Saturday, January 9, 2010

It's a TVD Winter Vinyl Giveaway | Dead Can Dance (s/t)


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!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah Poseurs (there's a facebook group for this too of course... ), scene of many great and some regrettable evenings but one in particular. This one forever made me doubt all contests (no irony intended TVD). Well, I vaguely knew the DJ and he knew I had a copy of The Cult's See Sells Sanctuary (with a DJ only remix) and he said if I gave it too him that he would arrange to have me win The Cure concerts tickets give-away that night. "REALLY" but it's a <> drawing. And, I won of course. And I saw the show of course. And, I gave said DJ the record of course. And, I am now forever in slight to full disbelief in all contests forevermore. Thanks Poseurs. Shamus

Zetta said...

I remember one night they did a viewing of this movie length video (or almost movie length) of the THE THE videos... we all we actually sitting and watching it and drinking and then I won the album after in a drawing (I think).. its all a blur, but I was at Poseurs almost every night....
Suzette

staxnet said...

There was a bartender at Poseurs who I adorded. I think her name was Janet. Or Janice, maybe. Anyway, she was great to me in an every-other-drink-free kind of way. I had such a crush on her, but she was too much of a pro to be distracted by my teenage lust.

LongLostLPMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LongLostLPMan said...

Aaaah, Bauhaus...
I did not discover this group until 1989. That meant that I had preconceived notions of them, based upon Love & Rockets. However, what I found was a band that was completely different. They were unafraid of the fringe. They seemed to cater to no one and they made music that was deep, haunting and quite cathartic for the moody and depressed. To this day, if I am feeling blue, I will reach for Bela Lugosi's Dead. It's nice to know when you are down that someone else was as well. Misery loves company.

Dumbek said...

I started sneaking into Poseurs when I was 16. It was one of those "Holy Crap - I'm not alone!" moments of discovery, both musically and socially. I'd later bring back college friends when I'd come home for the weekend. We'd always park at that gas station near the bottom of the Exorcist steps. We'd go record shopping, eat at Frankly Fries, return our vinyl to the car (there were no cds yet), then go inside and dance all night. Whenever I think "80s" the first image that comes to mind is that mannequin in the upstairs window.

sigh...

fred said...

In Chicago, we have a hole-in-the-wall, but legendary, club/bar called Neo. The leather jacket goth crowd frequents this place. I remember going to weekly events called 'Nocturna' that were 4AD inspired (also stuff like Joy Division, Siouxsie, Skinny Puppy, etc). LOVE those times.

dorianlord at hotmail

handbanana888 said...

I was born in 1987...

And didn't go to my first concert until my late teens...

I got nothin'. Haha.