The Sandinista Project

A happy ending to this blog

2008-04-10T14:01:00.006-04:00

Sandinista Project contributors Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric are getting married. Hooray!

And, with this wonderful news, I'm going to close down this blog. I enjoyed chronicling the development of The Sandinista Project over the years as it went from a crazy idea to a crazy idea that we actually completed. The record's been out for nearly a year, I don't expect there will be any new news to offer about it, so that's it. Those of you interested in my semicoherent ravings can visit my regular blog from now on. And, even though I won't be updating it anymore, I'll keep this blog live if people want to relive our progress or download MP3s and PDFs.

The Sandinista Project was one of the best projects I will ever be involved with. Thank you for sharing it with me.

R.I.P. Mikey Dread

2008-03-16T22:32:00.002-04:00

Mikey Dread (nee Michael Campbell), producer, songwriter, and performer, is dead. We were honored that the man who so influenced The Clash's Sandinista! was a contributor to our Sandinista Project (he accompanied The Blizzard of '78 on "Silicone on Sapphire").

Greatest. Misheard lyric video. Ever.

2008-02-18T12:02:00.001-05:00

And they said we took liberties on The Sandinista Project.

Thanks to R.C. for the pointer. Sorry for taking so long to acknowledge it.

Mick Jones, live on public radio

2008-01-29T12:50:00.000-05:00

Mick Jones will appear today on NPR's Fresh Air.

Willie "Police on My Back" Nile at Iron Horse in Northampton tomorrow night

2008-01-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

There's a good preview piece here, and it mentions our humble project. If you're anywhere near Northampton on Sunday, you oughta go. Indeed, the Iron Horse is an important part of the Sandinista Project story: Amy Rigby committed to our set when she played there -- and her opening band that night, Storybox, immediately earned itself a spot on the collection.

Wanna be a Broadway star? You should have been on The Sandinista Project

2008-01-07T08:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was delighted to see, in the New York Times Arts & Leisure section, a full-page advertisement for Passing Strange, the new musical by Sandinista Project contributor Stew (he did "Broadway"), coming to Broadway with previews starting in February.

Mark Cutler's fantastic alternate version of "Junkie Slip"

2007-12-26T13:22:00.000-05:00

Just received a comment to an earlier post in which I wrote that Mark Cutler recorded two versions of "Junkie Slip" for The Sandinista Project: a "Doc Watson/zydeco" treatment that we included on the finished product, and a "Velvet Underground meets the Beach Boys" version, which is great but we couldn't fit it. The comment:

Jimmy (and Mark and all), First, thank you for giving Sandinista the long "second look" it deserves. However, the liner notes to the CD say to check the website on how to hear the other version (which sounds intriguing) of Junkie Slip - but I can't figure out where I can do that. Can you help us out? Maybe post a downloadable MP3? Please?

Yes, of course. Here it is, in M4A format (3.9M).

Dirty Linen review

2007-12-19T08:20:00.000-05:00

It doesn't look like the review is available online, but here's what Jeffrey R. Lindholm wrote about The Sandinista Project in Dirty Linen:

Sandinista! was the Clash's magnum opus -- an amazing three-record set from the proto-punk band that had almost no punk music. Instead, it filtered the band's musical politics through gospel, soul, blues, dub reggae, rockabilly, jazz, rap, and more. This two-disc tribute, organized by music critic Jimmy Guterman, replaces the Clash's very British sensibility with a bunch of mostly American bands who add their own twists, emphasizing the original songs' power. Sometimes the culture, er, "clash" is just too much, as when [negative mention of one track excised -- hey, it's my web site!-JG], but overall the set delivers surprises (including theremins!) and satisfaction. Highlights include Mekons Jon Langford and Sally Timms' dub reggae "Junco Partner/Version Pardner" and Katrina Leskanich's (of the Waves) hyper-exuberant "Hitsville U.K." Profits support two charities -- Amnesty International and the Joe Strummer Memorial Forest.

"Surprisingly consistent"

2007-12-18T10:39:00.000-05:00

That's what Stereophile says about The Sandinista Project in its profile of 00:02:59 mogul Abe Bradshaw. Here it is, as an 800K PDF.

Time for Another Very Special Clash Christmas

2007-12-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

I won't have the pleasure of being in Chicago this holiday season, but if you are, join Sandinista Project contributors London Calling of Chicago for Chicago Calling IV: Another Very Clash Christmas on December 22 at Schubas Tavern.

Acadiana Calling

2007-12-13T10:12:00.001-05:00

It took a while, but The Sandinista Project has made it to Louisiana. We're reviewed in The Times of Acadiana, along with another capsule review of the I'm Not There soundtrack. It rates us as four "career opportunities" out of five.

Looooouuuuu!

2007-12-07T13:51:00.000-05:00

Well, we came up empty in the Grammy nominations yesterday, but I would like to note that Sandinista Project contributor Lou Carlozo has written the introduction to a new Bruce Springsteen book, For You. Congrats, Lou!

P.S. Someone just mentioned to me that Dirty Linen, which doesn't post its print reviews on its website, just ran a review of our record. If anyone here is also a Dirty Linen reader, please pass it along.

