TVD's SXSW'09 Event Diary | with your host Leerone

Our good friend Leerone returns to TVD and this time she’s down at the SXSW Music Festival bathing in the warm glow that is creative musical expression. We’ve asked her, in between the music and the festival and the long, long evenings, to send us some thoughts and impressions on what she’s seen go down. Her first dispatch from the festival arrives this very morning:

St. Vincent @ Presbyterian Church
Annie Clark of Saint Vincent is not apologetic and I like that. She performed at the Presbyterian Church- the acoustics were gorgeous! She is a sick guitarist. Her voice is deliciously sweet... Definitely a fantastic performer.

Cesi Bastida @ Flamingo
Cesi Bastida, a Latin indie artist from Tijuana, performed at Flamingo last night. She sings in Spanish, dances and plays an array of instruments including the melodica and a tom (drum). She's pretty darn amiable! The band was very tight and looked like they were having the best time (that's always a pleasure to witness). I heard quite a few people in the crowd saying "Te Llamó" and in addition to professing their love, the audience was jumping
and dancing. Her energy is contagious, uplifting and fun.

TVD's Record Store Day 2009 Newswire

...with news of a number of just announced RSD09 vinyl exclusives:

The Record Store Day website has just posted the lowdown on these and other RSD09 exclusives. And if you're watching that ticker up there, we're less than a month away now...

TVD's Alternative Ulcer | Local Music Edition

Last year I was fortunate enough to see 302acid play at Artomatic (seriously, I love this city) last summer and was completely hypnotized by their sound. In fact, I feel almost inadequately equipped to describe what I hear and feel when their sound hits my tympanic membrane. Like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said about obscene material "I know it when I see it," that's how I feel about music that I like - I know it when I hear it. So when my friend Ben told me he would be performing with them on Saturday night, it motivated me to share my enthusiasm for DC-based artists with all you out there in TVD land.

My older brother, as a frequenter of events such as Seattle's Decibel Festival and DEMF could probably describe 302acid's music more articulately than I can, but he doesn't have a column on TVD, so you have to put up with my plebian description. The music is an experimental mix of electronic, samples, ambient noise, beats, and a ton of fantastic. Ben describes 302acid as "much more of a collective than a band so this is just another step in the evolution of the sound."

The show this Saturday will feature live bass, turntables and electronics along with Optical Grooves and Monica on video projections. Their site has a ton of free music, and I'll post a few of what I really enjoyed. This Saturday 302acid, along with Alexsei Borisov (the fact that he's Russian is good enough incentive for me), Violet and a bunch of other musically superb groups will be performing at Pyramid Atlantic in Silver Spring.

DC puts out a ton of great music, and I think that anytime you can go support local artists, you should. Even if that means crossing the line into Maryland. I guarantee, kids, it'll be totally worth it.

302acid - Transmission, Fire Dub (Mp3)
302acid - Quest & Future (Mp3)
302acid - Road Trip to Tokyo (Mp3)
Alexsei Borisov - Engineer Strepetovs Curve (Mp3)
Alexsei Borisov - Automated Management for the Seafood Industry (Mp3)


*thanks to Chester for the sweet artwork.

TVD's Eleven Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways | Week 8!

Well, is it me or do these vinyl giveaways just get bettern' better? (Uh, nope. Not me.)

Promo copy #1!
For the first time with a set rhythm section, critically acclaimed Built To Spill has created its most accomplished and focused album yet. Possessing a collective unorthodox vision, the band's second album, Keep It Like A Secret, builds on the success of 1997's Perfect From Now On. Invoking less analysis and more volume, Doug Martsch, one of today's most influential, independent-minded musicians, has crafted shorter, more direct songs that revel in a literate expressionism rarely heard in alt-rock and yet still rock with the same visceral impulses. Built To Spill may not be a secret much longer.


