Allow me to date myself (...which I ..uh, did for years, frankly.)
Back in '85 when I came to Washington the drinking age was a Wild West 18. This was long before many of the clubs we think of as DC staples. Before The Black Cat, or Velvet Lounge, or any of the bars on U Street and way before anything but a hold up was going down on H Street.
There was the 9:30 in its original spot on F Street, NW, DC Space nearby, and Poseurs in Georgetown on M Street right before the Key Bridge. And if you were like me and loathe to embrace much of the ridiculousness found on college campuses (AU for me) you might just find yourself working at the college radio station with more kindred spirits. Then DJing 'college nights' at the aforementioned Poseurs, which then morphs into a steady DJ gig at Poseurs.
And you'd never get paid for these Poseurs sets either, just free drinks. So needless to say, sets would start out real strong and descend into chaos as the night progressed. I did love me some Bartles & Jaymes.
And if you, like me, have the mold and mildew on you and can recall the mold and mildew of Poseurs in all of its punky new wave goth glory, many of the records you owned, the records I was playing, have fared less well over the years. I cannot tell you how many copies of this or that Cure or Souixsie record I've repurchased and repurchased over the years. Some literally became coasters on more memorable evenings.
Which, by the way of a sweet, sweet segway, gives me great pleasure to introduce TVD readers to Vinyl 180 who are outdoing themselves in refreshing those 'well loved' LPs in your record collection.
Allow me to quote the informative press release: "The Vinyl 180 label produces new vinyl editions of classic 80’s post-punk albums, remastered from original analogue tapes and pressed onto 180g heavyweight vinyl to capture the warmth and depth of sound that currently only vinyl can offer... just as they were meant to be heard. All releases are packaged in deluxe gatefold sleeves on heavyweight cardboard stock...
In 2009, Vinyl 180 has been working with 4AD and Beggars Banquet labels, producing new super high quality versions of albums from Cocteau Twins, The Cult and Dead Can Dance. Upcoming exclusive releases for Vinyl 180 feature titles from Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard.
There’s a new addition to the Bauhaus catalogue, This Is For When, a live document of the band's concert at Hammersmith Palais - 9th November 1981. This is a brand new release and is available initially as a limited edition of 2,000 copies pressed onto two 180g vinyl LPs and housed in two heavyweight card sleeves wrapped in a printed transparent PVC wallet. Remastered and remixed from the original analogue tapes, this unique pressing features the whole live show, capturing the band at their incendiary best..."
And because we like you all so very much, Vinyl 180 has given TVD a beautiful, pristine copy of Dead Can Dance's self titled debut to give away. It comes in an expanded form which also includes the follow up EP 'Garden of the Arcane Delights' in a 2-LP, 180 gram edition that dutifully and lovingly reproduces the original packaging on heavyweight stock.
We'd love to put it into the hands of anyone who can recall Poseurs or a venue of similar stature...but I'm realistic. Tell us tales from the garden of your youthful delights in the comments section to this post and the one that reeks most of clove cigarettes and incense will take home the Dead Can Dance reissue.
We'll close this one out a week from today (1/14) by noon. Get at us before then — with contact info!
(Ed. note: new contributor, new feature!)Thrift Store Gems are records you should pull the trigger on next Saturday flipping through the used crates at the shop. I hid a copy for you...flip between Linda Ronstadt and Dan Fogelberg, or was it Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass? You've probably heard these somewhere along the line, or spotted them at the local Goodwill, but give 'em a second chance and they might fit like a cheap used leather jacket. No decade is spared in this series, so let's get searching.Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà vu (1970)Déjà vu is a 6th St. prostitute doused in slick perfume. Nothing more than loose demos cut up and pasted together with cocaine and weak bravado. A big-budget production that ushered in the era of corporate rock and pissed off ‘60s hippie dreamers still pissing in the woods at Woodstock. But even the occasional call girl is a nice looking woman.
Crosby, Stills & Nash would bring in a hired gun after the large success of their self-titled debut. Neil Young, the elusive rocker of Buffalo Springfield fame, left his ranch and dodged his epilepsy long enough to lend a hand. Joined by talented druggies Greg Reeves and Dallas Taylor, and the then-and-still obtuse Young, CSN managed to fuck up beautifully. The beautiful mess is even packaged in a fake leather gatefold that seems fitting.
