TVD's Idelic Hour with Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Sometimes a song or a voice sticks with me. For many weeks now I’ve been playing a song called “Robbed Blind” written by an old friend, Canadian folk-singer, Hayden. I honestly have not spoken to Hayden for many years. He was once the darling of indie folk but now rarely travels to LA for a show.

This album, Elk Lake Serenade was self released over six years ago to very little fanfare, kind of stuck between retro and ahead of its time makes this an Idelic classic.



I’m calling the week’s Idelic Hour “Here Comes The Chill.” The show really has no musical direction other than the fresh “scent” of a new crop of songs from thoughtful singer-songwriters who share a sense of intimacy, akin to my pal Hayden.

In the mix, rising folk-stars Sarabeth Tucek, Yuck, and Sean Rowe, thought provoking “chill-wave" females Tennis and Porcelain Raft, and old friends Steve McBean and Kurt Vile will keep our turntables warm for the upcoming season.

The Idelic Hit of the Week:




xosidealer
idelicsounds.com | @sidelic

Ticket Giveaway! | The Posies w/Brendan Benson, 11/17 at the 9:30

We spent a week with The Posies in late September to celebrate the release of the brand new (and damn fine) BLOOD/CANDY. Jon and Ken blogged for a number of days here at TVD, waxing nostalgic on well, wax—and some of the records that loomed large in their shared backstory. Hell, we even gave away a few copies of the new one on vinyl.

The one thing we didn't pull off however was tickets to see the band live because—although they've been touring—it was all Europe and far-flung dates to kick off the BLOOD/CANDY promotion.

They're sweeping through the States now however in tandem with Brendan Benson, and better late than never, we've got a pair of tickets to award one of you to Wednesday night's Posies show here in DC at the 9:30.



Let us know why you should be chosen for the pair of tickets to see The Posies on Wednesday night in the comments to this post and the most convincing of the bunch will take home the tickets for the show.

We'll close this one on Tuesday at 9AM to give you plenty of time to conjure up your response—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.

TVD | The Interview on Breakthru Radio

I'd like to thank DJ Thompson for featuring TVD on his Breakthru Radio show "Anatomy of a Blogger" which went live yesterday, 11/11.

Head over to Breakthru to catch a chat with yours truly by selecting the Program Guide on the radio dial (top left) and select "Anatomy of a Blogger" from yesterday's schedule.

Update: Aw hell, why make you work for it. Here's the show. My voice is really not that...er, tweaked?

TVD Takeover Week | AM

AM concludes his TVD week today with another rummage through his records and a recommendation that really isn't obscure. (At all.)


Thriller was the first album I ever bought (or asked my parents to by me)...I was only 7 or 8 years old. Although I was one among millions who bought that record, it is still one of my favorites. Jackson is at the tip top of his game and Quincy Jones had truly perfected pop production.


I read in Quincy's bio Q that when they turned Thriller in to the record company they sent it back saying that they didn't feel it was done... there was too much going on. So Quincy trimmed the fat and we're left with this masterpiece. This is the inside of the album when you open the double gatefold. I remember thinking as a kid "wow, he has a tiger cub!" Otherworldly.


This year for the first time I had my latest album Future Sons & Daughters pressed to vinyl. It has always been a goal of mine since listening to vinyl was how I was first introduced to music. The sound of vinyl is like no other medium. Full, warm...something special about the highs and something big and cozy about the lows.

Not to mention the visual element which was an exploration in itself. Combining art and song makes so much more sense when the art is BIG. The CD pretty much destroyed that...not to mention digital formats. As a kid I would open up a piece of vinyl like I was entering a magical world.

I hope to inspire that same search with this vinyl version of Future Sons & Daughters. The fans funded this project through Pledge Music which makes it all the more worthwhile. It's good to know there were others that felt the same way I did. We worked really hard to make it the best it could be. Spent a lot of time re-working the artwork, adding the lyrics in a colored sleeve, re-mastering the music at Abbey Road studios, London and pressing it to 180 gram virgin vinyl. The album sounds like it should...finally.

Enter to win a copy of AM's Future Sons & Daughters here.