Promo copy #2!
Lamping -- also known as spotlighting or shining -- is a hunting method in which powerful floodlights are used to locate nocturnal animals in the middle of the night. The animals are either picked off or captured as they panic and flee for safety. It's a brutal, terrifying practice, but Of Montreal have adopted the technique -- albeit in a strictly metaphorical sense! -- on their ninth album, Skeletal Lamping. Over the course of the record's fifteen tracks, Kevin Barnes, the band's singer and songwriter, shines a light on the deepest, darkest corners of his psyche. He uncovers his freakiest fantasies, revisits his past, and explores seemingly contradictory aspects of his personality. The music is both startling in its specificity and inviting in its universality: Taken as a whole, Skeletal Lamping simulates the labyrinthine complexity of the human consciousness.


Your copy!
You know the drill by now, right? Grab our attention in the comments (WITH your email address--important!) gushing over TVD's Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaway Week #8 to set yourself up to win both of these indie gems. (Or, you can comment and forward your email address in an email to us. We're not picky.) And remember - each entry into our vinyl contest is an automatic entry to win the Stanton T.90 USB turntable on Record Store Day 2009!

Just make it funny. Or make it smart. About record stores. Or Record Store Day. Or vinyl. About us or you. Or something else all together. Just make it before next Monday (3/23) when we'll choose our winner. (AND launch giveaway #9 of 11--where does the time go...?)

TVD Victory Lap | Joe Jackson

A number of months back I mentioned here that there isn’t a time in memory for me (being of a certain age) that Paul McCartney hasn’t been around making music. You can have your opinions as to a specific Macca era and its merits, but nonetheless, he’s always been THERE.

It’s almost the same for me with Mr. Jackson. Starting with his very first LP, I’ve gone along for the ride through each and every genre he’s investigated—and Joe’s hit ‘em all. I was going to suggest for a moment that he hasn’t written for the stage in any incarnation, but a visit to his website reveals that’s he’s hard at work on "Stoker," which if memory serves me correctly, is a musical based loosely on the life of ‘Dracula’ author, Bram Stoker. Genres fully covered, it seems.

Twenty-two (diverse) LPs, one well-deserved victory lap...

Joe Jackson - One To One (Live) (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - Beat Crazy (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - I'm The Man (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - Mad At You (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - Happy Ending (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - Cancer (Live) (Mp3)
Joe Jackson - King Pleasure Time (Mp3)

TVD First Date with | Butch Walker

I hear ya’. You’re saying to yourself, “TVD...TWO ‘First Dates’ in one day?" And we’re saying, "That’s right.” We’re obscenely attractive.

Butch Walker’s been on our radar for years now—first as vocalist for Marvelous 3, then as a solo artist, and later on as writer/producer behind the board for a host of diverse acts such as Avril Lavigne, Family Force 5, Bowling for Soup, Pink, Lit, Simple Plan, Sevendust, Injected, The Donnas, Hot Hot Heat, American Hi-Fi, Default, Puffy AmiYumi, Pete Yorn, Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, SR-71, and The Academy Is... In no small feat, Butch is currently sitting at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 with his new single "Here Comes The..."

We sat down with Butch who brings his Gang of Merry Musical Melodymakers to the 9:30 this very Saturday night (3/21) to wax poetic on well, wax...and learned a bit about how Butch was forced to reacquire his ENTIRE vinyl collection after ALL of his personal possessions were lost in a devastating house fire in 2007.

"I never thought I would find something come back around, twice in my lifetime, that would be as important, exciting, ageless and timeless as a vinyl record. Sure, there’s stupid fads and nostalgic trends that have come back around.... I dusted off my waistcoats and skinny ties from the 80’s for a quick redux in the last 3 yrs. I tried the ironic, single dangling earring in my left ear (or is it the right one?) for a little ironic hipster fashion. I put disco beats into a couple of songs in the past few years, when I know the first time I heard them in the 70’s and 80’ that it doesn’t REALLY need to come back again (along with the parachute pant, capezios, bell-bottoms, etc..... But they all did). But this one thing that came back, just in the nick of time... When the music business started to crumble, and the quality of the actual sound was reduced to a kid with a laptop and a shitty mp3 of someone’s art was all anyone cared about anymore. It’s like when jack horner in Boogie Nights tried saving the porn industry by hanging onto the art of FILM making, when everyone else was just switching to video TAPE, and not caring about the quality that they shot, but the quantity... Bad analogies aside, it mirrors the business I am in, where it’s more important for how many songs a kid has in his laptop, rather than 5 good ones. And forget about listening to a collective record all the through IN ONE SITTING. Most people follow a modern dj’s lead and only wanna hear maybe a chorus of a song, if that, before skipping to the next song with ... Gasp... A SPACEBAR.

