A friend turned me on to Don Cavalli’s Cryland shortly after it came out (2008), which I then promptly slept on until about six months ago. This was, indeed, my loss. Cavalli’s debut, it turns out, is one Frenchman’s take on swampy, gutbucket, rock & roll so steeped in deep southern imagery you’d swear it was from Marigold, MS. But wait. Stop yourself from imagining Slim Harpo on the Champs-Élysées as to do so would immediately cut its contents short (as Cryland is far more interesting than pure pastiche). Sure, you can get farther away from Mississippi delta than Paris, but not by much. And it’s exactly this that gives Cryland it’s distinct flavor. It’s Cavalli’s idea of what this music is. It’s the past 6 decades of rock and blues filtered though various mediums across the Atlantic and into Cavalli’s psyche. A real bouillabaisse if you will.

MP3: Don Cavalli :: I’m Going To A River
MP3: Don Cavalli :: Cherie De Mon Coeur
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Jukin’ howl from the land of Japan. If that piques your interest you need Okamatos’ “Boogie Chudoku” in your life. Shit really gets kickin’ halfway through the track. Catch the band this month on tour in the states with select dates in Austin (SXSW), NYC, L.A., Seattle, Chicago, etc. High five to Rollo Grady for the tip.

MP3: Okamato :: Boogie Chudoku
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We lost another great talent this weekend. Yet another tragic loss. That is what immediately came to mind when I read of Mark Linkous’s suicide last night; that and the recent passing of Vic Chesnutt in December. This morning I pulled out a number of Linkous’ albums and and re-discovered my favorite track off That Horse Yonder, the 2007 Sparklehorse tribute—Travel by Sea’s haunting cover of “Return To Me.”

MP3: Travel by Sea :: Return To Me (Sparklehorse cover)
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Jody at When You Awake asked me to contribute to her ongoing, themed, mixtape series. I came up ‘midnight radio‘  and put together a 34 minute medley of old, scratchy, vinyl rip weirdness inspired by a surreal, late-night, drive through the New Mexico desert. This could also very well be the soundtrack to an, as of yet, unfilmed David Lynch project. Go ahead and grab the mixtape over here…

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Last month Roadside Graves debuted “Liv Tyler,” the first single off their forthcoming EP, You Won’t Be Happy With Me (out March 23rd). The band now has a video for the track, shot by Travis Huggett, in and around their hometown of Metuchen, NJ (see below). I described the direction of new EP to a friend last week as “some next level shit.” An eloquent description? Most definitely not. True? Absolutely. Catch the band multiple times at SXSW next week. Truly one of the most exciting rock & roll bands to explore roots music in years.

MP3: Roadside Graves :: Liv Tyler
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Elsewhere: Catch the Roadside Graves session recorded at Daytrotter.

+ Download Roadside Graves via eMusic’s 25 free MP3 no risk trial offer
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Like last year, Aquarium Drunkard is kicking off our SXSW early and doing a night-party during Interactive at Red Eyed Fly with Scion, Saturday night, March 13th. This year we have local champs, and AD favorites, The Strange Boys and Harlem lined up along with Blair opening the show. I would advise getting there early as the line was backed up down Red River last year for three hours. Giddy up.

Doors 8pm. Blair/Harlem/The Strange Boys

RSVP: Strange Boys, Harlem, Blair – Saturday Night, March 13th

+ Red Eyed Fly is located at 715 Red River Street Austin, TX

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It’s that time of year again. The time when team AD leaves L.A. and decamps for Austin, TX for a week of non-stop tex-mex, Lone Star, non-existent cabs, salty margaritas…and, of course, music. Come hang out w/ Aquarium Drunkard all day Thursday, March 18th, at Lamberts noon-6pm.  Free day-party = no badges/wristbands needed. Also, no RSVP bullshit….first come/first served. No Jacket Required. DJ sets DJ Jody O (When You Awake)

Lineup: Warpaint / The Love Language / The Henry Clay People / Roadside Graves / Blair / The Growlers / Happy Hollows / Futurebirds / DJ sets DJ Jody O (When You Awake)

+ Lamberts is located at 401 West 2nd Street. Austin, Texas 78701

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Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 26 (SIRIUS), and channel 43 (XM), can now be heard twice, every Friday – Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST.

SIRIUS 131: Jean Michel Bernard – Generique Stephane ++ Cat – Do The Watusi ++ So Many Wizards – Nico ++ Washed Out – Feel It All Around ++ Art Museums – Sculpture Gardens ++ Harlem – Goodbye Horses ++ Local Natives – Warning Sign ++ Yawn – Toys ++ The Olivia Tremor Control – Memories of Jacqueline 1906 ++ Caribou – Sandy ++ Abe Vigoda – Dead City/Wilderness ++ Women – Shaking Hand ++ Deerhunter – Cover Me (Slowly) ++ Deerhunter – Agoraphobia ++ Cass McCombs – Dreams Come True Girl ++ The Tallest Man On Earth – King of Spain ++ Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch  ++ Midlake – Young Bride ++ Harlem – Friendly Ghost ++ Screaming Lord Sutch – Flashing light ++ Surf City – Dickshakers Union ++ Atlas Sound – So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) ++ Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La ++ The Love Language – Lalita ++ Girls – Hellhole Ratrace ++ Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM ++ The Flaming Lips – A Spoonful Weighs A Ton ++ The Morning Benders – Promises ++ Blair – Paris, France ++ Ganglians – Blood On The Sand ++ Futurebirds – Megachills ++ Warpaint – Billie Holiday ++ Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union ++ Roadside Graves – Liv Tyler

