Monthly Archives: November 2008

A TVD Ticket Giveaway | Rosie Thomas’ Very Rosie Christmas! | Monday (12/1) at Jammin Java

Not feeling the holiday spirit just yet? TVD’s got a cure (and tickets!) to snap you right into the season! Indie popster Rosie Thomas brings her brand of seasonal mirth to Jammin Java this Monday night (12/1) to herald the holiday happiness and to celebrate the release of her new Christmas-themed CD ‘A Very Rosie Christmas’!

Per Rosie’s website, “‘A Very Rosie Christmas’ is Rosie’s Christmas Wish to you! Chock full of eggnog and grand spirits, Rosie, alongside her husband Jeff Shoop and longtime producer Josh Myers, called upon friends (Damien Jurado), family (Rosie’s brother Brian Thomas, affectionately known to his friends as BT) and alter egos (the simply hilarious Sheila Saputo) to capture all the warmth and exuberance of the holiday season for everyone to share.

You’ll find all their holiday favorites such as “Christmastime Is Here”, “O Come Emmanuel”, and “Winter Wonderland”, cozy up next to the playful original “Why Can’t It Be Christmastime All Year?” and the Prairie Home Companion style radio sketch “Sheila’s Christmas Miracle”. So light the fire and mosey over to cuddle in front of the tree and experience ‘A Very Rosie Christmas’ and we hope it will give you that special Christmas glow throughout the holiday season!”

TVD’s got a pair of tickets for this Monday’s show, a copy of the new ‘A Very Rosie Christmas,’ AND Rosie’s last record ‘These Friends of Mine’ (recorded with Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer) to bestow upon one Christmas-y commenter! Make it festive and holiday themed in the spirit o’ the season and we’ll choose one winner by noon on Monday for the stocking filled with stuff. Remember to leave us some contact info too. “Santa @ North Pole” just won’t cut it…

Rosie Thomas – Why Can’t It Be Christmastime All Year? (Mp3)

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A TVD-Som Records Ticket Giveaway | Peasant | Saturday (11/29) at the Velvet Lounge

Som Records and TVD have conspired to shake you from your post-Thanksgiving tryptofanatical malaise with a contest sure to get you off of your couch Saturday night.

Som and TVD welcome Peasant to the Velvet Lounge for the third date on his 3-week journey across the Northeast which heralds the release of his debut “On The Ground” which arrives with some help from Team Love (yes, Conor Oberst’s label). He’s played shows with Delta Spirit, Takka Takka, Bodies Of Water and most recently at the Brooklyn Vegan CMJ party (The Muslims, Friendly Fires, Crystal Antlers, Sebastian Grainger, Japanese Motors).

Peasant has been the recipient of 6 posts on Brooklyn Vegan within 2 months, a feature in Magnet Magazine, a Food Network video feature, a Spin.com video feature, and a featured slot at WXPN’s World Cafe Live, not to mention he also just finished up a session at Daytrotter and is on his way over to Cincinnati shortly for a WOXY session and a LaundroMatinee (My Old Kentucky Blog) Session. In addition, he was recently featured on the season premier of Fox’s “Bones” television show.

“DeRose’s vocals float above acoustic guitar melodies, evoking the lyrical eloquence and delicate arrangements of Rogue Wave and the late Elliott Smith.” – Magnet Magazine

“It’s a good feeling to come across an artist you instantly like, sort of by accident. That happened to me with Peasant a few weeks ago when I randomly selected his CD ‘On The Ground’…” – Brooklyn Vegan

“…we actually enjoy this album more than most of the stuff we’ve heard by [Elliot] Smith. Every one of the thirteen tracks is lovely, melodic, catchy, and deeply felt.” – Phillyist

But enough of the glowing quotes you’re saying, TVD whatcha’ got in this Ticket Giveaway? Well, in addition to a pair of tickets, the one winner will receive an autographed CD. (Wha, need more?) Neal’s kicked in $30.00 of store credit over at Som Records to make this deal really special.

Let’s hear from you in the comments and the whole post-turkey shebang is yours! We’ll accept your well-phrased pleas for tickets until Friday (11/28) and kindly remember to leave us some contact info.

Peasant – The Wind (mp3)

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving!

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TVD First Date | Emily Easterly

TVD readers might recall Emily Easterly from her first ‘First Date’ appearance alongside J Seger last month. The Brooklyn based songwriters teamed up to release the first in a series of 45rpm split singles with “Please, Please Say Goodnight”/ “City Love Is Strange.” Emily returns by her lonesome this week with a glimpse into her creative process:

“When I moved up to New York from Richmond, VA I knew that I wanted to do a new recording but I didn’t know where or with who. After gigging around the city for a couple months I met Chris Cubeta who has a band, Chris Cubeta and the Liars Club as well as a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn called Galuminum Foil. We worked out a deal to go into his studio and do one song together to see how well we worked together and then go from there. In that day we finished, “Shadows (Oh Honey)”. I felt such a renewed sense of excitement and energy in what I was doing after recording this one track with Chris. I knew that this would be the place to do the whole record. I have never been happier with the way a recording turned out as I was with “Heart Comma Heart”. “Shadows (Oh Honey) is still one of my favorite tracks on the record. I am most proud of “Heart Comma Heart” out of the four releases that I have done”.

