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A couple of months back I had concocted an entirely bizarre theme week: music I LOATHE. The gouge-out-your-eyes type of hatred normally reserved for your Korns, Counting Crows, Blick 182s, Nicklebacks, REMs ...well, you get the point. And this list grew very, very long to the point where I almost had a theme MONTH.
But cooler heads prevailed. ‘Nah...’ I thought the morning after this masterstroke...we’re about promoting positivity here at TVD. “Why foist crap music on the public at large?” So that theme week was relegated to the TVDustbin.
To put it mildly then today, I’m no fan of these five tracks selected to balance and give weight to a thesis whose premise I even find suspect: New Wave/Fresh Ears.
These five would have me running for the hills. Eyes all gouged out.
I had a bit of an iPod epiphany the other day. ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ queued itself up in shuffle mode, and man if it didn’t reek of being outdated, moldy, and so mired in one era that I shuffled right on past it only to be followed byyyy: A Flock of Seagulls’ ‘I Ran.’
Which sounded bloody brilliant in comparison.
I hear some of you snobs guffawing out there but it’s true—Nirvana’s a dead soldier and the Flock reeked of morning at the bakery: all warm and sugary.
But that can’t be right, right? I mean, if I had been born or come of age in the 90’s, I’d herald Nirvana’s breakthrough as an evergreen classic (ala The Beatles oeuvre) and ‘I Ran’ as outdated, moldy, and mired in one era. Right?
Well, I’m not so sure. WAS New Wave a one gimmick pony and not the refreshing breakthrough that I felt at the time when my ears were newly attuned and acute? Could it be that MY soundtrack from that time will forever be on point?
St. Louis’ Living Things return to DC on Wednesday, 9/9 as openers for a lil’ band called The Cult, and we’ve got TWO opportunities as a result to shake us down for some merch.
We’ll pull two winners from the comments to this post who suitably catch our eye with whatever inflammatory hyperbole you wish to offer. The grand prize winner gets the pair of tickets for Wednesday’s show and a copy of Living Things’ latest LP, ‘Habeas Corpus.’ One lucky runner up gets the LP alone shipped right to your door.
So, whatcha’ got? Let us have it by noon on Tuesday, (9/8) when we’ll choose our two winners!
So, my mom’s dog has come to live with me since mom's fall last month. And now that my mother’s in a nursing home, ol’ Pete may become a permanent DC resident.
Which would be fine more or less, ‘cept for that damn walk he needs at 6:15 AM. But up until today, stepping out into the predawn air was like stepping out into a sauna—the transition from sheets to streets quite comfortable, really.
Not so today, however: Fall’s suddenly and without warning, nipping at our collective necks. And while I admit I’m ready for the season to have its way with me, I prefer to be kissed before being f’d. Y’know – just a little. I mean, what a jolt this morning.
But you guys? You get to charm the pants off us in the comments before fall officially arrives to win this week’s vinyl giveaway: The Dead Weather’s ‘Horehound.’
(Weather...hounds...like how I tied that all in?)
OK, now let’s review: You – charming and arresting comment with contact info. Us: suitably dewey. We: send you LP. How simple, right?
This 33-1/3 Days of Summer Vinyl Giveaway ends next Monday (9/7) when we'll queue up yet another! Now, get to it!
