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The lazy days of summer are among us and last night a mild breeze rolled through the canyon as Mercury (the messenger planet) went “retro” as in retrograde.
All these signs from nature breezing about, I’m once again reminded of my simple mission; to create a dope “mix” of classics and great new bands. While I put this show together I was day dreaming about rock shows of summer’s past. Like that hot summer night in 1973 when Sly and Family Stone never showed up to take us higher.
In the end, this week’s Idelic Hour became about the bands of 2010 hitting summer tour stages to promote their fall releases. PO PO, Pete Yorn, No Age, Dearhunter, Damien Jurardo, Black Angels, The Sister Ruby Band, Wild Nothing and Autolux.
So while it’s warm, catch a show, take off your shirt and wave it in the air. Fall is around the corner.
Streaming and The Idelic “hit of the week” Fitz and the Tantrums' Dear Mr. President keeps us dancing like the summer of '73!
With their punky/shoegaze DIY take on the classic girl group combo AND their hyper-intelligent vinyl record aesthetic, Brooklyn's Vivian Girls could easily be The Vinyl District's house band. If we had a house. Which would have easily burnt down now. For certain.
And they're certain to be testing the fire codes in that back room of Comet Ping Pong Sunday night, August 22nd. Joining them are DC's Brett and the Whispers who I'd like to think of as a supergroup. Because they're both. Wear something flame retardant.
We've got a pair of tickets to award one winner who sufficiently pleads his or her case for them in the comments to this post. We anticipate some top-notch arm-twisting as well.
We'll choose our winner Friday at noon to give you some time to make your case. Remember to leave us a contact email address so we can get in touch with you, ok?
Paul Collins, the 'King of Power Pop' might also be 'The Hardest Working Man in Showbiz' given his never ending, country to country, city to city touring—which chugs into DC's Comet Ping Pong on Friday, August 20th.
Touring in support of his brand new release, 'The King of Power Pop,' expect an evening of sweaty rock and roll, sharp hooks, and tight choruses culled from his decades-long career. (Hell, the guy was on the Mike Douglas AND the Merv Griffin shows...)
And yep, we've got a pair of tickets to award one winner who sufficiently pleads his or her case for them in the comments to this post. We anticipate some top-notch arm-twisting on your part for this top-notch bill.
We'll choose our winner Friday at noon to give you some time to make your case. Remember to leave us a contact email address so we can get in touch with you, ok?
"When I moved in with my boyfriend, one of the things that I considered to be a very serious decision was what we should do with our record collections. Folklore seemed to say that merging the collections together too soon was a bad idea & that it would lead to eventual heartbreak if the relationship ended. But it also seemed really weird (and sad) to keep them separate. After some quick deliberation, I filed them all together alphabetically (mine sleeved, his without) in our living room.
I discovered something interesting during this process: there are only a few doubles in our combined collection of nearly 500 records. There are exactly six, all of them purchased while we were dating, but before we moved in.
What does this mean? Hidden in the 1% of our records where our buying habits intersect, is there some clue to the foundations of our relationship? Do these six records hold the key to increasing our happiness, solving quarrels or predicting the future? Or are they just popular records we both happen to own through blind chance? (Being a Gemini, Ian Svenonious would probably say that there is some sort of power to be found in doubles, and perhaps the number six or twelve might have some cosmic significance, but I'm a Libra & this isn't his blog post).
As I listened to these records, I began to think of the types of relationships they might represent. How would the couples embodied by these albums meet? Would they have kids & grow old together or flame out in a fit of passion? Here's what I imagined:
1. Elliott Smith – XO | Sensitive, corduroyed boy and sensitive, flannel-clad girl share coffee over long silences while it rains outside. Their love runs deep, but so does their emotional baggage. Regardless, I figure they have what it takes to make it through the long haul.
2. Peter Bjorn & John – Let’s Call It Off 7” | She says "Let's Call it Off!" He says "(I Just Want to) See-Through." The eternal push and pull of side A versus side B. Their friends just wonder how many times they can flip the record and play it again. Good thing the music is catchy.
3. The Points – S/T | Under a glittering rain of spit beer, love blossoms. When they break up, he cuts her head out of all their old pictures. Then they get back together. And break up again.
