Give the Drummer Some's
10 Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere
(see Comments, below, for helpful info about downloading)
Happy 30th anniversary to Jimmy Carter and his maligned "crisis of confidence" speech, which some political observers identify as the day Carter lost his bid for reelection. Despite the ignominy attached to Carter's address, it turns out to have been one of the rare moments a sitting president has told the country such a shocking measure of truth about itself. The resulting right-wing shitstorm, which ultimately eviscerated Carter's presidency, spooked progressive politics under the rock it's only now just beginning to creep out from under.
In the three decades since that fateful night Carter sat before the cameras, ostensibly to deliver a speech on energy policy, Carter's flat-lined presidency has been looking better and better. (Of course, even Warren Harding's tenure begins to look rosy when viewed through the prism of the Bush abomination.) Sure it turned out to be a PR disaster, but Carter's address to the nation on July 15, 1979, was a stunning display of soul-searching candor never to be seen again in American presidential politics.
As you poke through the usual assortment of enchantments offered below, do yourself a favor and give a listen (mp3) to Carter's mesmerizing speech. (Or you can watch the whole thing here.)
Surf & Garage Covers from Lisbon
Various ~ "Portuguese Nuggers, Vol. 1"
(Blog: Soundaboard)
From the album: Hully Gully Do Montanhes (mp3) by Conjunto Académico João Paulo
Sitar on My Face
Bill Plummer ~ "Bill Plummer & the Cosmic Brotherhood"
(Blog: Hippy Djkit)
Aye, That's the Rabab
Essa Kassimi ~ "Le Luth Afghan"
(Blog: Sounds of Enlightenment)
[7 more nuggets of truth, after the jump]
Macedonian Trumpet King
Naat Veliov & the Original Kocani Orkestar ~ "Cigance"
(Blog: Na Bula Bula)
Marrakesh Record-Stall Pickup
Cheb Mokhtar el Berkani ~ ???
(Blog: Different Waters)
What, No Ditty About Having Your Foot Near Shot Off?
Howard Vokes ~ "Songs of Tragedy and Disaster"
(Blog: Red Neckerson's Radio Round Up)
Nice Pants!
Godwin Ironbar & His High-Life Rock Exponent ~ "Godwin Ironbar"
(Blog: With Comb and Razor)
From the album: Okpa Do (mp3)
Airborne Wisdom
Jimmy Giuffre Three ~ "River Chant"
(Blog: Far From Ubiquit)
Funky Son from '70s Havana
Grupo Monumental ~ "Grupo Monumental"
(Blog: L'Ostia Latin Jazz)
From the album: Tremendo, Tremendo (mp3)
Pass the Hookah 'Pon the Left Hand Side
Various ~ "Turkish Delights"
(Blog: Twisted Perceptions)
Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).
Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode
A brief note about Mining the Audio Motherlode: The main focus here will be on
posts of rare and out-of-print recordings, but the blogs themselves are responsible
for the content they are providing.
A few helpful words about the downloads:
Follow the links provided to blog pages offering the downloads. Look for the download link on the page. (Occasionally, the link is listed in the Comments section. Also, if the original download link is no longer active, check further down in the string of comments; a new download link may be posted there.)
Some downloads deposit a folder on your desktop; others leave an rar. file, which needs to be opened using special software. This software is FREE and available online. (If you use a Mac, I highly recommend UnRarx.)
Some blogs provide passwords, which then must be entered when opening the rar. file. The password is typically listed right next to the original download link.
Be sure to search the archived pages at each individual blogs to find more musical gems. Also, check the blog rolls at each blog for leads to other great blogs.
Searching for a specific artist or album? Use Google's BlogSearch or the terrific music blog search engine Captain Crawl.
Posted by: Doug Schulkind | July 15, 2009 at 12:08 PM
And what happened to all those plans Carter talked about?! No wonder he lost the election. It's so much easier to just have kindly Grandpa Reagan tell us everything's fine and we're all great. A new morning in America.
