Monthly Archives: July 2009

Am I out on a limb when I state unequivocally that Girl Loves Distortion might be the last and best band conjuring what I’ll call the ‘sound of DC?’ (Yea, Go Go notwithstanding.) The polyrhythms, the lacerating guitar lines, the twisty bass below have all been rumbling under the surface for a number of weeks now at TVD HQ and lucky us, we get to catch them tomorrow night when the band plays Fort Reno alongside Godisheus and Laughing Man.

GLD are releasing the brand new ‘You Better Run, Your Highness’ on vinyl this month (via Etxe Records) and as such we caught up with guitarist Christopher Goett who CLEARLY embraces the medium.

“Vinyl. Is there really any other way to experience recorded music? We don’t’ think so. The sound quality is unparalleled: deeper lows, warmer range of tones, great expression of nuance. In today’s times music quickly slips into the ether . . . it becomes a part of file sharing, compressed on a convenient iPod, or streamed online somewhere. We aren’t snubbing our noses at these modern twists and turns on the music listening experience. Most of us own an MP3 player for the convenience of it – particularly when riding the Metro around town or when we are on the road touring.

However – the thing about listening to vinyl is that it is a very deliberate experience. We aren’t trying to multi-task to something when dropping the needle down on our favorite piece of wax. It is a conscious decision to absorb the collection of songs presented by the artist. It is a tactile as well as an aural experience: perusing the artwork, pulling out the vinyl, placing it on the turntable, dropping the needle, flipping the record, etc.

Girl Loves Distortion was absolutely psyched to hear about our record label (Etxe Records) pulling the trigger on releasing our new album (You Better Run, Your Highness) on vinyl. In fact, Etxe Records has really put together a nice vinyl package – heavy grade, multi-color clear vinyl, and reverse-board LP jackets. It is record we put together thinking about vinyl, and we are hoping vinyl nerds out there like us enjoy it.”

From the new album – You Better Run, Your Highness (Out July 28th, 2009):
Girl Loves Distortion – Unidentified Fascist Operators (Mp3)
Girl Loves Distortion – Cryptograms (Mp3)

From the first album: – Earth Beings On Exhibit:
Girl Loves Distortion – Luminance (We Don’t Dance) (Mp3)
Girl Loves Distortion – Psychic Raygun (Mp3)

Also catch GLD this Friday, July 17, at The Trash Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The band also headlines their own CD/Vinyl release party for the new ‘You Better Run, Your Highness’ on Friday, July 24 at The Velvet Lounge with Trophy Wife (DC), Thee Lexington Arrows (Baltimore), and Fangs Out (Toledo.)

We’ve been singing the praises of Elizabeth & the Catapult for some time now, but if you’re STILL among the unconverted we have a pair of tickets to catch the band this Thursday night at The Rock and Roll Hotel to, y’ know… get you to see things our way. Clearly.

And, because we’re givers, we’re going to make it even easier for you guys to enter our weekly giveaways here at TVD. Staring today, you can Twitter your entries into any contest via regular Tweets or direct message via Twitter to us. Of course you can still enter in the comments below, but we need some contact info if you choose to do so.

It’s a subtle way to get you guys to follow TVD on Twitter where we’re often giving away additional tracks, new and old, not featured in the daily blog posts. And don’t worry – it’s pertinent stuff, not what we ordered in for lunch here at TVD HQ. (Not to mention, we could give a shit that The Real World’s filming around the corner. So there’s that.)

So, Elizabeth & the Catapult! Thursday night! Rock and Roll Hotel! A pair of tix with your name on ’em! Get at us!

Elizabeth & the Catapult – Taller Children (Mp3)

I’ve been obsessively repeating Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” all morning. The party line is that he wrote this song for the film of the same name (If you haven’t seen it, do), about Mickey Rourke’s Randy “The Ram” Robinson. But the song can just as easily be heard as a lament on Springsteen’s own struggle to stay relevant after 37 years.