4. The Raveonettes – Lust, Lust, Lust | Kohl eyeliner and skinny jeans are virtually all that they share in common. Luckily, their relationship isn't based on conversation.
5. Vivian Girls – S/T | He knows what she knows, he feels what she feels. Unfortunately, all that is fleeting & it doesn't end well.
6. Title Tracks – Every Little Bit Hurts 7” | Love hurts. They meet at St. Stephens when she gets caught in the undertow of an impromptu mosh pit & he helps her up. Her mom gives him a ride home. They make plans to meet again at Comet Ping Pong on Friday night:"
Holly plays bass & sings in Black Telephone with her boyfriend, Tom and their friend Rory.Find them at their Official Website and Facebookand at Comet Ping Pong this Friday night (8/20) with The Paul Collins Beat, Title Tracks, and Mother's Children.
One December a million years ago, 'Yesterday And Today' was a holiday gift along with Milton Bradley's Air Trix.
The Air Trix board game "is a skill game where players must move a styrofoam ball suspended on a column of air through various obstacles. The obstacles include running the ball through a ladder, into a bucket on the seal's nose, through the weather vane, landing on a helicopter, and picking up a mail bag."
Fun stuff right? More fun, my friend Spike and I thought, would be to replace the suspended in-air styrofoam ball with...well, ...spit. What can I say - we were creative kids.
Not surprisingly, the spit had varying results. It worked for a second there, then it'd come lobbing down into the hair dryer-like device that kept the styrofoam ball aloft. Shortly thereafter this device seemed to take on what I'll call - a smell.
Soon the game and the smell were relegated to the shelves, but what stayed handy however were the yellow sticks from the game on which the items would be suspended. They were about 13" long and the width of some light jazz drum sticks. And they became my first drum sticks.
Like a joke that takes painfully long to come to a conclusion, the marriage of Air Trix, spit, and The Beatles' 'Yesterday and Today' - specifically 'And Your Bird Can Sing,' ignited a life long love affair with all things: drum kit and blisters.
Power pop legend Paul Collins plays Comet Ping Pong Friday night with DC's Title Tracks, Black Telephone, and Ottawa's Mother's Children (for which we have free tickets.)
Paul's touring behind his latest release, the aptly titled "King of Power Pop!" and we've got three copies of the LP that Paul notes is "...the record that connects the dots, from The Nerves to The Breakaways to The Beat to today—this is the record that puts it all together!"
Oh yea, it's a limited edition of just 500 on swirl-colored vinyl.
"King Of Power Pop! is the new studio album by Paul Collins, one of the originators of the power pop sound. Paul got his start in the late seventies as the drummer for the legendary Nerves (with Peter Case and Jack Lee) later forming The Breakaways with Peter Case, and finally starting The Beat, or Paul Collins Beat in 1979.
King Of Power Pop! is a complete return to his roots, to power pop, the sound he helped create and popularize, a sound that has seen a resurgence in recent years, a sound that is here to stay! Produced and engineered in Detroit by Jim Diamond (Dirtbombs, The Go, White Stripes, to name just a few), King Of Power Pop! also features Eric Blakely on guitar and backing vocals, Diamond on bass, and Dave Shettler on drums (SSM, The Sights). Motor City guests include Wally Palmar of the legendary power pop hit-makers the Romantics, as well as pop icon Nikki Corvette of Nikki & The Corvettes.
The catchy cover pop art is the work of legendary artist William Stout. The album includes 11 new songs, one new recording of the Breakaways classic "Many Roads To Follows" (the demo version featuring Peter Case can be found on the Breakaways release "Walking Out On Love"), and two covers, for a total of 13 great high-energy power pop songs."
As mentioned above, we've got three copies of the swirl-colored LP to put in the hands of three of you. Plead your case for one of them in the comments to this post and the ones with the memorable hooks and catchy choruses will be awarded the new LP.
We'll close this one next Wednesday (8/25) and as always, remember to leave us a contact email address!
Back in May we ran a week-long series we called 'Lil Triggers.' Y'know this or that which suddenly ignites a reflection or memory and sends you off elsewhere.
Last evening before dinner I had a package delivered—my mom's wedding ring and wedding band. In a baggie, in the mail. The same rings with picture perfect clarity I can recall on her finger or cooling themselves on the window sill while dishes were being washed.
