Friday, August 31, 2007



TVD'S WEEKEND SHOTS - 8/31/07
The Bathers - Twenty-Two.mp3
Danny Wilson - Pleasure To Pleasure.mp3
The Blue Nile - High.mp3
The Bathers - Dreamless.mp3
The Blue Nile - Stay Close.mp3
Danny Wilson - The Ballad Of Me And Shirley Maclaine.mp3
(...all Scots, wee hours edition.)

TVD Recommends: Foreign Born


From the new LP "On the Wing Now"
Foreign Born - In The Shape (Mp3)
Foreign Born - Union Hall (Mp3)

From the "In the Remote Woods" EP
Foreign Born - We Had Pleasure (Mp3)
Foreign Born - Escape (Mp3)
(Snap 'em up!)


TVD'S MORNING WAX - 8/31/07
(Big 12" Edition)
Echo and the Bunnymen - Silver (12" mix) (Mp3)
Tears for Fears - The Way You Are (12" mix) (Mp3)
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (12" mix) (Mp3)
Paul Young - Come Back and Stay (12" mix) (Mp3)
King - Won't You Hold My Hand Now (Heavy Times 12" mix) (Mp3)

Dupont's DJ Hut Destroyed in Blaze


A blaze occurred this morning (8/30) at the building that houses Dupont Circle's DJ Hut (and home to TVD's favorite pizza place, Alberto's.)

The floor of the store is a mess of shattered glass, water, insulation, and the bamboo that lined the shop’s ceiling. Much of DJ Hut’s stock of LPs are melted or smoke damaged, including the whole of the classics and new singles sections. The turntables in the shop are also ruined.

“All of our store has been pretty much destroyed,” says co-owner Chris Stiles.

A few records appear still playable, including discs by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Bob Marley and, EPMD; what’s salvagable is being carried out by staffers. The box set of Coldplay singles behind the counter “won’t be sold at $120,” says Stiles. It’ll be considered part of our their “fire sale,” he jokes.

Stiles doesn’t have much confidence in the condition of the store’s rarest and most expensive stock, which was kept in a separate room in the back of the shop–that’s where firefighters barreled through in their efforts to stop the blaze.

Still, Stiles is optimistic. He says the store and its stock is insured, and that DJ Hut may move to temporary digs soon, depending on what the damage assessment is. And, he points out, this isn’t the first fire at the shop: it suffered one about a year and a half ago. After that incident, Stiles says, the staff affirmed, “nothing can stop us. We still have that attitude.”

TVD purchased its Stanton deck there and the staff couldn't have been more knowledgeable and helpful. Here's hoping they're back on their feet very soon.
(Source: WCP)

Thursday, August 30, 2007



TVD'S MORNING WAX - 8/30/07
(Last big weekend edition)
Arab Strap - Speed-Date (Mp3)
Arab Strap - Here We Go (Mp3)
Arab Strap - Love Detective (Mp3)
Arab Strap - The First Big Weekend (Mp3)

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

TVD Remembers Hilly Kristal



NEW YORK, Aug. 29 It is with deep sadness and regret that we inform you of the death of Hilly Kristal, who died on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 from complications from Lung Cancer. Kristal, 75, founded the legendary rock club CBGB and ran the club for 33 years. A singer and songwriter himself, Kristal opened the club to showcase "Country Bluegrass and Blues"; instead the club became a breeding ground for Punk rock. Among the many acts that called CBGB home were Blondie, the Talking Heads, Television, Living Color, Patti Smith and the Ramones. The club closed in October 2006, but CBGB continues, with a retail store in New York City and worldwide merchandise sales; in addition, there currently are plans to open new CBGB clubs in several locations.

Kristal is survived by his daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, son, Mark Dana Kristal, son-in-law Ger Burgman, grandchildren Jenny and Adam Burgman, CBGB, and the thousands of artists and musicians who played the club.

