Here at THE VINYL DISTRICTwe're good consumers. All Mp3's are posted to promote and give exposure to the music and are linked for a limited time. Please download to preview, then head promptly to your local vinyl vendor (or - OK, CD store too) and fork over your hard earned cash. You'll appreciate the piece of mind.
Got something you think we should be listening to or reading? thevinyldistrict (at) gmail.com
NYC's New York Times lands on DC's doorstep this Saturday night (5/10) and we've got two tickets to see them along with Koko and Nerd Parade at the Velvet Lounge. Tell us why it's YOU and a guest who should be front and center in the comments section (or via email) and the band themselves will choose the lucky recipient of the free tix. New York Times hold an MFA, a Screen Actor's Guild Card, a Congressional Press Pass, and have illustrated comics for Dark Horse and DC Comics. They are one artist, one reporter, one poet, and one actor...so make it convincing. AND bring your art degree.
Not unlike the gorgeous sunny day that is May 7, 2008 in Washington, DC, there came to pass a very similar day at the Jersey Shore back in 1985 when it seemed like a damn fine idea to ditch school, head to my pal Noel's house, and drink whiskey all morning long. Nothing like being three sheets to the wind, as my dad used to say, at 10 AM. Soon the word spread and a bunch of others followed and a rather impromptu and er, ...spirited day was had. One guy who ditched school that morning with us was Eric, who for some reason was called "Ebo" (pronounced 'e-bow'.) So, 'Down By The Seaside' from this Zep LP comes on, and at the point where Plant sings ' the people turned away' -- we all sang 'Ebo turned away/ Ebo turned away' waving shots of Jack Daniels in the air. F'n brilliant, right? Turns out, I can't hear the song differently all these years on. And now you can't.
Once I stood in front of this exact building at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York City. Talk about surreal contact high.
The Los Angeles-based Uh Huh Her is the brainchild of musician/actress Leisha Hailey, formerly of alt-pop band The Murmurs who currently appears on Showtime's hit series 'The L Word', and Camila Grey, bassist and keyboardist with lo-fi rock band Mellowdrone, who has also worked with Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes, Melissa Auf Der Maur, and Kelly Osbourne. Introduced through mutual friends, Hailey and Grey began making music together at the beginning of 2007, writing the emotionally charged electro-pop tunes that make up their debut release 'I See Red.' "Vocals were done in the bathroom," Hailey says. Produced by Grey and mixed by Al Clay (who has worked with the Pixies, Frank Black, and Blur), 'I See Red', with its laser-sharp melodies, ethereal harmonies, lush string arrangements, and muscular drums, is a great introduction to the duo.
Uh Huh Her release their new LP 'Common Reaction' (and yes, it is out on vinyl) on August 19. With 'Common Reaction', Hailey and Grey are looking to a horizon that's as expansive as their sound – which is to say, seemingly infinite. "We're getting a chance that a lot of bands aren't," Hailey says. "It's just about us showing up and proving that we can do it."
Uh Huh Her will indeed be showing up at the 9:30 next Wednesday night--and so will the TVD reader with the most well written plea for two free tickets. Really, it's that simple. Fan of the band or fan of 'The L Word' for that matter? Put pen to pixels and let us know. We'll accept your passionate pleas here in the blog comments section up to next Tuesday (5/13) at noon and notify the winner shortly thereafter.
Check out Uh Huh Her here and here and stream tracks from 'Common Reaction' here.
Not only do I feel fortunate to have had parents who encouraged my bourgeoning musical tastes as a kid, but I feel damn fortunate to have grown up at a time when those tastes were forged by -- wait for it -- radio. Really, when was the last time you heard a song on the radio and ran right to a store -- not your computer -- to purchase it? It's been some time, huh? Record stores and radio/radio and record stores -- that was the formula. (Insert rant against corporate suits poisoning the well here.)
A poster named Wayne over at the New Wave Outpost Message Board uploaded this radio snippet from 1979 of the WPIX Penthouse Party hosted by Dan Neer. ..and the memories trickled through. As Wayne wrote, "Listen for an early Crazy Eddie commercial, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Ian Dury, Joe Jackson, and at the tail end Meg Griffin playing The Stranglers. Plus throughout the clip some good old rock n' roll...."
So here it is, the sound of free form radio out of New York City, circa 1979. Two words: Crazy Eddie.
