Monday, October 11, 2010

TVD Label Spotlight: Yep Roc Records | Nick Lowe Vinyl Giveaway


It's one thing to have exceptionally fine taste in assembling a roster of recording acts and to consistently make sure releases see the light of day on vinyl, but it's another thing entirely—an undertaking—to delve into an artist's back catalog and conjure up vinyl versions of recordings previously available only on CD or some other dodgy digital format.

And it's just what Yep Roc has done with a trio of Nick Lowe releases that until last month were never available on vinyl. And it's this trio of brand new 180 gram vinyl releases that comprise our first Yep Roc Giveaway of the week. They are:

1994's The Impossible Bird...

1998's Dig My Mood...

...and 2001's 'The Convincer.'

One winner will receive all three LPs in exchange for your comment to this post.

We've been suitably inspired by Yep Roc's commitment to vinyl and damn fine music over the years and we trust you have as well. Let us hear it in the comments to this post and we'll choose our winner on 10/19—the day after Nick Lowe plays The Birchmere here in our own backyard.

Make 'em good and remember to leave us a contact email address!



Nick Lowe - So It Goes (Mp3)
Approved for download!

TVD Recommends | TONIGHT: Black Telephone at DC9 w/Women and DD/MM/YYYY

If you had asked me a few years back, perhaps at the beginnings of this blog, if I anticipated vinyl to have the resurgence its had over the past few years, that answer would have been a rather unequivocal, "Yes!"

But ...cassettes?


Cassettes have indeed made a DIY return to form, and our friends Black Telephone have a brand new one to put in your hands TONIGHT as they open for Women and DD/MM/YYYY at DC9. It's also a bit of a cassette release show for the band.



Gear up for tonight's show with two tracks from the four-song cassette below—which are all new mixes from the previous versions we had on the blog last summer.

Check out our First Date with Black Telephone from this past summer here, and later we'll expect to see you along with us here.

Bring your Walkman.


Black Telephone - Crooked Eyes (Mp3)
Black Telephone - Drawers in the Store (Mp3)
Approved for download!

TVD Label Spotlight: Yep Roc Records


I've long respected North Carolina's Yep Roc Records not just for their exceptional taste, having such names as The Go-Betweens, The Fleshtones, The Reverend Horton Heat, Robyn Hitchcock, Bob Mould, Paul Weller, Kristin Hersh, Nick Lowe, Ken Stringfellow and John Doe (among many more) on their roster, but for their unwavering commitment to what brings the vast majority of you here each day—vinyl. Even when not in vogue per se, you could count on Yep Roc to consistently load store shelves—and my shelves—with records.

Similar to our Record Label Spotlight series we ran as a lead up to Record Store Day this past April, we're spending the entire week with the good folks and the bands of Yep Roc and we're kicking off the week with a little Q & A with label co-founder, Glenn Dicker.


First, tell us about your love of music. Where did it come from? What are some of the first bands you remember hearing and, possibly collecting?
I was very into watching the Partridge Family and Monkees re-runs on TV as a kid. I remember digging that as an afters chool thing. I remember being inspired by that in a real way because ever since I was in 1st grade I wanted to be in a band. My parents always went to flea markets and garage sales every weekend and I quickly started getting into vinyl singles. I'd pick one to buy for like $.05 or something and they'd say oh, just take them all. So I really got into collecting.

My cousin had a couple Beatles picture sleeve 45's- Rain/Paperback Writer and Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus and I ended up with those early on. I picked up a book by Hunter Davies at a garage sale about the Beatles published in 1968 and it blew me away. So I really became a big Beatles fan and still am to this day, really. Eventually got into other Brit rock stuff from Stones to Kinks to Who and Bowie. Then got into punk rock and really was buying records like crazy. Had a friend who would drive me to Philly and Princeton before I could drive to shop at great indie record stores. Soon found the Jam via a girl that moved to town from the UK and I found my new Beatles. Mind was really expanded when I started to work for Rounder Distribuition which had incredible indie labels with every possible kind of amazing music.

Where did the decision to start Yep Roc come from?

It grew from having the distribution company, Redeye, starting out as a regional music distributor. My partner Tor Hansen and I both had the passion to want to work more directly with artists and do projects from start to finish. It started with regional acts and grew from there.

Yep Roc has long issued vinyl—even when it was out of vogue for a while. Why? What is it about vinyl that adds to the experience of listening to music?
I think that hardcore music fans have never really stopped collecting vinyl. So it was really about serving the fans of the acts that we worked with. If they had a fanbase that desired it, we gave it to them. We of course love it ourselves because we grew up with it. The aesthetic is great, no question. And the sound is warm and killer.


What do you like to listen to now? If you were on a deserted island and had to choose only five records, which would they be?
Wow, that's so impossible. Today, it would be these: Rubber Soul, Sound Affects, #1 Record/Radio City (I have a CD with both records on here), Stax Box Set (since I'm cheating anyway), and Being There.

Check back all the week for Yep Roc-sponsored vinyl and ticket giveaways!

TVD's Press Play


It's our weekly Twitter #MusicMonday recap of the tracks from last week that the folks in the press offices and PR agencies want you to be hearing. We postyou decide.

The Art Of Shooting - Japanese (Mp3)
Alex Winston - Choice Notes (Remix) (Mp3)
Comic Wow - Jazz Computer (Mp3)
Everything Everything - Schoolin' (Games Remix) (Mp3)
Jonquil - Fighting Smiles (Mp3)
Exrays - Hesitation (Mp3)
Fops - Solid Copper Huntress (Mp3)
Husky Rescue - Fast Lane (Mp3)
Moneypenny - Destroy (Mp3)
Local Natives - Sun Hands (Here We Go Magic Remix) (Mp3)
Madison - Hot Hot Love.mp3
The Knocks - Make It Better (Mp3)
The White Panda - We Be Barbra Streisand (Mp3)
SubSwara - Bend You (Mp3)
Teenage Ghost - House (Mp3)
Rubblebucket - Triangular Daisies (Mp3)
All approved for download!


Our pick of the week:


The Rest - John Huston (Mp3)

Approved for download!