Go ahead, make all the relevant criticisms of The Boss – He’s a one trick pony. He’s repetitive – only 2 of his 15 records depart from his tried and true arena rock template. He’s technically a shitty singer. He’s technically a shitty guitar player. He’s become a caricature of himself. Levy them all, I can’t argue. But the fact is that the man has a unique ability to tap into that level of human emotion that actually resides below despair better than any artist I’ve heard. He is actually able to write from the perspective of people so bleak, the rest of us can’t even fathom their desolation.

It’s a talent that has kept me coming back for more despite all the things that should have driven me away. But he can’t shake me, because in my opinion there are only 2 acceptable answers to the question – “Who is the greatest American songwriter?” Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen – Factory (Mp3)
Bruce Springsteen – Stolen Car (Mp3)
Bruce Springsteen – The River (Mp3)
Bruce Springsteen – Racing in the Street (Mp3)
Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City (Mp3)

My old landlord Big Andy would tell you I made a pretty solid career of it a while back. Red wine, brooding candles, late nights, quiet music played loudly. And nightly.

You dredge up more with angst and ache than on the dance floor I’ve always thought. Little pin pricks of emotive melodies that’d do a porcupine proud. Triumphs, disappointments, loss. Impossible situations work themselves free. A bellyful of ache becomes a sweet soup for two. And gee—look…the wall needs to be painted.

So, hey… take a seat. I’ll slide over. Might as well open another bottle. We’re in for a long night.

Grant Lee Buffalo – Jupiter And Teardrop.mp3
King L – That’s How It Works.mp3
Magnet – Deadlock (It’s Over).mp3
The Longpigs – Dozen Wicked Words.mp3
Bee and Flower – I Know Your Name (Mp3)

The lovely ladies on Charlie’s album covers always got our attention.

Charlie was a British rock band that got occasional FM airplay in the late ’70s.

Charlie’s music had plenty of sharp lyrics, lots of hooks and crisp vocals. A bit like ELO mixed with Foreigner and just a dash of Queen, if you need a guide. It was a bit deceptive, though. It often sounded sunny when the subject matter was anything but.

Take today’s tunes from “Fight Dirty,” Charlie’s 1979 album.

“Killer Cut” voices the desperate need to write that one great single to make it in the music business … and then get the radio to play it. Which is exactly what happened.

“Heartless,” about a woman who’s just that, and “Runaway,” about a girl who at 16 already has seen and done too much, seem rock video-ready, if not rock opera-ready.

Guilty pleasures all.

Charlie – Killer Cut (Mp3)
Charlie – Heartless (Mp3)
Charlie – Runaway (Mp3)

Even if you’re a regular here at TVD, you may not know there’s a gatekeeper of sorts. But there is – hi, I’m Jon (your host) and as such the email in-box gets filled to the rim with very nice solicitations for coverage. And thank you, we love hearing from y’all.

But, …how do I put this…sometimes the acts in the in-box, to use a summer analogy, just ain’t ripe yet.

In stark contrast to the aforementioned, Annie Crane’s arrival in the email reminded me of the crystal clear voices that used to echo through my folks’ house in NJ. The radio was continuously tuned to WQXR-FM, the radio station of the New York Times, which ostensibly is (was?) a classical music station but on Saturday evenings would air a show called ‘Woody’s Children.’ Woody, as in Guthrie, his ‘children’ as in the folk music legend’s prodigy.

But only the best of the best would make the airwaves then. So, if ‘Woody’s Children’ is still being aired (and if QXR is still around—I read that the Times was considering its sale) then Annie Crane’s a natural fit. Got that ‘QXR?

“When I was 19, my family of 6 picked up and moved to Manhattan from Rochester NY. We were moving from a 3 story house to a 3 bedroom apartment whose most raved about feature was a window in the kitchen. My mom, being the minimalist that she is, made it her mission to get rid of everything she deemed “not worth lugging to NYC”. In this category she put her & my dad’s hefty record collection. Yes… it’s true. She sold them in the neighborhood garage sale along with our old dolls, trophies, roller blades and bunk beds. I was appalled when I went home (to my new home) for the summer from college. It was just before that 19th year of my life that I started falling hard for the wonders of vinyl.