Thank you vinyl. I lost my entire record collection (that had been getting severely neglected because of my mp3 collection as well) to a fire that took everything I owned last year. The first thing I did was go out and buy a great turntable, amp and speakers, then hit the shops to re-collect the collection... I am very proud to say that when I put on anything from Blue Note records, a beat up copy of Blood on the Tracks, or even one of the Capitol remasters of The Bends or OK Computer, my face melts off while sitting on my little couch, listening to all of the quality and detail that went into the records, but most people forgot existed. The crisp hi end, the insane soothing lows. It doesn’t even compare to digital. It has given me practice in patience, focus and concentration again, because I have to listen to 20 minutes of music, sequenced the way it was intended to be heard, before getting up and walking across the room to FLIP THE RECORD OVER and continue. Try that sometime kids...And the album cover artwork actually is visible when it isn’t 3x3 inches. I am back. I am back with vinyl."

Butch Walker - The Weight of Her (Mp3)

TVD First Date with | Lemonwilde

Have I mentioned my criteria for the 'First Dates' feature for year '09? Mantra: just the good shit.

Which is a tough bar to hurl one's self or band over. Self-consciously I actually did without the feature for a few weeks when the crops had thinned. (Get those EPK's to me, kids.)

So, Lemonwilde! For your moody, Muse-y, late nights of dark brooding merriment. (Or, as house band for your wrap party, liiike at Sarah Michelle Gellar’s wrap party in the penthouse at The Hotel Rivington in Manhattan. Y' know, whichever comes first.)

"The sight of a vinyl recording still causes a sensation in most music lovers. Vinyl was the way some of us were introduced to music, along with our little portable record players.  We’d buy our favorite records, and then always flip the record to the “B” side.  There was just something so tangible about buying a new album, or even a 45. An album cover was a carefully planned part of any recording, a treasured casing, lyrics and additional information often printed on the inside sleeve as well.  A vinyl record demanded a different kind of attention—you had to stay in the vicinity and physically tend to the record.  For some reason, we respected all of the songs on an album, listening to it over and over, considering it one work of art.  With digital music, it’s so easy to pluck the “hits” out of a CD and put them into our collection, never really getting to know the other songs."

Lemonwilde - Just This Ashtray (Mp3)
Lemonwilde - Inspired Painter (Mp3)
Lemonwilde - Danse (Mp3)

TVD Victory Lap | Harry Nilsson

If you're a regular or semi-frequent visitor to TVD, Harry Nilsson for a victory lap ain't gonna surprise nor spill that morning cup o' joe steaming on your desk. We're quite Harry-centric.

As we vanquish Winter this week and open the windows to invite in Spring, these six pitch-perfect gems may just be a quite sound soundtrack. And if Harry's new to you, we REALLY need to talk...

Harry Nilsson - Miss Butter's Lament (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Girlfriend (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Wasting My Time (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Open Your Window (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - Maybe (Mp3)
Harry Nilsson - The Moonbeam Song (Mp3)

TVD Victory Lap | The Vapors

Is anyone surprised to learn that Jane’s Addiction’s first LP ‘Nothing's Shocking’ was released in 1987? I mean, when the term ‘80’s band’ is mentioned, Jane’s never comes to mind. Ever.

I hear ‘80’s band’ and I think Culture Club, ABC, Yazoo, Echo, Flock of Seagulls, Modern English, well...you get the point. Yet, the BEST 80’s band? The Vapors.

This tepid overview via Trouser Press: “One of the first in a breed of fresh-faced bands who fit neatly into the UK pop charts and accompanying teenybopper trappings while retaining vague new wave credibility, the Vapors started at the top and quickly sank from view. Their first single, "Turning Japanese," was a coy paean to masturbation and an enormous international hit; the inability to match it made both of the Vapors' subsequent albums big disappointments. They weren't that bad, though.

