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I’ve often wondered why we haven’t had one of my favorite local bands, Exit Clov, here on the blog (short of just a show teaser a number of months back.) Hell, we've been at this three years now and no proper Clov feature?
Well, we’re about to remedy that in a big way this week as the band is here, inside the TVD offices, ready to type away. All of this is in advance of – well, ...wait. I’ll let them spill it.
It's Exit Clov's Vinyl District all this week.
Greetings TVD readers! We're Exit Clov...(well, we're Em and Suz of Exit Clov actually, because we're the only blogging nerds in the band). Get comfy because we're hijacking the blog for the week. Jon Meyers said we could :P
This unilateral intervention is warranted by a momentous occasion for the band—namely the release of our brand new record, Memento Mori. Latin for "remember your mortality," Memento Mori is a departure from our previous material. It's a little on the heavy and melancholy side, but it's not without its moments of hope, brilliance and happiness.
First things first—all the vitals...To celebrate, we've lined up a slew of CD release parties over the next 2 weekends. Hopefully we'll get to see you at at least one of them! (See dates below.)
Stream the whole album at exitclov.com or buy it online at iTunes, Amie Street, Lala, Rhapsody and more. A short run of physical copies will also be available very shortly on our very own web store.
SHOW SCHEDULE (Show times and deets are available at exitclov.com.) January 29 @ Strathmore Mansion (Bethesda, MD) w/ True Womanhood January 30 @ Iota (Arlington, VA) w/ Olivia Mancini and the Mates, Poor But Sexy February 5 @ Crash Mansion (New York City) w/ Heylady, Millybeau Feb. 6 @ Johnny Brenda's (Philadelphia, PA) w/ Pepi Ginsberg, The Armchairs
Now, the album. For those who are more accustomed to our dancey, synthy, politicky-ness, there might be some bewilderment about where the heck these songs came from. In colors, it's a bit of a grey, prison-colored album, whereas Respond Respond (our 2006 EP) was royal blue, silver, and a little space age.
And it's true, these songs did come from another place. It was Exit Clov's Dark Ages, so to speak. We were in a bit of transition... our Rome had fallen - a lot of our fellow DC bands/friends as we knew them splintered up and we ourselves were feeling scattered, collectively and psychologically. Some personal things occupied our hearts and minds, as well, and so the record fell between the cracks. Well now that the dust has settled, we've each of us resumed our posts. It's like we found the record again while we were cleaning the attic the other day! ... So today we've posted some factoid blurbs for a couple of tracks off Memento Mori, including a free download for "Blue is Your Heart". We'll post a few more track blurbs tomorrow (along with another free download!), so do come back.
Blue is Your Heart (Mp3) | This song is about as earthy as Exit Clov will get. It was the first time we used melodica on a recording. And at the time we were listening quite a bit to The Good, The Bad & The Queen and some other Afro-beat influenced records, so we tried to incorporate that sort of space in the song - especially the outro, without going over the top with it. Lyrically, it's a post-epiphany song about how big, bad and beautiful our earth is. We do so much to it - till it, cultivate it, tend to it, grow things from it, but we also torture and exploit it for natural resources, we dig, plunder, bomb, litter, etc. And at the end of the day, where do we go when we die but right back into the earth. It's like whatever we've done she takes us back in. And there is indeed a tiny bed of earth waiting for each one of us eventually to rest our weary bones and ashes.
Free Zone (Can be streamed the band's site.)| This song was one of the last tracks to be completed on the record. It started out as a stripped-down piano composition by Aaron, and evolved as we wrote the rest of it together in the studio. As a lone piano piece, it was so bleak sounding but astoundingly beautiful. It seemed to work as a prison song - in this case, the prison of daily routines. The lyrics are surreal, about a person who spends her time mindlessly "building widgets and concrete." There's the panic attack that your life is of little consequence, the feeling of suffocation and paranoia, and a strange sense that you're somehow paying this bottomless debt to an unknown collector. The clincher at the end of the song is that we're actually the ones building our own concrete walls, and so there is a way out! Walk away from the wet cement and tools. Stop building the walls!
