TVD's Daily Wax | Elvis Costello "Spike"

"...a solid return to form." How many times have you read that in a review of some release from an artist with a long, established career which...let's just say, had more valleys than peaks for a while? Admittedly, amid a long career, each release can't always be a gem...and this week we'll take a look at a few mid-course corrections that seemed to right the ship for a period of time.

Trusty ol' Trouser Press supplies the background: "Costello bills himself as The Beloved Entertainer — stuffed and mounted — on the front cover of Spike, his first new album since Blood & Chocolate. Following King of America's blueprint, each of the fifteen tracks employs a different assortment of players, from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (on "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" and "Stalin Malone") to Paul McCartney (on the tender and touching "Veronica," one of two songs he and Costello co-wrote). Regardless of which sort of tasteful arrangement (Irish folk, acoustic pop, jazz, rock, jagged noise) or star collaborator (Chrissie Hynde, Christy Moore, Benmont Tench) he chooses for any individual song, however, the record is a testament to Costello's complete mastery. For most of the record, Costello is in rare form, conversing with the deity ("God's Comic"), ripping the lynch-mob mentality in a fact-based tale ("Let Him Dangle"), sending a withering blast at Margaret Thatcher ("Tramp the Dirt Down") and wallowing in romantic regrets ("Baby Plays Around," whose joint marital authorship lends a reassuring fictional sense to its troubled lyrics). For concerned Attractions fans, Pete Thomas puts in an appearance on one solitary song."

I can hear the EC fanatics now, "Huh - wha? Elvis NEVER had a creative career slump!" True, perhaps--but "Spike" was a straight up the center, radio and MTV-supported "...solid return to form." Right?

Elvis Costello - Deep Dark Truthful Mirror (Mp3)
Elvis Costello - Let Him Dangle (Mp3)
Elvis Costello - Pads, Paws And Claws (Mp3)
Elvis Costello - Tramp The Dirt Down (Mp3)
Elvis Costello - Veronica (Mp3)

TVD's Weekend Shots

Dryer sheets. You'd think that'd be an odd trigger to remind you of your pop, but dryer sheets do it to me every time. I guess dad had a way with the wash, he did.

Last January I found myself replacing the light bulb in the long, narrow walk-in closet that he shared with my mom in their home back in New Jersey. Her stuff is still on the right, and although dad passed away in September of '06, his clothes are still hanging there on the left, washed and pressed and hung with his loving meticulousness he showered upon everything. There was too, the smell of the dryer sheets. Bounce.

I was thinking then and there that I had no idea how long these clothes will remain here and brushed through them for some things I should keep for myself that mom wouldn't miss. I slid a belt out from a pair of jeans that dad always wore--almost a trademark in a way. There were ties too, the skinnier ones back in indie-vogue again and hanging on a first or second grade-era Father's Day gift--a stained piece of wood with prongs over which the ties hung and above the prongs in the wood I had chiseled 'TIES'. I ran my fingers over the coarse, chiseled letters--the adult designer in me wincing at the poor typography. But there it was and there it stayed since that long ago Sunday.

After big meals my dad would often talk about other famous big meals he'd eaten. "Oh, when your mother made that lasagna..." Soon would come the stories of when he as a teenager, and then later into his twenties, would go see the famous Big Bands of the day--Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman--in the ballrooms in Clifton and Paterson, New Jersey where he grew up. His misty excitement for that time rivaled my own enthusiasm back then for KISS, or Queen, or the Beatles. The energy was the same even if the tools happened to be different. So, in memory of my dad, some of his favorites from that Big Band Era.

This Father's Day I'll be home doing wash.

(Update: ...AND remembering Tim Russert.)

Glen Miller - The Chesterfield Show (Mp3)
Count Basie and His Orchestra - April In Paris (Mp3)
Benny Goodman - Jersey Bounce (Mp3)
Woody Herman and His Orchestra - Everywhere (Mp3)
Tommy Dorsey - None But the Lonely Heart (Mp3)
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra - Melancholy Mood (Mp3)
Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade (Mp3)
Count Basie and His Orchestra - Softly With Feeling (Mp3)
Benny Goodman - Body And Soul (Mp3)
Woody Herman and His Orchestra - Summer Sequence (Part 2) (Mp3)
Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra - I'll Be Seeing You (Mp3)
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra - Begin the Beguine (Mp3)

TVD | Friday @ Random

Close to seven years ago now I started my own business--a little three man/one woman advertising agency based in Bethesda, Maryland. And as luck would have it, the doors were first open a mere three weeks after the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks--also known as: the worst possible time to go out on one's own selling the very abstract notion of 'advertising' and 'marketing' to shell shocked industries reeling in their marketing budgets. I lasted two years while two of the partners have continued to press on.