"So that was the first big weekend of the summer... Starts Thursday as usual with a canteen quiz and again no-one wins the big cash prize. Later I do my sound bloke routine by approaching Gina's new boyfriend to say that he shouldn't feel that there's any animosity between us and then I even go and make peace with her. I shouldn't have bothered. Then on Friday night we went through to the Arches... There was only one car going, so some of us had to get the train. We got through quite late. Then we went to a pub to take the gear. There was no problems getting in - we saw some others waiting down the front of the queue so we skipped in. It was a good night, everyone was nutted and I ended up dancing with some blonde girl. I thought she had been quite pretty until last night when Matthew informed me that she had, in fact, been a pig. When the club finished we wandered the streets for a while until we got to this 24-hour cafe but I didn't like the look of it so we left and got a taxi back to Morag's flat. I couldn't sleep, so I sat about drinking someone else's strawberry tonic wine and tried to keep everyone else up. Then at ten o'clock in the morning we went downstairs to buy some drink. We had intended to watch the football in the afternoon but we'd passed out by then and slept right through it, awaking to find that England had won two-nil. Then we went to get the train home and had a few in the Station bar. We had some stuff left from the previous night's supplies so when we got home we decided to go down to John's indie disco. Same story as Friday - lots of hugging, lots of dancing etc. etc. I couldn't sleep again so went up the park to look at the tomb, taking a detour through the playpark. To get in we had to climb over a ten foot steel fence, which resulted in severe bruising of our hands, legs and groins, but we had a good laugh on the stuff, especially the tube-slide, which probably doubles up as a urinal for drunk teens. Then we walked through the woods to have a look at the tomb. It was a big disappointment, but the mist on the lake was cool. Sunday afternoon we go up to John's with a lot of beer in time to watch the Simpsons. It was a really good episode about love always ending in tragedy except, of course, for Marge and Homer. It was quite moving at the end and to tell you the truth my eyes were a bit damp. Then we watched these young girls in swimsuits have a water fight in the street. "Taping this, aye?" We went up to the pub about ten. It was busy for a Sunday night, lots of people we know, including my first ever girlfriend who I still find very attractive, quite frankly, but I didn't really speak to her. She's probably still a bitch, anyway. Her friend Gillian was there, I had a chat with her, she was still quite pleasant. At the same time I watched Malcolm make some terrible attempt to try and chat up a girl we know called Jo. He made some remark about her skirt that was barely there the previous night or something. I couldn't sleep again that night, thanks to some seriously disturbing nightmares...Matthew says I should cut down on the cheese. "Went out for the weekend, it lasted for ever, high with our friends it's officially summer." I got some sleep eventually on Monday afternoon. It was a beautiful day, and later that evening Malcolm introduced me to the power of Merrydown - £1.79 a litre, 8.2% - mmmm..... Judith and Laura came round later and we sat in my back garden and drank. Then Matthew came round and we went up the town. It's officially summer."
Think David would mind if I compared his new release to ‘Blackbird’-era McCartney or Harry Nilsson circa ‘Nilsson Sings Newman’...?
Yea...I didn’t think so either.
The Nashville native also has me planning a trip to his favorite record store:
I love Grimey's. In an age when it is almost impossible to walk out your front door without being targeted by some form of cross-branding, viral marketing or shoe shine schemery, Nashville's finest independent music retailer continues to stick to what it knows best: Music. Sure, you can buy a magazine or a t-shirt to go with your new aural purchase, maybe even a badge or two, but you will most certainly not be subliminally coerced into purchasing a latte, duvet cover or any other useless thread of lifestyle accoutrement.
Grimey's deals in new and used music, and does a damn fine job of it. Music, just music, what a concept. Grimey's augments the experience in a number of different ways. First and foremost, it relies heavily on a knowledgeable and friendly staff, the kind of folks who will not only ask if you require assistance but will also actually tell you something you most likely didn't know before your visit. The atmosphere is further charged by near-weekly in-store performances, reminding the customers that even the most perfectly-recorded music is often best experienced live. Many of the acts who perform in the vinyl section on an afternoon will, later that night, set up shop at the Basement, a great listening club located directly underneath the store.
Grimey's also has a nice sense of space to it, a palpable vibe that is sorely lacking in many chain stores. The exposed brick walls lend a certain warmth that invites a shopper to stay awhile, while the frequent offer of a Miller High Life to age-appropriate customers provides even more incentive. Grimey's is about browsing, about taking in details. It is a place where time, while not standing completely still, does slow down a bit, if only from 45 to 33 RPM's.
