TVD
(...faster than Madonna's Malawi adoption and toilet seat safe.)
Pilot - Magic (Mp3)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
...with a mega-pixel look at the cover art for "Wings Over America." Those were the days, kids.
Paul McCartney & Wings - Maybe I'm Amazed (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Without You (Mp3)
Jim Croce - Operator (Mp3)
10cc - I'm Not in Love (Mp3)
Elton John - Blues For My Baby And Me (Mp3)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Vinyl District Remembers Tony Wilson (1950-2007)
Tony Wilson, co-founder of Factory Records, has died at the age of 57.
Born Anthony H. Wilson on February 20, 1950 in Salford, England, he went on to become a renowned broadcast journalist, band manager, record label executive and night club owner. As the Factory Records boss, he was responsible for signing legendary bands including Joy Division and New Order to his label. Also, as owner of the renowned Hacienda nightclub in Manchester, he played a key role in the Madchester scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s that mixed indie rock and dance music and included artists such as Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.
The Hacienda, which hosted Madonna's first UK television appearance in 1983, was forced to close in the late 1990s as it was losing money allegedly because its patrons were taking ecstasy rather than buying drinks at the club. Wilson reportedly became involved in the Manchester music scene in the 1970s when hosting the culture and music programme 'So It Goes' on Granada Television. After covering a Sex Pistols performance at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, he described the experience as "nothing short of an epiphany" and booked the band for one of the first television broadcasts of British punk rock.
These aspects of Wilson's life were later chronicled in the semi-fictional 2002 feature film '24 Hour Party People', in which he was portrayed by British actor Steve Coogan. More recently, Wilson was involved in In The City, a yearly music festival and conference that takes place in Manchester and New York City, which he co-founded with his partner Yvette Livesey.
In 2005 he launched F4, the fourth incarnation of the Factory Records label. Earlier this year, the music mogul was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery to have one of his kidneys removed. From signing the likes of Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays, to being a general support of exciting an innovative music, Wilson established himself as a true indie hero.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Indeed, I can hear the collective gasp now. You've come here expecting your Morning Dose only to be met with the Weekend Shots. What gives?
Tis true...the Vinyl District is taking a few days off for some R&R in NYC. We'll be taking in Crowded House Thursday night at the Beacon, then rummaging through the Village's record stores on Friday. Hopefully we'll document all.
And there's also plenty planned for this lil' blog as the weeks unfold, so stay tuned.
Double Dose of Weekend Wankery Edition:
Ace Frehley - Back In The New York Groove (Mp3)
Auteurs - Subculture (Hidden Track) (Mp3)
The Elected - Not Going Home (Mp3)
Portastatic - I Wanna Know Girls (Mp3)
Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl of My Dreams (Mp3)
Plimsouls - Everywhere at Once (Mp3)
Tommy Keene - Places that are Gone (Mp3)
The Records - Starry Eyes (Mp3)
Ian Gomm - Hold On (Mp3)
Phil Seymour - Precious to Me (live) (Mp3)
Hey Kids - Mark Your Calendars...
...it's Vinyl Record Day on August 12th, commemorating the date Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.
Per the link, I plan as an INDIVIDUAL to "get together with friends or family and have a Vinyl Record Day party. Everyone who has them brings two or three of their favorite albums. Have fun with it. If you want, have a Twist or Limbo contest for kids and adults Or have someone play DJ, perhaps have dedications, or tell why a certain song is important to the person who brought it, what are the memories (the secrets!), the people, the places associated with the music. You can decorate with a music theme, make it festive with balloons. Or you can just simply play the music, heck move the furniture and make room to dance. Whatever you do, make it a point to celebrate the music you and friends or family most enjoy. There is no other purpose except to have a good time and let our favorite music remind us regardless of national news or personal challenges, life always has its goodness."
I'll try to remember that as I "Shout at the Devil."
(More like Lunchtime Wax today, eh?) Five for Noah:
The Jam - Away From The Numbers (Mp3)
The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight (Mp3)
The Jam - Strange Town (Mp3)
The Jam - Thick As Thieves (Mp3)
The Jam - Going Underground (Mp3)
(Anyone out there actually think The Jam were a punk band...?)
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
From the District Vaults: Sweet/Desolation Boulevard
Capitol ST-11395
Released: May 1975
Chart Peak: #25
Weeks Charted: 44
Certified Gold: 5/25/76
The first side of Desolation Boulevard (actually a compilation from two English LPs) is devoted to material written by producers Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn -- five reasonably timed, concise and overwhelmingly direct assaults on the senses. The song structures are played with almost military precision with an emphasis on repeated guitar riffs and catchy hook lines. The production is designed to capture the electricity and raw energy of live performances, succeeding quite well in conveying a sense of explosive immediacy during the proceedings. The lyric content mimics some of Peter Townshend's finest mid-Sixties moments, displaying a remarkable lack of self-consciousness during humorous numbers like "A.C.D.C." (the story of a bisexual girlfriend) and "I Wanna Be Committed." The effect is not unlike The Who Sings "My Generation" recorded on sophisticated Seventies machinery.
Side two is devoted to Sweet's own compositions, reinforcing their tag of "a bubblegum Led Zeppelin." Guitarist Andy Scott is given much more freedom in the band's lengthier, more experimental format, bending his axe into bizarre contortions à la the Yardbirds-era Jeff Beck on "Sweet F.A.," riffing out submachine gun riffs on "Set Me Free" and using intervals to create a full, forceful and effective solo on "Into the Night." Were the Yardbirds alive today with no change in their musical direction, I'm almost certain this side of Desolation Boulevard is what they'd sound like.