A private memorial service is planned. A public memorial will be held at a later date. Contributions in Hilly's honor may be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or to the Hilly Kristal Foundation for Musicians and Artists (168 Second Avenue, PMB 207, New York, NY 10003).
(Source CBGB)


TVD'S MORNING WAX - 8/29/07
(Four from Norway's Even Johansen aka: Magnet)
Magnet - Heaviest Heart (Mp3)
Magnet - Little Miss More Or Less (Mp3)
Magnet - I'll Come Along (Mp3)
Magnet - Duracellia (Mp3)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007



TVD'S AM Gems - 8/28/07
The Raspberries - Go All The Way (Mp3)
Ringo Starr - Photograph (Mp3)
ELO - Telephone Line (Mp3)
Paul McCartney & Wings - Jet (Mp3)
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Whatever Gets You Thru the Night (Mp3)


TVD'S MORNING WAX - 8/28/07
(Now bundled together in one download. Give us some feedback if this is preferable or not - thanks!)
Soft Cell - What (Mp3)
Soft Cell - So (Mp3)
Soft Cell - Kitchen Sink Drama (Mp3)
Soft Cell - Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go (12" mix) (Mp3)
Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye [Extended Version] (Mp3)
...guitar free...

Monday, August 27, 2007



TVD'S MORNING WAX - 8/27/07
(Now bundled together in one download!)
The Lotus Eaters - The First Picture of You (Mp3)
Depeche Mode - Somebody (Mp3)
China Crisis - Wishful Thinking (Mp3)
Vitamin Z - Burning Flame (Mp3)
The Bible - Honey Be Good (Acoustic) (Mp3)
(Twee Monday)

Friday, August 24, 2007

Springsteen's "Magic" Gets Vinyl Release Week Before CD


Bruce Springsteen's new album, "Magic," is expected to be released on vinyl a week before its CD version hits stores in order to qualify it for 2007 Grammy consideration. The vinyl is due Sept. 25 via Columbia, while the CD will arrive Oct. 2; Sept. 30 is the cut-off for Grammy eligibility.

A handful of major releases have appeared on vinyl prior to CD; Pearl Jam released its 1994 album, "Vitalogy," on vinyl two weeks early, prompting a premature No. 55 debut on The Billboard 200.

The first single from "Magic," the driving rocker "Radio Nowhere," is due to hit U.S. radio outlets on Sept. 4 but has begun making the rounds online in the past 24 hours.
Springsteen and the E Street Band are widely expected to play some live shows in the U.S. around the album's release, but dates have yet to be announced.
(via Billboard)


Third World - 96 Degrees in the Shade (Mp3)
Jimmy Cliff - Johnny Too Bad (Mp3)
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Black Panta (Mp3)
Musical Youth - Pass the Duchie (12 Inch Version) (Mp3)
Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution (Mp3)
Peter Tosh - Coming in Hot (Mp3)
Bob Marley - Punky Reggae Party (Mp3)
Bunny Wailer - Rise And Shine (Mp3)
Toots and the Maytals - 54-46 Was My Number (Mp3)
Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come (Mp3)
(...weekend spliff edition. shh.)

...and so brings a close to Nilsson Week. Thanks for hanging in (if you did!) and indulging us. Thanks must go again to harrynilsson.com and For the Love of Harry for the background info and for filling in some blanks. Tell 'em we sent ya'.

Along the way we were accused of riding the coattails of the aforementioned sites and I politely have to disagree with that notion. They have their audience and we have ours -- and it's one that may have missed Nilsson along the way. We hope we've broadened the horizons of the uninitiated and encouraged some new folks to seek out Harry's catalog. They'll be well rewarded.

Let it not be said however that we're against any critique or criticism, cuz we ain't! Let us know how you feel in any regard...more of this, less of that - we're all ears. Chime in and participate...and thanks!