Rick Carlisle at Orpheus Records in Clarendon. (Photo by John Mcdonnell)
Direct from the source: "I know, how can you miss us if we won't go away! No we're not following the example of rug merchants everywhere, we're not making it all up, we really did lose our lease. However, the original deal our landlord had with a local bar/restaurant fell through. That means, we get to stay while they continue the search & negotiations with whomever. The good news: we get to continue selling records at tremendous savings to you. The bad news: lots of uncertainty for everyone, a declining customer base as people assume we're closed, or spent all their money or think they purchased everything we had of interest to them. The reality: We are still open for business, we still have a lot of lps, and we are putting out more records as quickly as possible, many for the first time AND we are still ordering and stocking new releases & reissues.. I would like to sincerely thank all of you who have purchased a WHOLE LOT OF VINYL these last 15 weeks. The response has been overwhelming, quite literally. Our daily operating systems were not designed for the volume of business we've experienced recently, nor do we have the staff to keep up efficiently. I appreciate everyone's patience and diligence. Things have settled down and we are doing our best to restock so that we may continue to offer quality lps to you and get them out of here. I hope this clarifies some of the questions in peoples minds, now get down here and buy records.....Please,.... Thank you!!!."
Crowded House lived up to its name literally on Friday night, as a wall-to-wall throng packed the 9:30 club to see the headlining group. And for good reason. Having reconvened last year after splitting up at the peak of its powers in 1996, it's got everything you could want in a band: an embarrassment of superb material, a charismatic frontman, a set list that's rewritten nightly, a tolerance for -- nay, encouragement of -- spontaneity and, most important, that palpable love of performing that can't be faked.
Led by underrated singer-guitarist Neil Finn -- who's revered as a songwriter of Lennonesque lyrical gifts and McCartneyesque melodic talent -- Crowded House has overcome every obstacle with grace: from the devastating (the 2005 suicide of drummer Paul Hester) to the merely annoying (the impudence of some of their own alleged fans, who welcomed the band to its first D.C. gig in more than a decade by yapping throughout the 130-minute concert). Fortunately, the reverent outnumbered the rude: "You're in very fine voice tonight, Washington," Finn gushed, deputizing 1,200 backup singers to fill out the soaring "World Where You Live." Read the rest here. (Via The Washington Post. Image courtesy Baby, You Got a Stew Goin'!)
Crowded House set list - 9:30 Club, 5/2/08 Everything is Good For You / World Where You Live / Isolation? (new) / Bangin’ the Dust? (new) / Distant Sun / Whispers & Moans / Cinematic 9? (new) / Either Side of the World (new) / English Trees / Nails in My Feet / Don’t Dream It's Over / Four Seasons In One Day / Twice If You’re Lucky / Weather With You / Encore One / Locked Out / Something So Strong / Private Universe / Encore Two / Into Temptation / Pineapple Head / Improv song w/ crowd / Mansion In The Slums / She Goes On / Better Be Home Soon
College rock. Just those two words together in a sentence make me want to hurl. REM, Camper Van Beethoven, They Might be Giants, 10,000 Maniacs, Cracker, Blind Melon, Pearl Jam, et al...keep it. Keep all of it.
But how then to justify my BTE love? It's impossible - but there it is. OK, maybe it's not impossible. This could be the best LP of that loathsome era of 90's godawful "alternative" radio...and that's not damning with faint praise.
As I wrote at Fun and Heartbreak and referenced last Friday, I was out of town at the New Orleans Jazz Fest when I got the news that my friend Anne had killed herself. If there's ever a reason to jump on a plane and get home, that was it...but I was convinced to stay in town and that night was persuaded that seeing BTE at Tip's was probably the better idea than just sitting in the hotel room drinking. A lot. So, BTE takes the stage on a sticky, humid New Orleans night and opens with a loopy, slow and mournful "Live Again." And that was sweat streaming down my face just then. Really.
The hand-wringing...the tears...the sleepless nights--all to conjure up this list o' TVD's Top Ten Crowded House Tunes in preparation for tonight's 9:30 show. And if anyone REALLY cares, this wasn't all that easy -- so many great songs, so small a list. And they're more of the darker variety (TVD = miserable f'er.) and not ONE from 'Woodface.' Go figure. So, we'll count them down all Casey Casem Top 40-like...cue jingle! (Towels at the ready...)