The record player I got back then & still use today is my portable vintage player… it looks like an old suitcase until you open it up to find a 3 speed record player inside. It’s pretty sweet. I’ve lugged it from Rochester to Toronto to Manhattan to Brooklyn and back again. And as I’ve moved from place to place, I’ve carried with me my milk crates of records. Forever hounding estate sales, thrift shops and stoop sales, I think I’m trying to rebuild that collection so thoughtlessly discarded and experience it with the zeal of fresh ears. 

There are few times I can think of when I’m as content as when I’m at home listening to my records while putting and puttering. The crackle and waver, the flip from side one to side two, listening to Pavarotti & Frank Sinatra in the same way that my grandma did – moments of captured nostalgia.

From my record crates, I am currently enjoying: Paul Simon: Paul Simon; Aretha Franklin: Queen of Soul; Joan Baez: Blessed are… ; Neil Young with Cray Horse: Everybody Knows this is Nowhere; Odetta Sings Folk Songs; Doc Watson: Memories”

Annie Crane – Seneca Falls (Mp3)
Annie Crane – Our Families (Mp3)
Annie Crane – I’ll Be Right Here (Mp3)

After the past two weeks or more of covering the covered here at TVD, I’m thinking one could literally fashion an entire blog around cover songs.

Who knew? There’s a zillion of them. Some good, some bad—undoubtedly the worst offender being the pop/punk cover of something tried and true. (Hello Mr. Dando.)

More rare it seems are the stellar songs that have gone uncovered—ditties of distinction untainted by the cover treatment afforded lesser compositions. So, this week we’ll shine a light on a handful of tunes you burgeoning bands and songwriters could take a cue from. Because we WANT you to succeed.

TVD: building careers in music, one coffee house at a time.

Split Enz – Message To My Girl (Mp3)
Prefab Sprout – Bonny (Mp3)
Aztec Camera – We Could Send Letters (Mp3)
The Sound – Silent Air (Mp3)
Danny Wilson – I Won’t Be Here When You Get Home (Mp3)

After a full eleven weeks of vinyl giveaways leading up to Record Store Day 2009 earlier in the year, it turns out that it’s now been quite a while since we slipped an LP into an envelope and shipped it off to one effusive and over-the-top commenter/contest winner. But our friends at Blackheart Records have come to your rescue.

We’ve got our hands on the brand new Girl In A Coma LP, “trio b.c.” (which has been on mega-heavy rotation here at ol’ TVD HQ) to give away to an aforementioned over-the-top commenter. And, I should add the cover’s been signed by the full band in black(heart) Sharpie. Because they—and we—are looking out for your cool collector’s items. (See that Ash giveaway last week?!)

We’ll give you a full week on this one to plead your case in the comments section for the LP (with some sort of contact info please!) We’ll choose a winner on 7/7, so get to it!

While we’ve been fans of Those Darlins for a little while now, it’s nice to see the rest of you guys catching up.

But not to let some press buzz be the only thing out there, the Darlins have hit the road this summer AND hit our area once more with a show this Tuesday night (7/7) at Iota. And right you are—we’ve got a pair of tickets to put in your hands.

Typically, we ask you to rant and rave in the comments to win the tix and actually this time it’s no different. But we’d like to award the pair to the cleverest commenter who has a suggestion OTHER than this method to win the crazy prizes and stuff we’re giving away each and every week now.

So, get out the pens and paper kids, the sliding rules, the protractors and what ever else you got to see Those Darlins this Tuesday. Help us out and we’ll help you out. Remember to leave us some contact info too! We’ll choose our winner on Tuesday morning.

Those Darlins – Red Light Love (Mp3)
Those Darlins – Wild One (Mp3)

Some people just seem genetically predisposed to music making I often think. Be it the cheek bones or some other piece of physicality, some stuff’s just preordained.

