharthur.com +++ www.myspace.com/josepharthur

+ Joseph Arthur available through eMusic’s 25 Free MP3 offer.
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+ Visit The Hype Machine for additional MP3s.