Monthly Archives: November 2008

I was tooling around some of the other blogs over the weekend that I consider to be in TVD’s extended family of blogs and was surprised at the number of comments each post tends to receive. TVD gets its fair share of feedback from the readership, so I’m not griping. But we also get our fair share of direct correspondence from all corners of the globe and they tend to read, “Hey, can you repost such-and-such?” or sometimes just flat out, “Hey, please send me the Mp3 of such-and-such”. Really–people write to request I just send them things no questions asked. Weird, huh?

So–new TVD Policy: we WILL from time to time repost things…just leave a comment at the pertinent post with the expired links and we’ll designate a theme week where we’ll get to all of ’em at once. Like THIS week where we’ll get to the backlog of requests and spend some time revisiting the records most often requested for reposting…

…like this one from last Fall–Del Amitri’s winning debut before they went all obvious on us and where their wordiness was indeed a charm:

Deceive Yourself (In Ignorant Heaven)
The world
And the surrounding stars
Might change completely in the space of an hour
But not an eclipse of the sky nor a colliding car
Will turn me back now that I’ve come this far.
Not a shotgun blast nor a shooting star
Will bring her down from her stubborn tower.

Its a kind of madness, its a kind of sin
To live in the state of mind I’ve been living in
Her face imprinted on my sight
Her voice resounding in my skull at night.
If there is a living goddess on earth
It must be her from the heaven highlife
It takes this girl to realise what you’re worth
And I’m worth nothing if she’s worth more than my life.

But there’s more to me than simple devotion
I wont just crawl at her feet and utter a plea
And if she refused I wouldn’t walk into the ocean
Just because my world was left all out at sea.

So it was in this cafe when we eventually met
And I wished I had sunglasses and smoked cigarettes

The world
And the surrounding stars
They change completely in the space of an hour
When over the table and two cups of tea
She told me she felt the same way about me.
And not an eclipse of the sky nor a colliding car
Could have shaken our attention from each others face
As we both stepped down from our stubborn towers
We jump into the ignorant heaven that is the lovers place.

Del Amitri – Heard Through A Wall (Mp3)
Del Amitri – Hammering Heart (Mp3)
Del Amitri – Former Owner (Mp3)
Del Amitri – Deceive Yourself (In Ignorant Heaven) (Mp3)
Del Amitri – Breaking Bread (Mp3)

As you may already know (thanks to our flucuating residency situation) Orpheus Records is the REAL AGENT OF CHANGE in D.C. (we’ve been changing our final opening date for 11 months now :).

To celebrate the final days, Orpheus continues to present live local music on Saturday nights. This Saturday is no exception – Performing this Saturday (11/15) at 9:00PM will be Dizzy Dizzy (named after the “CAN” song) featuring Sean Epstein. And on 11/29, legendary DC noise makers, New Carrollton grace our space for their first live performance since 1991, along with their special guest Blue Sausage Infant (aka Chester Hawkins) fresh off recent gigs at the Velvet Lounge and at this year’s Sonic Circuits fest! That set starts at 7PM on the the 29th. So come on down and watch great live music and cash in some great LP bargains!

Our $1 sale has been a resounding success, but customer demand has forced us to put out our full price stock again. Thus, MOST of the LPs are still $1, with the exception of sealed/recent reissues and new releases kept up front, as well as selected used legacy stock from the legendary Vinyl Ink store that we have neatly isolated into one section of the store. All Compact Discs remain at $5 each (excluding a few select titles).

Our Current Schedule is now:
This Week: Friday/Saturday-11/14-15 Open 12-10PM (or later). Sunday 11/16 Open 12PM-8PM
Next Week: Friday/Saturday-11/21-22 Open 12-10PM (or later). Sunday 11/23 Open 12PM-8PM
Turkey Week: Friday/Saturday-11/28-29 Open 12-10PM (or later). Sunday 11/30 Open 12PM-8PM

Beyond that…the new tenant (the Irish Pub) has offered us a chance to stay a bit longer, but we will need much of that time to pack and close up shop. As soon as we know what our extended retail schedule will be (if any), we will post it here and at our web site: www.oprheusrecords.com

After the final closing for retail sales, we will still accept appointments for large volume LP and CD sales and sales of store fixtures right up until the bitter end.For more information visit: www.orpheusrecords.com. OR, call us at 703-294-6774. We are located at 3173 Wilson Blvd in Arlington, VA. One-and-a-half blocks west of the Clarendon Metro station. See You There!!

