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Washington, DC’s own The Kora Records recently wrote us in regard to their new signing, London’s Stricken City who personally ensnared me right away with name checks such as The Slits and Life Without Buildings. (I mean, THAT’S refreshing.)
The notoriously fickle UK press has been gushing one better:
"If this was the early 80s, Stricken City would be label-mates of Orange Juice, as this mini-album features eight of the the prettiest, shambling C86 style pop nuggets since the Postcard era. Intentionally angular and amateurish, Pull The House Down, Five Metres Apart and Killing Time offer skittish, playful guitar lines, fidgety bass and one finger keyboards, all deliciously cut with Rebekah Raa's striking, spectral chirrup, which is more than a little reminiscent of Sugacubes-era Bjork. With gawky, naive charm in abundance, this will be an album to make many a student sigh dreamily as they lovingly scrawl 'I HEART STRICKEN CITY' onto their pencil cases in Tippex." —NME (8/10)
"In those innocent days before Pro Tools, click tracks and laptop recordings, the eighties produced a generation of studenty bands with a simple DIY ethic and only rudimentary musical skills who strummed away on effect-free jangly guitars and a simple hi-hat and snare rhythm. Stricken City are a splendid throwback to more innocent times where enthusiasm and the joy of being in a band counted for everything. Thankfully they also have some jolly tunes to back it up. Formed in the Midlands and now based in London, the quartet is fronted by the jittery, just-got-out-of-bed-haired goddess Rebekah Raa." —Q Magazine
The band’s collaborated on tales of their collective history for TVD:
"The SC have been through 3 drummers, 4 bassists and 2 keyboard players. It took us 3 years to get our act together and put our first record out and longer to actually settle on a band line up that worked. Now we are Rebekah, Iain, Mike and Kit and we're pretty happy this way. It's 13 months since someone left the band which I think is a record.
We're finally getting round to be productive, we have our first long player out now and plan to put out a cassette at Christmas, another EP early next year and another album in the Spring. We have songs and plans.
When we first started people said we sounded a bit like The Slits and Life Without Buildings. We'd never properly listened to those bands so we did and they were good and we took it as a compliment. People also said we were like Siouxsie and The Banshees, we've still not really listened to them but I heard 'Hong Kong Garden' on the radio and it was pretty good.
'Pull the House Down' is the newest song on the new record and probably our favorite, we wrote it in one practice and recorded it a week later. 'Five Metres Apart' is the oldest song on the record, it's over 4 years old. This goes back to the bit I wrote early about starting to be productive. It's a big deal for us.Our newest song is called 'Animal Festival' and it might be our best, but all bands say there new song is the best so take that how you want to."
Question of the day: Do you think if any of the tracks below were released by a contemporary act, say of the Pitchfork/Stereogum variety, that they'd garner much—if any—success?
I’ve never been a particularly picky eater. Put it down in front of me and I’ll give it a whirl and a swallow. (Now, there's a decent Friday night.)
But that doesn’t mean I’ll LOVE everything ingested. There’s a time and a place and often a season for some things—and much is the same with my tastes in...well, music.
So, last Friday night’s DJ spot at ‘We Fought The Big One? A seasonal gourmet meal, I’m thinking.
Rocktober? Simply, comfort food, and—delicious at that.
(I should thank whoever spiked my cider this morning while I’m at it...)
We’d like to point out that although Record Store Day officially came and went this past April 18th, there’s plenty new in the Record Store Day universe and more reasons under the sun than you’d imagine to keep checking back at the official website.
There’s the Record Store Day Vinyl Saturdays that fill the shops with brand new and exclusive vinyl each month. There’s been a Record Store Day Film Festival. Singer Brandi Shearer’s undertaken her own Record Store Day store-to-store performance series.
And well, there’s this on the heels of the globe re-Meeting The Beatles: The 40th Anniversary Limited Edition release of ‘Abbey Road.”