The opening cut on Side 1 – radio friendly “Carry On” - is a put together effort probably tracked before Johnny the dealer showed up. I like throwing Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair” on when I'm alone, he wrote it after losing his then girlfriend in a car accident and you can hear it. Skip over “Woodstock”, unless you’d enjoy Joni Mitchell’s heartfelt poem of cliche clichés lathered in production and sped up too fast. “Déjà vu” is another Crosby cut that’s oozes a nice lack of cohesiveness, but the closing solo by Stills is a nice trip.Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - 4 + 20 (Mp3)
While I might have been around in the late 60’s and early 70’s, I wasn’t what one might call, a good hang. I was way too into cartoons and sugary cereals and Legos and not so much with the smoking and drinking and carousing til all hours.
I missed those late night, bong laden, soul searching conversations with suburban pseudo hippies on sabbatical destined for corporate gigs and neglected housewives all the while seeking salvation within Yes lyrics or reading double meanings into Moody Blues bluster. I missed it and that was: justfinethankyou.
My contemporaries were Flock of Seagulls and Haircut 100 and that ilk, not known certainly for any depth on the bench or in books.
But David Sylvian got me reading Kundera for chrissakes.
Taa daa! I could end it there, really. That’s a victory unto itself. I mean, when was the last time someone whose music you listened to on the regular inspired you to go beyond yourself and within yourself just as the artist himself was taking the same spiritual journey? When was the last time you were intellectually challenged by music or musicians?
I took some heat for slagging The Velvet Underground yesterday but I stand by it. John Cale’s brilliant and Lou’s certainly impressed me over the years, and while they inspired countless bands...what did they inspire in you as the listener? It’s actually not their job to do anything but create and reflect, so fine.
But there’s been something, an added bonus if you will, for those who’ve followed Sylvian from pasty face pin-up to thoughtful, articulate, esoteric artist. If I knew what that was – what word to call it – I’d take a crack at it. An intangible tangibility of sonic texture and spirituality, perhaps.
I’m not sure. I’m failing here.
But David Sylvian got me reading Kundera for chrissakes. 
David Sylvian's latest Manafon is out now on his own Samadhisound.David Sylvian (with Ryuichi Sakamoto) - Forbidden Colours (Mp3)David Sylvian - Wave [Live] (Mp3)David Sylvian - Heartbeat (Tainai Kaiki II) (Mp3)Rain Tree Crow - Every Colour You Are (Mp3)David Sylvian - It'll Never Happen Again [Live] (Mp3)
A solid 97% of the time, I loathe ‘power-pop.’ The meticulousness that it takes to ape the Beatles or Beach Boys or Raspberries or Badfinger paradigm by sheer mathematics is laughable. Even when it’s done well I still think “Why f’n bother?”
Which is why we should all look up Alex Chilton and and say c’mon down to the pub, drinks are on us. And Alex, if you’re reading, you can crash at my place too. Help yourself to anything in the fridge.
The new Big Star box set ‘Keep an Eye on the Sky’ is a revelation in sheer effortlessness of creation. Or seemingly such. However enamored the band was with the previous list of pristine pop purveyors, one might not notice. Sure, there’s a blueprint of sorts and the influences are apparent, but there’s a wholly new artifact being created that’s ingested what came prior, yet exhales angelic new hues.
The best example is to highlight the demos from the new set. Chilton even takes the Velvets moribund ‘Femme Fatale’ and actually finds beauty in the thing. (And don’t write me letters...however cool VU is/was...they often border on unlistenable. Without smack, anyway.)
Here’s to you Alex Chilton... (and Andy and Jody and of course, Chris.) Drinks and dinner? A cuddle afterward?
Big Star - What's Going Ahn [Demo] (Mp3) Big Star - Daisy Glaze (Rehearsal Version) (Mp3)Big Star - Femme Fatale [Demo] (Mp3) Big Star - Nightime [Demo] (Mp3)Big Star - Take Care [Demo] (Mp3)
A few weeks back we posted the trailer for the new Runaways movie which had me thinking about Joan Jett ultimately. Odd that she's become a hero of sorts - although she's eminently worthy. She just seems to be a bit of a contemporary in a sense which took me back for a sec.