Let's just say this week might just be a bit tougher to get through than I thought yesterday.
This week, instead of trying to distill themes from an entire day’s worth of #musicmonday tweets, I’ll go hour by hour and look for some microthemes. Because I am an alchemist, I will find them. And because I am a windbag, I will stick to the morning hours and leave the afternoon and evening for later columns.
3–4 am (Eastern Time): This hour is pretty much dominated by @MMHero, who was tweetin’ some pretty solid garage rock. I’m a sucker for fuzzy guitars and scratchy vocals, so @MMHero makes me happy. In between that and the usual crush of people selling tickets to shows via the #musicmonday tag, there are a few Norah Jones suggestions and Silverchair. I’ve been writing this column for a few months now, and have concluded that many Twitter users think it’s still the ‘90s despite overwhelmingevidencethat we are actually living in the future.
4–5 am: More @MMHero, plus a ton of tweets in Indonesian. I think. #Indonesia65 is hashtagged, and August 17 is the 65th anniversary of Indonesian independence. Other than that, I can’t tell you what the Indonesian tweets are talking about, or what they have to do with music. I don’t speak Indonesian. In fact, I just had to look up whether “Indonesian” was in fact a language. I’m actually quite bright, I promise, but once I accidentally said “Puerto Rican” when I meant “Portuguese” because it had been a long day and I was tired and they both start with P and have some Us and Rs in there but even though I knew when I said it that it wasn’t a language I still get nervous sometimes that things I think are languages are not actually.
5–6 am: Nothing happened in this hour. What the heck, Twitter?
6–7 am: Now everything is in Spanish. This is cool; it’s like world travel. Fewer hostels though. There is one dude, @Quinaitor, tweeting a lot of Thor, Thunderer, and In the Realm of Asgard. I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that these are metal bands.
7–8 am: Holy smokes there are a lot of #musicmonday tweets in this hour! Godsmack Guns N Roses Chris Cornell Madonna (it’s her birthday) Elvis (it’s his… erm…deathday?) Muse Imogen Heap The Goo Goo Dolls (confession: I tell people my first real concert was the Beastie Boys but it was actually The Goo Goo Dolls and I still have the tee-shirt) The Pixies Weird Al (who I have also seen live but sort of against my will) Justin Timberlake (who I would TOTALLY see live don’t hate) EIFFEL 65 (ughhhhhhh) The Foo Fighters Sugarloaf My Chemical Romance Drake The Flaming Lips Alicia Keys The Replacements (endorsed) Arcade Fire (surprised it took them this long to show up) Panda Bear (hey hipster) Sleigh Bells (same hipster) Beach House (yup) Don Henley (hipster: gone) Slipknot (hee)…I’m only about halfway through this hour. People on Twitter have very varied taste.
8–9 am: Things are really picking up. Scanning for trends, I’m still seeing a ton of ‘90s music, with some Katy Perry, Drake, and Taylor Swift mixed in. @MMHero is still going strong, and has been joined by @maggie_price, who is also tweeting the heck out of some reliably solid rock music. There’s a little hiccup around 8:25, as far as I’m concerned, where @MMHero is listening to Bob Marley and @maggie_price is listening to Robert Plant. I have left perfectly good coffeeshops to avoid having to listen to those artists, but everyone else in the universe loves them, so I suppose I should forgive these tweeters’ simultaneous lapses (simulapses?) as they can’t possibly know how much I hate reggae and Robert Plant’s voice.
9–10 am: I will give someone a dollar if they can explain to me why there is so much ‘90s alt-rock on #musicmonday.
10–11 am: LOTS of Linkin Park happening here. I really can’t think of anything snarky to say about Linkin Park that I didn’t already say in high school.
I’m spent. Next week (or maybe not…) I’ll delve into the afternoon hours. In the meantime:
My #musicmonday pick: Yeah yeah Scott Pilgrim soundtrack whatever this song is great. Sleazy Bed Track by The Bluetones: http://tinysong.com/hJHQ.
Role #mmodel: @vicbee says “#musicmonday – I’m waiting for my Dad (to the tune of ‘waiting for the man’)” So…@vicbee’s dad is dealing junk?
