Ram On L.A. :: Redux

This Spring Aquarium Drunkard is releasing the follow-up to last year’s RAM On L.A. compilation. Details per album choice and artists to follow. Stay tuned. In the meantime I’m re-posting the 2009 Los Angeles sampler with new cover art (front/back) by our good friend Bobby over at Kitsune Noir. Original compilation notes and 132 MB download, below.

Download: RAM On L.A. :: A Los Angeles Tribute To Paul McCartney’s RAM

Los Angeles: huge, sprawling, and eclectic, has been likened to microcosm of the country as whole — truly a melting pot of various cultures, ethnicities, tastes and influences. So is her music. With various scenes and sub-scenes, rarely has there been a defining “sound” that marks the overall zeitgeist of what is happening in the city at any one time. In 2008 I set out to create a compilation of a dozen or so L.A. based artists that I felt were creating something both unique and diverse. After some thought I decided that there needed to be a running theme, something to tie the artists together into a cohesive whole, a common bond.

As records tend to do, a revisited appreciation of Paul McCartney’s 1971 solo album, RAM, had begun to see a resurgence of sorts within a number of local Eastside artists, coming up in conversations and on the turntables at various house parties.

The theme was found. Over the course of the second half of 2008 eleven Angeleno artists individually went in to various studios, rehearsal spaces and apartments to record their take on what is my favorite, and arguably, McCartney’s best solo work…. the end result is RAM On L.A.

Released as a high-quality 320kbps MP3 digital download, the not-for-profit compilation is available free via aquariumdrunkard.com. Listeners are encouraged to make donations to No More Landmines, the fantastic cause that “helps and empowers communities around the world by removing the threat of landmines and unexploded weapons.” A cause championed by Sir Paul McCartney himself. Donate here.

With a truly diverse lineup, comprised of both Los Angeles stalwarts and new faces alike, listeners get to sample a slice of the present “sound” of Los Angeles, while revisiting one of, if not, the best solo effort by one of the greatest artists of the last five decades. Every penny of donations from listeners will go directly to No More Landmines. Many, many thanks to all the artists involved for their time and talent.

RAM On L.A. is: Earlimart / Frankel / The Parson Redheads / Bodies of Water / Radar Bros. / Naptunes / Los Baby Fools / Le Switch / The Broken West / Amnion / Travel by Sea

2 thoughts on “Ram On L.A. :: Redux

  1. Now there’s an idea! Some type of fund raiser that allows us, the readers, to nominate and vote on an album to cover. HMMMMMM……………………….

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