Archie Whitewater: Unreleased Material

Cover Design By Musk

Archie Whitewater’s “Cross Country” is one of my favorite songs ever and this is blowing me away right now. From Psychadilsnik.Blogspot.Com: Apparently recorded shortly after the self- titled LP was released on Cadet Concept in 1970. This was never released due to numerous complications with Chess Records and all its sister labels, which includes Cadet Concept. The tracks were forgotten and never released. The album probably wasn’t quite finished. Also some tracks were meant to be used as radio station spots and promos. The tracks are instrumental, calmer shorter versions of the full tracks. The track names are speculation and not confirmed.

For the tracklisting and a bit more info, peruse Pschadilsnik and download these tracks. The site–and their youtube channel–feature really good stuff so look around. These unreleased tracks are killer! Many thanks!

Cambodia to Oakland

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Unknown Artist – “Blue Basket (instrumental)”:

Unknown Artist – “Birds Are Singing But My Lover Won’t Return”:

Cambodian Cassette Archives, another fantastic release from Sublime Frequencies, came out in ’07 and is a collection of folk, lo-fi pop, funk, garage, ballads, and strange psych from Cambodia. They were culled from old tapes found at the Asian branch of Oakland’s Public Library. Apparently, some of these recordings precede the Cambodian Holocaust so info is obviously scarce; only a few songs and artists are even named. Others are said to be from the US (presumaby the Bay Area) by Cambodian immigrants who fled the Khmer Rouge. Rich with analog warmth, these 20 tracks are totally raw and filled with colorful inflections and timbres. Don’t sleep on this like I did.

**Sublime Frequencies constantly release amazing comps (Group Doueh, Shadow Music Of Thailand, and Group Bombino to name a few). Visit their site and take a look around.

Kid Cudi Cover

Photo taken by Raymond Leon Roker

Kid Cudi was cool when I spoke to him a few months back. He was mad grateful for all his recent success and came off like a very positive dude. My interview with him ran as the cover story for the current issue of URB (check for it if you’re a Cudi fan!). URB organized a photoshoot for the story, which you can check out here. And while I’m not a huge fan of the Kanye protege (in fact, not feeling “Day N’ Nite“), it’s always interesting talking to young cats doing big things.

stones throw giveaway!!!

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*~~Update~~: ~~The response has been crazy, but the contest is still active for 2 more weeks… SO PLEASE ENTER!!!~~

Contest is over! Results and winners announced soon!

Thanks to our readers, traffic to NERDTORIOUS is at its busiest! Our modest numbers are kinda increasing, and as a thank you, we got Stones Throw (one of our favorite labels!) to sponsor a free contest/giveaway. Click to find out how to get loads of free stuff on us… Continue reading “stones throw giveaway!!!” →

covergirl: el perro del mar

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I just got El Perro del Mar’s upcoming album in the mail which reminded me of how better her covers are than her original songs. The new one, Love Is Not Pop, is a lot like her last one, From The Valley To The Stars— not bad, but kinda forgettable. She relies way too much on cuteness (too many la-la-las) to push her songs along, and the music, normally pretty mellow, sounds thin and lacking overall. Her best work is probably her self-titled that came out in ’06. In light of a new album and tour, here’s a couple of those covers that first came to mind:

1) Her cover of The Isley Brothers’ “(At Your Best) You Are Love”, which was the b-side to Lykke Li’s “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” 45, released during Record Store Day earlier this year.

2) “Here Comes That Lonely Feeling”, a great cover of this Gaylettes’ sure-shot.

SJ In SJ

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I was able to get Sharon Jones on the phone for a quick interview last week. She was at the airport so I kept it brief, knowing she’d probably rather chill than be interviewed at a noisy airport. Besides, this was for The Metro and they tend to like short, almost generic interviews that introduce more than inform. Sharon was more than pleasant and will be in my backyard (finally!) this week for The San Jose Jazz Festival.

Read: Finally Soul’d Out: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Visit San Jose

amy winehouse eps

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Winehouse’s cover of The Speicals’ “Hey Little Rich Girl”, off The Ska ep, which you can purchase here.

I know I’m mad late on this, but nobody made noise about this Amy Winhouse ep. It’s a red 7-inch where she covers The Specials (“Hey Little Rich Girl”), Toots And The Maytals (“Monkey Man”), Andy & Joe (“You’re Wondering Now”) and Sam Cooke (“Cupid”). It’s just 4 tracks, all of which were either previously released b-sides or live takes, but they’re killer renditions– showing her talent and how it’s most obvious when she’s non-chalant about it (like in this video). Apparently, I like this a lot more than this guy did.

I heard of this through emails I’ve been getting about another upcoming ep of hers, The Nelson Mandela ep. It’s supposedly a 7″ of live versions of “(Free) Nelson Mandela”, “Valerie”, and “Rehab”, which comes out soon.