LP
RCA
CPL1-0570
1974

Harry Nilsson - Many Rivers To Cross (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Don't Forget Me (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Old Forgotten Soldier (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - All My Life (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Save The Last Dance For Me (Mp3)

Famously produced by John Lennon during his "Lost Weekend" period in 1974, Pussy Cats is often regarded as one of Nilsson's weaker albums, but it turns out to be one of my favorites. Just imagine, behind the drum kit alone for all the tracks on the LP are Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Jim Keltner. Klaus Voorman shows up on bass. Jesse Ed Davis, Danny Kootch, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Jim Horn and Bobby Keyes all sneak in there too.

And oh, yea -- Harry's on vocals. But if you've been following along all week, you'll note a distinct change in those vocals. Harry injured his vocal cords during the recording sessions which give some of these tunes an extra special resonance...gone is the sugar coating, in place of a whiskey-soaked rasp. And it was to stay that way for the rest of his recording career. A lost weekend, indeed.

Thursday, August 23, 2007



Australia
LP
Starcall
APL1-0097

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

"About two years ago [circa 1971], Harry and I were talking about songs, swapping titles, and testing memories. You know that game? Who wrote 'Miss Otis' and what year did Al Jolson die, and what else besides 'As Time Goes By' did Herman Hupfeld ... write? We found a lot of marvelous songs with fine words. And what melodies! 'You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It),' 'I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now.' Brilliant stuff, constructed with style and flair. ... One day Harry suggested 'Why don't we do an album of the old songs?' and it was the best idea I'd heard since God only knows when. 'You produce and I'll sing,' he said. And two years later - it's November 1972 - he says it again, and this time it's on." -- Derek Taylor

Wednesday, August 22, 2007



LP
RCA
1971

Harry Nilsson - Gotta Get Up (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Early In The Morning (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - The Moonbeam Song (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Without You (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - I'll Never Leave You (Mp3)

"Nilsson Schmilsson" is Harry Nilsson's best-selling album. It spent nearly one year on the charts, reaching #3, and going gold. The album's name comes from a discussion Harry had with some of the musicians about possible titles. One of them said it didn't matter much what you called it ... "Nilsson ... Schmilsson."
(And the greatest wake-and-bake cover ever? Could be...)


Harry's pre-Harry days ('63-'64).
Harry Nilsson (as Johnny Niles) - Donna (I Understand) (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson (as Johnny Niles) - Wig Job (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson (as Bo-Pete) - Do You Wanna (Have Some Fun) (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson (as Bo-Pete) - Groovy Little Suzie (Mp3)
Thanks again to FTLOH!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007



Three. Part. Harmony.


LP
RCA
LSP-4197
1969

Harry Nilsson - City Life (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Open Your Window (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Maybe (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Waiting (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore (Mp3)

"Harry" was Harry Nilsson's first album to break into Billboard's Top 200 album chart. It hit #120 and remained on the chart for 15 weeks.


The Monkees Demos
Harry Nilsson - Cuddly Toy (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Hey Little Girl (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Counting (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - The Story Of Rock And Roll (Mp3)
Recorded on March 17, 1967 while auditioning material for The Monkees and their producer Chip Douglas. (Thanks to For The Love Of Harry!)

Monday, August 20, 2007








The guy did get around.


LP
RCA
LSP-4289
1970

Harry Nilsson - Caroline (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - I'll Be Home (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Living Without You (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Dayton Ohio 1903 (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - So Long Dad (Mp3)

"Randy was tired of the album when we were finishing making it, because for him it was just doing piano and voice, piano and voice, over and over and over. But I needed that practice because I needed to learn the songs inside and out the way that he knew them, but do it my way so that it (stylistically) matched both of us. Once I got the take down, I knew what I was going to do with it later. He didn't." - Harry

Or, How 10 CD's for a Penny Could Change Your Life
I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for a deal. Send me ten DVD's for 5 bucks? I'm there. Netflix? Done deal. Peapod? Sure -- bring the grocs right to the front door. I think I've even joined Columbia House and BMG Music Clubs about 5 times each -- immediately completing the terms of the deal and canceling. I mean, fair's fair, right? I take them up on their offer, I get my CDs and move on to the proverbial next town.

