Led by Evan Brody, Ridgewood, NJ’s Family Portrait hooked me in 2009 with the hazey/fuzzy milieu of “Mega Secrets” prior to gigging at our inaugural Waved Out fest, last spring, here in LA. This week saw the release of the band’s eponymous debut, the self-titled Family Portrait, out on the Underwater Peoples label. Check out [...]

(Welcome to latest edition of A Soundtrack Enthusiast. Our latest entry comes courtesy of our friend John Gleason, of Roadside Graves, as he reflects on the music that framed 1990′s Pump Up The Volume.) ____________________________________________________________________________________ The only tape my father ever cracked in half was the soundtrack to Pump up the Volume. He believed the [...]

After listening to Stephen Wilkinson’s album teaser a few months back—every track crammed and cut up into a two-minute psychedelic loop-a-thon—I anticipated a version of Ambivalence Avenue that was far more vivid, bouncy and song-oriented. It was an exciting taster of a preview that stoked fires and excitement in fans, and especially this writer. Not [...]

This was Som Imaginario’s (Imaginary Sound) debut album from 1970; a Brazilian band that often backed the great Milton Nascimento just as Os Mutantes had backed Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso on their early albums. In fact, this album could be seen as the perfect companion piece to Os Mutantes’ 1969 masterpiece, A Divina Comedia [...]

With little fanfare from the mainstream, African music of the 60′s, 70′s (and to a lesser extent, the 80′s-present) has seen a massive resurgence of late. From its wide influence on contemporary artists (some of whom have been accused of everything from gross appropriation to blatant ripoff) to the vast collection of compilations and reissues, [...]

Last week I caught a screening of The Upsetter, the new Lee “Scratch” Perry documentary, at the Downtown Independent theater. For Perry fans, hell, for anyone interested in the genesis of reggae and dub, the doc comes highly recommended. Later that night when I got home I went digging through the stacks for some Upsetters [...]

Watching this 1973 performance of Todd Rundgren guesting on The Midnight Special I am immediately struck by two things: a) what a great fucking song this really is, and b) wondering what early 70s middle America must have thought when greeted by this superfreak after flicking on their televisions. Rundgren could, and did, do it [...]

Night two of Aquarium Drunkard’s New Orleans Jazz Fest shows continue Thursday with Smith Westerns at One Eyed Jacks. We have three pairs tickets for AD readers. If looking to go, leave a comment below with your name and and an email address we can reach you at. Winners notified Tuesday night; tickets held at [...]

In 2009 Secret Stash Records dusted this collection off breathing new life into it via a vinyl-only release. From the label: ‘In the spring of 1981 a group of reggae studio musicians from Jamaica gathered in New York City under the direction of Jeremy Taylor, a music professor at NYU at that time. The result [...]