10. I Feel Possessed (Mp3) ...we are one person not two of a kind... 9. Black And White Boy (Mp3) ..and you run like a cat to the cream / and you're acting so nice it's obscene... 8. Don't Dream It's Over (Mp3) ...try to catch the deluge in a paper cup... 7. In My Command (Mp3) desolate in anger and safe in isolation / you're about to be the victim of a holy visitation... 6. Kare Kare (Mp3) ..i've got my senses on / and this is the only place that I always run from... 5. Fingers Of Love (Mp3) i hear the endless murmur / every blade of grass that shivers in the breeze... 4. Walking On The Spot (Mp3) the odd times we slip / and slither down the dark hall / fingers point from old windows / an eerie shadow falls... 3. Private Universe (Mp3) no time, no place to talk about the weather / the promise of love is hard to ignore / who said the chance wasn't getting any better / the labor of love is ours to endure... 2. Into Temptation (Mp3) ...as I turned to go / you looked at me for half a second... 1. Not the Girl You Think You Are (Mp3) ...and all the people that you know / will turn their heads as you go by / but you'll be hard to recognize / with the top down and the wind blowing, blowing...
Eight years ago this weekend, my friend Anne put a gun to her head and killed herself. I wrote a little bit about it here not too long ago.
Last winter as I stood waiting to get the bartender's attention at the Friday Night Haunt, I looked to my left and spotted a friend of hers and with more than a few in me I said, "Hey, didn't you used to be the drummer in so-and-so band? I think we have a friend in common." "Oh yea," he says as his date begins to gush at him having been recognized as this drummer that people know or something. I say, "Anne"...and it was like...a...light...went...off -- not on. "Don't bring her up, man..." he starts stammering and begins to physically back out of the conversation. "She should be remembered, you know" I press on. He's shaking his head, "No man, no." I'm not sure if it was too painful or just something else entirely.
I suppose I could do this post on Halloween because that was her birthday, but I often recall the goodbyes much more than the hellos.
It's just not lived in enough I think to have its tracks considered for tomorrow's Crowded House Top Ten. It's a fine return to form and I'm sure after a few more bottles of wine and some late night spins it'll walk its way into the favourites lane. But for now, it's merely a wonderful and welcome return. And as tomorrow's list will reveal, Finn & Co. aren't the sunny and breezy little outfit that much of the first LP and 'Woodface' lead one to believe...there are some seriously dark undercurrents at work texturally, sonically, and lyrically--and after the death of original drummer Paul Hester, that tone is front and center here. Absences do indeed have shapes.
When Chad Clark (Beauty Pill, Silver Sonya) was mixing The Caribbean's last record Populations, a recurring idea fixed in his mind: a group as literate as The Caribbean would likely appeal to an audience not plugged into experimental pop music, an audience not obsessed with hooks and melody, but who loved the sound of words. Likely, he reasoned, there was also a music crowd that didn't find itself at poetry readings but liked, in general, to read and understood the romance in literary things. Having friends in both DC's music and literary worlds, Chad had a thought, which he describes as follows:
"Okay, let’s say you had two brilliant, eccentric friends. One an innovative songwriter in an unusual, forward-thinking band. The other a masterful poet and founder of a respected literary journal. Each creative in their own ways, but with parallels. Cult figures in their respective worlds. Let’s say they didn’t know each other. Let’s say you introduced them. Let’s say they they hit it off and became fans of each other’s work. Let’s say they decided to collaborate as curators and performers of a shared evening of poetry and music. I’m telling you, it could happen."
To that end, an event at The Writer's Center in Bethesda was imagined among Chad, Michael Kentoff of The Caribbean and DC poet Deborah Ager, who also publishes the poetry magazine 32 Poems. Here are the details of the reality: THE SOUND OF WORDS: A SCHEME TO ROCK THE WRITER'S CENTER Featuring The Caribbean and 32 Poems Magazine DATE: Friday, May 9 TIME: 8 PM COSTS: Nothing LOCATION: The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD
In advance of Crowded House's sold out show at the 9:30 Friday night, we're going to get a bit Finn-centric here at TVD for the balance of the week. See, the thing is, next to Sir Paul, Neil's the Best Living Songwriter we've got. So nope, it's not Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Paul Weller, Paul Westerburg, Elton John, Elvis Costello or Colin Melloy. It's Neil. And the guy can kinda' sing too.