Looking ahead... we have a fun-filled blog schedule lined up for you this week! Here's a sneak peek:
Tuesday: We'll post factoid blurbs on three more 'Memento Mori' tracks, including 'District Menagerie,'which will be posted for free download.
Wednesday: TVD will feature our Iota show opener Olivia Mancini and the Mates. We'll also talk a little bit about our experience with vinyl, given the main theme of this blog(!), and post a little Q+A with a local record guru.
Thursday: We'll unveil a brand new arts collective founded by Exit Clov, featuring a variety of projects in music, craft, and writing. Songs from all the musical projects will be posted exclusively on TVD, so be sure to come back and check them out!
Friday: We'll talk about some exciting new things to expect from the Clov in 2010.
Label founder Sean Peoples has some parting thoughts and your Parting Shots this week:
In my 5 years running Sockets Records I learned a lot about releasing music. But more importantly, I made a bunch of new friends and can help highlight new creativity that deserves to be heard. The Sockets showcase tonight will be eclectic and I wouldn't have it any other way. Big thanks to Jon at TVD for helping put this together and stay tuned for a lot more music in 2010!
It's Day #5 and the last day of our Sockets Records' TVD Takeover and we've got The Cornel West Theory and Tool in the same post. You don't see that everyday.
It's not the best, but to me it is one of the most adventurous. An album cover should be like a body and the audio is the soul. Because the digital revolution is thrusting its way in and an album cover has to take a new approach.
Of course this will be more expensive but it's not about having a plan...which is the case with a picture. It should be a tangible experience representing an artistic statement - i.e. like a children's book with mirrors and movable slides, etc. Or these new books on writers and musicians that have letters/postcards in them. —S
I went to 9:30 club to see The Dead Trees/Adam Green/The Cribs on Tuesday (in that order) and let’s just say I was increasingly unimpressed as the night went on....
Apparently The Dead Trees were a bit late (they were scheduled to go on at 7) so they ended up going on with Mr. Adam Green, which couldn’t have turned out better. Mr. Green hit the stage, obviously inebriated (I’m not too familiar, I’m guessing this is his shtick?!) and gifted the audience with quite the entertaining comedy/rock/intoxication-infused routine.
“What happened to my elbow? I was delivering a fucking baby! Shit happens!” ahahaha Adam Green really dropped quite the comical quotes at 9:30 club, in-between crowd surfing amongst 13 people and handing off the mic to the few folks who knew the words. The Dead Trees were a tremendous supporting band as well, although I’m still not quite sure of the actual situation… did The Dead Tree’s have a lead singer? Did Adam Green have a back-up band?! Who cares, really, because it turned out fucking terrific.
The Cribs have been described as the “biggest cult band of the UK” and consist of three brothers who were joined by The Smith’s legendary guitarist, Johnny Marr, in 2008. Despite the tremendous hype of the headlining band, they were actually quite un-impressive, and consisted mainly of repetitive power chords and harmonizing guitarists. Perhaps that’s just what flies in the UK, I’ve got to be honest, I’ve never really listened to the Libertines.
No disrespect to the show though. The songs definitely improved towards the end of the set (I now love ‘Be Safe’) and any chance at being 15 feet from Johnny Marr is always amazing. And what a stellar introduction to Adam mothafuckin Green and The Cribs.
What would a Sockets Records Showcase Week be without a giveaway of some sort? Well, that'd be a half-assed week folks, and since we're not up to any half-assery around here—we've got an opportunity to win a pair of tickets for Friday's Black Cat Sockets live showcase.
And some vinyl...
We'll have three winners for our Sockets Giveaway: the grand prize winner will get a pair of tickets to attend Friday's showcase on us, plus a vinyl copy of Hume's 'The Phat Daughter String Quartet' on vinyl. Two runners-up will receive the vinyl alone.
The drill is the same as it always is—get at us in the comments to this post (with some contact info!) and plead your case for either the tickets and the vinyl or the vinyl alone. Make 'em good—we're closing this one by noon on Friday, 1/22!