I guess it was some point at the beginning of this calendar year, then it got exacerbated a bit when Google decided they were going to unceremoniously start pulling blogs for posting 'unauthorized' music. That's when I think the blog became a bit more general in tone and less about what constituted much of the first two years here. My bullshit.
But last Tuesday morning my mom passed away and I'd be wholly remiss if it wasn't mentioned here in some manner, much the way my dad's passing in 2006 became the impetus for starting this thing. See, I needed a distraction then. A way to move on. Or just think.
Honestly, I don't think I've broken down yet since receiving the all too classic 2:30 am phone call from a dead sleep. All I could mutter was "Oh..." when the woman on the other end of the line placidly told me she had passed. I layed in bed wide awake for an hour dumbstruck until about 3:30 or so when I just gave in and realized sleep wasn't going to reappear.
I did have forewarning this was to happen though and was planning on a last-minute emergency trip to the hospice in New Jersey. But she beat me to liftoff, almost sparing me a tortured bedside goodbye. I mean, how do you just say 'goodbye?'
To know my mother you'd realize just how much music informed her life - classical music, mostly. And while our tastes quite often diverged, there were bridges through impasses that we shared, largely by pushing something new (or new, old) in her direction. Later on we found another musical bond among standards whose graceful melodies and timeless wisdom seemed ever ripe and valuable.
So, much like ACDC found a way to move on after the death of Bon Scott and reinvent themselves, perhaps the passing of my mom will get some of this back in the direction it once held and we'll go about DJing some downloads daily.
I mean, if Google does pull the plug, that's OK. We're moving servers soon and we've got huge plans for the new year. (Really. You'll be quite surprised.) I guess I could use the time to focus.
This week though, while we're still alive and breathing, a tribute to my lovely, if not persnickety, mother and some music middle-grounds we reached.
Spending Father’s Day with both my kids got me thinking about being a “papa.” One of the first words out of 23 month old Jonah was “rocking.” Amazingly this kid is already practicing his windmills!
My hip teenager daughter Zoe is often in the car helping me click away at the i-pod, compiling songs for my Idelic playlist. When it comes to making the scene Zoe is on the dance floor with LCD, MIA and Edward Sharpe but when it comes to requests she is really about the “oldies.” She seems to go for anything on Specialty Records, go figure!
The weekend left feeling warm and loose but then I came down with a wicked 24 hour flu bug. Thank god my recovery was quick—it left me “extra loose” and grateful for the health of family and friends. A simple thought to inspire this playlist with some cool daddy swagger, soul, and a couple new bands that are filling my cup of late.
Once upon a time in the era of freeform FM (and sometimes AM) radio, upon the very first listen to a freshly minted track spun by this or that DJ whose taste I trusted, I'd become so sonically smitten with a song that I'd be certain to spring for the complete LP, having faith that the 9 or 10 tracks on the balance of the release were just as top notch. Sure, it was a gamble but one that very often paid off.
It happened with The Cars way back when. I played that "Let's Go" 45 on Elektra non-stop. Tear For Fears too. I think it was "Change" that did it fr me. . . Later on, I'm reminded of the first track off the first Jellyfish LP, "The Man I Used To Be." That came over the radio one afternoon when I was tooling around the Jersey Shore with my Dad. And if you know that Jellyfish record at all, it foretold a ton about the high caliber of that LP.
Why am I going on about this you ask? Well, it's because I've had this track stuck in my head by Aussies PVT (formerly Pivot) since it made its appearance in my email in-box last week. I mean, I'm ready to spring for the entire release now, I'm that smitten for some reason.
But this being TVD and all, I'm able to say, "Hey PR Firm...this is great. Let's set up a giveaway and put one of these things into the hands of some very smart TVD reader." And it was done.
We've got PVT's brand new release (it's just out this week) "Church With No Magic" on vinyl of course, to award one of you who comments to this post.
Play their video and/or download the track and let us know if you're sufficiently smitten in the comments, or simply recall a time when you fell for a band off the strength of one track alone where the balance of the record didn't disappoint. Or something else entirely - you guys are a creative bunch.
We'll give you a week to tell your tale and close this one out next Friday. And remember to leave us a contact email address so we can let you know you've won - ok?
