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BANDSCUSTODIANDJ Car Stereo (Wars)The Laughing

Adreon Henry is no stranger to the game. As the former frontman for Volcom signed Single Frame, his cutting-edge songs garnered Pitchfork praise and college radio prominence. Henry was also a founding member of the first incarnation of Car Stereo (Wars), which began as a bi-weekly dance party, a mish mash of hiphop, britpunk and indie favorites with his live percussion spin over it all. Needless to say, Henry knows the score. But after years of hustling, the pretense and inaccessible goals lauded by modern music had begun to take their toll. Henry needed to escape. So Henry cast off his celebrity and chose instead to don a Dickies jumpsuit and a more sensible life. A life of sweeping. A life of cleanliness.

Or so he thought.

Along with collaborator/harrier Jay Bradley, Henry’s new project CUSTODIAN tells us what we already know: even blue collar has its fair share of the blues. Mixing old school boom bap with new wave samples and performance art, the working class hero and his fashionista foil weave morality tales, car-theft threats, and high gas price woes. Is this a joke? If so, on who? CUSTODIAN offers no easy answers for their audience, instead revealing only glimpses at the fantasies of a proletariat embarking on a world tour.

Channeling everyone from the Blow to Kurtis Blow and drawing from their visual/performance art backgrounds, Bradley and Henry generate provocative, innovative songs that will have the audience shaking their hips as they scratch their heads. Listen closely for nods to Laurie Anderson, Whodini, Supersystem, the Fat Boys, the Beach Boys, New Order and Klymaxx to name a few. Layered with original break beats and synthesizers, the hybrid songs embody the fundamentals of hip-hop with an abstract tongue placed firmly in an intangible cheek. Think Das Racist meets Pleaseeasaur. Simply put, CUSTODIAN is the perfect alliance of arty meets party.

CUSTODIAN’s first release Ultra-Fresh comes with one-of-a-kind packaging. The EP comes in a janitorial soap sponge box and includes steel wool scouring pads impregnated with soap. The box is be hand numbered and extremely limited edition.

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download “Pop-A-Lock” (right-click and select Save As …)

The Bandit by DJ Car Stereo Wars

DJ Car Stereo (Wars) debut LP, The Bandit was branded with a Smokey and the Bandit theme. The first 500 records include a fake mustache on the front cover and a one of a kind “Bandit” Polaroid inside. Taking the Burt fandom one step further, every track name is based around a different Burt Reynolds film character.

See some of the limited edition polaroids here.

“The philosophy of The Bandit was to make a Girl Talk-styled party record, firing out samples from anywhere and everywhere at a frantic pace, but to try to have them work together in a smoother and kind of more organized fashion,” says Chris Rose. “One of the things I tried out for the first time on The Bandit was starting to experiment with making my own beats. There’s a lot more detail to this record than anything I’ve done before. I’m hoping that even on the 3rd or 4th listen there will be samples that will pop out that feel new and unnoticed.”

The new LP is a departure from traditional mash-up fare, opting instead to sound more like a DJ Car Stereo (Wars) live set: frantic, fast-paced snippets of various tracks blended together to create a new song and sound. It’s like 15 mash-ups for the price of one.

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download “Who Likes Nick McKenna” (right-click and select Save As …)

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download “Gator McKlusky’s Gold” (right-click and select Save As …)

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download “Charlie B. Barkin” (right-click and select Save As …)

Jungle by the Laughing

During the recording of Jungle there was continual effort to bring in the sounds of old dub records, elements of hip-hop, psych rock, and yes, a love of Roxy Music. The limited first run of this EP from Artifact Workshop Records features hand painted cds from a large mural by Austin artist Bryan Keplesky, which will be painted LIVE at the Jungle release party while the band plays. As with all Artifact Workshop releases, getting the hand-crafted release is more gratifying than going through a torrent site. This often contradictory, always innovative band has once again fashioned an avant album sure to gain attention. Jungle is not one to be missed.

Listen to “Canopy,” one of the more upbeat tracks from the EP:

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download “Canopy” (right-click and select Save As …)

Jungle smut core, yeah.

No matter if you were there to witness it or not- this brief video recap of the Laughing’s momentous recent CD release is a MUST watch. Listen to the Laughing perform “Paradise” off the Jungle EP as you watch the mural of CD sleeves painted. Watch it HERE.

Purchase this one of a kind EP HERE.