It’s bordering on comical how often I’m completely sold on some band or performer and think “Well, they’d be great to see live...’ aaaand they were in town just last week. Or last night. Or tonight.
But not this week however. I’ve dodged a bullet and have been given 48 hours with which to regroup and reschedule my plans to see Dawn Landes this Saturday night at Iota, touring behind her third album ‘Sweet Heart Rodeo.’
You too get to dodge the aforementioned bullet as we have a pair of tickets to put on your hands for the mere effort it takes to leave a comment to this post (with contact info!) Juggle your calendar, reconfigure your day planner, and let us know what you’re willing to completely reschedule in order to see the exceedingly lovely Ms. Landes on Saturday evening.
You’ve got 24 hours to make those awkward calls and bail on your friends to join us on Saturday. We’re closing this one at 4PM tomorrow. Now, go!
Truth is, I started to worry a little bit about Turin Brakes after that last one I bought and promptly gave away. But if this new track 'Apocolips' is any indication, they're back to 'Ether Song' form.Which is smart, indeed.
The new album 'Outbursts' is out March 30th on Cooking Vinyl.
It's Day #4 of Sockets Records' TVD Takeover and Collin from Buildings has got an LP in mind I think we all wish to have on our shelves. (Does anyone out there actually have this one?)
Like many, I am obsessed with The Beatles. One of my all time favorite album covers would have to be the (in)famous "butcher" cover for The Beatles' 'Yesterday and Today.'
It's very obvious why it would catch anyone's eye. Aside from it being worth about 40 grand, how can anyone resist seeing their favorite pop stars wearing butcher costumes with bloody meat and dismembered dolls all over them?
It's been said that it The Beatles were making a statement that Capitol Records were "butchering" their albums for US release, etc. I see it as an early mockery of all the fame and hysteria surrounding them.
This was put out around their 'Rrubber Soul/Revolver' era which is perhaps my favorite time in music history. This album cover is an extremely bold and hilarious considering the time it was made., but all in all, I would like to say what I like most about the album cover is the awkward expression on everyone's face. —Collin Crowe (Buildings)
I naively thought at this blog’s inception that 100% of the bands that’d be featured would be bands that I love. No waffling – just the stuff I adore.
But that didn’t play out as I’d hoped. I mean, would you want to read about the same seven or eight bands over and over? Probably not. Hell, I don’t want to.
I sucked it up and in the name of diversity and ‘expanding one’s horizons’ I opened the flood gates. Not wide, mind you, but enough to allow for some acts who aren’t particularly up my alley. Oh, they might be hip and all that and you might have dug some of their Mp3s that went along with the features, but mentally I was sitting a few of ‘em out.
So, I realize that as a result, at times you may not know where I stand on this or that band.
We chatted with CB’s Rob Pierangeli a little while back about stuff near and dear to both of us:
What record stores do you frequent within the DC/Baltimore area? I dig Crooked Beat, Som Records, Red Onion and Smash.
What was your first memory of listening to vinyl or buying a record? What artist was it? I had a record player when I was a kid, but those memories are not vivid. I had Thiller by Michael Jackson and this Kids Incorporate record, both of which I loved. That TV show was my jam when I was five.
I didn't really start collecting records until around 21, when I inherited some of my Mom's Beatles records. The first records I ever bought were Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus by Vince Guaraldi and Thelonious Monk live at the Black Hawk. I bought them both from Smash Records when it was still in Georgetown. I was taking jazz guitar lessons at the time, and listening to EL-P’s jazz-influenced hip-hop production on Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein. The beats on that record are so ill. And speaking of, I need to get that on vinyl.
Why did you decide to put out a 7" for 'Whitespace?' I simply love vinyl, and wanted to document the beginning of Casper Bangs with a vinyl release.
Please divulge some information regarding its artwork if you would... I'm into the concept of whitespace in art and the space between notes in music. I wanted a minimalist approach to the artwork that conveyed this concept. Charlie Flexon (the designer) and I bounced a bunch of ideas around, until he came up with idea of using braille on the front cover. From there we decided to use no printing and single-level emboss all type and art. I'm really happy with the packaging on this release. It's gorgeous! And who doesn’t love white vinyl?