"As a born-and-raised, sixth generation Memphian, Ardent Studios is one of the institutions that makes me quite proud to call it my home. It wasn’t until a fateful day 3 years ago when I met producer, Pete Matthews at the mere age of 20 that Ardent would soon become my second home.
I had just dropped out of college in New Orleans, was homesick, angsty, and felt like I was wasting my time in a classroom when all I could dream, think, or speak about was doing music. As soon as Pete Matthews expressed interest in working together, I dropped everything and went running back to Memphis, with the gracious moral support of my parents and just enough money saved up for a duplex above my 90 year-old grandmother, right in the heart of midtown. Independence had never tasted so bittersweet…I finally had my own place, but didn’t know anyone in the city or a have a clue how to go about getting gigs. But as soon as I stepped through the legendary brick hallways of Ardent Studios and was introduced to the staff by Pete, I felt immediately welcomed and part of something to be truly cherished.
Well...I’ll admit, walking through those hallways covered with golden records and album covers and sitting in the studio with the session players over cigarettes and coffee (Dave Smith, Al Gamble, Steve Potts, Rick Steff) was all a bit daunting at first…to say I was green and timid is an understatement. But after working with Pete Matthews and Nick Redmond in and out of the studio for my first two EP’s and watching the way things work and seeing how graciously everyone treated each other...the potential I began to see in music as a life-long endeavor blossomed. A family of friends, supporters, muses, and motivators is what Ardent became to me and remains to this day.
One of the most unforgettable evenings at Ardent was the night they asked me to play some tunes for their "Ardent Presents" series in the famed Studio A. Intimately captured, and warmly lit, the entire evening was a stirring of songs, storytelling and an amazing, captivated audience. If only every gig could be as tightly connected to the audience as the Ardent Presents series is...everyone truly feels as if they are a part of history in-the-making. Leave it to folks like Rachel Hurley and Jody Stephens to come up with such a stellar way to capture Memphis' present music scene.
Shooting forward to the present, I have released two EP’s with Pete, with several of them getting placed in indie films and TV pilots, and I have recently released my first full-length album (completely self-produced). If it weren’t for my experience with Ardent Studios and the amazing staff, I honestly don’t think I would possess the industry know-how or the confidence in myself and my craft that allows me to carry on today as a successful musician/songwriter/producer. And for that, I am forever indebted and forever grateful." —Grace Askew
Enter to win Grace Askew's CD "Until They Lay Me Down To Rest" by simply leaving a comment, your name, and a contact email address in the comments to this post. We'll choose one winner each Friday for that week's giveaway which ALSO includes the entire Ardent Music catalog. (That's just 2 artists at this point, but hey, who's counting?)
To hear more great Ardent Sessions please visit Ardent Presents.
The idea of making “travelin' music” is a loaded concept. We all have a “sound” we like to ride to. I created this mix thinking about the journey to Austin ahead.
SXSW has been an annual pastime—not only the music conference itself but for the listening prior. The weeks leading up to SXSW are always filled with intense listening. It’s a time to refresh the palette so to speak, and I challenge my current “pile of records” to either stay or leave. I take in as many new releases as I can and dig back in my crates.
Finally for my muse, I posed myself 2 questions: When it comes to music, what does Texas mean to me and what’s the reason we make the schlep to Austin every year for SXSW?
The simple answer is in this mix…cool bands and great songs.
Ty Segallplayed DC9 last night. "This is the first time we've played here." He told us. He began an Obama at the Circus joke, paused for effect, then delivered a chill punchline, "Now here's another song."
The band's demeanor was laid back but their amps were loud and vicous. They took their time in between songs sipping beers and adjusting pedals. The pace didn't bother the crowd, who danced and head banged along to the righteous lo-fi garage tunes. Many songs ended perfectly within two minutes. They played a few oldies from the Castleface LP and other singles, as well as new ones off the most recent Goner release, Melted. And! And! A Jabbers cover! Way to get the scumbags moving!
I spoke to Ty briefly after their set. A very friendly and gracious dude! He writes all his songs himself and records in his friend's studio basement. He had no future releases planned but will work on new songs after this short tour. If you haven't already, check out the new LP on Goner. It simply rips. And it comes with a free MP3 downloads. Nerds.
