Here at THE VINYL DISTRICTwe're good consumers. All Mp3's are posted to promote and give exposure to the music and are linked for a limited time. Please download to preview, then head promptly to your local vinyl vendor (or - OK, CD store too) and fork over your hard earned cash. You'll appreciate the piece of mind.
Got something you think we should be listening to or reading? thevinyldistrict (at) gmail.com
Sarah’s currently on the road to promote the band’s new release ‘The Stars Are Out' which is actually available on orange vinyl, no less. It’s a pleasure to have her back this week because we cannot get “Stop and Think It Over” from an earlier release out of our collective heads. (It’s the first vid down there—you’ve been warned...)
Between the road and the gigs, Sarah’s got to waxing nostalgic. (About wax.)
"One of my happiest childhood memories was picking out the record for naptime, going-to-bedtime, whatever time. I wasn’t old enough to read, but I knew I liked all the records that had the apple on the sticker, and that were colored blue and red. Hello Beatles. Part of the reason my band’s new album is on orange vinyl is because I love so well that recognition without reading effect. Like seeing an old friend without trying to remember their name.
When I got older, and I had my own money from working at Henry’s A&W Root Beer Stand in Taunton, MA, I frequented an independent record store downtown called Oasis Records. I didn’t really know what I liked in terms of new music because I had spent so much time listening to parents’ record collection, but this place was so cool I figured anything in there had to be alright.
A guy named Jim was the proprietor, and he often recommended other stuff (by this time we were on to cds) based on my novice choices. He also served as ombudsman for all local band information. There was a band in town, Blair’s Carriage, that everyone thought was the coolest, and on the bottom of their hand-addressed, sent-through-the-U.S. Post fliers (weren’t those great?), it said for more info, contact Jim at Oasis. He was the validating element.
I hosted a battle of the bands my senior year of high school and asked Jim to be the judge. What a coup for me. And some of the bands who participated had 7”s (see the full circle effect?). It was then that my thrift store wearing self realized that older is better not just in regards to clothes, and boys, but also with regards to music mediums.
To finally be able to say that my band has a full-length LP on orange vinyl in stores now makes me proud. It is something akin to being back in my hometown, and winning the battle of the bands (I was too young and bad at guitar to participate the first time). I don’t know if Jim would even remember me, or if he’s gone to the record store in the sky, but hopefully he would be proud too."
I was a little surprised to note last week that on average, visitors to TVD spend a whopping 1:20 here each day. That’s it—80 seconds.
I’m OK with that however as I’m no different. I’ve got bookmarks galore and I visit the family of bloggers on the regular. I’m in London one moment, New York another, down to Australia, then up to Canada in a flash—perhaps in all of 80 seconds. A pop over, if you will.
And many of the Mp3’s offered by my blogging kin have made it onto my ipod. That scratchy 7” ripped in Botswana is getting a fresh listen on my walk to work in the morning in Washington, DC. How remarkable is that? How cool that we’re able to embed ourselves into each other’s psyches in this way and often at such distances.
All of this to usher in a new feature here on the blog: TVD Pop Overs. With these we’ll head to all points on the globe to check in with the family of bloggers who are doing their best to see that your 80 seconds are the sweetest possible. We’ll get a take on their perspectives, what to anticipate upon your visit, and a handful of tracks that best exemplify their tastes and offerings. It’ll be tea and crumpets or beer and cigs depending upon where we land.
To kick the feature off, we head down to Cape Town, South Africa to check in with Any Major Dude who in his own right has done a fine job of spotlighting the blogs he thinks we should be checking into with frequency. So, with his blessing – we’re off...
"Any Major Dude With Half A Heart is a nostalgist who still has faith in new music (and, apparently writes in the third person). So the old and the new music tend to mingle merrily. Any Major Dude With Half A Heart is mostly a series-based blog. Some run intermittently (such as ‘Great Moustaches in Rock’ or ‘Pissing off the Taste Police with…’), others on a more or less regular basis, such as the series of lesser-known originals of famous songs. And some run their course and are laid to rest (such as ‘Perfect Pop’, or the current series of love songs for all emotions). And there are regular mix-CDRs (currently a four-volume series on the flute in rock/pop/soul). A day in this blogger’s life consists mainly of checking ever 15 minutes if anyone has commented on a post. At that obsessive rate, Any Major Dude is usually disappointed, but elated and grateful when somebody does comment. Just your average blogger then. In-between, MP3tags must be conscientiously updated, with artwork and correctly annotated year and genre fields."
New Zealanders, Cut Off Your Hands invade DC this Friday night as openers for US Royalty at The Black Cat, and TVD’s got a pair of tickets to put in your severed mitts.
We here in TVD HQ are rather high on their hook-laden, Bernard Butler-produced debut to the point where we’re thinking, as openers, they just may give USR a run for their money. But it won’t be YOUR money if you’re the lucky one to cause enough racket in the comments to win the tickets to Friday’s show.
We’ll accept comments and entries until noon on Thursday 4/30, so get to it. (Remember to leave us a contact address or you can email us directly...!)
Sarah Borges (...of Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles) returns to TVD for what is technically a ‘Second’ Date after contributing to Week #10 in our Record Store Day 11 Weeks of Vinyl Giveaways. 
