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This month's MP3 DOWNLOADS 1. American Princes- Never Grow Old An animated video is to accompany “Stolen Blues,” the lead single off the American Princes forthcoming album, Less and Less. Which is awesome; we're atwitter with anticipation. But we have loftier ambitions for the Princes. We're counting on them selling thousands of records, getting on the cover of SPIN, becoming objects of admiration for teenage girls everywhere, and buying us drinks when they come back home. With that success, they'll have enough cash money to make a second, more ambitious video for “Never Grow Old.” We're hoping for something in the vein of “November Rain”—epic, humorless, and incomprehensible. Or better yet, a remake of “Estranged” with Collins Kilgore swimming with dolphins in the Axl role. Less and Less will be available at the American Princes CD release party at Juanita's on March 30, and starting April 1, at finer record stores everywhere. www.americanprinces.com. 2. XXzotic- Go Hard or Go Home The title track from each of XXzotic's two volumes of Go Hard or Go Home finds Arkansas' bawdiest rapper playing it relatively straight, by which we mean not rapping explicitly about sex. We love XXzotic's sex raps (and we wonder why there's not an extra “X” in her name), but lest anyone get the idea that Miss X to the Z is gimmicky, we wanted to highlight a lewdless track (no double-entendre in the song's title, you pervs). Here are some things we like about this track: All the aggressive, deep, female-voiced “yeahs”—not a traditional hallmark of female rap. All the sputtering, percussive horns producer Motef uses to propel the track—dude is quickly becoming one of our favorite local producers. And we're really fond of how the chorus lends itself to arm waving and pointing—always nice to be able to be able to easily add some pantomime to the listening experience. Look for XXzotic's two mixtapes at Ugly Mike's on 12 th Street. 3. Rudy Ray Moore- Ballad of a Boy and a Girl (undubbed) Before rappin' and tappin' became his game, Fort Smith native Rudy Ray Moore released dozens of blues and early soul singles in the '50s and '60s. In 2000, Norton compiled the singles and unreleased masters, radio spots, and live recordings from that era for the album Hully Gully Fever. Moore's voice doesn't always impress, but his energy and enthusiasm usually carries the material. Most of the tracks are straightforward jump blues and early R&B, but a hint of the man who'd become Dolemite comes out in “Ballad of a Boy and a Girl,” a deliciously suggestive duet with an unnamed singer. Be forewarned, the track is crazy infectious, before you know it you'll be singing, “…he'd cut meat/I'd cut meat/We'd cut meat together” and your co-workers will be looking at you funny. Try Arkansas Record & CD Exchange for a copy of Hully Gully Fever. 4. Josh the Devil and the Sinners- Wooly Mammoth From the punkabilly band's latest EP, “Wooly Mammoth” finds the band at its vulgar best, playing fast and singing about a girl with an obscene amount of body hair. Look for more scatological humor and charged rockabilly riffs from Josh the D, Hot Karle, and Dirty Sean on a forthcoming EP and at frequent local shows. The EP will soon be available via the band's website and at shows. www.joshthedevil.com 5. Grand Serenade- Extra Ordinary The dudes in Grand Serenade were nice enough to let us be the exclusive provider of this download from the their latest batch of demos. It's a steady improvement on what we've come to expect from GS—Kyle Mays' soaring wail, big shimmering chords, and lyrics about love and loss. People've been saying this for a minute, but we'll reiterate, it's only a matter of time before the band blows up. We're counting on an appearance on The OC. Holler at the guys via myspace. How good is this song? That charging guitar figure has lodged its way deep within the recesses of our brain; we're hearing it everywhere we go. For the ignorant: Coach formed in 2004, but over the last six months the band's been stepping out more, playing loads of live shows throughout central Arkansas and, earlier this year, it released The Blue Chair Sessions, an eight song album recorded, appropriately enough, at Austin, AR's Blue Chair Studio. Most of the album is spread between the band's myspace page and purevolume site, but downloading is tedious; watch for word of Coach show's in these page and hit the fellas up for a CD. Fort Smith's The Setup has new material out that we'll share with you soon, but we've lately become obsessed with this demo from last year. When he wears his glasses, lead singer Benjamin looks a lot like Craig Finn and whether or not he wears his glasses, he sounds a bit like David Byrne if he yelled more. Anyway, the band puts on a killer live show. Make sure you catch them next time they come to your town. Meanwhile, visit their myspace page. From one of Little Rock's coldest, “Yalk” finds Playa Mone at his street-rap best, riding Motef's killer production (that's two Motef tracks in this edition for those of you keeping score at home) with lyrics about, um, being precautious. Mone used to be part of a duo with another Localist favorite, Big Drew, but he went solo with 2005's awesomely-titled Mr. Creepin' While Ya Sleepin'. Pick up the album at Ugly Mike's on 12 th Street. 9. Patsy Montana and the Prairie Ramblers- I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart This track was the first country song by a woman to sell a million copies. How bout that? Other Patsy Montana factoids: Born Ruby Blevins in Hot Springs, Montana changed her name after seeing yodeling legend Monty Montana perform in California. The singer's second break (her first was a California talent show) came after she did a radio performance on a Shreveport radio station and caught the ear of Jimmie Davis, who'd later become governor of Louisiana largely on the strength of his song “You Are My Sunshine,” but who at the time was recording mostly risqué yodel numbers. After backing Davis on several cuts, Montana got the chance to record her first single, “When the Flowers of Montana Are Blooming.” In 1939, Montana appeared in the feature film Colorado Sunset with Gene Autry. In the late '40s, the country star returned to Hot Springs with her husband and two children. For years thereafter she appeared on Hot Springs radio daily and on the Louisiana Hayride on weekends. Try Arkansas Record & CD Exchange for the 24-track Greatest Hits Collector's Choice put out several years back. From the out of print 2003 EP, “Lonely” finds our favorite low-watt power poppers making loneliness sound lovely. If you're feeling this track, head over to Boondogs HQ and download the whole EP. It's a gem. For more Boondogs music, visit www.boondogs.com or Anthro-Pop. 11. The Lovely Departed- Alone Together This is a track Steven Calhoun made for The Mansion compilation several years ago. Steven, who was a great friend to the magazine and to many of us, passed away earlier this year. We've listened to “Alone Together” a lot since Steven died, and goddamn if it isn't a beautiful pop song. Rod is selling this comp, which is essential, at Anthro-Pop. 12. Reola Jackson- I'll Take Care of You Our buddy Dave from New Jersey introduced us to this song several year's back, and it's quickly become one of our favorite songs of all time. The track, a Bobby “Blue” Bland cover, comes from a collection of Arkansas field recordings that was funded by UAPB's Arkansas Blues Project and released by Rooster Records as Keep It to Yourself: Arkansas Blues, Vol. 1. Jackson, a Little Rock native, was recorded in 1976 while she was an inmate at the Cummin's Women's Unit (listen for the slamming cell door mid-song). We don't know anything about Jackson—what brought her to Cummins, how long she stayed, where she is now—but she was very clearly in jail in 1976, and the loneliness and sadness that came with that can be heard very clearly on “I'll Take Care of You.” But like traditional Negro spirituals, sorrow and hope make strange bedfellows, and despite the pained, haunted delivery, the lyrics console—“I know you've been hurt…/I can tell by the way you carry yourself/But if you let me/Here's what I'll do/I'll take care of you.” With help from the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Stackhouse Recordings re-released the album on CD earlier this year. Try Arkansas Record & CD Exchange for a copy. |
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