Emily Easterly – Heart,Heart (Mp3)
Emily Easterly – Neil Young Knows What I’m Talking About (Mp3)
Emily Easterly – Shotgun Wedding (Mp3)

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TVD’s Daily Wax | The Joy Formidable

Last February or thereabouts, I assembled a folder that contained Mp3’s sent to me by bands hoping for some coverage on TVD. My plan was to do a theme week to coincide with the SXSW music festival held in Austin, Texas each year and this folder would ONLY contain acts I felt had great things ahead of them. From the literally hundreds of notes received, my folder contained–FIVE bands. That’s it–five. (Which I actually think IS pretty decent, all things considered…)

London’s The Joy Formidable was one of those five acts. ‘Austere’ got me right away. Punky, hooky, well-played, and teeming with an energy and a sound that I hadn’t realized I’d been missing ’til then. And thus, TJF joined the SXSW TVD theme week.

A week or two later I was over at my favorite watering hole, The Fox and Hounds and Chris the bartender who’s a bit of a vinyl fan himself I come to find out, says “Hey Jon, that band in your SXSW line-up, The Joy Formidable, they used to be in here all the time talking about starting a band…” Apparently, good taste knows no bounds AND frequents the same venue for a pint (or six).

Later on I emailed Ritzy from TJF about our shared venue of choice in DC and soon we were sharing stories about the place and catching up on the goings-on of some of the regulars. As if it even needs to be said, music does indeed bring people together–and a cocktail among them doesn’t hurt, right?

So, with the release of their new single, ‘Cradle’ (on VINYL, I might add) I thought it was a good time to check in with the band. Take ‘er away Ms. R:

“Greetings from The Joy Formidable! Our next single ‘Cradle’ is released on January 12th through Try Harder Records. We’re delighted to unveil that it’s on double 7″ with new track ‘The Last Drop’ and remixes by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Kyte. It’s available now to pre-order from our myspace page and if you do, you’ll get a CD of the tracks, a signed 7″ vinyl AND signed artwork. You’ll also be entered into a competition to win one of 5 copies of our exclusively Japanese album ‘A Balloon Called Moaning'”.
Love to all at the F&H! XXX

The Joy Formidable – Austere (Mp3)
The Joy Formidable – The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade (Mp3)

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TVD’s Daily Wax | Magnet "The Tourniquet"

I heard a term over the weekend which was a new one on me: “rumspringa”.

Via Wiki, “Rumspringa generally refers to a period of adolescence for some members of the Amish community. . . Amish adolescents may engage in rebellious behavior, resisting or defying parental norms. In many cultures, enforcement may be relaxed, and misbehavior tolerated or overlooked to a degree. . . A view of rumspringa has emerged in popular culture that this divergence from custom is an accepted part of adolescence or a rite of passage for Amish youth. During that time a certain amount of misbehavior is unsurprising and is not so severely condemned.”

“A minority of Amish youth do diverge from established customs. Some may be found: wearing non-traditional clothing and hair styles, driving vehicles instead of horse drawn buggies (for communities that eschew vehicles), not attending home prayer, drinking, smoking, and/or drug use.”

Now, forgive me…isn’t that called a four-year college degree? (Also, I find it odd how ‘starting a band’ didn’t make that list up there…)

So, five from the weekend of rumspringa just concluded:

Magnet – Hold On (Mp3)
Magnet – The Pacemaker (Mp3)
Magnet – Little Miss More Or Less (Mp3)
Magnet – Jaws (Mp3)
Magnet – This Bird Can Never Fly (Mp3)

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TVD Remembers | Guy Peellaert

Guy Peellaert, 74, a Belgian painter-collagist whose fervid imagination produced surreal album covers for John Lennon, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, as well as images for a seminal book about rock mythology, “Rock Dreams,” died of kidney cancer Nov. 17 at a hospital in Paris.

The book was a collaboration with the prominent British rock journalist Nik Cohn, who wrote how they intended to convey a “cinematic approach” to pop history and “approached the project, not as commentators or fine artists, but primarily as fans. Even more than the actual music, we were both obsessed with pop mythology.”

“Rock Dreams” was published in the early 1970s and reportedly sold more than a million copies. It featured a bloated Jerry Lee Lewis clutching a bottle to his chest and stumbling along a neon-lit street; the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, drug-dazed and muse-abandoned, sitting alone in a garbage-strewn practice room; Ray Charles, his arm cradling a woman, cruising behind the wheel of a convertible.

