Happy 25th anniversary!
Twenty-five years ago today, on December 12, 1980, The Clash released the triple album Sandinista!
Jeff Sanchez, one of the performers contributing to The Sandinista Project, wrote to me this morning, "None of us cared at the time, since there had been a terrible tragedy four days earlier. It was probably the most inauspicious week to have a new album released ever." In retrospective, it seems appropriate that one of the weirdest records ever put out by a major band should arrive that week, since it captures the diversity and intensity of feelings and thoughts we all had then.
Sandinista!, that sprawling, out-of-control masterpiece/monsterpiece, has defied categorization for a quarter of a century and, of course, it's the record we're saluting with our sprawling, out-of-control tribute. For those who go back to this project's early-2004 beginnings, I had hoped to get the record out by today's anniversary, but it turns out that connecting the right 36 performers to the right 36 songs and discovering the right label don't exactly happen overnight. As of today, we have more than half of the tribute recorded and more than three-fourths of it assigned. And, of course, we have lucked upon the right label. A number of performers have delivered early holiday presents in recent days (and two more are due this week). After I get the permission of the performers, I'll post some holiday downloads for you.
This continues to be an endlessly rewarding project. Every time I feel I've gotten to the bottom of this set, someone delivers a contribution to The Sandinista Project that forces all future listeners to think of it in a different way. Maybe Sandinista! is one of those records, like Astral Weeks, that no one can ever get to the bottom of. Even the bum tracks (inevitable when you release 36 of 'em at a time) are fascinating.
Thanks for joining us.
Jeff Sanchez, one of the performers contributing to The Sandinista Project, wrote to me this morning, "None of us cared at the time, since there had been a terrible tragedy four days earlier. It was probably the most inauspicious week to have a new album released ever." In retrospective, it seems appropriate that one of the weirdest records ever put out by a major band should arrive that week, since it captures the diversity and intensity of feelings and thoughts we all had then.
Sandinista!, that sprawling, out-of-control masterpiece/monsterpiece, has defied categorization for a quarter of a century and, of course, it's the record we're saluting with our sprawling, out-of-control tribute. For those who go back to this project's early-2004 beginnings, I had hoped to get the record out by today's anniversary, but it turns out that connecting the right 36 performers to the right 36 songs and discovering the right label don't exactly happen overnight. As of today, we have more than half of the tribute recorded and more than three-fourths of it assigned. And, of course, we have lucked upon the right label. A number of performers have delivered early holiday presents in recent days (and two more are due this week). After I get the permission of the performers, I'll post some holiday downloads for you.
This continues to be an endlessly rewarding project. Every time I feel I've gotten to the bottom of this set, someone delivers a contribution to The Sandinista Project that forces all future listeners to think of it in a different way. Maybe Sandinista! is one of those records, like Astral Weeks, that no one can ever get to the bottom of. Even the bum tracks (inevitable when you release 36 of 'em at a time) are fascinating.
Thanks for joining us.
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