These tracks from Crowded House's 2000 rarities and b-sides collection 'Afterglow'-- songs deemed not album-worthy (?)--are added highlights to what arrives Friday: TVD's List of Top Ten Crowded House Songs. (Bring a towel.)
Their PR firm was scouring The Hype Machine for blogs that post about Thin Lizzy, and no surprise, TVD came up. A lot. And I wrote the guy back in about a minute after hearing the twin guitar attack and those vocals...
"Pride Tiger finds Matt Wood, Sunny Dhak, Bob Froese and Mike Payette coming together to produce a hook-laden, vintage rock album. On "The Lucky Ones", produced, engineered and mixed by Matt Hyde (Slayer, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu), they weave Wood's vocals and Dhaks' guitar lines with ease, resulting in 13 exhilarating songs that range from the bluesy wail of "A New Jones" to the heart-pumping stomp of "Let 'Em Go." And this year Pride Tiger's "The Lucky Ones" was nominated for the Canadian Best Rock Album Juno Award. ...When I put on this Pride Tiger album for the first time it was 1976 for me all over again. They really do channel the spirit of the late Phil Lynott. These riffs, these drums and these vocals are truly from a simpler time when gas prices were high and so were our older brothers and sisters."
And for the record (ahem...) they sent me a promo copy -- on vinyl.
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."
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!)
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.
Help the aged | one time they were just like you | drinking, smoking cigs and sniffing glue | Help the aged | don't just put them in a home | can't have much fun when they're all on their own | Give a hand, if you can | try and help them to unwind | Give them hope and give them comfort | cos they're running out of time | In the meantime we try | Try to forget that nothing lasts forever | No big deal so give us all a feel | Funny how it all falls away
Find your faith in your security | All broken up at seventeen | Jam your brain with broken heroes | Love your masks and adore your stereo | We're a mess of eyeliner and spraypaint | D.I.Y. destruction on chanel chic | Deny your culture of consumption | This is a culture of destruction | Don't wanna see your face | Don't wannt hear your words | Why don't you just | Babes on the run with poisoned lips | Wrap your arms round this everlasting kiss | Clinging to your own sense of waste | All we love is lonely wreckage | Your school your dole and your chequebook dreams | Your clothes your suits and your pension schemes | Now you say you know how we feel | But don't fall in love cos we hate you still | Don't wanna see your face | Don't wannt hear your words | Why don't you just | Destroyed by madness | Destroyed by madness | Destroyed by madness | Destroyed by madness | Anxiety is freedom
It's a funny thing about college...I have NO recollection of this photo being taken (circa 1986) YET I recall today's selection on constant rotation almost 24/7. And yea...where do the time--and styling products--go?
“I Need That Record” is a documentary feature examining why over 3000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade. Are they going to die off? Will they survive?
Record stores serve as important community spaces that provide foundations for new musical and artistic scenes and movements, a place where unique under the radar bands have been continuously supported, a place where the underground can thrive, a place where independent thought is encouraged and challenged, a place where people of different ages, races, and taste can mix and mingle face to face. Unlike the internet, physical stores are a real place, with real people, where community is formed and supported. Not just record stores, but original mom and pop main street stores are all in a fight to stay alive. Independent businesses are hubs for new jobs, new innovations, and creative thought.
Over the past ten years it has become increasingly harder to compete with big chain businesses that have big money and Congress protecting them. The rich and powerful in business and government have thrown a wrench in the wheels of progress. American culture has become more isolated and atomized as a result of homogenous culture and thought. Businesses and establishments that make different parts of America distinct from one another are disappearing. In order to save community, ourselves, and our world what we need are independent creative places where new ideas and thought can be nurtured. Not more of the same…
Some interviews include- Ian Mackaye of Dischord Records Fugazi/Minor Threat/Teen Idles, Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads, Pat Carney of the Black Keys, Mike Watt of the Minutemen/reunited Stooges, Noam Chomsky, guitar composer Glenn Branca, punk author Legs McNeil, rock photographer Bob Gruen, Bryan Poole guitarist of Of Montreal, Numero Records, Rhino Records, Bloodshot Records, United Record Press (the largest vinyl plant in the U.S.), and many many many indie stores across the U.S. (NYC, Boston, DC, Cleveland, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Minneapolis, Memphis, Nashville, L.A.). (Via thedailyswarm.com)
No dice...no caution to the wind. The noble Friday experiment in unchecked shuffle play whimsy has come to an end. Oh sure, sure - it was fun for about a half hour...there were the regulars (cheers whiteray!) and the copyists...ahem...but basically, I'm just bored with Bored. It'll reappear every now and again, but from here on out the TVD bully pulpit begins each Friday morning...whatever is in constant rotation, the best of the blogs, or something that simply needs to be said. And played. And shared. It's here -- Fridays @ Random.