Posted by: Andy in Berlin | July 15, 2009 at 03:54 PM
Jimmy Carter didn't get re-elected because The American people were smart enough to know that you don't do better with less!
"Conservation never filled a gas tank"!
Reagan got elected because he correctly stated, "Government is the problem", not the American people! IMHO, Reagan did one thing that Carter failed to do, restore respect for America around the world and instill patriotism in Americans again.
Posted by: Rich | July 15, 2009 at 07:18 PM
Yeah, Rich. Now we got Obama... He's the end result of Bush's legacy. Hope and Change indeed. Carter is looking better each day.
Posted by: M. | July 15, 2009 at 09:19 PM
Carter's real unforgivable sin was giving Leonid Brezhnev a hug and a kiss on the signing of a treaty. Blech.
But beyond that, Carter was a former Naval officer in an elite force, the US nuclear submarine fleet. He hired Paul Volcker, the man who ended stagflation by contracting the money supply. The resulting recession almost wrecked Ronnie's presidency, but he lucked out with a recovered economy.
Big government? Carter was famous for his zero-based budgeting ideas. He told everyone there were limits.
Carter's problem is that he didn't schmooze with Congress. He had no political friends. "The isolated world of Washington"? He needed that isolated world.
His southern accent didn't help any. Face it, the notion that Southerners were feckless shitheads was alive and well at the time. And Southerners near the Mason Dixon line thought Deep Southerners were shitheads, in a bizarre pecking order. Is this a great country or what?
Posted by: Murray Van Creme | July 15, 2009 at 10:24 PM
2 to make it a dozen:
dark grooves
http://ritualisticnature.blogspot.com/2009/01/various-ophir-1994.html
Music from Egypt
http://madrottersecondblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/soliman-gamil-egyptian-music.html
Posted by: Icastico | July 16, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Reagan won because of one thing : IMAGE. Look at this Carter video, or even just listen, his words make perfect sense but his delivery is so morose that it sounds like he's going to fall on his face.
Americans elected Reagan because we chose style over substance.
Posted by: illlich | July 16, 2009 at 01:40 PM
For those too young to have first-hand experience of the horrors and nightmares of the appallingly bad Carter administration, this link will be helpful:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=253498508729127
For a more detailed account, here's a link to, "Profile In Incompetence: A 10-Part Series on the Worst President in American History":
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/Special3.aspx
Many would judge James Buchanan as even worse than Carter. And now, Carter has some more recent competition, as both GWBush and BHObama are strong contenders to take the title of "the Worst President in American History".
Posted by: Kevin Killion | July 17, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Wow, Obama hasn't even been in office a full 6 months and already he's a contender for one of the worst presidents in history, Kevin?
Even after 9/11 I didn't automatically think "W" would be one of the worst in history (and not because I bought that line about it being Clinton's fault); it took a few years for "W"s incompetence to become obvious. Obama may indeed turn out to be horrible, but it's waaayyyyy too early to tell. When you lump Obama in with the worst this early it shows an obvious bias.
I'm not saying Carter was a great leader, but certainly a lot of what he said was prescient: if we had taken the energy crisis as seriously as he wanted us to we would be a lot better off now. Instead we had Reagan removing the energy-saving solar array from the White House at taxpayer expense. Why? What did that accomplish except give a metaphorical finger to the left and tell Americans "don't be frugal."
Posted by: Rosko | July 17, 2009 at 03:00 PM
>Instead we had Reagan removing the energy-saving solar array from the White House at taxpayer expense.<
Nothing like trying to prove a point - at the expense of logic. Or intelligence.
Posted by: andy in berlin | July 17, 2009 at 07:28 PM
Having trouble figuring out where the password is listed for that Grupo Monumental disc--and I really want to hear that!
Posted by: Joe | July 23, 2009 at 11:08 AM