AntiCurrent Archive Vol 10: Jesse Wagner: Live and Uncut Acoustic

This is the tenth edition of the "AntiCurrent.com Archives", a collection of rare bootleg-albums I'm releasing through this blog. Click here to view all past AntiCurrent.com Archive Albums.

The Aggrolites (2012)

On April 14th, 2007 I attended a small venue in Downtown-Fullerton called The Alley where I saw a band that blew my mind. After a few amazing songs they started into one of their hits, but stopped it 10 seconds in. Then they started into another of their well-known songs, and stopped again 10 seconds in. They repeated this six more times, teasing the audience with one of their favorite songs, then ripping it away and laughing. It was the most amazing musicianship I've ever seen on a stage, the ability to stop and start on a dime like that before blazing into a song is something I’m never likely to see again. That band? The Aggrolites.

It is for this reason why I always insist that The Aggrolites are the best live band in Los Angeles. The band’s self-described style is “dirty reggae” but is akin to the Ska and Rocksteady sounds of Jamaica in the 60’s. (Not familiar with pre-Specials ska? Well I wasn't either but the band happens to be super nice guys as well. I once reached out to their now-former guitar player Brian Dixon about their influences and he offered me a plethora of Trojan Reggae Comps to check out.) There's not enough bands around anymore that transcend the musical scene of their day. The Aggrolites are truly one of those rare bands like The Pogues that can make old songs sound new and new songs sound old.

Bar One Flyer

Flash forward to February 2014, I read that Jesse Wagner (lead singer of The Aggrolites) was going to do a solo acoustic show with none other than Vic Ruggerio (lead singer of The Slackers) at Bar One, right down the street from my house. It was two guys, with two guitars at the top of their game playing in one over-sold little bar, and my wife and I were directly in front to watch. So of course, with booze in hand, we marveled over how fucking cool it would be if we could get them to play our wedding in July. We spoke to Jesse about it, and unfortunately Vic was not going to be in LA at the time, but I added Jesse on Facebook and he told me to contact him closer to the date to see if he would be in town. We did, and he agreed to play our wedding reception.

Now, the benefit of being “in the industry” is always having hands on deck to film important things at the drop of a hat. Enter my buddies Andrew Heaberlin and Matt Rowbottom. On the day of I had Andrew shoot a two camera setup of Jesse’s set and had Matt record the line-out from the mixing board, the result of which I edited into an amazing live acoustic concert that I posted on YouTube. However, the completest collector in me wasn't satisfied simply having video documentation of the show, I also wanted to have an album copy of it, hence this edition of AntiCurrent.com Archives.

Front Cover

Jesse arrived at the show with a list of potential songs that he prepared and had rehearsed to play acoustic. Of course by this point I was hammered and was unable to read without an amount of concentration I was NOT prepared to expend, so I told him to play whatever he felt comfortable with…. and then during the course of the show drunkenly yelled out the songs I wanted to hear. This of course means that he hadn't had a chance to practice some of the acoustic versions of the songs here, but it speaks volumes as to his kindness and his musicianship that he not only attempted every song we requested, he knocked them out of the fucking park.

Back Cover

A few gems on here for me are “Faster Bullet” (my wife and I’s shared favorite song as it reminds me of her, and quite arrogantly, her of herself ;-) and “White Man In Hammersmith Palais”.  Honestly, in all the bands that have ever covered the Punk Rock Warlords that were The Clash, this is my favorite cover of one of their songs I've ever heard. Be sure to watch the song on the video and see my drunken friends attempting to “dance” to it.

If you ever have a chance, please, please go and see The Aggrolites. They are honestly one of the few bands that can cross all race, creed, and age gaps. As always, this is a free download, but it is not meant to contend with any actual, purchasable album out there so if you dig this, go out and buy something from the band or the man himself. Trust me, you will not regret it as they have yet to put out a less than stellar record.

Download The Entire Album and Cover Art Here:
MP3 Zip Archive

The tracklist is:
01: Faster Bullet
02: Tear That Falls
03: True Love
04: Dream Came True
05: Willow Tree
06: White Man in Hammersmith Palais
07: Don't Let ME Down
08: Free Time
09: Mr Misery
10: Red Wine
11: 54-46 Was My Number 

A Casting Call of a Somewhat Different Nature....

I know how this will sound, but no, I am not making a porn, I am beginning casting on my first short movie. Now, this film will display no nudity and will be done tastefully, but the subject of bondage is heavily explored in a dark-comedic fashion. Think John Waters meets Jim Jarmusch.

The story is about a young boy discovering that his Grandparents are into bondage, and the awkwardness of coming to grips with your Grandparents sexuality. Thus, this flick is in need of extras within the BDSM community, so I figured this was as good a place as any to post an open casting call for anyone involved this subculture.

The perfect fit for this project is someone who owns their own S&M gear and is comfortable on camera wearing it.

Unfortunately, as this picture is entirely self-financed there is no pay involved, but this is an amazing opportunity to accurately represent your subculture and get your name out there on the big screen! I've been working within the entertainment industry for the last 5 years and the first rule of this production will be to have fun, but rest assured, this is a serious project that will be treated as such. Food and private areas to change will be provided on set. Please feel free to email me with any questions.

Below is the open casting call as written by my producer and life-mate Olivia Banks:

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Greetings BDSM community,

I am writing to you in regards to the latest short film that my crew and I will be producing in late-March/early-April of this year. The main theme that is addressed is S&M and we are currently searching for extras with experience and their own gear. I am the producer, Olivia, and am speaking on behalf of the writer/director Josh Roush and myself.

‘Rodney Redbottom’ is a dark-comedic short that (tactfully and respectfully) portrays a young man’s adventure into discovering that his Grandfather was heavily into  S&M. Our team consists completely of North Hollywood community members which is why we are hoping to collaborate with you!

We are looking for a diverse group of 10-15  volunteers to be involved in non-speaking roles throughout the film. The reason we are approaching the BDSM community is because we feel we can reflect a more honest portrayal of the subculture by using actual members that take part in the subculture. We want our extras to be comfortable with the equipment, costumes and environment. We are also hoping our extras will provide some of the costumes and equipment to increase the realism and diversity of the movie (not to mention ease the budget cost).  The filming will take no more than one afternoon in early April.  It will be a fun and rewarding experience for all, particularly if members are seeking exposure in the film industry.

If you believe your members might be interested in participating, or if you know any BDSM groups, troops or organizations, please contact us on RodneyRedbottom@gmail.com We await your response and hope to work together in the near future.

Regards,

Olivia Banks

Producer