Aquarium Drunkard

Off The Record is a recurring feature, here on the Drunkard, that marries two of my greatest interests; music and travel. Having a locals perspective when visiting a new locale is the difference between experiencing it through the lens of a tourist and of that of a native.
Off The Record gathers some of my favorite […]

Found on Big-O, this set was originally posted on AD back in 2005. There have been numerous requests for a re-post, over the years, but until just recently I had misplaced the CD-R it was stored on. If you’re into the Dan, this proves an interesting snapshot in time.
“As to why so many […]

Our third, Austin, TX based, Hot Freaks! event is happening Friday March 14th, and Saturday March 15th, noon - 6pm. Two days of, AD approved, live music, on three stages, held at Club DeVille and the Mohawk, located next to one another on Red River street. Once again the parties are free to […]

Beach House’s 2006, self-titled, debut came off like an indie, boutique, ’00s version of Mazzy Star’s patent vocals crossed with lo-fi, dream-pop. What made it interesting, in the long run, is that the Baltimorean duo manged to do so with their own personal style avoiding kitsch. All gauzy, sleepy and […]

No Depression magazine, an alt.country/americana staple, announced yesterday that it will - after 74 issues, and 13 years in existence - be ceasing operations this Spring. June will see the final issue of the magazine and existing subscribers can expect a refund. Excerpt below:
“(The) circumstances are both complicated and painfully simple. The simple […]

Let’s first address the 800 lb gorilla in the room: Elvis Costello’s catalog has notoriously, in the last decade, been reissued, repackaged, re-reissued, re-repackaged, and then some…if you’re keeping score the latest “reissues” came out less than a year ago. Every few years, each reissue again touts itself as the “definitive” and/or “deluxe” edition, […]

Our Hot Freaks collective is involved (in a curatorial capacity) in this year’s Noise Pop festival, held in San Francisco, February 26th - March 2nd. For those not familiar, Noise Pop, now in its 16th year, is a venue based event (think: SXSW, CMJ) boasting some of the our favorite independent artists, performing in […]

We’ve been keeping loose tabs on the progress of this album since the news broke that Band of Horses co-founder, Mat Brooke, was leaving the band in the hands of Ben Bridwell (following BOH’s 2006 debut Everything All The Time) to concentrate on his Grand Archives project. Now a year a half later, the […]

Check, check…any Italian readers in the house today? If so, heads up, Liz Durrett is presently touring Italy — possibly in a town near you. I’ve seen Durrett, live, twice now, once solo and once with her uncle, and sometime musical co-conspirator, Vic Chesnutt. Both shows were great, but I don’t believe I […]

One of the more fulfilling aspects of DJ’ing a house party or event, and to a different extent, radio, is the immediate response to the track selection. There is no lag time - you can gauge the music’s effect instantly. One of the strongest examples of this is Sister Nancy’s signature dancehall classic, […]

Mats fans have something to look forward to this Spring, as the band’s Twin/Tone catalog is finally getting the deluxe reissue treatment, remastered, and chock full of demos, unreleased outtakes, etc, etc. (April 22 via Rhino). Fans of the the band’s latter era albums also take note, as the Sire catalog reissues are tentatively […]

As our good friend, and fellow afro-beat enthusiast, Gorilla vs Bear, mentioned last week, Soundway Records has just released the compilation Nigeria Special featuring funk, r&b, afrobeat, soul, highlife, psych, and other subgenres from the region. I have many a collection from this era and region, and, so far, this comp is […]