TVD's Alternative Ulcer | Sesshin No-Fi

The last time I saw Sesshin No-Fi was during Art-O-Matic last year. It was their first gig together and the band consisted of a drummer, a guy with some turn tables, and a bassist. Many months have passed since that first gig on the first floor of a vacant building down near the waterfront and with those months some changes have been made—mainly in the form of a new drummer and the addition of a guy whose skills are translated through a drum machine and some synth programming.

This week is a pretty big week for Sesshin No-Fi. Last night they opened for Phantogram, who have sold out a few shows on their tour, at DC9. If you missed it you have a few more extremely groovy opportunities to see them this week in our nation's capital.

I guess the best way to describe the group's sound is in its own words: "Sesshin is a Japanese terms that translates to "one mind" and is used by Zen Buddhists to describe periods of intense meditation. Experienced practitioners have reported feelings of inner calm and a heightening of the senses. No-Fi is a combination of the genres No Wave and Lo-Fi and is a term used to describe media created outside of conventional standards. No-Fi is an extraordinarily diverse aesthetic, covering many mediums other than just music, such as video manipulation."

I've been told by one of its members that their sound has really come together since the addition of the new members and that at their last show at Iota some really awesome music was made. Perhaps the coolest thing about Sesshin No-Fi is that their sets are often improvised with new independent sounds being created by four individuals that come together to form hypnotic engaging music that seems to be all too rare in DC. For some reason the sound goes well with these cold snowy nights we continue to be hit with.

Their next two shows sound like a pretty fantastic ride. Tonight they'll be playing at The Fridge, a gallery and performance arts space located in Eastern Market, for its Dinner Party event which showcases "experimental dance, music and performance art." For its gig at the Fridge Sesshin No-Fi will be doing an audio/visual installation with a 30 minute ambient set. Local artist Monica Stroik will be accompanying them with live video projection as well. As for Wednesday, the group will be opening up for Demivolt at Chief Ike's Mambo Room and will again be accompanied by Monica Stork and I am told it will be an all-out "funk throwdown."

Sesshin No-Fi - Movement 1 (Mp3)
Sesshin No-Fi - Movement 2 (Mp3)
Sesshin No-Fi - Ft. Ted Zook (Mp3)

TVD's Pie in the Sky

#4. Just like the MLB and the NFL, any artist caught using Autotune should be fined and suspended by the RIAA. | Performance enhancing drugs or performance enhancing (or correcting) software, like dog fighting, should be outlawed.

"Britney, meet Lil Wayne - Wayne meet Britney..."

I mean, why give someone an unfair advantage, riiiight?

Spoon - The Beast And The Dragon, Adored (Mp3)
Marc Bolan - Girl [Live, Radio] (Mp3)
Crowded House - Running On The Spot (Mp3)
Aztec Camera - Over My Head (Mp3)
Danny Wilson - I Won't Be Here When You Get Home (Mp3)

TVD Fresh Track | New Thao with The Get Down Stay Down

Thao and the ever-versatile Get Down Stay Down (Adam Thompson on bass, keys and additional guitar, and Willis Thompson on drums and percussion) return with the follow up to their critically lauded and riotously applauded previous album, "We Brave Bee Stings and All", the breakout success and best-selling record of 2008 for Kill Rock Stars.

With super-producer and friend Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Bill Frisell, Spoon) again at the helm, Know Better Learn Faster perfectly captures the band as their more mature, tastefully raucous, tastefully subdued and musically adventurous selves.

...and we have the first track from Know Better Learn Faster:

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down - When We Swam (Mp3)

TVD's Pie in the Sky

The machinations of the recording industry amaze me. Once upon a time there was a set of well honored rules—but the old game's been beset with a myriad of game changers in the name of modernity in all its forms and fashions.

So, fine. Adjust or perish, I say.

Some hints for the music industry at large this week (and one that personally strikes a chord here:)

#5. Get the hell out of the way of the blogs. | They're the last bastion of promotion for you at this point—unless you secure an iPod commercial or a track on 'The Hills." (And if you do, you arrive neutered.)

Our pal whiteray has had his blog shut down twice over copyright violations for posting vinyl rips of old and widely unavailable LPs and 45's—stuff dating from the 60's and 70's. Forget that he was honoring the bands or the recordings long dormant. If you're the copyright holder, wouldn't a little dust kicked up in your name be a good thing...perhaps people seek out and buy one of these old tracks from the new delivery systems?

Google unceremoniously shut down a host of music bloggers last week with blogs just like this one. Some posting obscure new genres of music and others semi-mainstream like TVD.

The rub is that those who were shut down were granted permission to host and post Mp3s from the labels, the promotions people, or the bands themselves, but internal communication was spotty between the players resulting in complaints filed and the subsequent deletion of their blogs—often without cogent warnings or explanations.

Scary, hm?

Labels and PR firms now have teams of coordinators reaching out to the blogs and we hear from them everyday. The Vinyl District which once posted Mp3 rips of obscure and not so obscure stuff has evolved (devolved?) into a roughly 90% sanctioned enterprise by posting music OK'd by whichever arm of the business is supporting and promoting an act.