Do your friends still buy music? Yes, most of my friends buy records. I think a lot of my friends (myself included) also download music too, but it's not the same as owning the vinyl. Vinyl is tangible and more of a commitment. You can browse through my iTunes to see what I dig, but if you really want to know what I love check out my record collection. These are the albums I could not live without.
If you could own the entire vinyl anthology for any band, who would it be? Easy: The Kinks.
Would you ever issue a single only on a 7"? Maybe. I think you have to consider your audience. If I wrote punk rock, hardcore, or garage then I'd be more inclined to do so because kids tend to collect seven inches in those genres. Truth is, I was hesitant on doing a 7" because I write pop songs. That being said, I think releasing vinyl only does make it special. Perhaps down the road I’ll do a vinyl only release.
We've been excited to do this Sockets Records blog takeover week, but, um...how do I say this? Big Gold Belt's walking us down some dark, dark record cover alleys. (Where's my mace?)
Here is an album cover we came across that made us feel happy. It is from Rare Silk’s 1986 record “New Weave.”
Reasons this cover is good:
1. The South Floridian mom color palette.
2. The geometric composition typical of paintings selected by shrinks in the Rockland County, NY area. They hang these in their waiting rooms.
3. The splatter texture and shadow relief adds cheesy depth.
4. The font the name 'Rare Silk' is written in what looks like it was derived from the slashes of some soft-rock pirate's cutlass.
5. Corny cleverness: "New Weave" (as in “new wave.”)
We cannot say we love the music that Rare Silk produces—a bizarre combination of the Andrew Sisters, soft jazz and funk guitar. We do however thank them for their stylish design sense!
Oh, we love press releases. And that's all you're gonna get with these 'Fresh Picks' to speed these along and to ...uh, to keep 'em fresh.
"Following Guillemots 2008 album Red, mercurial singer-songwriter Fyfe Dangerfield used the window of time created to spread his wings and lovingly record his beautiful debut solo album 'Fly Yellow Moon.'
Fyfe recorded the album in five days in what he describes as ‘the best ever little studio’, which ended up being the happiest days he has ever spent in studio land. The songs were written over a 12-month period in snatched moments after soundchecks, before nights out, and after moments of unmitigated lovestruck bliss.
He met up with Bernard Butler to mix a couple of songs ("She Needs Me," "Faster Than The Setting Sun") on a 1960s-mixing desk to color the record in a different shade. The rest of the tracks remained just as they were from their first recording session. “It often sounded best this way, says Fyfe. “Capturing the moment they were recorded and not being painted over too much.” "
I know this blog's read from Athens to Zurich (really, I check the stats) but do we have any readers in, uh...Baltimore? Well, we're about to find out because we have a pair of tickets to check out Langhorne Slim along with April Smith, this Friday night at Ottobar in our sister city to the north.
Raise your hand in the comments to this post, jump up and down, do what you need to grab our attention if you're in Baltimore (or willing to hit the road) for what's certain to be a fine night of music. Leave us some contact info too. We'll choose a winner Friday morning. Now, get going, hon.
It's Day #2 of Sockets Records'blog takeover in advance of Friday's label showcase show at The Black Cat, and we're joined by the super succinct Imperial China.
One of the cooler LP covers I've seen in recent years is the cover to Thee Oh Sees' 'Help.' Any and all Oh Sees albums/releases belong on vinyl, both in terms of artwork and music, but both for different reasons. Their music is so raw that nothing captures it better than vinyl, and their artwork is so weird and intricate that it would get lost on CD.
Sockets Records only came onto my radar about 2 years ago as they quietly—or at least as it seemed to me—amassed a local roster of diverse and eclectic talent. But hell, they're five years old and in celebration of this auspicious birth date, the label is hosting a showcase this Friday that label founder Sean Peoples elaborates upon below. Afterward, we're talking to all five bands this week about one of my favorite topics—album covers.