'New Clear Days' follows in the veddy British vein originated by Ray Davies and carried on by Paul Weller and Madness. Some of singer David Fenton's songs show a talented, mature tunesmith at work; unfortunately, they all suffer in light of the awesomely catchy jingle that dominates the record, overshadowing the subtler, more thoughtful material.

'Magnets' also lacks a peer for "Turning Japanese," although "Jimmie Jones" (about Jonestown) nearly meets the challenge. Unfortunately, Fenton's greater aspirations and budding political conscience are severely out of step with the band's unbreakably commercial image. Had they not been doomed by their own devices from day one, the Vapors might have proven well worth following.”

That luke warm enthusiasm aside, both LP’s are TVD classics, perhaps just because they were THERE, in my hands and head at the time. But given distance and time, still hold up quite, quite well, thankyouverymuch.

Two LPs--one victory lap!

The Vapors - Spring Collection (Mp3)
The Vapors - Live At The Marquee (Mp3)
The Vapors - News At Ten (Mp3)
The Vapors - Lenina (Mp3)
The Vapors - Silver Machines (Mp3)
The Vapors - Waiting For The Weekend (Mp3)
The Vapors - Letter From Hiro (Mp3)
The Vapors - Galleries For Guns (Mp3)

TVD Victory Lap | 10cc

'In February 1975 (10cc) announced they had signed with Mercury Records for US$1 million. The catalyst for the deal was one song – "I'm Not in Love". Eric Stewart recalled: “At that point in time we were still on Jonathan King's label, but struggling. We were absolutely skint, the lot of us, we were really struggling seriously, and Philips Phonogram wanted to do a deal with us. They wanted to buy Jonathan King's contract. I rang them. I said come and have a listen to what we've done, come and have a listen to this track. And they came up and they freaked, and they said "This is a masterpiece. How much money, what do you want? What sort of a contract do you want? We'll do anything, we'll sign it". On the strength of that one song, we did a five-year deal with them for five albums and they paid us a serious amount of money.'

TVD Victory Lap, Week 2 kicks off with five from 10cc:

10cc - Silly Love (Mp3)
10cc - I'm Not In Love (Mp3)
10cc - I'm Mandy Fly Me (Mp3)
10cc - The Things We Do For Love (Mp3)
10cc - For You And I (Mp3)

TVD's Eleven Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways | Week 7! (#1)

From the ‘Who Loves Ya/TVD Does’ category comes not one but TWO giveaways for Week 7 of TVD's Eleven Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways--and up first is hometown girl and Arlington, VA native, Rachael Yamagata’s ‘Elephants.’

Yamagata explains that “(‘Elephants’...) is about being willing to take a risk even if it’s not going to end up well” which should be more than enough for you reading this to chime in and risk it all for this gorgeous LP.

Grab our attention in the comments WITH your email address (important!) so we can contact you about your triumphant win. (Or, you can comment and forward your email address in an email to us. We're not picky.) And remember - each entry into our vinyl contest is an automatic entry to win the Stanton T.90 USB turntable on Record Store Day 2009!

Just make it funny. Or make it smart. About record stores. Or Record Store Day. Or vinyl. About us or you. Or something else all together. Just make it before next Monday (3/16) when we'll choose our winner. (AND launch giveaway #8...)

TVD's Eleven Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways | Week 7! (#2!)

Blabbermouth has the scoop on the LP for Week 7 of TVD's Eleven Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways: THIN LIZZY's seminal double live album "Live & Dangerous" is consistently featured in polls as one of the greatest live albums of all time. Yet it is not really a live record at all as it features overdubs and post-production across the album. March 2, 2009 sees the release of the "Still Dangerous", the real "Live & Dangerous"!

"Still Dangerous" is the raw, unadulterated, untouched sound of THIN LIZZY at the absolute height of its powers. Recorded on the band's sold-out 1977 "Bad Reputation" tour, "Still Dangerous" captures the classic quartet of Lynott, Downey, Gorham and Robertson on fire at the celebrated Tower Theatre in Philadelphia.