So, see all those advertisers over there to the left? They're one of the main reasons this blog exists. What I wouldn't have given at the time when I had my business for some pixel-happy blogger to come along and champion my efforts or cheerlead for my success story--be it for my ad agency, or now for the vinyl medium I love, or for the success of the mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar record stores I adore who advertise in that left-hand column over there. It's that simple--the TVD formula is: if you like the Mp3s posted or want the LP we've been discussing in some thread here, you know right where to turn and where these can be had.

Which is a roundabout way of welcoming a new advertiser and supporter of this blog; Renascent - a London-based record label who've reissued some of the best 80's music around--The Sound, The Comsat Angels, The House of Love...and the list goes on. Atypical to this blog's mission, their reissues are CD-based, but their taste is impeccable and we're thrilled to have their support and to be able to offer ours in return. So, below for your Random Friday is a sample of some of the better bands of the era--and now you know right where to go to hear and buy more.

See? The formula really is that simple.

The Sound - Sense Of Purpose.mp3
The Comsat Angels - Now I Know.mp3
The Wild Swans - Revolutionary Spirit.mp3
The House of Love - Shine On.mp3
The Woodentops - You Make Me Feel.mp3

TVD's Daily Wax | Thin Lizzy "Dedication"

As I wrote way back when, don't just toss out those '10 CDs for a penny' offers that tend to flood the mailbox. (As I'm typing this I'm actually thinking...hmm, I haven't received one of those recently. What does that say about the state of the CD Nation?) Nevertheless, they USED to flood my mailbox, and from time to time I'd take Columbia House or BMG up on their offer, grab my 10 free CDs, buy the five or six more at regular club prices, then get the hell out and move onto the next town. I pulled this little scam about 5 or 6 times with varying degrees of success. There was tons o' crap I took a chance on that eventually got sold on ebay -- but then there were indeed a few gems, like this Thin Lizzy Best-of, 'Dedication'. It all started here folks--I was hooked. Soon would come the Phil Lynott afro, handlebar moustache, and a nasty, nasty smack problem. Lord, I miss these CD promotions.

Thin Lizzy - Cowboy Song (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - Rosalie (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - She Knows (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - Showdown (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - Wild One (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Sweet "The Very Best Of"

You've read where lightening doesn't strike the same place twice, right? Well, without hesitation I state that if it wasn't for the one/two punch of 'Fox on the Run' and 'Ballroom Blitz', you wouldn't be reading this blog right now. Although released a few years apart, in the States as singles they seem to have come out one on top of the other--or at least the AM stations out of New York City were playing these two back to back. Both tracks kicked me in the ass as a wee lad. Long before I was listening to The Beatles, it was Sweet and Queen on constant 45RPM rotation...which must serve to explain my awkward fringe and octave-penetrating falsetto. (Hmm.)

Sweet - Little Willy (Mp3)
Sweet - Fox On The Run (Mp3)
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz (Mp3)
Sweet - Action (Mp3)
Sweet - Love Is Like Oxygen (Mp3)

TVD Recommends | Wildbirds and Peacedrums @ The House of Sweden

Got a hankering for air drums and vodka? As part of the Nordic Jazz Festival at the House of Sweden, Sweden's own Wildbirds and Peacedrums--who just might out-Bjork Bjork--will take the stage on the rooftop terrace this Thursday night (6/12) at 8PM. BYT has got all your details riiight here.

Ye olde 'Forke went on record: "It's easy to think that music made by relatively few people, with relatively familiar instruments, should fall under the canopy of "folk": uncluttered, transparent, linked to past traditions. Wildbirds and Peacedrums-- husband-and-wife Swedes Andreas Werliin and Mariam Wallentin-- compose most of their debut, Heartcore, with Werliin's compact drum work and Wallentin's orbital, precise vocals; there is an arc to their work that imbues it with the austerity and heartiness (no pun) of folk music. Despite its simple ingredients, Heartcore is neither native nor instinctual. "Primal" or "sparse" miss the point, too; Heartcore, instead, is cleverly orchestrated pop music preternaturally reliant on the skills of its performers: Both Werliin and Wallentin were music school dropouts, and their technically sound playing disguises the complexity and range of Heartcore's material." Read the rest here.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doubt/Hope (Mp3)

Official Website
Official MySpace

TVD's Daily Wax | T-Rex "Bolan Boogie"

An open letter to Devendra Banhart:

There's this band I think you'd really like.

That is all.