I started to extrapolate a bit. Why, if this was the case...who would my musical 'heroes' be? Although I'm not prone to hero worship...the mental trail I went down was a bit enlightening and dispiriting all at once. They were all dead.
Lennon, Marley, Bolan, Lynott, Nilsson, Hendrix, Bonham, Moon, Borland, Mercury... "All dead/all dead..."
Huh.
So, I thought this week to kick off the new year and the new decade, we'd begin with a reminder that there are more than a few hero-worthy types out there one could grab a beer with. If you could get so lucky.
So...Ringo.
Right - he was a Beatle so he's garnered a bust in the Hall of All Time Greats. But hell, we'd have so much to talk about (Or, I would...) and not just the obvious stuff either.
The sessions beyond the Beatles he played on. LA in the 70's with the aforementioned Lennon, Nilsson, Alice Cooper, Mickey Dolenz. Hanging with Bolan. His 70's singles which I think were damn great with great acknowledgement of George's contributions.
He was just there, man. Through it all.
So Ringo - get in touch please? I'm buying. Ok, thanks.The Beatles - I Wanna Be Your Man ['Live at the BBC' Version] (Mp3)The Beatles - Boys ['Anthology One' Version] (Mp3)Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy (Mp3)Ringo Starr - Back Off Boogaloo (Mp3)Ringo Starr - You're Sixteen (Mp3)
Holy cow! It’s a whole new DECADE! 2010… where the hell is my transporter? Shouldn’t we be vacationing on the moon by now?!
Anyways, although I haven’t gone to any shows recently (sad face..), I did recently snatch this FLAMING LIPS cover of Pink Floyd’s DARK SIDE OF THE MOON that I highly recommend you check out. Yes, Wayne Coyne and all his eccentricity have teamed up with Henry Rollins of BLACK FLAG and PEACHES (weird combo, eh?) to cover the entire, mind-blowing album that is Dark Side.
Although the original is epic, I think Wayne does an excellent job reintroducing this album with his distinct, quivering voice and obscure yet minimalist instrumentation. Whether or not you’re a huge Dark Side fan or not, this album will either a) remind you of the albums existentialistic greatness and have you pulling out your old 12” (I’m talking vinyl here, get your mind outta the gutter…) or b) make you wonder why you never actually fell in love with this album in the first place.
The Dark Side album is truly mind-blowing and if you pay attention the lyrics will have you staring at the ceiling, pondering life’s big questions (sparkin the old pipe may not hurt either). Get it on iTunes! I’ve dropped a few tracks for you to download (Speak to Me/Breathe and Great Gig in the Sky), let me know what you think!!
“Long you’ll live and high you’ll fly but only if you ride the tide”
Keep these lyrics handy and if you like what you hear check out the Lips’ most recent album, Embyonic for a healthy dose of obscurity.
On another note… What shows is everyone hyped to see in 2010?? Hot Chip, the XX, Miike Snow, Yeasayer, Air, St Vincent, AL GREEN?!??Flaming Lips - Speak to Me/Breathe [feat. Henry Rollins & Peaches] (Mp3)Flaming Lips - The Great Gig In the Sky [feat. Peaches & Henry Rollins] (Mp3)
I'm not too surprised that yesterday's Regifting Giveaway was met with a resounding chorus of crickets, but today I've got a good one for you.
I'm not sure how many year-end montages I've sat through featuring the big name celebrities who passed away in 2009, but the one that hit home the most for me was the loss of Orpheus Records in Clarendon this past year. A weekend doesn't go by when I'm longing to be rifling through Rick's well stocked bins with old gems and new arrivals.
But as the store was fading and everything had to go, often times for a mere dollar, I found that I often purchased two—sometimes three—copies of the same record in a flurry of mad, mad purchasing.
