Aquarium Drunkard

Last week in Austin I was often asked what I’ve been listening to lately. My reply was/is: this excellent, yet shitty sounding, bootleg compilation of vinyl rips of 1960s French Freakbeat tracks I happened upon about a year ago.
Unfortunately, that is about the extent of my knowledge of the recordings as little information […]

I spent last night taking the alternate cut of D.A. Pennebaker’s career defining Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back, which is included in the - just released - Don’t Look Back deluxe DVD package. Entitled ‘65 Revisited, the film is made up of outtakes from the 1965 tour through England that, in […]

Longtime Drunkard favorite Page France will be releasing an album via Suicide Squeeze on May 8th, and (you guessed it) fresh from a string of dates at SXSW, are now making their way up the West coast.
If you are unfamiliar with the Maryland based group, imagine the folkier elements (Neutral Milk) of the Elephant Six […]

So. Pardon my french, but White Denim proved to be the shit at this years SXSW. The were definitely one of the more talked up acts on everyone’s lips (along with bbq sauce) at night during dinner while comparing notes from the various day shows.
The momentum and buzz couldn’t happen at a […]

Oddly, I stumbled upon the U.S. release of Gonzalez’s Solo Piano album, and Dustin O’Halloran’s 2000 album Piano Solos, within two days of one another. Funny how these things often happen. Serendipity, indeed.
I had received the Gonzalez CD (you may know him via his work with Feist) in the mail, listened to it […]

When I think I of Gospel music, two things from my childhood immediately come to mind: 1) the old-timey Gospel vinyl records my grandparents would play on their aged, multi-disc, turntable after church while preparing lunch, and 2) the Elvis and Johnny Cash Gospel records I got to know through my parent’s record collection.
The Presley […]

I’ve been pretty excited by this Sparklehorse tribute since I first heard about it last Fall. The Slight Records release is a compilation of 20+ artists celebrating the work of Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous. You can pre-order the album for eight bucks HERE.
This Travel By Sea cover of “Return To Me” is pretty amazing […]

You may remember I featured Gillian Welch’s genre bending cover of Radiohead’s “Black Star” a couple of years ago while the Drunkard blog was still in it’s infancy. If you grabbed it back then, cheers, if not, this re-up is for you.
As a lover of both Radiohead’s The Bends, as well as Gillan Welch’s […]

While The Rosebuds 2005 album Birds Make Good Neighbors received near unanimous critical accolades across the board, I have a sneaking suspicion 2007 might be real Rosebuds coming out party, judging by the buzz surrounding their performances at SXSW.

Gearing up in support of their upcoming (third) album, Night of The Furies, The […]

According to the Austin grapevine, Steve Earle flew in strictly for the single solo show he did at The Parish Room Friday evening before heading back to NYC to continue working on his upcoming album. Thank you, Steve Earle.
Armed with only an acoustic guitar, Earle discreetly took the stage at the packed New West […]

On April 3rd Camera Records will release the first Mother Hips LP since 2001’s Green Hills of The Earth.
Entitled Kiss The Crystal Flake the album finds the perennial psychedelic California rock & roll outfit back in the natural groove that has won over legions of fans the past 15 + years. Hips fan are […]

One of the many bands I had been looking forward to seeing in Austin was Brooklyn’s uber-prolific Bishop Allen. As many of you music blog readers (have no doubt) read countless times over the course of the past year, the band self-released an EP every month of ‘06. The material the EPs produced […]

Have you seen Richard Swift in a live setting?? If not, make it a high priority on your to-do list. I was pretty much blown away by the show with his full band Thursday evening at The Mohawk, and from the looks of the crowd (a veritible “who’s who” in indie rock) so […]

Oooo weee…back home in L.A., and as expected, SXSW, and Austin in general, did not disappoint. The four days and nights of music, old (and new) friends, bbq and beer, coupled with agreeable weather, made for another excellent SXSW experience. I’ll be posting more detailed thoughts from the festival throughout the week, […]