Vulture tears:(First posted Friday, November 2, 2007.)I'm sitting behind a drum kit that's littered with hay in the upstairs of a huge open air barn. To the left of me, the rolling hills of Virginia are blanketed in orange. We've just had a blistering rehearsal. I mean, it's really beginning to gel after all the months of practice. The new rhythm guitarist is fitting in perfectly and hell, with a practice space like this he could be just awful and I'd have him in. 
Then ye olde bomb drops -- the front man and songwriter is moving to Finland to be with his girlfriend. "I'm getting too f'n old for this, man" I guessed, breaking down my gear. "Sci Fi Lullabies" was the soundtrack for that drive through the quiet, tense countryside back home to DC -- Fall, 1997.
And actually, he's still in Finland.Suede - My Dark Star (Mp3)Suede - The Living Dead (Mp3)Suede - Where The Pigs Don't Fly (Mp3)Suede - Killing Of A Flash Boy (Mp3)Suede - Every Monday Morning Comes (Mp3)
If the saying is true that the ‘unexamined life is not worth living,’ then it certainly can be said that the unexamined blog’s not worth reading. Or something like that, right?
I was pleasantly surprised last week upon taking note of the fact that TVD’s closing in on 1,000 posts.
ONE THOUSAND. (That’s a whole lotta red wine.)
But seriously, it’s an odd achievement in hindsight. Where did all of this come from? How was all of this cobbled together?
I mean, I KNOW...I was there and wrote the stuff alongside contributors from time to time...yet I’m still shaking my head. And to think I complained often before TVD that I had no free time...
This week: a retrospective stroll through the TVD back pages—for myself and perhaps you as a new or recent reader—as we inch ever closer to that 1,000 post mark.
Up first, babysteps: (First posted Monday, September 17, 2007.)Here it is folks, the first LP I ever purchased.
Sometime back at the start of this blog, I wrote about this Beatles reissue LP which also happened to be the first record I ever bought, way back in '76. It seems that once The Beatles contract with E.M.I. expired on February 6th 1976, E.M.I. had the rights to release any of The Beatles previously released recordings. This double set was the first album release where E.M.I. exerted that total control.
Researching this release over the weekend, I came across this commentary, "As with the "Red" and "Blue" albums, the presentation of this package was once again diabolical. The artwork was awful, no "special" tracks, no lyrics, no coloured bags, nothing. In fact, John had actually written to E.M.I. offering a design, and was not at all impressed with E.M.I.'s refusal and the finished product. The art direction was by Roy Kohara, and the amateurish drawings were by Ignacio Gomez."
Man, I couldn't disagree more. Perhaps it's just dewy-eyed nostalgia, but I think the art is quite wonderful and well rendered. The front cover likenesses are spot on (ok, Ringo looks a little dodgy) but otherwise a great package. I dig the hands holding the record too -- a design nuance that has lingered in my brain for all this time.
Most of all though, I vividly recall going to the aforementioned Two Guys in Neptune, New Jersey with my dad to buy this record. "Got to Get You into My Life" was the "new" single from this collection and I was enthralled -- I had mowed the lawn just enough to save the cash, and with the requisite hole burned clear through my pocket, we headed out to buy this thing. What a day. I literally can even recall what the new vinyl and the printed cover smelled like when the outer plastic was removed.
Seems some things you just never forget.
Which is why I had been recalling this trip to the Two Guys in 1976 over the past weekend. Dad passed away one year ago today. I find myself typing at the same desk where this day last year my cell rang to let me know dad had lost the month-long battle with pneumonia. Talk about going numb. The sensation was ten gazillion alarms going off in your head...a paralyzing disorientation. And loss.
Those alarms over the past year have seemingly popped off one by one. Time they say, at 33, 45 or 78 RPMs is a healer, and it's true. You move back into the routine, you're cracking jokes again and meeting the boys at the bar for drinks. But there's a deeper undercurrent to the memories that ultimately comprise just who the hell you are. Music, the old records on the shelf are imbued with a notch in the psyche, a clear bookmark of a place and time.
Which is frankly, why I thought to start this blog -- to recall mine and perhaps ignite those recollections for whoever cares to read and recall their own. And to give dad a shout-out for encouraging his kid to just be himself and follow his interests. He'd say, "Hey kid, it's your money" or when I cut my own hair in a Bono-like mullet, he said "It's your hair, kid. You wanna look that way, fine."