No more DRM for The Sandinista Project

2007-10-17T10:39:00.001-04:00

I am delighted to announce that The Sandinista Project, the record that took four years of my life, is now available on iTunes without DRM. It's now a good choice if you only want to own one or two songs at $.99 a shot. But the physical product is still less expensive and much better-looking.

Un-DRM'd Sandinista Project MP3s on Amazon

2007-09-25T10:21:00.001-04:00

Amazon soft-launched its MP3 store this morning and, yes, you can download un-DRM'd MP3s of all the songs on The Sandinista Project. But BEFORE YOU DO THAT, please note that downloading every track will run you $17.99, while purchasing the physical product, which will of course yield un-DRM'd MP3s as well as a beautiful package, is a mere $14.99. Caveat emptor.

October 22 update: For reasons I can't discern, the price of a physical copy of the set on Amazon has been upped to $18.98, while the digital version is now $17.98. It's a bargain either way, but I can't figure out why the price went up: Maybe because it's ridiculous to charge more for a digital product than a physical one?

With two Sandinista Project tracks, this is now my favorite playlist ever

2007-09-11T16:51:00.000-04:00

WRUW - 91.1 FM - Program Guide | Playlists : College Pop

Congrats to Jim and Lou, and thanks to Scott (whose own band is on this for, alas, a non-Sandinista Project cut -- how dare they?) for the pointer. Two down, 35 to go.

Merchandise?

2007-09-11T15:36:00.001-04:00

Someone just wrote me to ask if he could buy any Sandinista Project merchandise. Before I go to the expense of manufacturing merchandise to support a record that didn't quite have a Justin Timberlake effect on the Billboard chart ... is anyone interested in Project merch?

The Sandinista Project on Facebook

2007-08-30T14:40:00.000-04:00

We've caved in and started a "Sandinista Project" group on Facebook. Join us!

Coming soon to WXRT Chicago

2007-08-14T23:37:00.000-04:00

While in Chicago, I had the great pleasure of taping an installment of The Eclectic Company, the WXRT show hosted by Sandinista Project contributor and jack of all trades/master of them all Jon Langford. The shows broadcast on Tuesday nights. I'll post here when I know which Tuesday it will be. The show was an enormous amount of fun. And, since there's a big Chicago angle to the record, I got to play almost all of the Chicago-related cuts from the set (apologies to Phil Rockrohr).

UPDATE: We'll be on the show this coming Tuesday, August 21, at 10pm CT, streaming here.

The Sandinista Project on AllThingsD

2007-08-01T16:33:00.000-04:00

My guest column isn't about the record, but I did use it as an example.

R.I.P. Tom Snyder

2007-07-30T15:16:00.000-04:00

"The Magnificent Seven," June 1981, on Snyder's Tomorrow show. (Thanks for the link, Mark!)

And, if you're interested, here's the associated interview:

Music & Nightlife | Tribute CDs

2007-07-17T19:29:00.000-04:00

I just happen to be in Sonoma county this week, so it was a nice surprise to pick up a local paper and see what The North Bay Bohemian says about the recent onslaught of tribute records. Here's what the paper had to say about our entry:

"Far more entertaining is The Sandinista! Project: A Tribute to the Clash. This two-CD love song to one of the most ambitious triple-album sets of the 1980s reaches artistically and more often than not hits the mark. Members of the Mekons and many of the insurgent-country artists that populate the feisty Bloodshot label roster make up the core of this project. The Smithereens, Camper Van Beethoven, former Clash collaborator Mikey Dread and Paisley Underground demi-god Steve Wynn also all get in their licks. The results are uneven, just like the original recording, but well worth checking out."

The Joys of RE-Creation (Los Angeles CityBeat)

2007-07-12T12:13:00.000-04:00

I'm misquoted only slightly in this Los Angeles CityBeat article about tribute records. Here's the excerpt from the piece that mentions The Sandinista Project, with my quotes fixed:

"Adds Jimmy Guterman, a music writer who became involved in producing reissues and now has made the new The Sandinista! Project: “Because albums may be dead in this iTunes era, there may be nostalgia for the very idea of an album.”

"His Sandinista! is a multi-artist two-CD set re-creating the Clash’s controversial early-1980s follow-up to its classic London Calling. It features, among others, Jon Langford and Sally Timms, Willie Nile, Camper Van Beethoven, and a mesmerizing version of “Broadway” by Stew.

"Guterman believes the Clash’s Sandinista! has been unfairly overshadowed by London Calling. “This is a work of advocacy for the original album,” he says. “It’s thought of as a big, sprawling, three-album mess, but I’ve developed enormous affection for it,” he says. “Their earliest records show you how much you can take out of a recording and still have rock ’n’ roll. This shows you how much you can put back in and still have punk.”

"ickmusic" gives us a thumbs-up

2007-07-04T17:25:00.000-04:00

includes unauthorized Lothars and Amy Rigby MP3s

Ruby Can't Fail

2007-06-22T08:59:00.000-04:00

The Montclair Times profiles Ruby on the Vine, their participation in our project, and their show in NJ this weekend.

No Depression review

2007-06-19T19:14:00.000-04:00

Can't find it on the website, so here it is as a JPEG.