So, our final Regifting Giveaway...I'll randomly pick three LPs from this stack of doubles or triples and hell, I'll even mail them to the winner who catches our attention in the comments to this post. You'll have to trust my judgment with the selections, but I'm thinking if you're visiting us with any frequency, you'll be OK with what lands on your doorstep.
You've got 24 hours...make 'em good and be sure to leave us some contact info.Action Painters - 456 (Mp3)Art Brut - Alcoholics Unanimous (Mp3)Black Lips - Stranger (Mp3)iamvexed - Be Wise (Mp3)Joe Jackson - Got The Time (Mp3)
Hello music-savvy friends. Right, so I’ve been M.I.A. for a while ‘cause I haven’t been attending too many shows recently…. Not because I don’t WANT to, but b/c the federal govt pays me like shit and I’m too damn broke. There were some good shows recently that unfortunately I did miss…. Anyone make it to Lee “Scratch” Perry/See-i? Totally bummed I had to miss it……..
Anywhooo…. I know you were all massively worried you hadn’t heard from me so I’ve decided that from now on I shall grace you with a WEEKLY dose of my mind-numbing DC/music accounts every Monday morning, in what I like to call, “The Sunday Hangover.” Please bear in mind my brain is generally functioning at a third of the capacity on Monday’s so you’ll be sure to get the most honest and possibly semi-incoherent recap of the past weekend's events. Sounds tremendous, I know…. but entertaining, none-the-less.
On another note…. Out of the kindness of my heart, as a holiday gift to you, I’ve decided to burn all of the loyal Vinyl District readers a ‘digital cd’. It’s chalk full of new indie tunes such as BEACH HOUSE who are blowing up recently (new album drops Jan 26th and if you like My Morning Jacket then you should check that out!) and the new SPOON song, ‘Written in Reverse’ which is sorta darker than you would imagine, yet incredible. Not to mention a HOT CHIP cover of JOY DIVISION (Transmission), an ARCADE FIRE cover of TALKING HEADS (Naïve Melody), and THE XX/FLORENCE and the MACHINE. I’ve also put some of my fave electro/disco jams in there to spice up your new years. Enjoy… and if you don’t…. at least pretend you do!
Caio and see you in 2010!
TVD's Sunday Hangover - Holiday Mix 2009
I like to think I'm a pretty decent gatekeeper of what and who hits the blog most times. Things need to meet a simple aesthetic or two and if not, we're not interested. Thumbs down. It's the TVD freshness guarantee—our promise to you that we won't be posting shit. Life's short, right?
So, imagine my despair one recent morning when I woke to realize I'd done something simply awful the night prior (which didn't involve cross-dressing for a change.) I kid. Sorta'.
'Twas worse...I OK'd a contest...man, it pains me to say it. (OK, deep breath.) I OK'd a contest to give away passes for ... I can't do it.
Dave Matthews. There, I said it. ...I OK'd a contest to give away passes for a 3D Dave Matthews concert movie also featuring Ben Harper and Gogol Bordello. GOGOL BORDELLO...thaaat must have been what I was thinking. Damn.
Anyway, this big box soon arrives with high quality t-shirts for the movie, heavy duty promo posters, laminates, 3D lenticular movie passes - the whole media kit. Well, F me...
I wracked my brain. How the hell can I post a Dave Matthews contest on TVD without you, the reader paying me a visit with a bat and a shovel?
So, I Tweeted it. Head hung real low - I Tweeted it. Even had an interested party who subsequently learned that 3D makes his wife hurl. (Right - there was a lot of hurling going on that week.)
Ultimately, the one week run of the 3D film came and went. But I still gots me this box which taunts me every time I turn on the light for the day here at TVD HQ.
Please. Take it. It's yours. Let me know in the comments.
Do it for the children.Snowden - Anti-Anti (Mp3)The Smiths - Miserable Lie (Mp3)Steely Dan - Dirty Work (Mp3)Talk Talk - It's So Serious (Mp3)The Hussys - We Expected (Mp3)
Here at TVD HQ, we're the happy recipients of a lot of good will arriving via the mail each day. Like, a lot of good will ...from bands, PR folks, labels, etc. SO much good will that we're passing on the clutter...to you.