The package contains the current vinyl album of Abbey Road, along with a special t-shirt (available in Large and X-Large) featuring the artwork used on the original 7" single of "Come Together"/"Something," along with a poster that features the same artwork. This limited edition deluxe package will be released on Vinyl Saturday, November 7th in the United States and will be limited to 5,000 worldwide.
To see a list of participating stores, the Record Store Day website is the place to keep checking in.
On Friday night I DJ’d a venue other than my living room for the first time in maybe 20 years. And it’s just as they say in context to riding a bike – it all came back to me pretty quickly. I even witnessed a few people’s personal epiphanies given a particular track or something which is the desired effect I guess.
The evening’s theme was decidedly off-kilter post punk and new wave so a giant slab of the vinyl collection was put to good use while a huge other portion— the ‘rock’ stuff— stayed well-housed. Sort of a shame, really.
This week we’ll undo a bit of that. (...As we get back to sorts, post weekend.)
We're still a wee bit tired this morning from yesterday's Record Fair, so we're going to take it for granted a little bit that a.) you're familiar with The Gossip, b.) LOVE The Gossip, and c.) desire a free pair of tix to see them at the 9:30 this Wednesday night.
Get at us in the comments with the juciest rumor you've heard recently and said rumormonger will win the tickets to Wednesday's show. We'll choose the winner for the pair of tickets tomorrow (10/6) by 5:30, so start spillin' it.
Update: Fuck, I'm tired — photographed wonderfully here. A million thanks to the over 500 of you (no joke) who joined us today.
Old (now):
Som Records,DC Soul Recordings, and this very blog are proud to present our THIRD Washington, DC Record Fair which arrives Sunday!
We've got 25 dealers from up and down the East Coast—which simply translates to: crates and crates AND crates of vinyl from every genre imaginable.
We've got cocktails and great food courtesy of our wonderful hosts Comet Ping Ping. We've got DJs galore including Animal Collective's Geologist. We've got Mingering Mike signing his original poster for the event.
And well, you've got me to help you carry your vinyl to the car.
...serves today as a less than subtle reminder to put this evening's Story/Stereo event with special guests Bluebrain on your must-attend list. (Then afterward you can join yours truly at Marx Cafe as guest DJ for 'We Fought The Big One'...right?)
The brothers Holladay of Bluebrain wind up their week with us thusly:
"We finish the week with a Ten Spot playlist to hopefully get you out of bed this morning and sustain you through at least 4:00 PM Saturday afternoon. Songs about heartbreak, betrayal, obesity, sleep deprivation, getting bad directions... and whatever the hell Battles sings about should, if nothing else, should provide you with enough gumption to make it through the last day of this week and to the Story/Stereo show tonight where we promise to rejuvinate your soul. We'll try at least. Thanks for the opportunity to share some music with you these last couple days!" —Ryan & Hays Holladay
Today we've got five rare records DJ Neville C will be playing Sunday at The Washington, DC Record Fair:
"Although I won't be one of the main DJ's, as one of the cohosts of the DC Record Fair I can't resist DJing just a little bit next Sunday. What a better place to DJ than a room full of record/music geeks. Being a music/record geek myself, it's the perfect opportunity to show off my extremely good taste and to floss my extensive record collection.
Here are five LP's I'm gonna bring out on Sunday. Photos attached. Some have sound clips and some will have to wait until after the record fair (you gotta be there)."
Piano Piano - The Vorpal Blade (Unforgettable Music) Tripped out Aussie post-punk from 1980. Produced and masterminded by Melbourne's Ron Rude. Wild stuff. Found this record for $3 at Second Story Dupont back when it used to carry vinyl (sniff sniff). Review here. Ron Rude's Myspace page. Check out the sound clip for "Chance Meeting" which is on "The Vorpal Blade."
The Plugz - Electrify Me (Plug Recordz) Classic LA Latino punk band. Took me years to find this record and I finally did find it in an x-rated bookstore/stripper supply shop in Fayetteville, NC last year. Praise Jesus.
