Armed with a Guitar, Drums, & a Bucketload of Cryptic Lyrics

This is quite possibly one of the best records ever recorded. And there is quite possibly no band like Vaz.

Seeing them live is sheer intensity. A simple duet of drums and guitar with a mysterious low-tuned guitar playing in the background. No hint of a special pedal or bass guitar anywhere in sight. They sound so much fuller than they actually appear. They played in a local record store and when their set was finished, the drums and high hat were kicked to the floor and the guitar flew across the room, landing flat on a stack of CDs while the amp was buzzing. None of the employees even cared.

Listening to them in the studio has a similar effect on the psyche. They have been described as "sounding like Nirvana if Nirvana didn't suck."

Check out their website. BUY EVERYTHING!

You Mean The Clash Used To Live in Austin?

Rabid Cat Records churned out a lot of good alternative music that represented Austin in the 1980s. Bands like Offenders, Scratch Acid, and Texas Instruments were in their catalog. You could pick up a record with the frothing cat logo on it and know that it was gonna be good. Not For Sale's bright red 7-inch record was a shining gem in the catalog of this famed Austin record label. There are faint glimpses of The Clash in War Economy and it makes one wonder if this is the music that Joe Strummer and Mick Jones would have played had they been born in Austin.

Not So Punk

More suicidal maneuvering is necessary in order to avoid getting typecast into catering to a specific genre of music.

The 1980s were a cultural cesspool for the young adolescent who didn't buy into what mainstream society had to offer. Luckily, this bubbling discontent in the American way of life created a burgeoning musical underground that seemed as if nothing could stop it. Bands and music scenes started in the most unlikely of places and sprouted up quicker than you could say "Heil, Reagan!" Political Pollution was one of many bands that started up in Austin during the mid '80s and although they had next to no profile in the hardcore scene, some of the members were active in even more underground ways- more subversive ways- more inane and silly ways...

Illegal skateboarding, physical scuffles with state troopers, clandestine spray painting operations, sabotaging high school vivisection projects, random acts of vandalism, and rampant questioning of any figure of authority you can shake a stick at... These were all part of the lifestyle adopted by these brash and antagonistic youth in an age when spiky hair and ripped up clothes incited terror, shock, and anger in just about anyone who happened to come across their path.

No more nostalgia! Onward!!

Carving A Distinct Sound

Formed in Birmingham in 1978, The Beat took the English ska scene by storm. As popularity increased, they changed their name to The English Beat to avoid confusion with another American band. The alternating vocals by Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling, supported by a tight band and a sax player who had played with Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker provided not only street-cred but also provided a solid foundation for musical growth and change.

The band was discovered by 2-Tone Records while playing support for The Selecter (another incredible ska band of the same era) and were quickly signed. As their presence in the ska circuit became more pronounced, they found themselves more politically inclined and performed benefits for many causes that were in need of fundraising and this stance began to show in their creative process.

This LP was their debut album originally released on their own label Go-Feet (disributed by Arista). It wasn't until later that the album was distributed through Sire Records proper. The album compiled several of their singles (re-recorded) and was considered to be a smash hit under the musical radar.

Dub Me Crazy!

The Mad Professor has been an influence in dub music for some 20 years. He has had a hand in recordings with some of the most influential reggae musicians, such as Lee Perry and Pato Banton. However, he has also been involved in recordings with musicians who aren't typecast into that genre at all. Most notable are The Orb, Beastie Boys, Sade, The KLF, Massive Attack, and even Rancid.

Mad Professor started his own recording studio and record label back in 1979; he named it Ariwa, after the Yoruban word for communication. This album is one of the recordings he set up under this record label. Although, not as world-renowned as his 12-volume Dub Me Crazy series with their cartoon covers, the Mad Professor still rules the airwaves with his own brand of dub and trip-hop.

Bottlenecks & Rednecks

The liner notes (included below) seem to be misleading. Although, the text seems to indicate that the collection is a sampling of Hawaiian steel guitar tunes from 1900 to the WWII era, it is actually a collection that only spans the 30's and 40's.






Regardless of the liner notes' inconsistency, this is still a representative compilation of the musical style that influenced every facet of American music- folk, ethnic, or pop tunes. This album was re-issued by Rounder Records on CD in 2000.



Hula Blues

Oy Tate S'iz Gut

The full LP of Klezmer Music is now posted on this site. If you check the posts regularly, you may find that there has been updating of the links or the written information included on the particular album featured in the post.

The image above is a 78 RPM record of Belf's Rumanian Orchestra recorded in 1908. It's the oldest known klezmer recording and can be found on the renewed CD collection of this album.