-TVD

T-Rex - By The Light Of A Magical Moon (Mp3)
T-Rex - Hot Love (Mp3)
T-Rex - Raw Ramp (Mp3)
T-Rex - Ride A White Swan (Mp3)
T-Rex - Summertime Blues (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Wings "Greatest"

I think you just get to a point where you realize you've lead 10 or 15 individual lives. Birthdays tend to underscore that--little anniversaries of one full trip around the sun, or one look around the room of folks who've come to raise a glass with you--often finds you in differing universes over the years. And it's seems seamless until the cards in the mail you've taken for granted all these years just stop arriving, their absence is a new letter in the mailbox. Like the card from my folks with the check and a note, "Go buy yourself some clothes, but no more black!"

I guess it was the Macca/Mills mess that had me thinking about Sir Paul not too long ago. I mean, how many lives has this guy had? I bet we can count because if there's a more examined life out there, I'm not aware of it. So, to look back at all of my OWN incarnations, I'm a bit awed to think that Paul in one of HIS many guises rode shotgun with me all of these years. I truly can't recall a time when The Beatles or Paul weren't in regular rotation on my personal playlist. So Paul, thanks for remaining a constant all of these years. We've seen some shit, huh?

Wings - Band On The Run (Mp3)
Wings - Jet (Mp3)
Wings - Junior's Farm (Mp3)
Wings - Maybe I'm Amazed (Mp3)
Wings - My Love (Mp3)

TVD's Weekend Shots

No, TVD readers, it's not an early weekend bender. Your eyes aren't deceiving you...yes, it's your Weekend Shots quite early in the morning. It's because, well...(come in, come in closer...see, um)...it's my first blog birthday on Saturday. Not THE birthday of the blog (although that looms) it's well, mine! And I'm calling in sick tomorrow...(*cough -- hack!*) Or taking a vacation day - whichever gives me more vacation days in the future. (Note to TVD HR.)

So, if you would, come take a swim in Lake Me. These ten tracks, for whatever reason all spent some time embedded in the cranium for some portion of the first half of '08 and have become my birthday mixtape. Please download all 10 together and play in order. Loud. Like I will this weekend.

(Fast note about the Nick Gilder track that kicks off this 10...I have played this tune NONSTOP all year. I don't know what it is. There's something that just kills here...it's dated, sure...but dammit, man...where's the band ripping this sound off? Straight up the center - no mathrock time changes - just eager and angst. It's simple really. But this is a lousy Mp3 conversion that I found on the net...I'll get to an official one next week...think of it as if coming through your AM radio. Together we'll work on the harmonies on the chorus part..."...love we're sharing...!")

See ya Monday!

Nick Gilder - We'll Work It Out (Mp3)
Todd Rundgren - Couldn't I Just Tell You? (Mp3)
The Sound - Under You (Live) (Mp3)
The Comsat Angels - Independence Day (Mp3)
MGMT - Electric Feel (Mp3)
Sniff 'n The Tears - Driver's Seat (Mp3)
Guillemots - Get Over It (Mp3)
Stereophonics - Dakota (Mp3)
Rainbow - Since You've Been Gone (Mp3)
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes - I Don't Want to Go Home (Mp3)

TVD Recommends | Sad Summer Shows

The Sad Crocodile residency at Galaxy Hut has triumphantly wrapped up but DC's favorite mopesters still have a few shows coming up and then a little (recording) break planned. Both will continue the proud tradition of pairing themselves with some of the most exciting musicmakers out there.

Sunday June 15th at the Red and the Black bringing a big slice of the NYC Popfest right to you in DC with the always amazing Tullycraft, From Bubblegum to Sky, DC's beloved Sprites and going on early is Sad Crocodile, so don't be late!!!!! "Jason from Sprites wanted to set something up the day after the bands play New York and I know some of the Tullycraft gang so how could we resist. We will start things off with complicated adult issues and then the other folks will blast out about video games and vampires surrounding them with pop hooks up the wazoo," says Sad Crocodile's John Foster.

Thursday July 10th at DC9 will feature a special night with three of DC's most exciting songwriters performing their very different compositions in a unique sequence. (That is long as all get out - what I am saying is don't miss a second and it won't be the usual set sequence type of night.) Sam Simkoff (of Le Loup), Martin Royle and Sad Crocodile will rotate short sets throughout the night and the potential is there for a transcendent evening or a complete trainwreck. "Not to be forgotten either way!" laughs Foster. "I had planned both Sam and Marty for the residency but the dates ended up not working as they had tours that ripped them away (Sam to Europe and Marty to Kentucky haha.) I sat over a drink with Marty hoping to set up a make-up show and we talked about this rotating presentation idea he had tried once before. We both only had one person we wanted to do it with and Sam was game. I can't wait."