*You can listen, for free, online with the SIRIUS three day trial — just submit an email address and they will send you a password.
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God bless reissue labels. Case in point, the Dragons’ BFI—a West coast surf/psych romp resurrected in 2007 via London’s Ninja Tune Records. It’s one of those quintessential crate-digger finds, seemingly forgotten, only to gain a new audience 30+ years after it original release. The story goes (and there is always a story) that several years ago, after catching the Dragons tune “Food For My Soul” in the 1970 surf flick A Sea For Yourself, that Ninja Tune’s DJ Food went searching for the film’s soundtrack and eventually the source of the track…which led to the Dragons themselves. The master tapes were resurrected and BFI was once again in print.

Recorded on the fly in 1970, at Hollywood’s Sunwest Studios during off-hours, BFI (Blue Forces Intelligence) unfolds like a happy accident. Far too weird and out there for a major label at the time, it is no wonder the LP lingered in schizophrenic obscurity. Over the span of 11 songs in 45 minutes the album veers between atmospheric psych-rock, pop, blue-eyed soul and back again. This, of course, wouldn’t be all that radical except the changes often happen during the course of the same song. Oh, and there’s bizarre organ and synths peppered throughout along with ringing telephones, screams, some sort of pastiche Asian chimes, fake James Brown vocals, etc, etc. Below are a couple of the more, err, “normal” songs. Dig in—you know you wanna.

MP3: The Dragons :: Amplified Emotion
MP3: The Dragons :: Food For My Soul
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A one of a kind record from a talent so deep it kills you to learn… this is all there is. Straight out of Austin, TX this may be the best of the whole Armadillo/outlaw scene, though Willis never wanted a part of it in the first place. Country fans and foes alike should grab this record and hold on tight.

Willis Alan Ramsey’s record merges country and soul as much as it combines chicken shack production with a touch of studio glitter. Put out by Leon Russell on his Shelter label (Russell also contributes keyboard), Ramsey was only twenty when he wrote many of these tunes, and only 22 or so when he laid down the vocals. Pretty remarkable considering the sound. It’s an ecclectic mix of styles with songwriter tunes ranging from the sweet and waltzy to bluesy, gritty grooves. “Muskrat Candlelight,” the album’s most sugary spot, would be covered by America and forever confined to the Lite 97s as “Muskrat Love.” But other tracks tear it up. All originals except for “Angel Eyes,” which fits like a glove on Side 2, every song is a serious keeper.

A few tracks are ornamented with strings and orchestral accompaniment, which works for the more developed numbers, but the sound gets so nicely stripped at times. On two tracks, “Satin Sheets” one of them, the only percussion is a steady kick drum with a thick cardboard sound. “Ballad of Spider John,” the hypnotic storytale opener, also achieves this effect; the simplicity delights me to no end.Then this little green bit of heaven closes with a cut no one could argue, a swampy and irresistible groove: “Northeast Texas Women.”

Willis Alan Ramsey made one of those perfect albums. Unfortunately for us, he was seriously jaded by the music business, and never put out another record. However, rumors of a follow-up record, near 40 years later, titled “Gentilly” have been popping up in the past couple years.  words/ b mcgrath

MP3: Willis Alan Ramsey :: Northeast Texas Women
MP3: Willis Alan Ramsey :: Geraldine and the Honeybee
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Heads up, Los Angeles. On March 27th Aquarium Drunkard, in conjunction with the Echo, is holding its first ever all ages festival here in L.A. in Echo Park. Dubbed WAVED OUT, after my favorite Robert Pollard solo album, this is the first of what will be a recurring event featuring emerging national, local and international artists. For this, the kickoff, we are beginning in the afternoon at both clubs (the Echo and Echoplex) and going until two a.m. All ages + 10 bucks.

Confirmed: Surfer Blood, Best Coast, Turbo Fruits, The Sandwitches, Dirt Dress, The Coathangers, Active Child, Po Po, Moon Duo, Gamble House plus three more special guests to be announced over the next two weeks. Grab your tickets early as we’re very much expecting a full house post-SXSW.

Purchase Tickets: WAVED OUT :: Los Angeles, March 27th @ The Echo/Echoplex

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Will Oldham’s next long player (with the Cairo Gang) is out March 23rd on Drag City. He and Emmett Kelly have dubbed this one The Wonder Show of the World. I have yet to hear a note of it, but the pair did issue this non-album teaser—a stark, bare bones, reworking of Conway Twitty’s “Play, Guitar, Play.”

MP3: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy :: Play, Guitar, Play (Conway Twitty)
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