(Saw this one coming since Monday, right?)

Bono recently introduced Paul McCartney as the man “who invented his job” and I think it could be readily agreed upon that George Martin invented the job of the previous four producers who made TVD’s list this week–and the ones who didn’t. Certifiably the “Fifth Beatle,” Sir George’s work with the lads has been interwoven into the fabric of all our lives and stands right next to–and is imbedded within–the Fab Four’s achievements and output.

Martin’s impact simply can’t be overstated. But TVD readers know that, yes?

The Beatles – You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (Mp3)
The Beatles – For No One (Mp3)
The Beatles – I’m Only Sleeping (Mp3)
The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows (Mp3)
The Beatles – Strawberry Fields Forever (Mp3)
The Beatles – A Day In The Life (Mp3)
The Beatles – Baby You’re A Rich Man (Mp3)
The Beatles – Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Mp3)
The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Mp3)
The Beatles – She Came In Through The Bathroom Window/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Mp3)

NME has the details here.

Jimi Hendrix Experience – All Along The Watchtower (Mp3)
Jimi Hendrix Experience – The Wind Cries Mary (Mp3)
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Little Wing (Mp3)
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Little Miss Lover (Mp3)
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (Mp3)

If Jimmy Page elevated his productions straight off the ground, Trevor Horn found a sonic home for them in space in which you could pull up a chair and feel quite at home, thank you. Crickets chirp, clouds swell, dishes break, dice get rolled–which quite uniquely marry to a perfect groove enmeshed in the sound of a ROOM, perfectly miked and augmented with colour.

Trevor Horn reinvigorated the idea of music making for me LONG after having been spoiled by the sensibilities of some of his forbearers. He is as clever as he is musical, and that’s saying a million. But really, if you’re reading this blog, you know that (right?)–and if you don’t–Wiki it yourself!

You guys with production depth on the bench will enjoy the hell out of these interviews right hea’.

Buggles – The Plastic Age (Mp3)
Yes – Into The Lens (Mp3)
ABC – Date Stamp (Mp3)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To The Pleasuredome (Mp3)
Yes – Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Mp3)

Tonight we get a bit of an update. As Rick told us earlier and updated on the Orpheus website, “I floated the question as to whether we should remain open thru November and maybe December. While the response was not overwhelming, those that did respond were overwhelmingly positive… so… WE WILL BE OPEN ALL WEEKENDS IN NOVEMBER.”

The month of December we understand, will be totally reliant on the customer response for November. Dizzy Dizzy with Sean Epstein will play in-store this Saturday at 9PM – and it’s totally free.

(Image courtesy Flickr user afagen.)

Blues is a tricky genre despite its prevalence. It can either run its routine on ya’ or TRANSCEND and lift right off the ground. Led Zeppelin spent very little time on terra firma alongside their peers and lifted off into misty, ethereal heights. And it’s not because they perhaps had the best triumvirate of musicians and the finest drummer of all time (apologies to those Moon and Starr worshippers) it’s because their studio performances were engineered, recorded, and produced so magnificently.

Via Wiki: “Page is credited for the innovations in sound recording he brought to the studio during the years he was a member of Led Zeppelin. During the late 1960s, most British music producers placed microphones directly in front of amplifiers and drums, resulting in the sometimes “tinny” sound of the recordings of the era. Page commented to Guitar World magazine that he felt the drum sounds of the day in particular “sounded like cardboard boxes.” Instead, Page was a fan of 1950s recording techniques; Sun Studios being a particular favourite. In the same Guitar World interview, Page remarked, “Recording used to be a science”, and “[engineers] used to have a maxim: distance equals depth.” Taking this maxim to heart, Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as much as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this technique, Page became one of the first British producers to record a band’s “ambient sound” – the distance of a note’s time-lag from one end of the room to the other.

For the recording of several Led Zeppelin tracks, such as “Whole Lotta Love” and “You Shook Me”, Page additionally utilized “reverse echo” – a technique which he claims to have invented himself while with The Yardbirds (he had originally developed the method when recording the 1967 single “Ten Little Indians”). This production technique involved hearing the echo before the main sound instead of after it, achieved by turning the tape over and employing the echo on a spare track, then turning the tape back over again to get the echo preceding the signal.