TVD's Daily Wax | Japan "Tin Drum"

The point where, surprisingly, New Wave morphed into...art? Could it be? My trusty Trouser Press notes:

In one of rock's most remarkable examples of bootstrapping, South London's Japan pulled themselves up from lowly beginnings as a ludicrously overdressed glam-punk-pose band who (badly) emulated the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper to finish, five years later, as one of England's most sophisticated art-rock outfits, earning the respect of their peers and branching out into such fields as sculpture and photography. . . Tin Drum presents Japan at peak form, playing subtle creations with intricate rhythms and tightly controlled dynamics. Spare but strong drumming (abetted by Karn's rubbery bass) provides needed propulsion, and the breadth of influences — from Middle Eastern to funk — color the music a number of fascinating shades. Having almost totally escaped pop constraints, Japan's sound here — except for a few tunes (especially "Ghosts") that strongly resemble latter-day Roxy Music — is a willowy fabric of interwoven threads.

"A willowy fabric of interwoven threads." I thought I heard hissing summer lawns.

Japan - The Art of Parties (Mp3)
Japan - Talking Drum (Mp3)
Japan - Still Life in Mobile Homes (Mp3)
Japan - Visions of China (Mp3)
Japan - Sons of Pioneers (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Harry Nilsson "A little touch of Schmilsson in the night"

Good morning Washington...and OW. I think I watched too much historic television last night with my trusty pal Mr. Merlot. How about some soothing tunes this morning, ok?

Thanks. Shh. (OW.)

Harry Nilsson - As Time Goes By (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You) (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - This Is All I Ask (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - What'll I Do (Mp3)

TVD Radio Hour

Growing up in New Jersey, I'd never heard what I've come to understand as real distinct pleasure -- John Peel broadcasting on BBC 1. And luckily I didn't know any better, because after a listen to this excerpt from 1979, I was certainly missing a hell of a lot. The diversity is what jumps out at me--unadulterated risk-taking that which the formatted, packaged radio in the States utterly lacked.

So again, I'm grateful to the poster over at the New Wave Outpost who uploaded this snippet, and while you're listening, head on over to Teenage Kicks to celebrate the legacy of John Peel and revel in Steve's Festive Fifty Flashbacks. Methinks I have a LOT of catching up to do.

John Peel Show - BBC Radio 1, 1979 (64MGs) (Mp3)

TVD | Wide World of (Vinyl) Stores

After last Friday's request for photos of your global vinyl ventures, the responses have begun to trickle in. TVD reader CeeGee forwarded the following:

"Recently, I made a trip to Stockholm, Sweden. These pics are from a record store located in the Old Town area called Gamla Stan. A little pricey due to the store being located in a somewhat touristy area, but a nice variety of classics and hard to find albums - lots of German pressings. The owner was quite nice and laid back - while we perused the stacks he soaked up some sun outside the shop. Per Wikstrom, Swedish producer/manager in photo with his wall covering samples. "

Keep 'em coming folks!

TVD's Daily Wax | Simple Minds 12" Mixes

"...Brilliant days, wake up on brilliant days
Shadows of brilliant ways will change all the time
Memories, burning gold memories
Gold of day memories change me in these times..."

Simple Minds - Glittering Prize (12'' Import) (Mp3)
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (12'' Import) (Mp3)
Simple Minds - Someone Somewhere In Summertime (12'' Import) (Mp3)
Simple Minds - Waterfront (12'' Import) (Mp3)
Simple Minds - White Hot Day (12'' Import) (Mp3)

Vinyl Returns in the Age of MP3

LP and turntable sales grow as fans find warmer sound in classic format
(Via rollingstone.com) For his 19th birthday, Simon Hamburg wanted only one present: a turntable for his dorm room at the University of Southern Mississippi. His father bought him a portable $69 model, and Hamburg's older brother chipped in LPs by Simon and Garfunkel and the Who. "Listening to 'Baba O'Riley' on vinyl is always better than listening to 'Baba O'Riley' on anything else," Hamburg says. "You can hear every instrument. It sounds stupid, but it's like you're feeling the music. You're part of it." Read the rest here.

(LP cover via the always awesome LP Cover Lover.)

TVD Remembers | Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley, the musical pioneer whose songs, such as "Who Do You Love?" and "Bo Diddley," melded rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll through a distinctive thumping beat, has died. He was 79.

Bo Diddley - Road Runner (Mp3)
Bo Diddley - Who Do You Love? (Mp3)
Bo Diddley - You Can't Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover (Mp3)
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley (Mp3)
Bo Diddley - Who May Your Lover Be (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Suede "Coming Up"

The beginning of a new beginning or the beginning of the end? I vote for the latter, actually. Somewhere at the time ol' Bernard was smiling while I--a fresh bottle of red having been opened and leafing through a pile of so called Brit mags on my couch--was wincing. And I don't believe its aged for the better...

Suede - Filmstar (Mp3)
Suede - She (Mp3)
Suede - Picnic By The Motorway (Mp3)
Suede - The Chemistry Between Us (Mp3)
Suede - Saturday Night (Mp3)