Got to give the good folk over at Aquarium Drunkard full credit for turning me on to this treasure chest of gems.  Mississippi Records is venue/record label in the mean streets of North Portland, Oregon, and unbeknown to me purveyors of absolutely brilliant mix-tapes stuffed to the scaly gills with unknown finds from across the great, starry expanse of musical history.   Even better, the newly-discovered, absolutely-brilliant website Rootstrata (a fabulous blog in its own right) is converting each and every one of these mini-goldmines (37 at last count) in to download-easy .zip files for your, and especially my, enjoyment.

I’ve downloaded two so far, the inaugural edition and an AD-recommended comp, and both have been playing almost non-stop on my tinny speakers for the last two days.  I can only believe, have faith even, that each uploaded tape will be a similarly delicious experience.

Mississippi Records Tape Series Vol. 1 - House of Broken Hearts

Thank you Aquarium Drunkard.

My Friday is filled with laughter.

Woooo-ooooo-ooooo-oooo.  Woooo-ooooo-oooooo.

Scary sounds persist!  It’s almost Halloween and the devils and demons that wander the streets in these evenings of evil are already peeking their way out of alleys and garbage cans.

Don’t know about you, but I’m going as Professor Plum for an life-size game of Clue.  What will you be?  A dilophosaurus?  A human smore?  A can of Vick’s Vapo-Rub?

Be something, be safe.

And enjoy the shit out of this fantastic mixtape from the good ole Mondo Boys of Aquarium Drunkard.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Download this spooky mix right HERE.

That picture above is of real Native Americans.  You know large and varied group of original Americans that our government has fucked, and fucked again, over the last two hundred years.

This track is by a Vancouver-band called Indian Wars.  For all I know, the government has not fucked them in any way, though I do hear some of those Canadian Parliment folk are a bit randy.  There’s a 7″ in the works, but for now this concrete gem is just a demo.

I’m sleepy and mired in work.  This song is dirty and mired in garage.

Indian Wars - If You Want Me (Demo)

Oh I know, the purpose of this pristine little gem of a website is to draw attention and fans to well, our website.  But, there’s moments and blogs and songs and exclusives that on occasion I stumble upon when scouring the world wide webs that I think you, you drop-dead gorgeous people you, should be a part of.

Thus, this immensely enjoyable bit of summer bliss exclusively posted on Aquarium Drunkard, a favorite musical dalliance of mine, gives me good reason to shuttle your minds and counted hits on over to a different site, just for a moment, you can enjoy it just as much as I.

Summers fading with a quickness, so lets take a dip in the deep end before it fades entirely.

Mondo Boys - Weird Summer Mix

So you like Aquarium Drunkard, the pretty much amazing blog that continues to dish out the goods on great bands new and old?  Well, then you should check out The Henry Clay People, a rowdy group of So-Cal folk currently being put out by AD’s record label Autumn Tone.  I dropped the ball on HCP a while back, getting a copy of the new album (due out November 4th) and then promptly letting it fall to the wayside.  But over the course of the last few months, the buzz on these gents has been rolling out of the dry ’scapes of Los Angeles, and when word spread to me that they’d be jaunting up to Seattle in early December, I needed to check back in on them.

And I’m damn glad I did.  The Henry Clay People are, in the best way possible, a raucous bar band.  You’d seemingly stagger in to a hole-in-the-wall drinking hole late one evening, and find The Henry Clay People housed on well tequila and cold, cheap beers.  There’d be a lot of yelling and blistering guitar solos, chairs might be broken, someone might get hit … hell, I sort of picture The Henry Clay People as the soundtrack to the mid-80s Swayze classic Road House.  But you know, that’s just me.

The Henry Clay People - Working Part Time

Sure, Isaac Hayes hasn’t exactly excelled as a soul-virtuoso in the last say ten years of his life.  Aside from the controversy surrounding his views of Scientology and their affect on his role as Chef on South Park, Mr. Hayes was notably absent from the music scene.  Maybe he was sick, maybe he was just tired of all the rigarmarole, but he was pretty much absent these last few years - and, now he’s gone for good.

Isaac Hayes, at the young age of 65 died yesterday, and the world is a sadder place for it.

Most of us know him from his role as the singer of the Shaft theme song, but those who are little more music inclined know that Hot Buttered Soul is one of the great albums of all time.  I’m going to miss you Isaac Hayes, your gold chain shirts, your pre-stunner shade stunner shades, your rambling acceptance of the bizarre religious beliefs of Scientology.

Hopefully, you expelled enough Thetans in the end Mr. Hayes, and you’re rocketing towards that great spaceship in the sky as we speak.

Thanks to The Aquarium Drunkard for today’s MP3:

Isaac Hayes - Never Can Say Goodbye (Cover)

Don’t you just hate it when you’re late to a party.  The kegs are all dry, drunken frat boys have already eaten all the mini-spicy hot dogs, and your friends have already bowed to the porcelin gods and gone home.  It’s a sad state of affairs, and a situation that as a music fan I find myself symbolically embroiled in much too often.  Thus, my brand new fervent love for an artist that I’ve been recommended too many times over the last five years of my life: Bonnie “Prince” Billy.  I put a lot of trust in to the recommendations of the Aquarium Drunkard and when he posted a live set of Mr. Billy’s early last week, my ears perked.  Years of recommendations from more musically minded friends came flooding back in to my memory and I went straight out and acquired the new album by this singer-songwriter, Lie Down In The Light.

And goddamn if I’m not happy that I finally perked up my ears.

I’d be ecstatic just for the cover art, a sketched picture of the bearded singer wrestling what seems to be some sort of Incredible Hulk butterfly.  Hilarious.  But move past the delightful album cover to the music, and you’ll discover an artist who channels a startling sense of tenderness, but eschews the depressing aspects of many of his present day colleagues.  BPB’s songs resonate with simple acoustic-guitar/vocal harmony driven beauty.  It’s a delightful album, and I’m already in the midst of digging deeper in to this highly recommended artists back catalog.

Myspace: Bonnie “Prince” Billy

MP3: Bonnie “Prince” Billy - (Keep Eye On) Other’s Gain