TVD's Weekend Shots

I met Spike, your DJ for this weekend's Tenacious Ten, when I was 3 and he was 4. Spike tells this rather lucid story about how he peered over the redwood fence that separated our backyards and there was wee TVD, mashing blueberries into a Frisbee. Spike's my brother from a different set of parents -- and being adopted myself, it ain't a stretch. We grew up together, went to the same university here in DC, and even though he's lived in New York City with his lovely wife and gorgeous daughters going on 16 years now, (Spike, am I right...that long?) ...he's got some Friday tunes for the D of C. Now, if you'll forgive me, I've got some blueberries and a Frisbee to attend to. Take it away, Spike:

"I was fortunate this year to catch two shows during the Brooklyn Next series of concerts. Brooklyn Next highlights the innovation and diversity of the Brooklyn's music scene with two weekends packed with shows all over the borough. More so, the series made me realize how many bands in my music collection are Brooklyn based. So I present to you a sampling of some music made in the borough."

National - Apartment Story (Mp3)
National - Fake Empire (Mp3)
Bravery - Believe (Mp3)
Citizen Cope - Brother Lee (Mp3)
Ambulance LTD - Heavy Lifting (Mp3)
Ambulance LTD - Stay Where You Are (Mp3)
TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (Mp3)
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago (Mp3)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth (Mp3)
Oneida - High Life (Mp3)

This is your Friday Forum, TVD reader. Ten tunes and a tale to tell?

Fashion advice from a music blog?

Indeed. Perfect for the church social, a business meeting, book club, the walk to work, or simply sunning yourself on the beach -- creepers. (And they're unisex!)

TVD: your friend in the street.
Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker (Mp3)
Sex Pistols - EMI (Mp3)
Damned - Love Song (Mp3)

TVD | Friday @ Random

Johnny Carson. Merv. Mike Douglas. They all had them. Joan Rivers for Johnny (before the falling out, of course.) Totie Fields on Merv Griffin. Sammy Davis, Jr. in the afternoon for Mike. Heck, that's how Lettermen and Leno got their start.

Y'know, very early on in I had a few tips from the sorely missed Retro Music Snob. He said, "Kid... update daily. Give 'em a reason to come back. Make it exciting and thoughtful -- just don't make it a JOB." Which is a roundabout way of saying, "MAN, we were coasting this week, huh?" See, I think I missed my calling - I shoulda' been in radio, because each morning pondering posts for the day, I just wish I could flick the ON switch to a live mike instead of pushing pixels toward particular portions of a playlist. And there'd be no spell check either. Or syntax errors.

So, yea -- cohosts. Someone to guffaw next to Ed McMahon and take the reigns for a week. I'm dead serious. Think you could pull it off while I slather on the tanning butter in sunny Barbados? I'll hand ya' the keys to TVD HQ. (It's ok, I trust you.) Got it in ya? Be in touch because I'll be...right. Here.

Hand picked for your Friday Cube Dancing:
Adrian Borland - Lonely Late Nighter (Mp3)
Nilsson - City Life (Mp3)
Robert Palmer - Johnny And Mary (Mp3)
Modern English - Blue Waves (Mp3)
It's Immaterial - Summer Winds (Mp3)