Page has stated that, as producer, he deliberately changed the audio engineers on Led Zeppelin albums, from Glyn Johns for the first album, to Eddie Kramer for Led Zeppelin II, to Andy Johns for Led Zeppelin III and later albums. He explained that “I consciously kept changing engineers because I didn’t want people to think that they were responsible for our sound. I wanted people to know it was me.”

In an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine in 1993, Page remarked on his work as a producer: “Many people think of me as just a riff guitarist, but I think of myself in broader terms… [A]s a producer I would like to be remembered as someone who was able to sustain a band of unquestionable individual talent, and push it to the forefront during its working career. I think I really captured the best of our output, growth, change and maturity on tape — the multifaceted gem that is Led Zeppelin.”

Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains The Same (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin – Kashmir (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin – Achilles Last Stand (Mp3)

U.K. Post Punk legends The Homosexuals are back at it again and raising hell for the next month in support of their new 10” VINYL EP, ‘Love Guns’. The band on a 17-date U.S. tour stomps into DC on this Thursday, November 13th with a show at The Velvet Lounge and TVD’s got a pair of tickets to give away.

The Homosexuals – who have been a major influence on many young bands such as The Black Lips and Deerhunter – have been throwing down mayhem and have marched to a beat all their own since being formed by eccentric frontman Bruno Wizard in the mid-70’s. No matter how you talk about The Homosexuals’ live show, it’s almost always going to lessen the value of the real experience. They throw together “well-constructed Brit-punk — early-Buzzcocks-meets-Vibrators — with more intelligence and sense than blind aggression,” as Trouser Press proclaimed.

Plead your case in the comments and we’ll choose a winner for the Post Punk mayhem Thursday morning. Don’t forget to leave us some contact info too!

“Simply put, one of the most flawlessly great British punk/post-punk bands.”
—WFMU

“The Homosexuals were, by all accounts, one of those late-1970s UK garage-punk bands that deserved to reach a wider audience alongside icons like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and all the rest.”
—Marc Hogan, Pitchfork

“I just had the closest thing to a religious experience since my bar mitzvah… “The Homosexuals played the most dynamic, explosive set I’ve seen in a couple years.”
—The Washington Post

The Homosexuals – Slow Guns (Mp3)

So, I said, “Hey, Feral Children, what’s your take on vinyl these days?”

“Vinyl commands respect. It sounds better than any other format, has stood the test of time, and requires a commitment in the way of spatial concerns–both for the vinyl itself, and from a lack of portability standpoint. The idea of vinyl with digital downloads is a great thing that solves the problem my wife has of wanting to take the new Pleasureboaters on her elipticals at the gym, while I just want to sit in my favorite chair with a glass of scotch and listen to the record spin.”

Feral Children – Billionaires Vs Millionaires (Mp3)
Feral Children – Jaundice Giraffe (Mp3)
Feral Children – Zyghost (Mp3)

The thing about TVD’s fourth favorite producer, Tony Visconti, that I appreciate in a very different vein from yesterday’s producer extraordinaire, Roy Thomas Baker, is that Tony doesn’t come with a particular ‘sound’ per se. Where RTB seems to impart his stamp on a recording, Visconti allows the artist to breathe in the studio. “My policy is to interfere as little as possible, but to draw out the best in the artists I work with, especially the singers. The best part is towards the end, when I sit at a mixing console and put it all together. It’s actually a very nice occupation.”

Whether he’s functioning as coach, mentor, or conspirator, his crystalline recordings capture just that – the singularity of an artist’s unique confection. And I should add, he’s worked with some very fine songwriters, indeed:

T. Rex – The Slider (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy – Dancing In The Moonlight (Mp3)
David Bowie – Ashes To Ashes (Mp3)
Prefab Sprout – Cowboy Dreams (Mp3)
The Finn Brothers – Disembodied Voices (Mp3)

Time was when the announcement of a particular producer for an artist’s next recording project was indeed heralded as NEWS. Labels and artists would jockey for position to marry a producer, and most importantly a producer’s SOUND, to an upcoming release. As such, yours truly followed the hiring of a producer with ‘inside baseball’-like interest.

And that interest hasn’t abated, despite the role of producer all but being ruled out of the current hype-equation. So, this week, we’ll go about remedying the current brand of under-appreciation a bit as we count down TVD’s Top Five Producers. Ever.