I’m sort of losing the plot with this theme, I have to confess. Seemed like a good idea last week to riff on Friday nights and their collective unconsciousness...but ah, I’m not feeling it any longer.
But I’m half-way in...there’s no turning back now despite whatever misgivings might arrive tomorrow. Like, uh...Friday nights themselves.
El Jefe Design is the secret code name for successful designer, illustrator, author and failed-rock star Jeffrey Everett. Located outside of Washington, DC, El Jefe Design has had the pleasure of designing and illustrating for a wide variety of entertainment, corporate, and non-profit clients. Bands he has worked with include My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Foo Fighters, The Decemberists, and Flight of the Conchords. Jeff's work has been published in numerous books such as New Vintage Type and Design Entrepreneur, and seen in major magazines including Print, HOW, and Step Inside Design. He has his MFA in Graphic Design from The School of Visual Arts in New York City, NY.
He is the recipient of gold and silver awards from The Art Directors Club and three best-in-category from the AdClub (Addys), and is included in the AIGA Fifty Show. His work has been stapled on walls of dingy rock clubs and framed in high-end galleries around the world. Jeff is the author, curator, and designer of "1,000 Garment Graphics" for Rockport Press, and has taught and lectured for American University, University of Baltimore, and the AIGA. When and how did you get started doing posters? I started doing poster in NYC while getting my MFA at The School of Visual Arts. I was taking screen printing classes and started doing posters as a way to get into shows for free and to help bands I love. My first poster was for the mighty Firewater!
When I moved back to DC I just kept going as a way to stay sane and have been lucky to meet and work with people who support me. The wonderful people at The Black Cat, The Nightclub 9:30, and The Rock-N-Roll Hotel have allowed me to (dis)grace their walls so I thank them for that.
Favorite poster or art print you've done? I would have to say the El Jefe Alphabet/Lucha Library print. I did that one to celebrate my son's birth and to hang in his nursery.
Describe your creative space. A very small basement office in my home that has clutter strewn about. There is a drafting table for drawing/storage with a set of full flat files underneath. My IKEA desk is sagging under the weight of my computer, monitor, Wacom tablet, scanner, far too many books, sketch books, T-shirt samples, a collection of Dunnies and Baseman Bunnies. There is a hodgepodge of posters by Edward Gorey, Twin Peaks ephemera, lucha libre masks, CDs and NPR and music playing nonstop. And to keep my ego in check, I am appropriately placed next to the kitty litter room.
Describe your creative process. I approach each band individually and I really try to understand the band and audience. With rare exceptions I am usually a fan of the band and want something that I would want to purchase if someone else did it. Some pieces look more "designy" and some look illustrative. Some pieces rely on heavy concepts and inside themes to drive the design yet some other pieces use skulls and sexiness. I would say that I try to make each piece fun and something that can be hung on a wall and stared at for years.
What's your favorite thing about being a designer in your city? The most challenging? Washington, DC is not considered an "art-forward" place due to the Federal Government casting a long shadow over the town. Most people think that DC can only do boring, hotel-room work that must be as generic as possible as to not have the PC police come after you. Not so. Duke Ellington, Chuck Brown, Henry Rollins, Ian McKaye, and many, many more all have left a legacy of DIY Culture that runs below the current in DC. There is so much great music, art, architecture, opinions, and people coming through this town that it is hard not to be inspired.
I will say I like taking traditional DC landmarks (White House, Washington Monument, Capitol Dome) and having fun with them.
Favorite poster or art print someone else has done? I really am enjoying Young Monsters right now, especially The Kills and Detroit Cobras posters by Zach Hobbs. My all time favorite gig poster is by Alan Hynes and I am shocked my wife lets me display it. I also have TONS of Edward Gorey posters and prints throughout the house. He is my favorite artist, I have his work tattooed on me, and is a complete inspiration for my everyday.