Sockets Records is marking its 5 year anniversary with a huge showcase blowout at the Black Cat this Friday (January 22, 2010) and The Vinyl District graciously asked us to take over the blog for the week and feature the 5 bands playing the showcase. Needless to say, we couldn't be more excited to oblige.
Sockets started off of as a small label at the end of 2004/beginning of 2005, issuing limited quantities of sound experiments by friends. Over the years, the label grew to accommodate an increase in output and creativity of said friends. Now the label maintains 10 active bands and aims to highlight a music scene once again thriving in our nation's capital.
The bands playing Friday's Black Cat showcase are an eclectic bunch - a reflection of the myriad sounds emanating from Washington, DC. From the conscious hip-hop of The Cornel West Theory to the experimental post-punk of Imperial China, you can get a good sense of the unique styles one can find on Sockets Records this Friday night.
Whether I'm traveling through the mystical unworldly environments of Roger Dean (yes!) or getting caught deep within the simple surrealistic concepts of Storm Thorgerson (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin) album covers have always held a magnetic force for my album gripping.
Not only are they usually my initial introduction to the musical world I'm about to dive into, they also create there own realities where the music can take me. Ultimately though nothing speaks louder then the stoic portrait of a single artist on the cover of an album. It's almost as if your looking into a morphed mirror of who will embody you as the record spins.
Though usually this approach is mostly associated with the jazz world – i.e. Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders, etc – it was also wildly popular within the folk world as well – i.e. Blonde on Blonde or First Songs by Mike Hurley. For me, there's no bolder introduction then the silence of a single face staring unknowingly towards oblivion. —Britton Powell (HUME)
Our pal Jess and her BFF Alex Gruenburg take the stage over at DC9 tonight as openers for Young Buffalo...and, uh... is it just me or are they looking forward to it?
Ladies, Where have all our rock & roll idols gone? Have they gone the way of tape cassettes, record players, and beta tapes? I think not. Like any good man, the best of them are always hardest to find. You see girls, cute boys are one thing, but cute boys who write and sing rock & roll songs that you can’t stop dancing to to...? *swoon* Um, have I introduced you to Alex Gruenburg? Little did you know Washington, DC has it’s very own personal rock star and after you see him play, you’re probably going to want his poster on your wall. Apparently, The Beatles’ songwriting had a baby with Elvis Presley’s swagger and someone left it on James Brown’s doorstep and named it Alex Gruenburg. Girls, I encourage all you to put on your shortest skirt and your sexiest pair of dancing shoes and come out to see DC’s finest at DC9 on Monday, January 18th because Alex and I are having a good ol’ fashioned Boy/Girl Party. *wink, wink* Come out early and get ready to bat some lashes because I’m pretty sure that a few introductions are in order...) Love, Jess
Gentlemen, Do you remember your first crush? You know, that girl that kept you up at night because you just couldn’t stop thinking about the way she had looked at you that day. She tosses her hair back, smiles at you and all of the sudden you’re butter on toast. Yea.. we’ve all been through those times and honestly I thought I was over it. I thought that. And then I met Jessica Louise Dye. Not just any girl, she’s the singer and sexy frontman for Lightfoot. And let me tell you, Zooey Deschanel ain’t got nothing on this. Lightfoot sounds like your first date played back through a 45’ as you wake up on Sunday morning to breakfast in bed. Is it going to rock your face off? No. Is Jessica going to have to get a restraining order against you after you see her in concert? Probably. Washington DC must have asked for a indie boy’s wet dream for Christmas because that’s what it got. I’d advise you to put on your skinniest pair of jeans and skinniest tie you can find and head out to DC9 on Monday, January 18th. Lightfoot and me are putting on a sexy, sexy Boy/Girl party and she’ll be opening up the night. So make sure you get there early! How are you supposed to hit on her if you didn’t even see her set? Love, Alex
Ladies & Gentlemen, Pen your love letter to our cute couple in the comments to this post by 5PM today and the one that has us swooning the most will win a pair of tickets for tonight's Boy/Girl party. Remember to leave us some contact info! Love, The Vinyl District Photo: Joel Didriksen for kingpinphoto.com
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