But there's an odd downside to this transient Club joining, at least in the musical arena...eventually you kinda have what ya want in the ole LP/CD collection. It forces your hand to look to things you might perhaps just half like, or hell, even hear for the first time.

And that's how I found Harry Nilsson...rolling the dice for a penny and pulling the lever for The Best of Harry Nilsson. And I had every reason for optimism given previous successes of this sort with T-Rex and Thin Lizzy. (Two bands I'll STILL champion to this day - don't start with me...)

What I didn't expect was the sheer pervasive genius of the songwriting, the character of the vocals, the wit, humor, melancholy and longing wrapped up in one performer. How could I have missed this? No wonder John and Paul pronounced Nilsson their favorite in '68...hell it was all there...the 'American Beatle.' And then came that familiar feeling...that buzz...the knowledge that there's a wealth of material out there that's "new." Well, at least it was to me, then.

And now it's ten or more years on from that moment and I still feel the same way, reviewing my LPs and CDs for this week's tribute to Harry. There's plenty to be said about the man and his music, but as I noted in this week's teaser, there are quite a few online doing it already and who have done a wonderful job of covering each and every base. My thanks go out to the very fine harrynilsson.com as well as For The Love Of Harry -- wonderful sites that can fill in the blanks for the curious as well as the converted.

So, timely? Probably not. Timeless? For certain. Sit back, relax, and download...and indeed, run out and purchase.

"Long ago, and far away..."

Sunday, August 19, 2007

All next week at TVD...



...with great appreciation to some friends on the net.

Friday, August 17, 2007



Classics - on the Rocks
Van Halen - Dance The Night Away (Mp3)
Judas Priest - Living After Midnight (Mp3)
Blue Oyster Cult - Burnin' For You (Mp3)
Foreigner - Blue Morning, Blue Day (Live) (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin - Fool in the Rain (Mp3)

TVD: Bred and Spread


Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes - I Don't Want to Go Home (Mp3)
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Growin' Up (Live) (Mp3)

Sure, DC's been home for 22 years now, but home for 18 years prior was the Jersey Shore. Big hair, Camaros, thin slice pizza, Budweiser. AND -- Southside Johnny and the Boss. (Smell the ocean? I do.)



The Beatles - Medley: I) Within You Without You; II) Tomorrow Never Knows
The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
The Beatles - Medley: I) Come Together; II) Dear Prudence; III) Cry Baby Cry (Transtion)
The Beatles - Revolution
The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

In about 2002, the bootleg mash-up was big news. A hopelessly named phenomenon that involved producers illegally mixing two unlikely old records together to make a third, the mash-up made celebrities of some strange figures - Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton and secretive producer Richard X among them - but the Beatles may have been the sub-genre's true stars. They were involved both in its artistic zenith - the Grey Album, on which Danger Mouse pitted Jay-Z's rapping against music from the White Album - and the moment when mash-ups meandered into pointlessness: Go Home Productions' Paperback Believer, which used two fantastic records, Paperback Writer and the Monkees' Daydream Believer, to make a noticeably less brilliant third.

Their bootleg explosion did not escape Paul McCartney's attention: mash-up producer Freelance Hellraiser DJed on his last world tour. Three years on, with the phenomenon entirely out of puff, the Beatles have finally released their own 80-minute mash-up, remixed by George Martin's son Giles for the Cirque de Soleil show currently wowing Las Vegas tourists.

Any notion of four mop-topped figures trying to clamber aboard a bandwagon that left town some time ago is blown away by the opportunity Love presents to hear their music in vastly-improved sound quality: even if you don't have the requisite equipment for surround sound. At risk of straying into the grim territory of What Hi-Fi? magazine, the original Beatles' albums were released on CD in 1988, with digital technology in its infancy. They sound tinny and desperately malnourished by today's standards. They should have been remastered, but they haven't; largely, you suspect, so Apple can flog one canny repackage after another, safe in the knowledge that sooner or later, the people who buy them will fork out again for the definite article.