Latest poster or print that you bought? Chuck Sperry's poster for Reel Big Fish and The English Beat. An example of liking the art over the band.
One group you wish you could do a poster for? (Current): Silversun Pickups (Historic): Girls Against Boys - a huge fan for over half my life! Seen them thirty plus times.
Upcoming work? We have posters for Gaslight Anthem, The Raveonettes, Ra Ra Riot, Dinosaur Jr., Soulsavers, a Twin Peaks tribute show, and Placebo. We will be at Crafty Bastards selling our posters and prints on October 3rd. There are also some gallery shows and such coming up in the fall. Keep up to date by checking out our website.
Jeff will be returning monthly (new baby permitting) covering the intersection of music and design in DC and beyond. And he's got quite a few interesting things in store, I should add...
With the summer waning and kids here in DC actually going back to school today (...and BTW - what gives with that - in August?) TVD continues to gaze solely on the upside with our Last 33-1/3 Days of Summer Vinyl Giveaways!
This week it's TWO LP's for TWO winners. Get at us in the comments for the LP you prefer to pocket (...and my, how diverse we be, right?) Remember to leave us some contact info with your entry, ok? And if you're feeling Twitteriffic, we'll accept your 140 characters as an entry as well.
This 33-1/3 Days of Summer Vinyl Giveaway ends next Monday (8/31) when we'll queue up yet another! Now, get to it!
After traversing the galaxy as the road crew for fellow Oklahomans The Flaming Lips, a strange yet melodically intoxicating band has emerged - psych/prog/experimental pop quartet Stardeath and White Dwarfs. One-half stoners with nothing to do but roll joints on their King Crimson record sleeves and one-half confetti launchers/space bubble technicians, Stardeath and White Dwarfs debut their own free-floating circus with their first full-length album, The Birth. A mind-trip of emotion and mood, recalling everything from "upper" dance freak-outs to "downer" Floyd-esque anthems, The Birth celebrates a love of all things psychedelic. (Via Insound)
George Thorogood And The Destroyers have returned to Capitol/EMI for the July 28th release of The Dirty Dozen, a scorching new blues-rock album pairing six new studio recordings with six classic fan favorites, including three popular tracks that were previously out-of-print in the U.S. Thorogood And The Destroyers will travel to more than 30 U.S. cities this summer on a tour that includes 22 co-headlining dates with Jonny Lang.
I didn't realize how difficult picking selections for Twitstock would be until I paused and analyzed the scope of what was being asked of me. Picking five songs that have and continue to influence me across genres is nerve-racking and painfully hard for me to do. Especially for all of the cool kids that check out The Vinyl District. Yeah. However, I figured that I should instead pick songs that kinda randomly came to mind. Ones that are not only influential --- but could actually work when set against an open, Woodstock-type of scene too. Records that somewhat conjure up and invoke the core, spirit, heart and open-ended creativity of psychedelia/experimentation...at the very least.
Just wandering around within and against the average. That has pretty much been my physical and mental status message ever since I could remember. Right, but back to my favorite song from my favorite Teardrop Explodes album. So many layers and with such an epic feel to it. From the initial fade-in to the climbing, claustrophobic sound throughout the length of the whole deal. Golden horns, hyper keys, simple yet aggressive lead and bass riffs, well-timed vocal punch-ins and perfect drums. Pop with depth across the board. As you might have guessed from the entrance, Julian's lyrics struck a chord with me immediately at first listen years ago and still stir me to this day.
Reign Ghost - South Hemisphere Blues (Mp3) I've been trying to track down affordable pressings of their material for a quite few years now (to no avail, frustrating mess - heh). Why? South Hemisphere Blues for one. Tinged with a haunting, swaying sound similar to early Jefferson Airplane, Subway and other similar prog/psych. artists of that era, this rare song embodies the feel of that time to me. Linda Squires's vocals are chilling as well. Sonically and spiritually haunting.