The album features tracks that never made the "Live & Dangerous" release and all cuts are previously unreleased. The album was mixed by the legendary Glyn Johns (THE ROLLING STONES, THE WHO, THE EAGLES, LED ZEPPELIN), with contributions from Scott Gorham and Brian Downey.

"Still Dangerous" is the definitive live statement from one of rock's most revered and enduring groups. The recordings that make up "Still Dangerous" were discovered by accident in an overlooked band lockup — a happy accident for THIN LIZZY fans and music fans in general as it is set to become an essential addition to the legacy of one of rocks greatest ever acts. The album is fully endorsed by Phil Lynott's estate and the band.

Update: Our pal Jeff over at AM, Then FM has a review (and an Mp3!) of the LP right here. Thanks Jeff!

We'll have TWO winners for this limited edition vinyl release (just 1,000 pressed) of "Still Dangerous" which happens to also include a surprise 7" inside...

So, still in love with Lynott and the boys? Grab our attention in the comments WITH your email address (important!) so we can contact you about your triumphant win. (Or, you can comment and forward your email address in an email to us. We're not picky.) And remember - each entry into our vinyl contest is an automatic entry to win the Stanton T.90 USB turntable on Record Store Day 2009!

Just make it funny. Or make it smart. About record stores. Or Record Store Day. Or vinyl. About us or you. Or something else all together. Just make it before next Monday (3/16) when we'll choose our winner. (AND launch giveaway #8...)

The Ears of the Town: Plugd records from John Callaghan on Vimeo.

TVD's Parting Shots

“Have song, will travel” as the saying almost goes. Yet, it’s never revealed how far one will indeed go with said talents.

In Gary Clark’s case--principal songwriter behind one-hit-wonders Danny Wilson and author of their global hit “Mary’s Prayer”--that distance would be ...well, a worldwide hit, “reaching number 3 in the UK, and the top 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100, earning him a BMI award, and a nomination for an Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically,” Wiki informs me.

So, that’s pretty damn far to be honest. But after a less than successful follow up release to the LP that spawned that monster single...a solo release...and a handful of one-off projects, Gary's settled into a wildly successful career in LA behind the mixing board and writing for a host of varying talent as occasional member of The Matrix, the ubiquitous hit machine.

And that’s a damn shame, as Gary is not JUST a fine songwriter and producer, but also happens to be one of TVD’s favorite vocalists--quite deserving of a victory lap in his own right to carry this week’s theme just a bit farther.

So, 15 tracks lovingly selected and ordered for your listening pleasure from Gary’s splendid oeuvre. And while you literally may count 14 on that list, I’d stick around through the silence on that last one right there.

We’ll see you back here next week with some more victory laps and will happily take suggestions for YOUR must-see sprinters. All about wish-fulfillment here at ol’ TVD...

Danny Wilson - Imaginary Girl (Mp3)
Gary Clark - This Is Why, J. (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - Pleasure To Pleasure (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - Aberdeen (Demo) (Mp3)
Gary Clark - Learning To Do Without Me (George Jones Cover, Live) (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer (Mp3)
Gary Clark - Sara Smile (Hall & Oates Cover) (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - Aberdeen (Mp3)
Gary Clark - Saturday Night (Blue Nile Cover, Live) (Mp3)
King L - Life After You (Mp3)
Gary Clark - Any Sunday Morning (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - I Won't Be Here When You Get Home (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - The Ballad Of Me And Shirley Maclaine (Mp3)
King L - Lost and Found and Lost Again (Mp3)

"..the price of light is shade..."

TVD Victory Lap | Chet Baker

If there’s one guy who may have undermined his own victory lap, it’s Chet. Smooth as silk, West Coast ace of face, made a career of self-destruction and self-immolation. Yet, the tone his recordings evoke are peerless--and just perfect for your coming weekend’s very hazy late nights...

Chet Baker - Easy Living (Mp3)
Chet Baker - Tenderly (Mp3)
Chet Baker - Everything Depends On You (Mp3)
Chet Baker - These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (Mp3)
Chet Baker - Everything Happens To Me (Mp3)