My buddy Shark owned the Trouser Press Guide to New Wave Records (pictured below, bottom left) which ostensibly became our go-to Bible regarding all sorts of Punk/Post Punk and New Wave band and record release ephemera. This handy reference guide put to rest many an argument back in the day. Once "slippery fingers" Ben "borrowed" the Guide and man, there was hell to pay in the house. After several tense phone calls, Ben admitted he had "borrowed" the book (without asking, natch) and it was returned to me in a nondescript brown bag ala contraband. The thing was GOLD.
So, it cracks me up to think that Ira Robbins--editor of the Guide and one of the founders of Trouser Press Magazine--and I probably wouldn't...get along. In polite company, we'd be hurling insults and trash-talking each other's taste in music for certain. (And I'd welcome it, because well, I'm a reluctant fan.) Now, after yesterday's rebuke of Spacehog (a band admittedly I wouldn't go to the mat for) he offers this take on today's LP:
"The Motors effectively disbanded after (their) second album. Garvey and McMaster continued working together using the group name, eventually engaging Jimmy Iovine to produce their next album in New York. Tenement Steps, the unfortunate result of far too much time spent in the studio, is an appalling, overblown mess, reeking of self-indulgence and artistic confusion. The chorus of the best-known track, "Love and Loneliness," sounds exactly like Steve Stills' "Love the One You're With" — and that's as good as the record gets."
Well, it ain't that bad. Sure, the keyboards on "Love and Loneliness" are a bit much...yet all these years on, I'm still singing the song in the shower. And that says something, yes? (Just don't say it to Mr. Robbins.)
...and now you will too, loyal TVD reader. We're giving away two tickets courtesy of The Frontier Brothers for their show TONIGHT at Iota in Arlington, VA. Most convincing plea for these passes either in the comments section or to us directly gets 'em -- but the contest closes at 3:00EST, so get those pencils moving.
Born in space, razed in Fort Worth, and now regenerating in Austin, The Frontier Brothers have only just arrived, yet early notices are truly something for the E.T.s to phone home about. "The Frontier Brothers cover the wicked terrain between The Beach Boys and The Kinks with just a touch of mad Syd Barrett," says Vivien Goldman (BBC America). While the Fort Worth Weekly declares, "(The Frontier Brothers) have a love for the pure pleasures of music-making." Individually known as Marshall Galactic, Brett Moses, and Travis Newman, TFB craft a new breed of danceable indie-pop inspired by artists ranging from David Bowie and ELO to Wilco and Arcade Fire. However you describe them, The Frontier Brothers are simply out of this world. The trio is currently on tour recruiting more terrestrial visionaries for their intergalactic exchange program. The Frontier Brothers - Everyones A Neutron Bomb (Mp3) The Frontier Brothers - Space Punk Starlet (Mp3) The Frontier Brothers - Take It For Love (Mp3)
Update: We have a winner. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.
Oh, that Ira Robbins over at Trouser Press: " Pointedly copping melodies, guitar sound, vocals and a stylistic posture from glam-era David Bowie may be an odd choice two decades on, but it isn't intrinsically any more despicable than the usual pilferage that goes on in the rock world. If Spacehog — two brothers and two others from Leeds who emigrated to New York City before launching their miserable career — had a second idea of any merit, the group might be excused for such lightfingered designs...unmitigated rubbish, stupid and obvious."
Owing a heavy stylistic debt to yesterday's duo, Danny Wilson followed up the stellar "Meet Danny Wilson" with the wonderfully flawed release, "Be Bop Moptop". Wonderful because the song writing is top-notch, as are the arrangements, Gary Clark's vocals, and the subtle atmospherics and sonic touches. (Love those rainstorms.) Flawed because of the timing...not in a career sense but in a production-value sense. These songs SCREAM full band to me...not tinny keys and often abused drum machines. (Hell, it WAS '89 after all.) But strip those away (as Danny Wilson did in a live setting--which is how I KNOW I'm right) and you've got a little gem that just needs...a wee bit of burnishing.
Update: We have a winner!