Seemingly however, this is no longer enough to not warrant a bomb dropping via the old guard screaming copyright infringement. Should we be threatened with extinction when playing ball altogether?

Old guard, bloggers are the last ones disseminating your output. Remember that when everything goes silent around you—including the cash registers.

(Typically we'd add some tracks here...but silence seems to feel appropriate today.)

More Images from the DC Record Fair

...courtesy of photographer Matt Dunn.

Additional coverage via ReadySetDC right here.
Additional coverage via DCist right here.
The Washington City Paper debates the turnout here.

TVD Ticket Giveaway | The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Thursday (2/18) at The Black Cat

Touring behind their most recent release 'Communion' and in advance of a brand new 3-track digital EP, Swedes The Soundtrack of Our Lives storm The Black Cat this Thursday night (2/18) along with Nico Vega and we've got a pair of tickets to attend the show ( ...because, every now and then you need to pull yourselves away from the turntable and interact with other people, right?)

Pen your homage to the band and inspire us with your soundtrack (or social interaction in general) in the comments to this post and we'll choose a winner who suitably inspires us by COB Wednesday for the tickets to the show. (Simple, yes?)

Leave us contact info too!

First Images from the DC Record Fair

At last count, 1,460 people came through the doors of The Black Cat today for the 4th DC Record Fair. We thank you all, The Black Cat, and the DJ's for an amazing day. The first shots are in courtesy Kyle Gustafson.

We'll see you in the morning when we're back at it...more vinyl giveaways, we've got some tickets, and a thought or five on the music industry as it stands or falls around us. Right now, there's a pint with my name onnit.

The Washington, DC Record Fair Returns - The Valentine's Day Edition!

DJ Schedule: Bluebrain 12:00 - 1:00 | Geologist 1:00 - 2:00 | Kid Congo Powers 2:00 - 3:00 | Eric Hilton 3:00 - 4:00 | Ian MacKaye 4:00 - 5:00 | Casper Bangs 5:00 - 6:00

What better way to show someone that their taste in music has you swooning than you and he or she joining us on Valentine's Day, Sunday, February 14 from noon to 6PM for a little rummage through the crates. Thirty dealers from up and down the East Coast worth of crates at the DC Record Fair!

And yes, yes...we heard your gripes in the past...TOO crowded...had to wait in lines, too cramped...etc., etc. But fret not! Our first Record Fair of 2010 lands at The Black Cat so you have plenty of room to rummage and roam and refresh. We heard you, ok?

All of this on a President's Day Weekend so if you, y'know, over indulge (wallet and gullet) you'll have Monday to dream it all away.

Click here to download the Record Fair Poster designed by our friend El Jefe to plaster all over your bedroom or blog. We're printing a ridiculously short run of these which will be available at the show. If we get a wildly enthusiastic comment to this post, we'll award one to one person who shows up in person to claim it.

So, we'll see you Sunday, February 14th from noon to 6 at The Black Cat, right? Brought to you by your pals at Som Records, DC Soul Recordings, and us!

If you're on Facebook, you can RSVP right here.

The Waton Twins' Vinyl District Parting Shots

We’d like to thank The Watson Twins for spending the snowy week with us here at TVD. They've got some parting thoughts and some parting tracks streaming via lala for a change this week. (...for reasons we’ll get into next week. Oh, yes we will.)


So we have reached the end of the week for “The Watson Twins Vinyl District Takeover.” It has been a pleasure to post on some of the things that make our little world go round. We’ve shared inspirations and favorite locations, songs that tickle our eardrums and emerging new sounds. There’s a lot going on at the moment, with the release of “Talking To You, Talking To Me”… but by hosting The Vinyl District for the week, we have been able to reflect on why we continue to write and record songs.

Lots and lots of beautiful music being made in this world and blogs like this one help to keep people informed about underground stuff on the level. It’s always amazing to discover new songs or artists that perhaps we would have never found if not for folks on the web scouring every vault, nook and cranny and posting it for all to hear.

Lots and lots of beautiful music being made in this world and blogs like this one help to keep people informed about underground stuff on the level. It’s always amazing to discover new songs or artists that perhaps we would have never found if not for folks on the web scouring every vault, nook and cranny and posting it for all to hear.

That being said we’d like to end our last day here at The Vinyl District with a little play list we put together. Being twins we also share a lot of the same taste in music and that taste is very diverse… as I’m sure you can see from the songs we’ve picked. We hope that through our posts, maybe y’all have discovered some music that is gonna be in constant rotation on your turntable. Signing off…
xo-TWT

The Watson Twins Top Songs Rig...

TVD's Ten Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways - Week 1 | Charlotte Gainsbourg 'IRM'

One of the happy coincidences to being The Official Blog for Record Store Day 2010 is that we're afforded the opportunity to underscore one of our main themes—namely that vinyl is a contemporary medium, one that's never really gone away, and is perhaps thriving and more vital than it has been in some time (DJ's, purists, and collectors notwithstanding.)