Cypress Hill - When The Shit Goes Down (Mp3) DJ Muggs's production is notoriously psychedelic rock-influenced. That's fact and Black Sunday was probably his (and Cypress Hill's) crowning nod to that culture. Even more so than "Insane in the Membrane", the lightly menacing bassline works perfectly against the lazy horns pulled from the Outlaw Blues Band, B-Real and Sen Dog's vocals. The entire low-fi feel reminds me of why hip-hop around that particular era --- roughly '87 to '94ish --- was essentially an extension of 60s and 70s progressive and psych. music. Both on record and culturally in many ways.
Broadcast - Man Is Not a Bird (Mp3) One of the best titles ever? I think so. I'm not completely sure why, but I really do think so. Incredible production on this song. I mean - really incredible whenever I break it down. Though Trish Keenan's tone and Cargill's bass line are amazing on this song (as with most Broadcast songs, imho), the drum session work of Bullock and Jenkins really keeps me hooked onto this song. The way that the patterns are layered and mixed down add to the downbeat prog feel. I was tempted to select "Pendulum" instead, but it's hard to pick between awesome dark and...umm...awesome lite (but with the same flavor and amount of calories). With that being said, I also really wanted to put a Stereolab song in place of this one. Again, that would be like swapping one family member (daughter) for another (mother)? Maybe "A Flower Called Nowhere", "Infinity Girl" or...
Stereolab - Op Hop Detonation (Mp3) Stereolab is one of my top five groups, so thankfully I'm not picking a top song from them. However, this song pretty much captures the essence of Stereolab with the Moogs, harpsichord, clavinet and who knows how many other instruments to be named later. Whenever I listen to this, my emotions become ultra-conflicted. Part of me wants to float away. Another part wants to chase the sun. Another part feels like I'm tasting the sun. That's always a good thing to me. Plus, Laetitia's lyrics and voice against Gane and co. always helps to induce lucid dream states during any listening session. Yes. They are that serious to me. Heh. Not their best song (can go on for a while about them), but still so surreal...just like their messages often times.
So I decided my tracks would be politically themed. Because politics inherently 'matters', right? And also 'cuz these songs rule. That also matters.
Elbow - Leaders of the Free World (Mp3) I'll start with one of my favorite bands of all time. These guys are sick -- anthemic songwriting, cinematic orchestration, bad-ass drumming, some of the best lyrics of all time... and they're British! This song's about George Bush, but the chorus line "the leader of the free world/are just little boys throwing stones/and they're easy to ignore/til they're knocking on the door of your homes" is one of the all time best politically-themed choruses ever. And seeing as how Obama's gonna throw some more cannon fodder on Afghanistan, it kind of applies to him, too.
El-P - Deep Space 9mm (Mp3) Going alphabetically here. El-P's bleak lyrics and anxious beats are great counterparts to one of the best rap songs ever. Loosely political, this one's more urban day-in-the-life type stuff. It also taught me the meaning of the word 'murk' (sp?), as in "getting murked on a train over Roosevelt Island". Whenever I need a new sound, or need to get my head out of whatever creative rut, El-P is there. Majority Rule - Endings (Mp3) My favorite Majority Rule song. Disclaimer: it's my brother's band. But these guys matter -- they matter because they're family. They matter because they're absolutely great. They matter because they elevated hardcore music into something more creative and intelligent and melodic. You should've seen the moshpits at the Wilson Center when these guys played. So much energy it literally brought tears to my eyes. Key line "Countdown to endings/broken contracts can break hearts".
Muse - Apocalypse Please (Mp3) Also British. And the guy kind of sounds like Thom Yorke with a rope around his testicles -- which in the case of arena rock is a good thing. "Its time we saw a miracle/its time for something biblical" -- Matthew Bellamy actually sings this with complete sincerity. I want this guy singing "this is the end of the world" during the actual end of the world. Another song about George Bush (kinda) but so well put together. And who doesn't like a good revolution anthem now and again.