Forgive me if I think he was just the best dad a kid could have. For these things and so, so much more.H. P. M.21 March 1930—18 September 2006The Beatles - Got To Get You Into My Life (Mp3)The Beatles - Hey Bulldog (Mp3)The Beatles - Twist and Shout (Mp3)
Jeff from AM, Then FM delves into his stack of 70's LPs, all Rocktober-like:Heard it’s Rocktober here at TVD. Figured I’d dig through the ‘70s vinyl to find something that rocks. Or once rocked.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s first album, “Bachman-Turner Overdrive,” was released on May 17, 1973. Most of the tunes on this record are familiar, but only two were released as singles. The modest success of this record – it went gold in 1974 – was driven by album cuts played on free-form FM radio and the huge success of the singles that followed from later albums.
I’ve come to accept C.F. Turner’s rugged bellowing on most BTO vocals, as well as Robbie Bachman’s stomping drumming. It’s always been about the guitars anyway. On this record, it’s Randy Bachman on lead, Tim Bachman on rhythm and Turner on bass.
The best part of “Hold Back The Water” comes at 2:25, when a long guitar instrumental bridge kicks in. There’s a variety of styles, including some nice wah-wah guitar at 3:40. This was the flip side to BTO’s fine first single, “Blue Collar,” in 1973.
“Little Gandy Dancer” is a nice roadhouse rocker written and sung by Randy Bachman. It’s one of those tunes about a woman who’s too much woman. There’s a little bit of Chuck Berry in this one – a little guitar being played like ringing a bell. This was the flip side to the “Gimme Your Money Please” single later in 1973.
“Down And Out Man” is a bit of a rarity, co-written and sung by Tim Bachman. It sounds a little bit like something the Stones might have done. Depending on which story you believe, in 1974 Tim Bachman either quit the band or was thrown out because he just wasn’t good enough to be in BTO.Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Hold Back The Water (Mp3)Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Little Gandy Dancer (Mp3)Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Down and Out Man (Mp3)
Washington, DC’s own The Kora Records recently wrote us in regard to their new signing, London’s Stricken City who personally ensnared me right away with name checks such as The Slits and Life Without Buildings. (I mean, THAT’S refreshing.)
The notoriously fickle UK press has been gushing one better:"If this was the early 80s, Stricken City would be label-mates of Orange Juice, as this mini-album features eight of the the prettiest, shambling C86 style pop nuggets since the Postcard era. Intentionally angular and amateurish, Pull The House Down, Five Metres Apart and Killing Time offer skittish, playful guitar lines, fidgety bass and one finger keyboards, all deliciously cut with Rebekah Raa's striking, spectral chirrup, which is more than a little reminiscent of Sugacubes-era Bjork. With gawky, naive charm in abundance, this will be an album to make many a student sigh dreamily as they lovingly scrawl 'I HEART STRICKEN CITY' onto their pencil cases in Tippex."
—NME (8/10)
"In those innocent days before Pro Tools, click tracks and laptop recordings, the eighties produced a generation of studenty bands with a simple DIY ethic and only rudimentary musical skills who strummed away on effect-free jangly guitars and a simple hi-hat and snare rhythm. Stricken City are a splendid throwback to more innocent times where enthusiasm and the joy of being in a band counted for everything. Thankfully they also have some jolly tunes to back it up. Formed in the Midlands and now based in London, the quartet is fronted by the jittery, just-got-out-of-bed-haired goddess Rebekah Raa."
—Q MagazineThe band’s collaborated on tales of their collective history for TVD:"The SC have been through 3 drummers, 4 bassists and 2 keyboard players. It took us 3 years to get our act together and put our first record out and longer to actually settle on a band line up that worked. Now we are Rebekah, Iain, Mike and Kit and we're pretty happy this way. It's 13 months since someone left the band which I think is a record.
We're finally getting round to be productive, we have our first long player out now and plan to put out a cassette at Christmas, another EP early next year and another album in the Spring. We have songs and plans.When we first started people said we sounded a bit like The Slits and Life Without Buildings. We'd never properly listened to those bands so we did and they were good and we took it as a compliment. People also said we were like Siouxsie and The Banshees, we've still not really listened to them but I heard 'Hong Kong Garden' on the radio and it was pretty good.
'Pull the House Down' is the newest song on the new record and probably our favorite, we wrote it in one practice and recorded it a week later. 'Five Metres Apart' is the oldest song on the record, it's over 4 years old. This goes back to the bit I wrote early about starting to be productive. It's a big deal for us.Our newest song is called 'Animal Festival' and it might be our best, but all bands say there new song is the best so take that how you want to." Stricken City - Pull The House Down (Mp3)Stricken City will be playing four shows in NYC at CMJ between October 20-24. Check the festival guide for venues and times.
Vulture tears:
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