Friday, December 31, 2010

Shake Your Maraca 5-O One More Time


Re-up for Andrewski

Maraca Five-O
Headin' South At 110 Per
2001




To a great degree, these Denver instrumentalists stake out the same surfing grounds as Dick Dale, the Ventures and the Lively Ones, but there's a greater sense of humor working here ("Gidget's Guns", "Jesus Wrecked My Stuff"), and a stronger garage rock component. Bands within this genre have an easy time making a ton of songs that sound more alike than different, so Maraca Five-O have to be commended for all the variations they work into each track. Sometimes they're fast, other times they're faster, and sometimes the melodies are like waves you can't outrun. The band even goes psychedelic in the druggy tour de force "Dance, Elaina". Everytime I played this track, the violin of Kelly O'Dea conjured up a couple of the (many) strange women in Blue Velvet, and so I pictured Elaina as one of these gals, swaying back and forth on a car top while Frank Booth tortured poor Jeffrey Beaumont.
Discovering such brutal images in these surf-rock instrumentals, in fact, is more the norm than the exception, so don't get Headin' South at 110 Per if you're a small-and-delicate-wave kind of beach bum. It's not for all you fellas with eight types of suntan lotion, either; people afraid of skin cancer, dude, are certainly afraid of rhythms this wild! There is an extremely strong rock-n-roll mentality here, a blistering desire from these rockers to beat the waves senseless each time their guitars ride 'em out. Their recklessness, passion, and sheer talent keep the entertainment factor high, well worth a full-keg salute. By the end of the disc, I was so satisfied with the music that my disappointment over the band being instrumentalists (me being a vocal lover and all) had completely disappeared. Yes, their song titles ("Night of the Shadow Midgets") seem too good to go without some fun smartass lyrics, but this keeps the band free of Mojo Nixon-type "novelty act" tags. Besides, if you want lyrics that bad, you can make 'em up yourself, and let the band and their guitars take your Dead Milkman pilferings past their imaginatively evoked Colorado shores.
-- Theodore Defosse
Track Listing:
01. I'm In League
02. Gidget's Guns
03. Headin' South At 110 Per
04. Dance, Elaina
05. Mystery Board
07. Mandelbrot Set
08. Sour Mash
09. Jesus Wrecked My Stuff
10. Night Of The Shadow Midgets
11. The Perfect Shiner
*

Get it HERE

Hi Jack!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Do It Yourself! Re-upped by request


Arya requested a re-up on this one. We are always glad to oblige.

Los Esquiazitos
Hagalo Usted Mismo E.P./Do It Yourself
2000

01.-Guitarras y muchachas/Guitars and Girls

02.-Un dia en texas (version gore)/One Day In Texas

03.-Amor y agua salada/Love and Saltwater
04.-Siempre de malas/Always Bad
05.-El viejo bufanda
06.-El Efecto Bob Ross (version jungle 2x2 part.1)/The Effect Bob Ross
*
New Link HERE

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Mele Kalikmaka by The Hula Girls

A good friends band that can really kick it up. Can you say HulaBilly??

Merry Christmas all


T


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Wash Your Car Mister???

Crusty!

60 Seconds with The City Champs


The City Champs’ new album The Set Up is out now, and the critics are giving it an enthusiastic response (check out press quotes below). After touring the East Coast the Champs returned to Memphis to take part in several new projects. After taping a travel segment for MSN.com, they took part in the filming of a new Memphis music documentary. Tentatively titled Memphis Revival, this Cody Dickinson/Martin Shore-produced film showcases icons of Memphis’ music scene playing with up and coming young bands. On November 29th, The City Champs collaborated with the harp legend Charlie Musselwhite to film a segment at Electraphonic Studios. The band recorded a live show for Beale Street Caravan, they were joined by saxophonist Tom Link and trumpeter Marc Franklin for this globally syndicated radio program hosted by Sid Selvidge. Back in New York City, the burgeoning designer Billy Reid, (Vogue Fashion Award winner) has been spinning the Champs during his runway shows, landing their name in the Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair’s blog.

"One part Booker T. & the MGs, one part Jimmy Smith, and one part Henry Mancini, Memphis three-piece the City Champs are arguably the top instrumental group in Memphis, a lean, mean soul-jazz machine that brings its own contemporary spin to a classic sound." The Commercial Appeal

“…the City Champs put their own spin on standout tunes “Drippy,” “Ricky’s Rant,” and “Comanche.” And their toe-tapping take on RJD2’s “A Beautiful Mine” (better known as the theme from AMC’s Emmy-winning “Mad Men”) is worth the purchase price itself.” The Daily Paper
“The overall result encapsulates the Champs sound: Think The Meters and Booker T. playing a 60s film theme on a session at Rudy Van Gelder's studio for a Blue Note or Prestige Records release.” Blurt Online

"They find their heart in the classic Memphis Stax style yet push at the borders of that genre to create memorable instrumental music that doesn't need a vocalist or frontperson to connect. The band's firm grip on dynamics and especially arrangements makes the music sizzle with a power and intensity lost on other instrumental acts without this intuitive talent." AllMusic

“The album winds up on a towering, anthemic, even majestic note with another original, Comanche, a Lynchian take on a Link Wray-style groove that roars with gospel intensity until a quick, unexpected fade.” Lucid Culture

Memphis soul/jazz organ trio The City Champs return to Memphis’ Electraphonic Recording studio for the follow up to their acclaimed debut album, The Safecracker. The Set-Up finds the group stretching out, adding Latin jazz, psychedelia and 60’s film score influences to their established Booker T. and the MGs meets Blue Note/Prestige Records sound. The City Champs are comprised of three of Memphis’ top musicians: Guitarist Joe Restivo, organist Al Gamble and drummer George Sluppick. Their resumes include studio recordings and live dates with artists such as Rufus Thomas, Alex Chilton, JJ Grey and MOFRO, William Bell, Syl Johnson and the Memphis Horns. Augmenting the City Champs trio sound on The Set-Up is renowned Motown Funk Brother Jack Ashford on tambourine (who was featured in the award winning documentary, Standing in the Shadows of Motown), The Bo-Keys horn men (Marc Franklin, Jim Spake and Kirk Smothers), Latin percussionist Felix Hernandez and Bo-Keys bassist and The Set-Up’s producer, Scott Bomar, who most recently produced Cyndi Lauper’s “Memphis Blues.”

The City Champs links: www.thecitychamps.com or www.myspace.com/thecitychampsmusic