Refused - Shape of Punk to Come (Mp3) Swedish hardcore at its finest. No one else has ever sung so earnestly about revolution and the punk/hardcore community. If you were straight edge or vegan, you knew about these guys, for sure. They went on to form some horribly crappy bands after this, but this song (and this entire record) holds up after almost 15 years. Whenever I listen to this, I'm instantly transported back to the days of house shows and serious discussions on the state of the world and anarchical syndicalism as a valid social movement. And that idealism is what matters the most, I guess...
Catch Paul Michel this Saturday (8/29) at The Rock and Roll Hotel with Mother Mother and We Were Pirates.
For my contribution to TVD's Twitstock event, I've chosen songs that reflect the musical interests as seen on my twitter profile. So included are an example of a fav Soul Music deep cut, a Detroit Techno track, a interesting remix, and 3 minute pop gem. J. J. Barnes - Baby Please Come Back Home (Mp3) When I first starting listening to tracks that became popular within the Northern Soul scene, J. J. Barnes "Baby Please Come Back Home" became of my own personal favs. Recorded and released on one of many smaller Detroit labels trying to compete with Motown in the 60s. It was a minor hit at the time of release, that later became sought after by UK soul music collectors.
Paperclip People - Throw (Mp3) I grew up in the Detroit area and even though I've settled in the DC area, the rock, soul, jazz and techno music coming from that region continues to provide much of the soundtrack to my life. I started listening to and collecting some of those early Detroit Music techno records from the innovators Derrick May, Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson. Carl Craig was part of the second wave of Detroit musicians who carried on the tradition of creating innovate techno tracks. Here under one of Craig's many identities, Paperclip People, is his track "Throw", which remains one of my all time favorite tracks.
Felipe Musica - 1901 (Roots Remix) (Mp3) One of the more interesting remixes I've heard of late was done for a Phoenix track from their new album. 1901 (Roots Remix) created by Felipe Musica, takes a Parisian band and drops them into Studio One in Jamaica. A very clever remix indeed this one...
Cliff Hillis - Northern Lights (Mp3) In a perfect world Cliff Hillis's "Northern Lights", a radio friendly ditty would be topping the charts and blaring from cars across the land. Three minutes of pure pop bliss!
Prefab Sprout - The Yearning Loins (Mp3) Normally I probably would have chosen a cover as my last pick, but the other night I had the oddest dream involving Prefab Sprout's "Two Wheels Good" album, so had to go with a track from that one. I even have an original UK vinyl pressing of this album, when it was first released under the title "Steve McQueen". This is such a brilliant album start to finish it was tough to pick just a single song off it, but ending going with "The Yearning Loins."
That's right - we've got two copies of We Were Pirates latest "Cutting Ties" for the first two people to Tweet us that you want 'em. Mention @vinyldistrict and @wwpmusic and they're yours!
Autumn is by far my favorite season and it is rapidly approaching. About this time every year, I get pretty excited by the prospect of getting in the car and driving out to the country. I tried to pick songs that would make a good Autumn driving mix.
Simon & Garfunkel - Baby Driver (Mp3) For some reason, when it starts getting cooler I want to listen to songs with a more organic sound (summer is generally reserved for the louder, more obnoxious music). And aside from the screeching engine sound effect, this song is simple, organic, and damn catchy. And who can argue with a song that so brilliantly uses car and driving terminology as euphamisms for sex.
Also, since this is a mix for Vinyl District, I had to choose a song off of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” because it is one of my favorite records to play on vinyl.
Delta Spirit - Gimme Some Motivation (Mp3) This is one of those songs that I wish I had written because it would be a blast to play live. It’s so simple and straight-ahead it kills me. I love it. Like Baby Driver, this too is a great song to drive to when the leaves start to turn.
Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater (Mp3) This whole album (“I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One”) reminds me of Autumn road trips. In fact, a few years ago a friend of mine and I sold our cars and bought little Honda motorcycles and set out on a week-long road trip through the Appalachian Mountains and the version of “Little Honda” on the record was kind of our theme song.
Anyway, aside from being a song that seems to capture my overly-romantic love of Autumn, this song in particular seems to showcase what I love so much about Yo La Tengo: the simplicity. The drum beat, and most of the music are the same throughout the whole song, the melody is simple and yet somehow it keeps me interested for nearly five-and-a-half minutes.
Iron & Wine - Naked As We Came (Mp3) Although this stands alone as the one really somber track on the mix, Autumn and Winter are generally when I dust off the Iron & Wine records and listen. I usually make a few backpacking trips on the AT when it starts getting cold and Iron & Wine gets a lot of play driving to and from the trail head. The lyrics of this song are brilliantly romantic and creepy at the same time. It may be a bit morbid, but I really like the idea of two lovers discussing their eventual departure from this world.
Emitt Rhodes - With My Face On The Floor (Mp3) Although Emitt Rhodes seemed to borrow pretty heavily from Paul McCartney on this record, he did so in a way where his sound still managed to be unique. And it's tough to fault him when his songs are often as good or better than some of my favorite Paul-fronted Beatles songs.
I love the production on this song and the whole album. The guitar tones have just the right amount of crunch, the piano has a nice natural warmth, the harmonies mix really well, and the drums and percussion are at the perfect level in the mix. The production is especially impressive when you consider he played and recorded everything on this record himself.
Catch We Were Pirates this Saturday (8/29) at The Rock and Roll Hotel opening for Paul Michel and Mother Mother.
What’s TWITSTOCK! without a few @newacts for you to #follow?
Earlier in the week we chatted with Amanda Zelina and Chase from Cavalier Rose and their missives follow... "What can I say about mom and pop record stores? That's a loaded question... filled with memories I can taste, scents that still lay on the tip on my nose and sounds that will be forever en-grained in me.
My first trip to a record store came quite late in life, embarrassingly so. I grew up on tapes and Cd's...one of the down falls of being born into this "contemporary" world of the mid 1980's and on. Although because of it's tardiness I feel like it heightened my experience even more.
I have been a musician all my life and grew up on Soul, Blues, Motown etc. With my somewhat aged taste in music I was obviously drawn to the crackle of the vinyl sound as soon as I discovered it. The scent of the dusty cardboard sleeves and the imperfections of the sometimes scratched or nicked records made my experience that much better.
My dad brought me to my very first record store when I was around 15 years old. I remember walking in and having this rush of excitement wash over me like when you listen to your favourite part of that particular song that always " gets you". I looked out onto the vast sea of crates filled with these square cardboard things called "records". We were in Nova Scotia on one of my dads conferences; The smell reminded me of the hours I spent sifting through the oldest books I could find at the library, hoping at a young age to uncover the secrets and myths of what comes with age. I've always been a keen eye or ear for the classic knowledge that only comes with years lived.
The rest of the experience that day is all a haze. I know I left with a 7" of Bob Marley's and the Wailers. Reggae was also something we cherished in the household. Soon after that, naturally came: Tom Waits, ZZ Top, Johnny Cash, Son House, and any rare blues record I could find...mainly delta blues.
Since than, I have lived/visited in California, Italy, Southern France, Switzerland, Toronto, All of Canada etc. Along the way I ALWAYS stop in to mom and pop record stores. To me there is nothing that can touch the experience of vinyl. I will forever be in love with it, and always be in search of those gems."