Aside from a lovely new string arrangement on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the only thing the Martins have added are sound effects. Some of these are fair enough - the vocals from Because float hazily amid bucolic chirping - but others are worryingly prosaic. When Henry the Horse dances a waltz in Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite!, his arrival is heralded by neighing: useful clarification for those listeners under the misapprehension that when John Lennon sang about Henry the Horse, he was referring to a squirrel. Worse, the guitar figure from Julia is overlaid with an ambulance's siren. As anyone who has read the late Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head knows, Julia may be the most emotionally complex Beatles track of all, an outpouring of Oedipal longing wrapped up in a tender expression of new love. If you stick an ambulance siren on it, you suggest it's just a song about John Lennon's mum getting run over, which isn't the same thing at all.

In theory, Love's other big idea - overlaying sections of different Beatles songs to create new pieces of music - is more controversial, but the results are largely fantastic. Overlaying Mr. Kite's closing bars with the churning coda of I Want You (She's So Heavy) cleverly highlights the similarity between the swirling, cut-up calliope of the former and Paul McCartney's remarkable shivering bassline on the latter. The drums from Tomorrow Never Knows are matched to Within You Without You: suddenly, Sgt Pepper's most ethereal moment sounds claustrophobic, oppressive and nasty. This seems weirdly fitting, given that the song's lyric features a 24-year-old millionaire smugly congratulating himself for being so much more civilised and enlightened than everyone else.

It's debatable whether I Wanna Hold Your Hand - recorded specifically to sound fantastic blaring from a Dansette or a transistor radio's solitary, tinny speaker - gains much from being remixed into 5.1 surround sound, but elsewhere, the benefits of the sonic upgrade ring out. The quiver of desperation in Lennon's voice on Help! is almost unbearable. The thwack of strings against guitar neck adds an undercurrent of anger and frustration to Yesterday. But no one profits quite like Ringo Starr. Strawberry Fields Forever's thunderous finale now sounds like something produced by the Chemical Brothers, but it's the bits you've never noticed that really give you pause. Who - other than Ringo, obviously - previously paid any attention to the fills on Here Comes the Sun or the scampering hi-hat patterns that decorate Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds?

You could, of course, have discovered this without anyone mashing up anything. The question of whether anybody would listen to Love more than once if the original Beatles albums were available in equivalent sound quality is a nice one. But it doesn't seem to matter much when you can almost feel the spit flying from John Lennon's mouth during Revolution, or when A Day in the Life's orchestral swell comes surging from the speakers. After all, it's hard to ask questions when your breath has been taken away.
(--Alexis Petridis, Friday November 17, 2006, The Guardian)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

TVD Remembers Max Roach (1925-2007)



"I came to realize that, because of him, drumming no longer was just time, it was music."

TVD: For the Vinyl Voyager


Our pal JC points us toward a damn fine link to a damn fine site -- Record Store Review, "the worldwide directory for serious music buyers featuring stores from over 600 cities."

As they explain on the site, "The premise is simple. Most record buyers travel around from time to time and their first concern in a new city is to find where the best stores are. Often, this isn't even about the records themselves, but the fact that record stores are often located in the more interesting parts of town and are run by people knowledgeable in local fringe interests."

A search for DC area stores reveals some hits and misses...while they locate the new-ish Red Onion Records, they still have Smash in Georgetown, two (?) listings for the defunct Revolution Records, while there's no listing for Som Records at all. But, all in all, minor quibbles for such an exhaustive global resource. Cheers to Gunnar Van Vliet for his efforts. Go show him some love and hell, buy a shirt while you're at it.


Only Band that Matters Morning:
The Clash - I Fought The Law (Mp3)
The Clash - Career Opportunities (Mp3)
The Clash - The Call Up (Mp3)
The Clash - This is Radio Clash (Mp3)