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.
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If you thought for a moment you wouldn't get an opportunity to grab Jukebox the Ghost'sbrand new Everything Under The Sun on vinyl—well, you'd be mistaken. We indeed have a copy to give away to one of you. First up however, the official background-y stuff via Yep Roc:
"Jukebox the Ghost have passionate fans. Fans who've gone so far as to tattoo the band's name on their body or drive for days to see their shows, or post lovesick monologues dedicated to their glory on YouTube. Through a dogged work ethic and near-obsessive touring — headlining and alongside heavyweights like Ben Folds and Adam Green (The Moldy Peaches) — the band managed to sell over 10,000 copies of their debut album and cultivated the aforementioned rabid fan base.
Now, with a fully developed sound and a songwriting and live performance approach seasoned by hundreds upon hundreds of gigs, the band are set to turn heads with sophomore effort Everything Under the Sun, produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National). The trio is looking to spread their gospel of hook-stuffed, melody rich pop to the world at large. Beatles and Brit pop influences abound on Everything and the band provides a nod to those influences with their attention to filling the album with great songs beginning to end, not building an album around just a few great tracks. In the words of Yep Roc Records co-founder Glenn Dicker, "Most records have three great songs, this one has 11."
Now it's time for your schpiel. Sell us on sending youEverything Under the Sun, in the comments to this post, and the most convincing one of the bunch will find the LP on his or her doorstep. You've got a week to conjure your missive to us—we'll close this one next Thursday, 10/21 and don't forget to leave us a contact email address!
We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that the fantastic Elizabeth and the Catapult open for Jukebox the Ghost this coming Saturday night (10/16) at the Black Cat. So, if you were to enter and win our ticket contest for the show, you'd find yourself with a pretty sweet two-fer.
We've got the new single from their brand new release 'The Other Side of Zero' below and check out our First Date with the band here.
In a bit of synchronicity with Yep Roc Week here on the blog, Jukebox the Ghost have a bit of a homecoming show this coming Saturday night (10/16) at the Black Cat, and wouldn't you know, Yep Roc's given us a pair of tickets to give to one of you.
Let us know why you should be chosen for the pair of tickets in the comments to this post and the most convincing of the bunch will take home the pair.
You need to act fast though—we need to close this one out on Friday (10/15) at noon—and remember to leave us a contact email address with your entry.
Remember, we've teamed up with ReadysetDC for all of our ticket giveaways so you can enter to win either here at TVD or at ReadysetDC.
Polyvinyl Heart I have been wondering for well over ten years now why my father hasn't invested in a more structurally sound, or at least a more youthful bookshelf to house his precious record collection that is nearly double my age (I am currently 24 years old) and easily seven times my size.
I'm not boasting - I'm sure your dad was hip too in his day. My point here is really just that the shelves of this bookcase are sinking at the middle. Think about the material value, not to mention the perfectly-aged nostalgia that could be shattered from such faulty shelving in the event of a sudden polyvinyl avalanche! You know, this unassuming piece of furniture has continually made me more nervous, more frightened, than the Fung Wah bus I am writing this from ever has (except for that time one flipped over while my dad was aboard, but that's a story for a different shelf.)
Perhaps there is hidden meaning in these saggy old shelves. They have lost their youth but still remain standing, rather, shelving, to fulfill their duty: To protect the music of decades past and it's cathartic, turbulent, funny, erotic, and revolutionary message and to 'carry that weight a long time'... Now to bring things up to speed (45 or 33 rpm? I can never remember)... if we want a record today we have a serious decision to make: CD, LP, or Mp3s (the last being the most environmentally friendly and hence preferred method of music listening for ecoterrorists, despite the fact that digital avalanches are the leading annual cause of music loss and pose a far greater threat to music collectors than does the much rarer occurrence of a Polyvinyl Catastrophe (see above.)
Well before I was wearing opaque the once reflective back of Rancid's "...And Out Come The Wolves" or pondering over the context of the word "beaver" in Adam Sandler's "They're All Gonna Laugh At You", there was my dad's red-convertible-mixtape. During a period of my childhood it seemed the only suitable soundtrack for a journey in my father's red Pontiac convertible was his favorite (and my favorite) mixtape - and the stereo blasted and the rooftop remained down despite the drizzle that any traditional parent would take as a clear sign that the interior was going to get soaked or someone was going to catch a cold- but not mine. Was the music our soundtrack and the road our path or was the road our soundtrack and the music our path? Regardless, this mixtape showed me the power of music and if that power alone could sing, it would likely sing the word "freedom" as off-key and as off-time as it felt. And so daddy's random selections sang to me: I'm not a girl but I just want to have fun! I don't know what "sedated" means but I want to be sedated! I can't whistle to save my life but damnit, I want to walk like an Egyptian!
Continuing, I grew up on the Compact Disc. At age nine I bought my first one - Green Day's "Dookie." Offspring's "Smash" and Silverchair's "Frogstomp" followed soon after, though I have no chronology after my first three since my collection boomed skyward thereafter as a result of my brother and myself developing the naughty habit of subscribing to Columbia House (12 records for a buck! What a steal!) and then ignoring the notice that came requiring the purchase of ten records at full price. If my mother hadn't canceled the account within the following year, she probably would have been ten copies of "Tragic Kingdom" richer. Of course, the high school and college years came and with them the technology to copy, burn, and yes, even steal music- the Napster Years. Gradually it became harder and harder to find an original CD among the ocean of sharpied up CD-R's in my and my friends' CD binders. Then came the portable mp3 player, which of course, ushered in the infamous iPod Era (which still exists today, kids.) You bet I have mine. The iPod - it's portable, quick, and won't cause you to run anyone over while changing records in the car (unless you are really indecisive). But what about today's obsession with vinyl?
Well, an explanation for the resurgent popularity in vinyl might vary depending on who you ask but I personally feel like the explanation is quite simple. Music lovers miss the physical experience of music: walking into a record store and not being able to leave without at least three records in your hands, unwrapping, sitting in your room and listening. Maybe doing a few other small tasks, bust mostly just listening. Really listening. Specifically, with listening to vinyl LPs: participating in that generations-old ritual of letting the needle drop, watching, waiting, listening for it to catch. Maybe putting your ear up to the phonograph before even turning up the volume to hear the natural vibrations perform the recorded song for you. No need to mention the inexplicably charming crackles and pops - they speak for themselves.
I have a nice vinyl collection of my own which I started casually accumulating about five years ago. It's nothing like my dad's but it's slowly growing depending on when its humble protector has some money kicking around or discovers an album that's just simply too good for good old digital listening. I probably have about 80-100 LPs, ranging from Salvation Army budget finds (Simon & Garfunkel, Willie Nelson) to to store-bought must-haves (Harry Nilsson, The Smiths), to current and reissue indie classics (Built to Spill, Wilco). My records are here to keep me company and serve me when I need them, and I admit, it feels quite good to have something substantial to look at and flip through after my dubious involvement in the Napster Years and the more innocent iPod Era. There's a real emotional, nostalgic presence to these records that sit upon my recently-bought, youthful-looking bookcase- and although they only occupy one modest shelf, I can't help but smile warmly at the fact that this shelf has already begun to sink at the middle. —Jesse Kristin, Drums, Jukebox the Ghost