Amanda Zelina - My Version Of It (Mp3) Amanda Zelina - Obsessed (Mp3) "Like the vast majority of people my age, I grew up listening to CDs and eventually MP3s, fueled by the advent of Napster, Audio Galaxy, and eventually the iPod. It’s just how things went. Unlike a lucky few, I did not have the luxury of a parent’s old record collection to rummage through and/or an old turntable to fire up. But still, in opposition to most of the people my age, I somehow grew up listening exclusively to the likes of Hendrix, Cream, The Beatles etc. Needless to say, I never understood why none of my friends were into the same music I was. While on the bus to school, the scenario was often that I’d have my discman blasting Zeppelin IV while my friends were sitting around talking about the new Korn or Bush album...to which I was indifferent.
For me, the beauty and mystique of vinyl wasn’t realized until late in high school. Having been brainwashed into welcoming the more sterile sounds of digitized music mediums, I heard a few of my favorite LPs on vinyl for the first time while at a friend’s house. My buddy’s father and I got talking about music, and come to find out he had an amazing vinyl collection. He took me down to their basement and let me check out what he had. I could have been down there for days, but The Rolling Stones’ “Let it Bleed” immediately caught my eye and I insisted we throw it on.
As soon as the needle dropped, I knew something different was about to happen. I’d heard this record hundreds of times, but “Gimme Shelter” proceeded to blow my mind as it never had before. It was as though I was listening to the album for the first time. The richness of the sound and the roundness of the low end crushed me. I was immediately aware that all the bands I had loved over the years were always intended to be heard on vinyl...I had been missing out. Since that day I’ve chosen vinyl over other listening means whenever possible, and I can’t express enough excitement regarding the resurgence of vinyl’s popularity in the music being recorded and listened to these days." Cavalier Rose - Tidal Crusher (Mp3) Cavalier Rose - Primary Colors (Mp3)
Catch Cavalier Rose tomorrow night (8/27) at The Annex in Manhattan and download the band's debut EP FREE at their website!
Swap 'rucksack' for 'turntable' and I think he may have really been onto something:
"…I see the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars,…and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume, I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of 'em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures. —Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, 1958
I’m not really a social animal. In fact, to put it bluntly, I hate most of humanity. Mostly because they’re all stupid. Except for you. Mostly because you’re reading this.
The problem is I probably don’t know you, which means I spend a good majority of my time sitting at home alone in the dark. The only real plus-side to this exciting lifestyle is that with a good song, sitting at home alone in the dark is as good and probably even better than going out to a DC bar and pretending to socialize. Unless, of course, I was meeting you at a DC bar. I’d socialize with you. But until we meet, here are five songs I love in the dark.
Radiohead – All I Need (Mp3) You can count on this song to be on any list I will ever make no matter if I’m sitting home alone in the dark or not. (Although most of the time I am.) Just listen to what happens two minutes and 56 seconds in and you’ll understand.
Beirut – Guyamas Sonora (Mp3) Time changes! No, literally, the beat changes in the middle of this song. I didn’t notice until I listened to this in the dark. It’s amazing how much more your ears pick up when you block some of your other senses.
Portishead – The Rip (Mp3) This whole album is probably meant to be listened to in the dark but maybe not alone. This song makes me want to make out. It’s dreamy.
Phil Collins – In the Air Tonight (Mp3) If you don’t shed a tear during this song, you probably have no soul. Seriously, listen to it in the dark and you’ll be wailing louder than Phil.
Bright Eyes - The Calendar Hung Itself (Mp3) I was an angsty college kid once who played a lot of emo on my college radio station. Um, surprise. But while I’ve outgrown most of the whiny bullshit Mr. Conor Oberst made prior to his transformation into Jeff Tweedy, Jr., there’s something about listening to this song in the dark that still gets me. I think it’s the maracas. (They fill ‘em with beans!)
A couple of months back I had concocted an entirely bizarre theme week: music I LOATHE. The gouge-out-your-eyes type of hatred normally reserved for your Korns, Counting Crows, Blick 182s, Nicklebacks, REMs ...well, you get the point. And this list grew very, very long to the point where I almost had a theme MONTH.
