Wednesday, December 17, 2008

TVD First Date With... | Juliette Commagere

Many years ago as a young kid I was prone to fevers. I guess we all were but I seemed to get them more often than not. I recall after one particular episode lying in bed just sweltering while the (black and white!) TV thumped away. Too weak to get up to change the channel (because you had to then, right?) I let 'Hee Haw' and its southern sass rattle my fevered brain.

But something happened...as I was lying there in bed watching Charley Pride croon his way into the Opry...the fever broke! It was like light on/light off. There was a palpable sense of a lifting or cooling of the fever and in one tangible millisecond, I felt a million times better! And as the years went on, every time I'd see Charley Pride, I silently recall his countrified bedside manner that placed a metaphoric cool rag on my blazing brow. (And I'm not making this up - totally true. I felt like I've owed him one for years.)

So yea, I've been feeling kind of crappy this week and the lackluster posts probably give that away. Juuust not feeling Christmassy. And not that she intended it, I'm sure, ...but Juliette just pulled a Charley Pride on me.

Don't believe me? Play 'Overcome' real loud like I just did and try to tell me it's not like someone just opened up the widow real wide and set something free.

And we got her on the record(s) too:


"I heard recently that vinyl is “making a comeback”. I don’t really know what this means but nonetheless it’s reassuring to know that in our digital age, where people’s attention spans are now proven to be getting shorter from so much high paced internet stimulation, that people are trying hold onto a medium from a time when listening to a record was kind of like reading a book. People actually listened to an album from start to finish and contemplated its entirety as opposed to shuffling a mix of songs individually bought on itunes on their ipods. That’s not to say I don’t love technology (the freedom and independence my laptop has given me to create music has changed my life), but I think human beings will always have a need to hold onto beauty. I’ve seen bands now selling their records on vinyl which includes a digital download thingy, and this makes a lot of sense—jewel cases are not beautiful, but records are. Also, the mere fact that they’re so much larger than cds makes them that much more of an experience—that much more of a world you can create as an artist and that much more of a world to get lost in as a consumer. And of course everyone knows they sound better too. I would love to release my records on vinyl and fantasize about it all the time. For now cds are more practical for indie labels, but really all it takes is money--which I’m hoping to have inordinate amounts of someday!"

Juliette Commagere - Overcome (Mp3)
Juliette Commagere - Queens Die Proudly (Mp3)

TVD's Beatles Fanclub Records | '67 & '68

Y'know, this could be the best time you'll ever have in your life. Would you be able to recognize it as such?

"Christmastime is here again, Christmastime is here again..."


The Beatles Christmas Fanclub Record, 1967 (Mp3)
The Beatles Christmas Fanclub Record, 1967, Alternate (Mp3)
The Beatles Christmas Fanclub Record, 1968 (Mp3)
The Beatles Christmas Fanclub Record, 1968, Outtake One (Mp3)
The Beatles Christmas Fanclub Record, 1968, Outtake Two (Mp3)