A reviewer for the London Independent described Mr. Peellaert’s images as rock iconography — “almost as thrilling as the music itself, but obviously not the same thing. It was the pornography of rock. It was also its stained-glass window.”

Read the rest here. (Via The Washington Post)

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A TVD Orpheus Records Update: see ya’ in December!

Direct from the Orpheus website as posted very early this morning: “I’m taking the leap of faith that if you are watching this site, this will be good news…. WE WILL BE OPEN IN DECEMBER..WISHING YOU ALL A MERRY CHRISTMAS.!!!!..We will be Open this WEEKEND. Friday Nov 21 & Saturday Nov 22 Noon til 10PM & Sunday the 23rd Noon til 6PM..We will also be open next weekend November 28, 29 & 30..stay tuned for specific hours & days in December. The new release & re-issue lps that have never been part of the sale are back out, still FULL PRICE. MOST OTHER LPS IN THE STORE ARE ONE DOLLAR. THAT MEANS: if the sticker says it’s 99 cents it’s a dollar, if the sticker says it’s $9.99, it’s a dollar, if the sticker says it’s $29.99 or even more (not likely) it’s still one dollar. ,Come on in, stack ’em up and buy as much as you can afford, or more, for ONE DOLLAR EACH. Please bring boxes if you need them, we’re out…”

“Stay tuned for the Second Annual Going Out of Business Sale in January,” Rick remarked to me this afternoon…only HALF joking.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 2 Comments

New Order reissues plagued with sound problems

A music label renowned for its elaborate reissues of vintage albums has annoyed British rock group New Order and its fans with a flawed package of the group’s classics discs.

Rhino Records reissued “collector’s editions” of New Order’s first five albums, which all originally came out in the 1980s. Each one features a bonus disc, with 7- and 12-inch versions, instrumentals and remixes.

But alert fans quickly complained of about 300 errors, mostly relating to poor sound quality on the bonus discs. The pops and crackles on many of the tracks suggest they were transferred directly from commercially available vinyl recordings rather than from the original master tapes.

The discs were released in Britain last month, and music magazines there, such as Q and Mojo, did not mention any of the technical shortcomings in their rave reviews.

But Peter Hook, the bass player with the defunct group, said in his MySpace page that the reissue project was a “mess.” He blamed the label for not sending out advance copies so that he and his former bandmates could do some quality control.

Despite the discontent, Rhino released the discs in the United States last Tuesday, and U.S. fans noticed the same problems. Rhino, an affiliate of Warner Bros. Records, plans to reissue the reissues, and will allow fans to exchange their dud CDs.

Read the rest here. (Via Reuters)

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TVD’s Daily Wax | The Blue Nile "A Walk Across The Rooftops"

To be fair, this first Blue Nile release isn’t a repost at all, but we still receive plenty of requests for its posting – so consider your voices heard.

“A Walk Across The Rooftops is one of the most exquisitely orchestrated pop albums ever made, a timeless, finely detailed arrangement of funky bass, delicate strings and synth flourishes, not least on the title track. “Tinseltown In The Rain’s dark-hued musical watercolours and flashes of light and shade paint a vivid picture of the city at night–coupled with Paul Buchanan’s wistfully romantic lyrics, this album captures with almost cinematic resonance late evening walks along deserted, neon-lit puddled streets turning over thoughts in your mind of a loved one. Broody, bittersweet and wonderful.”

How true, huh?

The Blue Nile – A Walk Across The Rooftops (Mp3)
The Blue Nile – Tinseltown In The Rain (Mp3)
The Blue Nile – Stay (Mp3)
The Blue Nile – Easter Parade (Mp3)
The Blue Nile – Heatwave (Mp3)

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 2 Comments

TVD First Date | …with The Moderate

TVD sat down with Drew Marks, drummer for DC’s The Moderate, to get his take on all things vinyl:

“I was reintroduced to vinyl records by my friend Dan, a roommate at the time. It had been years since I had listened to my parent’s albums growing up. I had almost forgotten how crisp the sound of a record is and that crackle when the needle is finding the groove. I immediately fell for that sound and started to build my own collection.

There are so many things to love about records. The thrill of finding a great record shop and taking your time flipping through albums to find your personal needle in a haystack. Every collector has a few albums in their collection that they treasure. My beloved album was a birthday present from a loved one, Luna’s classic ‘Penthouse’. I also love listening to albums the way they were intended to be heard; hearing the notes and subtleties that highly compressed digital formats miss. Records are now pressed for music lovers and audiophiles that are willing to spend as much time as it takes to find the music they love the way they want to hear it; clean and clear and as pure you can get it. Collecting and listening to records is something I will always enjoy doing. There’s nothing like coming home to a couple great records to spend your evening with.”