Typically a record or CD arrives, we preview, burn the suggested tracks, and more often than not, post for you guys to download and spread like a healthy dose of H1N1.
But there's only so much room. So, in an effort to actually see the floor once more, during this shortened holiday week, we're offering the overflow in a series of giveaways.
Giveaway #1: Despite being The Vinyl District, we get a shit ton of CDs. I'm looking at a random stack of perhaps 15-20, all 2009 releases, that we're willing to just give to ya. Go ahead - take 'em. Just take 'em. And they're not crap either—easily major label, indie releases.
So, get at us in the comments to this post as to why these CDs should come home with you and these aging dinosaurs, er...CDs...can be yours. We'll choose our winner on Thursday, 12/31 by noon.
One catch however: the winner can come from any corner of the globe, but the aforementioned winner has to pick up his or her CDs at TVD HQ located in the heart of downtown DC. (Really, have you seen the lines at the post office this time of year?)
Two more to come over the following days...Gang of Four - Return The Gift (Mp3)Aztec Camera with Mick Jones - Consolation Prize (Mp3)Vanilla Swingers - Back To The Present (Mp3)New Model Army - The Prize (Mp3)The Wedding Present - Montreal (Mp3)
Well, here's one Pitchfork got right:
"Put on a Clientele record and you're entering a space, one crafted as much through sound as lyrical associations, which tend toward the kind of quasi-cinematic string-pulling that makes for the band's own brand of enjoyable cliché. It's lonely without tipping into alienation. It's in tune with the power of memory without being deadened by generic nostalgia. It's someplace where changes in the weather can leave people dumbstruck. And if the music itself were a hair more melodramatic, its wistfulness would probably be unbearable. But the band's restraint, skirting emotional didacticism while still providing room for listeners' own specific states, appeals to humanity's more evanescent (and maybe pop-resistant) feelings."
Simply put, the best of the year.The Clientele - I Wonder Who We Are (Mp3)The Clientele - Share the Night (Mp3)The Clientele - Never Saw Them Before (Mp3)
Every day without fail, there's no shortage of half-baked opinions here at TVD. And trust me, they'd be fully-baked if I could locate my dealer. (Hey XXXX - please get in touch - thanks!)And while we hope for your feedback throughout the year on any given rant, this week we're asking for it in a more formalized setting as we invite you to offer your best of the best or the worst of the worst for '09.It needn't even be in regard to vinyl or music. Why, give us your tired, your poor, your existential angst—and hell, you may even win a prize.
Courtesy of our friends at Factory 25, we've got a LP/DVD copy of Rosie Thomas''All the Way from Michigan Not Mars' featuring intimate live performances with fellow songwriters Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer and the DVD of the movie and soundtrack LP to 'Frownland' which the New York Times' Manohla Dargas raved as "...personal cinema at its most uncompromising and fierce" for ONE commenter on the year soon to expire who hits some sort of home run or grace note in the comments to this post.
Please remember to leave us some contact info (important!) and we'll choose our winner on Monday, January 4, 2010 as to kick your year off on a certified high.
(And, hey XXXX - please get in touch - thanks!)
The truth is coming out...I’m list-averse. Shopping or to-do, I just don’t do ‘em. And the finale of another year won’t kick me in gear.
But I do have some year-end cappers in the form of my one pick for record of the year and one for the release that I actually listened to the most. Intellectually, both could be miles apart. But are they?
The actual release most listened to in ‘09 truly breaks two ‘cardinal rules’ in a manner. Firstly, the thing came out in August ‘08. Secondly, I own this neither on LP (don’t believe it was released as such) or even on CD. I know – fuck me – just digitally. Egad.
That said, Ann Arbor’s Starling Electric released the best of 2008, which ear-wormed itself clear into my brain throughout 2009 to become the most listened to of the year.
The Posies’ Jon Auer put it the best, “Startling and superlative orchestral pop that reminds me why I fell in love with music in the first place...Clouded Staircase is to my ears one of the best records of the modern age - a bona fide stunner.”
And he’s right.Starling Electric - She Goes Through Phases (Mp3)Starling Electric - Death To Bad Dreams!/The Black Parade (Mp3)Starling Electric - Lions (Mp3)
