Rock Candy

I've finally jumped into the Muxtape game with a Rock Candy special. Back in the day, I did  mixes for Localist and have been clamoring to get some kind of streaming player introduced to our site. Until that happens, I'm gonna keep Muxtaping monthly with mixes of local jams, old and new.

1. David's Pegasus- Stop Saying Hardcore (Buy "Choose the Game;" here's our review) There are far too few one minute songs. Used to, maybe still, you could buy "Stop Saying Hardcore" David's Pegasus' shirts. They'll be at Vino's on Saturday.

2. Goines- Know What I Mean? (You'd probably have to track down Goines to get him to sell you "Lead by Example;" read about it here.) There's not been a local hip-hop cut that I've loved as consistently as this one. Suga City (Goines and Arkansas Bo) better bring it hard for their Koch debut. I'm counting on them breaking through.

3. Michael Jukes- Becomes You (Buy "Bright Room;" check our review in this week's paper.) New summer pop goodness from the semi-reclusive singer/songwriter. From "Volume 3, Album no. 5 of a perpetual ongoing series."

4. Hector Faceplant- Mikey & Fluke (Buy "Songs You'll Never Hear;" check our review in this week's paper.) Dig the title, local messageboard regulars. I like HF when they're doing the X-style back-n-forth crunch, but the badabadababas go nice with short-sleeve weather.

5. SoundChild Crew- Paid (I'm not sure where you can get this track, but you can download a free mixtape, hosted by SoundChild here; previously) The winners of Southern Entertainment Awards Indy artists of the year bring it on this no frills head-bobber. It doesn't seem like much at first, but it sticks. I'm all for a return to associating wealth with girth: "We eat a lot now/We eat a lot later." Look for dudes to make noise in the not-too-distant future.

6. The Gossip- Yr Mangled Heart (Buy "Live in Liverpool") White County, represent! The British press, for once, might not have over-hyped something. Here's to hoping Beth Ditto and co. blow-up stupid big.

7. American Princes- Don't Ever Promise (Buy "Other People") Allowing arrangements to breathe, really utilizing three guitars well, adding drama — that's the move forward for the Princes on the new one, no where more evident than this song.

8. Howlin' Wolf- Spoonful (Buy "The Howlin' Wolf Album": good luck) Way before Fat Possum went all remix-y on old North Mississippi bluesmen, Cadet turned Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters standards psychedelic. It's a little over the top in spots — Cadet made no bones about Wolf and Muddy hating the resulting albums, even using their disapproval as a teaser on the album sleeves themselves — but there are some gems in the mix, too. Definitely worth crate digging to find.

9. Riverboat Crime- Speeding (Buy "Walking Shoes") From the North Little Rock  pop-rock favorites' debut. What's that opening organ bit a nod to? It's on the tip of my tongue. Look for a review soon.

10. Little Beaver- Good Times (Buy "The Very Best of Little Beaver") Born in Forrest City, LB (real name William Hale) moved to Florida when he was a teenager and later became a major player in the Miami soul/disco scene, writing, doing session work and recording for TK Records. Jay-Z sampled his "Get Into the Party Life" prominently on "American Gangster."

11. Richard Leo Johnson and Greg Bendian- Superman (Buy "Who Knew Charlie Shoe"). El Dorado guitar hero Johnson got bored or as the press info has it wanted "to get inside the music," so he invented a character, Charlie Shoe, with a fairly elaborate back-story: He's a self-taught musician from Marked Tree, who's developed a unique way of playing guitar. Then there's Junk Fish, a successful drummer back in the 70s, who lived too fast and ended up in Marked Tree, working at a salvage yard. Charlie and Trash Fish play guitars found on eBay, salvaged instruments and use simple tape effects to create a pretty compelling piece of backwoods psychedelia.

12. Isaac Alexander- Angel of Death (Mark your calendars to buy it on May 30) One of Little Rock's best singer/songwriters gone solo. Hear more on new ones on MySpace.