The Moderate is a DC three-piece that has found its niche as a self-styled alt-country power trio. They will headline Velvet Lounge on Thursday, November 20. The show starts at 9:15pm with John Bustine opening.

The Moderate – Rock and Roll (Mp3)
The Moderate – Blue Eyes and Barflies (Mp3)
The Moderate – Lost, Boy (Mp3)

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TVD Recommends | Old Rare New – The Independent Record Shop

There is nothing quite like the feeling of thumbing through LP after LP in a dusty old record shop, only to stumble upon some hidden treasure, new obsession or forgotten love. Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is a homage to the holy places of music collecting, complete with their particular anecdotes, peculiar characters, and unique environments.

Emma Pettit, formerly of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, has travelled across the UK and America into these eclectic spaces of musical exchange, interviewing record shop owners, collectors and musicians to provide a rich account of the increasingly rare independent record shop. Featured shops include Rough Trade East (London), Sister Ray (London), Vinyl Exchange (Manchester), Other Music (New York), Aquarius Records (San Francisco), Amoeba Records (California) and Jazz Record Mart (Chicago). The first comprehensive look at these important institutions, Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is an essential read for the musically inclined.

Featuring contributions by James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Simon Reynolds, Devendra Banhart, Billy Childish, Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne), Sean Bidder (Vinyl Factory), Byron Coley (Ecstatic Yod), Rob Da Bank (Bestival) and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy.

For more info and to order, visit Black Dog Publishing.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 2 Comments

TVD’s Daily Wax | The Reposts | The Bathers "Pandemonia"

If I was a little surprised as to the number of requests for yesterday’s reposting of the Fossil release, I’m not so taken aback by the frequent emails received requesting a reappearance of the The Bathers’ ‘Pandemonia’. The Scottish band led by former Friends Again front man Chris Thomson invites comparisons to David Bowie, Tom Waits, The Blue Nile, or Tindersticks.

Lower the lights, pour yourself a glass of wine, and indulge your melancholic moodswings…

The Bathers – Twenty-Two (Mp3)

The Bathers – Dreamless (Mp3)
The Bathers – The Belle Sisters (Mp3)
The Bathers – Sundown And Longing (Mp3)
The Bathers – Trocadero Girls (Mp3)

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 6 Comments

TVD’s Daily Wax | The Reposts | Fossil "Fossil"

While we’re going about the business of accepting requests for reposts, I began to think that the time might be right for some TVD reader feedback. As I contemplate the final months of this year and begin making plans for TVD for the next, I’d be interested in hearing from the many of you who visit us each day, week, or month. What would you like to see more or less of? More news? More ticket or vinyl giveaways? Live gig reviews? Vinyl reviews? Or LESS of some of the aforementioned?

It should also bear repeating that we’re always looking for contributors who can be involved with some regularity here. Unique perspectives encouraged…

On to the business at hand for the day–oddly, one of THE most requested for reposting is this release from New Jersey’s Fossil. And to a degree I understand. “Moon,” the first track below, is really a quite the power pop gem, isn’t it?

Fossil – Moon (Mp3)
Fossil – Ocean (Mp3)
Fossil – Fall (Mp3)
Fossil – Tethered (Mp3)
Fossil – Rebellion (Mp3)

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 2 Comments

TVD Recommends | Pirate Radio USA

Join some of the nation’s leading Community Powered Radio Project activists for a screening of: Pirate Radio USA, “a post-objective documentary” this Monday, November 24th at 8:00pm at the Black Cat Backstage. Admission is $5.

Following the screening, join a panel discussion with some of DC and the nation’s premier LP-FM advocates: Andy Gunn, Technical and Training Organizer, Prometheus Radio Project | Casey Rae-Hunter, Communications Director, Future of Music Coalition | Jared Ball, Assistant Professor of Communications Studies at Morgan State University and Creator of “FreeMix Radio: The People’s Mixtape” | Ryme Katkhouda, Founder, People’s MEDIA Cafe and Co-founder, DC Radio Coop

Pirate Radio USA is a feature length digital documentary about the underground world of illegal radio in America, where people play what they want and say what they want–unless the FCC catches them…

DJ’s Him and Her, from their live Pirate Radio USA Studio, take you on a rock -n-roll journey inside rogue radio stations across the country to see why Americans defy Federal Law to free the radio airwaves. On the way see the rise of Big Media, the growth of Citizen Media to encounter it, and witness their showdown over the truth during the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle.

Pirate Radio USA was broadcast–or really microcast–with a 4 watt transmitter live, as an uninterrupted radio program. The effect will be to ’see’ a live pirate radio microcast about pirate radio: a first.See the battle to free the airwaves live–and find out the real price of freedom. It’s not about Left vs. Right, it’s about Big vs. Small.

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  • SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL INDIE SHOPS SINCE 2007


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