Jimmy Cliff/VA - The Harder They Come

This was given to me by a neighbor a number of years back and it was a long time (too long) until I actually listened to it all the way through. Essential stuff.

In 1973, when the movie The Harder They Come was released, reggae was not on the radar screen of American pop culture. The soundtrack went a ways toward changing that situation. It is a collection of consistently excellent early reggae songs by artists who went on to thrive with reggae's increased popularity, and others for whom this is the most well-known vehicle. Jimmy Cliff is both the star of the movie and the headliner on the soundtrack. He contributes three excellent songs: the hymnal "Many Rivers to Cross," "You Can Get It If You Really Want," and "The Harder They Come" (the latter two are repeated at the end of the album, but you probably wanted to hear them again anyway). Interestingly, the better production values of his songs actually seems to detract from them when compared to the rougher, but less sanitized, mixes of the other tracks. All the songs on this collection are excellent, but some truly stand out. Toots & the Maytals deliver two high-energy songs with "Sweet and Dandy" and "Pressure Drop" (covered by the Clash among others). Scotty develops a mellow, loping groove on "Stop That Train" (not the same as the Wailers' song by the same name) and the Slickers prove on "Johnny Too Bad" that you don't have to spout profanity or graphic violence to convey danger. The Harder They Come is strongly recommended both for the casual listener interested in getting a sense of reggae music and the more serious enthusiast. Collections don't come much better than this.
--allmusic

Here

Dang this took a while to find, but thanks to shareminer, finally nabbed it. Anyhoo, I saw him recently and it was great fun. If you're unfamiliar with him, you are seriously missing out on life.

Here


PS - make sure to get the rest of his stuff over at this blog

PPS - funny story, after the show i forgot my credit card at the bar so i had to run back in to get it. Lady at the door tells me i need a wristband. "But i left my card with the bartender..." *sad puppy face* and so she lets me inside. I go to the bar to get my card and bam - I'm standing next to the dude you see on the left. Crazy.

Dirty Projectors - Listen to the new album on NPR

Listen

Holy wow, new music? on this blog? it's been a while. Started listening to this recently. Echo and the Bunnymen namecheck, ooh. Not exactly that original... but the hooks are catchy. The album doesn't include "Neon Jesus" which it should have, and is below.

Checkitout

The Buzzcocks - Spiral Scratch and Singles Going Steady

I bloody love this band. And I wish I was British too. Here we have their debut EP Spiral Scratch and the definitive collection Singles Going Steady.

The Buzzcocks' self-financed debut is every bit as important as the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" in the establishment of the U.K. punk scene. And playing those two cultural artifacts back to back two decades later, it is the Pistols' effort which sounds more like the museum piece. Spiral Scratch's hand-pressed, blurry black-and-white sleeve housed four tracks -- each one a uniquely compelling experience, marrying raw, youthful zest with belligerent intelligence. The EP's release achieved several things at once. It opened up the independent scene, making D.I.Y. labels the natural springboard for aspiring musicians. It gave the punk scene a second regional base in Manchester, and it expanded punk's vocabulary beyond the outright nihilism evinced by London bands. And, even at this stage, the band's musicianship was a joy to behold, particularly the uninhibited drumming of John Maher. This was also, bootlegs apart, the only chance to hear Howard Devoto front the band before he left to form Magazine. For more of the same, check out the Time's Up album, a classic bootleg of the group's early days which has seen official release.
-allmusic


Spiral Scratch

Singles Going Steady

Grizzly Bear - live from WNYC

Check it

the leaked version i had of Veckatimest was not really worth posting. Bad quality. listen to this performance though, i bet it would be great seeing these guys live. Honestly the album is taking longer to grow on me than i thought it would, but perhaps that's because all's i got is the crap leaked version. BBC likes it. Do you?

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life

So i know updates have been few and far between. Not only have i been busy with life but i've barely had time to listen to any new music. I promise i'll try 'n fix that. Anyways, i picked up The Idiot in the used bin a while back and the dude working at the record store told me it was his second favorite record of all time (after Patti Smith's Horses). Perhaps I'm judging too soon, but between The Idiot and this, I have to say, this one just knocked me off my socks from the second i started lisetning to it. This record just sounds so, so good.

On The Idiot, Iggy Pop looked deep inside himself, trying to figure out how his life and his art had gone wrong in the past. But on Lust for Life, released less than a year later, Iggy decided it was time to kick up his heels, as he traded in the mid-tempo introspection of his first album and began rocking hard again. Musically, Lust for Life is a more aggressive set than The Idiot, largely thanks to drummer Hunt Sales and his bassist brother Tony Sales. The Sales' proved they were a world class rhythm section, laying out power and spirit on the rollicking title cut, the tough groove of "Tonight," and the lean neo-punk assault of "Neighborhood Threat," and with guitarists Ricky Gardner and Carlos Alomar at their side, they made for a tough, wiry rock & roll band -- a far cry from the primal stomp of the Stooges, but capable of kicking Iggy back into high gear. (David Bowie played piano and produced, as he had on The Idiot, but his presence is less clearly felt on this album.) As a lyricist and vocalist, Iggy Pop rose to the challenge of the material; if he was still obsessed with drugs ("Tonight"), decadence ("The Passenger"), and bad decisions ("Some Weird Sin"), the title cut suggested he could avoid a few of the temptations that crossed his path, and songs like "Success" displayed a cocky joy that confirmed Iggy was back at full strength. On Lust for Life, Iggy Pop managed to channel the aggressive power of his work with the Stooges with the intelligence and perception of The Idiot, and the result was the best of both worlds; smart, funny, edgy, and hard-rocking, Lust for Life is the best album of Iggy Pop's solo career.
--allmusic

Enjoy (256 vbr)

My Bloody Valentine - show and new songs

I'm seein' em live tomorrow. Apparently they provide earplugs?

And I don't know how new these are, but there are some... new-sounding songs up on the band's myspace. New album in the works perhaps?

Disco Bhangra - Wedding Music from Rajasthan

I got this used because it had an awesome cover (which i can't find a decent picture of). And maybe to get in touch with my roots. Listen to it if you're wanna hear some unruly Indian brass. Also - "Tequila" is on here. Awesome.

Here