The punk/ska/reggae outfit The Dingees were nice enough to take the time to share their musical influences with us. Here is a list of their most influential and favorite albums.
Aaron Landers: guitar, keys
1. The Clash - The Clash
After I first heard this album, everything changed. Save for a few groups,
I never listened to music the same way, or thought of myself being in a
band in the same way. They valued different things in different ways when
it came down to songwriting, performance and record production. The
band's look and wardrobe also grabbed my attention - they were very
intentional with it. And I followed (spray-painted) suit.
FAVE TRAX: Janie Jones, Remote Control, London's Burning,
Police & Thieves
2. The Clash - London Calling
When I first heard this album in 1997, it reeked of an elusive
"coolness." I didn't quite know what it was, but I was hooked. I was 19,
impressionable... Now that I'm 15 years older the coolness doesn't elude
me; I've listened to it and read about it so many times and learned many
of the riffs and chord changes. I never thought musicians who reached all
over the musical and genre definitions could create a perfect hybrid
that was just ahead of its time. It takes balls to blend multiple
influences into something untried and untested. Plenty try and imitate
The Clash, now more than ever. But it's impossible - they invented their
elusive coolness and it's going to stay that way.
FAVE TRAX: London Calling, Jimmy Jazz, The Right Profile,
Death or Glory, Lovers Rock
3. The Clash - Sandinista
I was smoking more weed than ever when this record had its heyday with
me. You weren't supposed to finish it in one listen, but then again, we
were stoners. This record had many of the same identity, sonic and
otherwise, as London Calling, but it seems like the Clash were on a riff,
on a roll, totally loosened up. They couldn't put a stop to it.
Punch-drunk at a party - perhaps they said too much but they definitely
got their point across.
FAVE TRAX: Rebel Waltz, Corner Soul, If Music Could Talk,
Washington Bullets, Broadway, Kingston Advice, Version City
4. Ragga Jungle Anthems - Vol. 1 (Compilation)
I first heard this about 2003 or 4, maybe earlier. Being a huge reggae
fan, reggae from the 70s, I was shocked at how this music which often
falls between 70, 80 bpm, could be electrified and seamlessly woven into
a pace matching the energy of punk rock. Stimulating, in the way walking
through Tokyo at night would overwhelm the senses (which I have never
done).
FAVE TRAX: Under Mi Sensi (Jungle Spliff) (X Project Remix),
You Don't Love Me (No No No) (Ambient Jungle Lick),
How the West Was Won, Jungle Down in the Ghetto
(Let's Sing It Together)
5. Bruce Springsteen - The River
This record is Bruce's 4th with the E Street Band. Also known as the
record-following-artists'-first-commercial-breakthrough. What often links
these records together is a twist on the previous albums, but with a more
sprawling, wide-scope presentation of ideas. I picked this one because it
most resembles Sandinista by the Clash - just simply so much music.
FAVE TRAX: Hungry Heart, Out on the Street,
Cadillac Ranch, Drive All Night
6. The Beatles - Rubber Soul
It never occurred to me that the Beatles imitated anybody. The Beatles -
the pillars of creativity and originality. But the Beatles drew from
their peers - early Motown and the vocal groups of the early 60s. Like
London Calling, you couldn't really create this type of music - and
sound original, unless you were so completely absorbed in it that you
lost all self-consciousness.
FAVE TRAX: Drive My Car, The Word,
I'm Looking Through You, In My Life
7. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Even by Jimi's standards, this album goes everywhere. All over the place.
It was one of the first CDs I ever bought; I was 14 or 15. Jimi had a
voice that was faded, amused and confused. His songs on this one range
from a few pop song arrangements, to shapeless masses that take you on
long rides, with stops, gradual curves and the occasional U-turn in slow
motion. And I simply don't have the words to do justice to his guitar
playing - read what others have said.
FAVE TRAX: Have You Ever Been to Electric Lady Land?,
Crosstown Traffic, Burning of the Midnight Lamp,
1983...A Merman I Should Turn to Be, House Burning Down
8. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
I read critiques of this album quite a bit when I first listened to Pet
Sounds sometime around Y2K. Everything I read was right on; the songs
really dug right into me. What's great about it is how pre-rock 'n roll
some of the arrangements are. The strings were mic'd "uncomfortably
close," as I remember a violinist explaining. It's probably the greatest
technically recorded album that features songwriting that is equally at
its peak. It was my #1 for a very long time.
KEY TRAX: Wouldn't It Be Nice, I'm Waiting for the Day,
Here Today, Caroline, No
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
The RHCP have spawned so many imitators - and they all stink! The band
had made albums in the 80s that I won't really listen to. I think one of
the keys to its greatness is it seems that the band had finally learned
to let loose and breathe, adding empty space to their playing. The album
is heavier and rocks harder than their previous ones because of this
empty space. Some of the songs have the same unpredictable lyrics from
Anthony Kiedis, but the frame is a lot more transparent, and the songs
stand out more than all their image and all the fanfare.
KEY TRAX: The Power of Equality, If You Have to Ask,
Suck My Kiss, Under the Bridge
10. The White Stripes - De Stijl
The first White Stripes song I heard after a Napster search was "Hello
Operator." I felt reluctantly obligated to look into a band that was
getting all kinds of praise. What I heard really surprised me, in that I
didn't know why they were the "new best thing." Because I thought it was
the new best thing. I likened it to journalism - the best way to tell a
story is to witness an event, and have a first-hand account. Next best is
a second-hand account. What was amazing about the White Stripes is that
they were telling a second-hand story from a pre-1950s event. But the
music was alive now, or then to me, post Y2K. It sounds remarkable
because the music is from another era, but it really doesn't appear that
way at all to the uneducated (in musical history, that is).
KEY TRAX: Hello Operator, Little Bird,
Sister, Do You Know My Name?, A Boy's Best Friend
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Scrodgers - Drums:
1. James Brown - Star Time (Box Set)
2. Fela Kuti - The Black President (Best of)
3. Bob Marley - Songs of Freedom (Box Set)
4. Lee Perry - Arkology (Box Set)
5. The Specials - The Specials
6. Bad Brains - Black Dots
7. The Streets - Original Pirate Material
8. BlackStar - Mos Def and Talib Kweli are BlackStar
9. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
10. Rocket from the Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream
Honorable mention: Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs
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Jeff Holmes - guitar, vocals
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Rancid - Life Won't Wait
Clash - London Calling
U2 - Achtung, Baby
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Pogues - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses
Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
The Good, The Bad and The Queen - The Good, The Bad and The Queen
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Jeff Holmes & Peg compiled list of inspirations we drew from when writing Armageddon Massive:
Swinging Utters - Streets of San Francisco
The Bouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter
Hepcat
Scientific Slackers - Redlight
Citizen Fish - Thirst
The Business - The Truth the Whole Truth Nothing But the Truth
The Harder They Come (soundtrack)
Toots & the Maytals - Funky Kingston
Bob Marley & the Wailers - Rebel Music/Natty Dread
Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves
The Clash - The Clash
The Specials - The Specials
The Selecter - Selected Selecter Selections
Operation Ivy - Energy