Coming in at number five is: Roy Thomas Baker. As Mix magazine noted, “Baker’s name…will forever be associated with Queen albums such as Queen II and Night at the Opera, which contained the track “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the band’s ode to rock ‘n’ roll bombast, and was filled to the brim with overdubs. It was the highpoint of what Baker calls his “kitchen sink production time: Any idea that we had, we just threw it on.””

Indeed, the hallmark of his production style is the multilayered, operatic vocal approach which shines on not only Queen records but on such diverse releases by Nazareth, Guns N’ Roses, The Who, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Cars, Foreigner, Journey, Pilot, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, T. Rex, Devo, The Stranglers, Dusty Springfield, Starcastle, T’Pau, Yes, Cheap Trick, Gasolin’ and The Darkness. Most recently he has worked with The Smashing Pumpkins on their 2007 album, Zeitgeist.

The Cars – My Best Friend’s Girl (Mp3)
The Darkness – Is It Just Me (Mp3)
Journey – Lights (Mp3)
Queen – Bicycle Race (Mp3)
Queen – We Are The Champions (Mp3)

Join TVD this Monday (11/10) when our pal and previous ‘First Date’ John Foster aka Sad Crocodile joins Quote and Sean McArdle for a wee bit of music making at Iota. Sure, it’s late notice and in truth John had packed up for the winter after recording but just couldn’t say no …so come on out for what should be a wonderful night.

Sad Crocodile – When The Sun Goes Down (Mp3)

I’ve been pretty vocal on this blog about being hyper-nostalgic and there’s been no loss of the sentiment as I’ve prepared to witness the closing of Orpheus Records in Clarendon…another thing that’s been well chronicled in this space.

But last night comes word that, despite the big going out of business sign and the lowered prices leading up to last weekend and this weekend’s dollar days–Rick may have been granted a reprieve for a little while and may be able to stay open through December and NOT shut forever this coming Saturday.

So, he asked me last night what I thought — should he stay there through December and selfishly I thought, “Well, YEA!” but for practical reasons he wondered if the loyal regulars and semi-regulars would embrace the notion of things going back to the way they were for a little while and then more close-out sales in a month or more. Here’s how Rick put in on the Orpheus website:

“In the ‘better late than never’ category we are going to attempt to communicate with others. It would be nice to be able to let you know what’s going on here. It would also be nice to know what more of you are thinking. By that I mean what you think about the short term future of Orpheus Records. After all the proclamations about our demise we have another reprieve from the landlord for December… What do YOU think?? Would you like to see Orpheus around another month or so? Should I stay or should I go NOW? (apologies to the Clash) Please, let me know. If I stayed would you like to see the Vinyl Ink stock that’s been sitting here for years?? Or do you only want me to put out stuff for a dollar. Most of the stock that is not currently available to you would NOT be a dollar. We only have a little time left. I’d like to use it to our mutual advantage. Talk to me!!!”

So, TVD readers and Orpheus regulars and (semi-regulars), here’s an opportunity to directly influence what happens over the next month or more…let us and Rick know how you feel. And I mean NOW as a decision needs to be made…another month? Wanna see that Vinyl Ink stash hit the bins? Or stick with the close out dollar days? SPEAK UP!

Update 11/7: A number of online media outlets have picked up on TVD’s/Orpheus Records’ call for feedback. Washington City Paper has a piece here this morning, DCRTV sheds some more light here (scroll down a bit), and our blog pal IntangibleArts shares his thoughts on the topic here. TVD will report back next week on how all of this has shaken out, but in the meantime please continue to make your voice heard.

The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (Mp3)

(Images courtesy Flickr user afagen.)

Inexplicably, the ’80’s are back with a vengeance. And for about a moment or two, I was charmed. But folks…a polite reminder — the ’80’s were a reaction to the swagger of the ’70’s. The DIY aesthetic was a reaction to the overblown pomposity of an era. But ’80’s for ’80’s sake is a reaction to well, being fresh out of ideas. (And the ‘ironic’ boat shoes? Just a tip: weren’t cool then. Even worse now.)

Rule #3: Stop ripping off the ’80’s. Rip off the ’70’s.

Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes (Mp3)
T. Rex – Bang A Gong (Get It On) (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin – Communication Breakdown (Mp3)
(Ok, technically it’s from ’69…)
Wings – Listen To What The Man Said (Mp3)
David Bowie – Moonage Daydream (Mp3)

…14:59, 14:58, 14:57, 14:56…