So, to that end, we're spending the next ten weeks straight putting records into the hands of TVD readers as we count down to April 19, 2010—Record Store Day.

The rules can't be any simpler: each Monday for the next ten weeks we'll be launching a new RSD2010 Vinyl Giveaway and all you need to do to enter to win is to leave a comment in the comments section to that week's giveaway letting us know why you deserve to win that week's LP.

Be creative, funny, incisive—whatever it takes to grab our attention to deem you the winner. Most important however is to leave us a contact email address! You can be brilliant as hell, but if we can't track ya' down, you're out of the running. Winners will be notified upon the launch of the next giveaway.

And with that, we're launching the the very first of our LP giveaways with Charlotte Gainsbourg's Beck-produced, 'IRM.' (Check back with us later today because we have another for you too...)


What started as a brief recording session between Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck ended up to be the body of work that is IRM. Over the course of a year and a half of writing and recording together, Beck's role grew to encompass all aspects of the creative process. He worked seamlessly with Charlotte co writing the lyrics and produced and mixed the recording. (This is the first time he has ever been so involved in another artist's work.)

The official first single off the album is "Heaven Can Wait" featuring Beck. Sonically, the album is a new direction for Charlotte Gainsbourg and her first in nearly four years. Beck's iconic and spacey production blends flawlessly with Charlotte's unique vocals and delivery.

It's The Watson Twins' Vinyl District Vinyl Giveaway!

The Watson Twins' Vinyl District blog takeover simply wouldn't be complete without a chance to win the brand new 'Talking To You, Talking To Me' on vinyl—the LP sliding out of the sleeve over there to the right. And being the completists that we are, Leigh and Chandra have given us a copy to award one reader of this blog.

As we mentioned yesterday, the rules for our vinyl giveaways can't be any simpler: all you need to do to enter to win is to leave a comment in the comments section of the giveaway letting us know why you deserve to win the LP.

Be creative, funny, incisive—whatever it takes to grab our attention to deem you the winner. Most important however is to leave us a contact email address! You can be brilliant as hell, but if we can't track ya' down, you're out of the running. Winners will be notified on Friday!



The Watson Twins - U-N-Me (Mp3)

It's The Watson Twins' Vinyl District!

FAVORITE VENUES: Life on the Circuit | Touring is part of every musician’s life. The levels vary in many ways, from mini-van to 15 pass van to bus and beyond… just think, your very own jet! We’ve been around this country a bunch and in lots of different ways and just wanted to share with y’all a few of our favorite places to play on the “circuit.”

Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI | This beautiful theater was built in 1890, in original opera house style and the acoustics are fantastic. From the first time we played there the staff has welcomed us in as family. This place is a musicians dream come true! The back stage is complete with old records and a player, food, washer/ dryer and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer! What more could you ask for? Plus, the crowds in Milwaukee are always up for a good time.


Central Presbyterian Church, Austin, TX | We grew up singing in church so maybe that draws us to this venue, its got it’s own energy and vibe that is hard to describe. We’ve only played there once, but it sticks out as one of my favorite shows. We were in Austin for the SXSW festival and had our final show of the festival at this church. The beautiful décor and amazing atmosphere set us up for special night, truly a “spiritual” experience!

40 Watt, Athens, GA | A couple things before I start about the 40 Watt… In the parking lot you are almost certain to find J.B’s grilled sausage stand and his famous “Come Back Sauce” (I have the t-shirt to prove it). The delicious, tantalizing aroma and J.B. himself will do their darnedest to keep you right there! The last time we were at the 40 watt we got the chance to hang with the beautiful and charming Barrie Buck, she owns the joint, and was our tour guide for the night. The hospitality and the audiences are always fantastic which puts it on our most wanted list. I love that town!

The Vic Theatre Chicago, Chicago, IL | The two times we’ve played the Vic it’s been packed to the gills and we all know that the audience is what makes these venues and shows special. The last time we opened for our friend M.Ward, one of our favorites players to see… love his voice and music. Surrounded by ornate wall sculptures and stairs made of Italian marble this theatre that was built in 1912 became our host for the evening. On off nights, when they’re not catering to musicians, the Vic plays old movies and serves $1.50 beers… when can we move in?

The Watson Twins - Midnight (Mp3)
(From the brand new 'Talking To Me, Talking To You)
The Watson Twins - Bar Woman Blues (Mp3)
(From 'Fire Songs')
The Watson Twins - Only You (Mp3)
(Live on MOKB Radio)
The Watson Twins - Just Like Heaven (Mp3)
(Live on MOKB Radio)
The Watson Twins - How Am I To Be/Ain't No Sunshine/Sky Open Up (Mp3)
(Live on MOKB Radio)

TVD Fresh Track | New Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

BRMC's new album, Beat The Devil's Tattoo, is available today for pre-order on iTunes and we're debating which we like more - the vinyl-centric cover or the title track itself. Hm.

Your take?

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo (Mp3)