Wow, that happened faster than expected. Both The Aggrolites and The Aquabats have already made appearances on the new psychedelic kids show, Yo Gabba Gabba!

I’ve already written up a bit about Yo Gabba Gabba, which you can read here, but I wanted to post these two clips:

AQUABATS VIDEO REMOVED

It’s crazy how little the Aggrolites had to clean up the Banana song, to make it kid friendly. Everybody like it!

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Comments (0) Aug 27 2007

These days, it seems like a most of the bands that had been releasing straight ska albums, several years ago, are now cutting their fair share of Skinhead Reggae tracks. Sure, the popularity of the Aggrolites has probably spurred this on, but maybe there’s a lot of folks like me, that don’t want a bible lesson every time they listen to Reggae.

This Rasta-free Reggae isn’t so much about social messages as it is about funky organs and foot stomping. This episode is exclusively Skinhead Reggae, and in keeping with this series’ theme, I’ll be interrupting the music as infrequently as possible.

The Vulcans – Vulcan-ized
The Aggrolites – Make it Reggae
Crazy Baldhead – Eye Jammy
Pama International feat Dave & Ansel Collins – It Ain’t Funny
Tim Armstrong feat. The Aggrolites – Among the Dead
The Moon Invaders – Don’t Touch the Dog
The Upsessions – Pharaoh’s Last Wish
The Skoidats – Smash Your Fucking Head
The Rhythm Doctors – Mark’s Mood
Downbeat Alley – Nobody but You
Westbound Train feat. Alex Desert – Soul Revival
Monty Alexander and Ernest Ranglin – Double Barrel
The Slackers feat. Glen Adams – Live Injection
The Aggrolites – Don’t Let Me Down

Other links of interest:
-A lengthy but informative essay on the Skinhead/Reggae connection. link
-A brief bit on early Skinhead culture. link

Oh, and Nazi Punks can Fuck-Off.

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Comments (2) Aug 22 2007

Oh my goodness! This is one of the strangest/most exciting new shows to come down the development pipe in quite some time:

It’s called Yo Gabba Gabba! and it premieres on NickJr. on Aug 20. It’s a kids show, naturally, but it seems to have enough musical and psychedelic elements to keep the grown-ups paying attention. Guests like Elijah Wood and Biz Markie, along with the design styles of such artists as Kid Robot and Paul Frank, should lend Yo Gabba Gabba a high degree of production value. Here’s an official description:

Yo Gabba Gabba! is a fun live-action program for young children ages 1 and up. Join our host DJ Lance Rock as he introduces us to friendly toy monsters in a magical land full of music, dance, colorful cartoons and simple life lessons that will get you and your children up off the floor to learn and dance along.

So, why am I posting about this on a Ska Blah Blah? Well, not only is the show created and run by the Jacobs Bros (Christian and Parker of The Aquabats and GoGo13 fame) but scheduled musical guests include The Aggrolites, Mark Mothersbaugh, The Aquabats, GoGo13 and Alex Desert. Other (non-scene musicians) include Smoosh, Sean Kingston, Rahzel, and The Shins.

YGG song, Party in my Tummy, feat.
a very Don Hertzfeldt style of animation,
though I doubt that it his actual work:

Links of Interest:-Offical Yo Gabba Gabba! site
-YGG MySpace
-YGG Music MySpace (lots of songs)
-Nick Jr.’s official Yo Gabba Gabba page (you know? for kids. Iron-ons, masks, and activiteis)
-Yo Blogga Blogga (the shows production blog)
-YGG at IMDb
-YGG on YouTube

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Comments (0) Aug 17 2007

Tim Armstrong has always given nods to Jamaican Music, from Operation Ivy, thru Dance Hall Crashers, and all the way up to Rancid and the Transplants. But he’s always kept his sound on the Punk side of things, relegating the Ska and Reggae to a mere influential role.

It took a band like The Aggrolites to help Armstrong realize his Reggae dreams. This Hellcat team-up has just released, A Poet’s Life, evidence that Armstrong is capable of making the big leap from Ska influenced Punk to Punk influenced Reggae. The Aggro’s hard rhythms and grease bubbling organ are a nice compliment to Tim’s, mouth-full-of-marbles vocals.

The CD itself comes with a ton of music videos, they made one for every track.
- Buy A Poet’s Life from Amazon

I found a few of the above mentioned videos on YouTube:
- Hold On
- Translator
- Take This City
- Inner City Violence
- Among the Dead
- Oh No
- Cold Blooded

And while I’m on a recommendation roll, don’t forget to check out The Aggrolites new (Armstrong Free) album, Reggae Hit LA.
- Buy Reggae Hit LA from Amazon

Links of Interest:
- A collection of officially recorded Rancid Live Sets – dead link
- A video of The Aggrolites Live in the Studio

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Comments (0) Jun 07 2007