Eduardo Araujo - A Onda e Boogaloo (Odeon) Got this one at my favorite record store in the world - Disco 7 in Sao Paulo. You can buy a reissue at Dusty Groove for $22 (OG's cost a bit more)
Here's Dusty Groove's review: Swingin Brazilian soul from Eduardo Araujo -- a late 60s groover that's steeped in the styles of Memphis and Muscle Shoals, but which also has a unique twist that's all its own! Eduardo's definitely in the "boogaloo" mode referred to in the title, as the album's a blend of the hard sock-soul styles of soul boogaloo singers from the 60s, with slight touches from the more messed-up Latin soul boogaloo singers of the same period. Lyrics are in Portuguese, but the tunes groove like universal numbers you'll instantly understand! Titles include "Longe De Voce", "Boogaloo Na Broadway", "Rua Maluca", "Melhor Que Se Dane", "A Mulher", "Baby Baby Sim Baby", and "Dancando Boogaloo"
Round House - 'Scuse Me (Harvest) Killer German funk/psych record from 1972. This came from a defunkt DC area flea market a few years back. $2. Here's a clip (not my copy on the turntable BTW.)
Various Artists - Distral 1978 (Distral) In South America it was common for large companies to put out their own compilations at the end of the year to send out to their clients. Distral Industrial is/was a Colombian producer of storage tanks for the oil and chemicals industries. This record is from 1978 although I own two others from Distral as well a few more from other companies. Full of crazy psychedelic cumbias, an amazing version of Beethoven's Fifth by Enrique Lynch in addition to two terrible Ray Conniff tracks. I found this one at a record show in Fort Lauderdale last year.
(Main image courtesy DCist photographer Jeff Martin from the last DC Record Fair. Thanks guys!)
Our preview of the musical end of Friday’s Story/Stereo spectrum continues today with the other half of Bluebrain, Hays Holladay:
Black Dice - Creature Comforts The first time I heard Black Dice was as a college radio DJ at small Columbia University station room on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As a freshman I was given the unbearable 5-7 AM Saturday morning shift. I'm fairly confident that absolutely no one listened to my show...ever. So I spent my shift exploring the wealth of new music that was sent to WBAR by bands and their record labels while broadcasting it over the airwaves. That was where I first heard Black Dice's *Cone Toaster* 12". Soon after the needle hit the record, it was clear to me that this might be the worst music to ease you into the day. Incredibly brash and earsplitting at any volume. So stark and amelodic. Somehow simultaneously hipnotic and jarring. While I was listening to it (by now fully awake) I remember thinking that it sounded like music that was not made by musicians, but by their delay and distortion pedals late at night long after the band had left their practice space. There music is full of randomness which humans seem to be incapable of producing. What sort of warped minds could really discard all popular conventions to make songs devoid of a protagonist. *Cone Toaster* has absolutely no human touch. Only it is not in the way that naysayers of electronic music typically disparage the genre. These songs weren't made in a vacuum nor were they glossy and without nuance. It was completely inorganic. But as the labels of most inorganic items in the grocery store will tell you, inorganic things are highly complex.
What really sold me on Black Dice though was their next release, *Creature Comforts*. Oddly enough, when the group announced the title of the record, my brother Ryan and I we're nearing completion on an album of the same name (under an earlier band called The Epochs). As any musicians or all artists for that matter know, titles can set the stage and give context to a work. We were frustrated. But I bought *Creature Comforts* anyway just to see how they had made use of title. We both agreed: if any record should have this title, it's this one. What surprised me most about the record is how they had maintained the inhuman quality of their previous work while shifting their focus onto emulating organic sounds with man-made machines. I feel that the parenthetical title of their record should be Mechanical Animals (maybe it was the working title until Marilyn Manson used it). They created a forest of sound teeming with robotic bird calls and electronic insect noises from scratch. I saw them play this record in New York inside of a greenhouse, oddly enough, and that's precisely where this album lives.
Washington, DC’s own The Kora Records recently wrote us in regard to their new signing, London’s Stricken City who personally ensnared me right away with name checks such as The Slits and Life Without Buildings. (I mean, THAT’S refreshing.) 