The Sweet has combined two divergent musical styles -- the tight, restricted control of Chapman and Chinn and the guitar-based experimentalism of their own compositions -- into an explosive package. Desolation Boulevard is decidedly English in tone, decidedly hard rock in approach, and to these ears a decided success from a band with a future a mile long.
(Gordon Fletcher, Rolling Stone, 7/31/75)
Sweet - Fox On The Run (Mp3)
Sweet - Teenage Rampage (Mp3)
Monday, August 6, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
I <3 New Wave, Post Punk...Whatever-you-wanna-call-it Edition
Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric (Mp3)
Heaven 17 - Let Me Go (Mp3)
Icehouse - We Can Get Together (Mp3)
Fiction Factory - Feels Like Heaven (Mp3)
The Blue Nile - Stay (Mp3)
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord.mp3
Chicago - Saturday in the Park.mp3
Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat.mp3
David Cassidy - I Woke Up In Love This Morning.mp3
Donny Osmond - Go Away Little Girl.mp3
(...and yes, that blue round thing up there really was my radio back in the '70's -- a bit of a novelty at the time made by Panasonic. Oh, the nights we spent curled up together...)
Thursday, August 2, 2007
From the District Vaults: T-Rex/Electric Warrior
Reprise 6466
Released: November 1972
Chart Peak: #32
Weeks Charted: 34
Well, this is the group rock and roll fans. I feel it is important to impress on you the ingenuity of these two young Englishmen who have somehow, ingeniously, constructed a rock album that will enter the annals of rock history as one of the most original sounding, unusual sounding, obtusely, cleverly and creatively written albums ever. The sound could only be accurately pegged as "mystic boogie." Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn are the two dinosaurs involved here. Bolan does all the writing, singing, and plays guitar. Finn takes care of the percussion end of things. The rhythms this unique duo create, with the help of various session musicians (who play saxophone, flugelhorn, bass and drums) are devastating.
This is the group's second album on the Reprise label and fifth album together. They were originally on Fly Records in London and later on Blue Thumb where they came out with two albums: Unicorn and Beard of Stars. Tony Visconti has produced all the albums and on Electric Warrior he has coupled the T. Rex sound with an orchestral accompaniment: strings, cellos, bowed string basses which creates a sound so penetrating as to be awesome. But the paramount beauty of T. Rex lies in Bolan's singing and writing. His voice is hauntingly trebly, weird to the extent of being quite beautiful. His style is so unique as to resemble something non-human -- cosmically science fictive if you will. His writing draws upon stunning allusions and brilliant juxtapositions in words and thoughts. There is a duality to what he writes/sings/plays in that a listener can cruise along with the throbbing electric bass and resonant, moody drumming, or he can pay close attention to the lyric and reap a harvest of new insight from what Bolan has to say. At first his lyrics appear nonsensical but, upon a few listenings, one begins to understand the clever, highly individualistic description of reality the writer wants to convey. Bolan's rhyme schemes and word choices are solely unlike anything I have ever heard in rock and roll. He creates his very own special approach to rock that only few, highly creative artists have done. It is almost as though Bolan managed to establish a concept so "foreign" to standard rock and roll while still employing the artifice of the musical genre. He is avante-garde but in very captivating, understandable and inviting way.
"Jeepster," "Mambo Sun," "Cosmic Dancer," "Girl" and "Lean Woman Blues" highlight the eleven cuts on this album with lyrics that are inescapable.
"Jeepster": "You move so fine, with bones so fair, you've got the universe reclining in your hair... Girl I'm just a Jeepster for your love..."
"Cosmic Dancer": "I danced with myself right out the womb, Is it strange to dance so soon?... What's it like to be a loon? I'd liken it to a balloon..."
"Mambo Sun": "Beneath the bebop moon I want to croon with you. Beneath the mambo sun, I want to be the one for you."
There you have a sampling, but without the music integrating with the words, mere reading does not do the group justice. With better promotion and a few American tours under their belts, T. Rex are, without escape, destined to become the very next supergroup of our heretofore doggerel-ridden rock and roll "universe."
(Jay Ehler, Phonograph Record, 1/72)
Deep cuts -- via the Vaults:
T-Rex - Cosmic Dancer (Mp3)
T-Rex - Monolith (Mp3)
T-Rex - Lean Woman Blues (Mp3)
T-Rex - Planet Queen (Mp3)
T-Rex - Girl (Mp3)
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
The Vinyl District Recommends: This is England
It's hard to describe Shane Meadows' latest film without making it appear a great deal less interesting than it actually is. It's a semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy adopted by a gang of skinheads in a grey seaside town. And on that basis, This Is England sounds, in short, like typical grimesville British filmmaking - concrete, rain and misery. This couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the film is fizzing with energy and humour, powered by brilliantly engaging performances.
Chief among these is newcomer Thomas Turgoose as Sean, a put-upon 12-year old who finds unexpected friendship with a group of local skinheads led by the sweet natured Woody (Joseph Gilgun, another stand-out performance). These skins are a far cry from the image of racist thuggery that the movement became known for in the 80s. It's all about the music, and of course the clothes - although Sean is too small for Doc Marten boots, he still gets the haircut, the plaid shirt and the braces. For a while, everything is sweet in Sean's world. He even shares his first kiss with a Boy George lookalike with the charming name of Smell.
But soon, conflict arrives in the form of Combo (Stephen Graham, also superb), an old mate of the gang whose time in prison has left him with a strong sympathy for the National Front. Combo's racist agenda splits the gang and Sean, tragically, finds himself turning to Combo as a substitute for the father he lost in the Falklands. Meadows is an exhilarating filmmaker and This Is England is his best film to date - an honest, emotional, funny and deeply moving portrait of growing up. Don't miss it.
(Paul Arendt, bbc.co.uk)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
