Thursday, June 5, 2008

TVD's Weekend Shots

No, TVD readers, it's not an early weekend bender. Your eyes aren't deceiving you...yes, it's your Weekend Shots quite early in the morning. It's because, well...(come in, come in closer...see, um)...it's my first blog birthday on Saturday. Not THE birthday of the blog (although that looms) it's well, mine! And I'm calling in sick tomorrow...(*cough -- hack!*) Or taking a vacation day - whichever gives me more vacation days in the future. (Note to TVD HR.)

So, if you would, come take a swim in Lake Me. These ten tracks, for whatever reason all spent some time embedded in the cranium for some portion of the first half of '08 and have become my birthday mixtape. Please download all 10 together and play in order. Loud. Like I will this weekend.

(Fast note about the Nick Gilder track that kicks off this 10...I have played this tune NONSTOP all year. I don't know what it is. There's something that just kills here...it's dated, sure...but dammit, man...where's the band ripping this sound off? Straight up the center - no mathrock time changes - just eager and angst. It's simple really. But this is a lousy Mp3 conversion that I found on the net...I'll get to an official one next week...think of it as if coming through your AM radio. Together we'll work on the harmonies on the chorus part..."...love we're sharing...!")

See ya Monday!


Nick Gilder - We'll Work It Out (Mp3)
Todd Rundgren - Couldn't I Just Tell You? (Mp3)
The Sound - Under You (Live) (Mp3)
The Comsat Angels - Independence Day (Mp3)
MGMT - Electric Feel (Mp3)
Sniff 'n The Tears - Driver's Seat (Mp3)
Guillemots - Get Over It (Mp3)
Stereophonics - Dakota (Mp3)
Rainbow - Since You've Been Gone (Mp3)
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes - I Don't Want to Go Home (Mp3)

TVD Recommends | Sad Summer Shows

The Sad Crocodile residency at Galaxy Hut has triumphantly wrapped up but DC's favorite mopesters still have a few shows coming up and then a little (recording) break planned. Both will continue the proud tradition of pairing themselves with some of the most exciting musicmakers out there.

Sunday June 15th at the Red and the Black bringing a big slice of the NYC Popfest right to you in DC with the always amazing Tullycraft, From Bubblegum to Sky, DC's beloved Sprites and going on early is Sad Crocodile, so don't be late!!!!! "Jason from Sprites wanted to set something up the day after the bands play New York and I know some of the Tullycraft gang so how could we resist. We will start things off with complicated adult issues and then the other folks will blast out about video games and vampires surrounding them with pop hooks up the wazoo," says Sad Crocodile's John Foster.

Thursday July 10th at DC9 will feature a special night with three of DC's most exciting songwriters performing their very different compositions in a unique sequence. (That is long as all get out - what I am saying is don't miss a second and it won't be the usual set sequence type of night.) Sam Simkoff (of Le Loup), Martin Royle and Sad Crocodile will rotate short sets throughout the night and the potential is there for a transcendent evening or a complete trainwreck. "Not to be forgotten either way!" laughs Foster. "I had planned both Sam and Marty for the residency but the dates ended up not working as they had tours that ripped them away (Sam to Europe and Marty to Kentucky haha.) I sat over a drink with Marty hoping to set up a make-up show and we talked about this rotating presentation idea he had tried once before. We both only had one person we wanted to do it with and Sam was game. I can't wait."

TVD's Daily Wax | Japan "Tin Drum"

The point where, surprisingly, New Wave morphed into...art? Could it be? My trusty Trouser Press notes:

In one of rock's most remarkable examples of bootstrapping, South London's Japan pulled themselves up from lowly beginnings as a ludicrously overdressed glam-punk-pose band who (badly) emulated the New York Dolls and Alice Cooper to finish, five years later, as one of England's most sophisticated art-rock outfits, earning the respect of their peers and branching out into such fields as sculpture and photography. . . Tin Drum presents Japan at peak form, playing subtle creations with intricate rhythms and tightly controlled dynamics. Spare but strong drumming (abetted by Karn's rubbery bass) provides needed propulsion, and the breadth of influences — from Middle Eastern to funk — color the music a number of fascinating shades. Having almost totally escaped pop constraints, Japan's sound here — except for a few tunes (especially "Ghosts") that strongly resemble latter-day Roxy Music — is a willowy fabric of interwoven threads.

"A willowy fabric of interwoven threads." I thought I heard hissing summer lawns.


Japan - The Art of Parties (Mp3)
Japan - Talking Drum (Mp3)
Japan - Still Life in Mobile Homes (Mp3)
Japan - Visions of China (Mp3)
Japan - Sons of Pioneers (Mp3)