Such is the case with St. Louis’ Living Things who swept through DC last week and played a storming set over at The Rock and Roll Hotel. TVD chatted with Lillian Berlin, the band’s lead vocalist and it seems that he TOO has a predisposition—for vinyl:

“When I search for vinyl I usually end up in a Salvation Army. Albums with titles like Sammy Davis Jr. Sings Jewish Folk Songs, you can only find these classics at your local Army. If I am going for something more mainstream I opt to log on to eBay or hit Vintage Vinyl in St. Louis where I am from, or Grimes in Nashville and Amoeba in the City of Angels. In the end I never get to hear my vinyl collection much, because I am either on the road, on a plane or in the studio with my brothers. Which is when the evil iPod goes into effect….. When I am at home I seem to not want to jam out to the record player cause music is making my ears bleed all day…”

Living Things – Mercedes Marxist (Mp3)
Living Things – Oxygen (Mp3)

I’ve come to realize I bitch about the quality of contemporary songwriting in this space quite often. Perhaps it’s the ABSENCE of songwriting that drives me nuts and the layer upon layer of effects and artificial beats and processing that smothers even the kernel of something hummable. Or memorable.

A few weeks back I was sent Amy Speace’s track, ‘The Killer In Me’ which is the title track of her new Mitch Easter produced LP. ‘The Killer In Me’ actually features Ian Hunter on vocals as well, which is a refreshing note unto itself.

What begins at note #1 and carries on through to the outro however, is the palpable push/pull of raw emotion, story-telling, and spilling one’s guts right on the table top and handing the listener a fork. And you can sing along.

“The killer in me / loves the killer I see in you…”

Amy’s not only made the track available here at TVD, but has a few fond, vinyl thoughts into the bargain:

“I remember the 78s my grandmother had, heavy vinyl records in cinnamon colored sleeves. Old classical records. Mario Lanza, Rosa Ponselle. The Andrews Sisters. Rachmaninov. My father’s vinyl collection was proudly displayed in our living room. My Dad grew up very poor in a 1 room farmhouse in Elkton, Maryland, with 4 siblings and no electricity. Certain things he was able to buy for himself reminded him of how far he’d come: his first bike (a Schwinn) and his first RCA Stereo. He still has both, although he upgraded to a Bose stereo system a few years ago. I remember sitting on the floor with his record collection, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Waylon and Merle and Willie, Ernest Tubb, Elvis, The Ray Coniff Singers, Neil Diamond. He’d play them at night and we’d all sing along. He had this collection of records from the 60 that taught different dances. The Twist! The Pretzel! The artwork was great: stark white with people dancing on a Twister game in rainbow colors, or they were dark red with a beautiful woman dressed in a white dress and gloves. He also had this great collection of comedy records. My favorite was one called The First Family with a fake Kennedy clan on front by Vaughn Meader.

The first record I was given was probably the soundtrack to Disney’s Cinderella (Bibbity Bobbity Boo). The first record I bought for myself with saved up allowance was Billy Joel’s The Stranger. I totally remember that day and I still have that record. But my favorite record was The Stones’Sticky Fingers, which I borrowed from my friend’s older brother (and never gave back) when I was about 14 and snuck in the house. It still had the zipper. I was pretty interested in that cover.

My sister and I used to share a room and we’d put on records and sing along, or make up dances. The physical act of picking up the needle, that little screech you’d get, or the hissing, or when you’d fall asleep to a record and you’d be awoken by the needle at the end, its just not the same with a CD or a tape. The way you could hold a record like it was something you possessed, in an embrace. With our allowance on Sunday, we’d go buy records on Monday, and you’d hug the package to your chest like a lover. I was obsessed with listening. In junior high and high school I was living in a small town and just didn’t feel like I fit in, so I’d run home after school and come home to my own record player and lock my door and sit in my room with headphones and spend hours with my records. Mostly crap from the 80s, to be completely honest, but I also had a lot of classics, like The Doors, The Moody Blues, Janis Joplin. I had a good collection of classical and opera too. I listened to “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well…” over and over.”

Amy Speace – The Killer In Me (Mp3)

Has anyone noticed the subtext that’s swept into TVD as of late? I mean, sure—we dig vinyl but we also need to get out of the house, right? And if you’re playing along at home, our plan is to be at The State Theatre Thursday night for one of DC’s finest, Middle Distance Runner.

That’s all well and good, you’re saying, But you wanna come too. Hear ya. Loud and clear. So, until we come up with a different way to win these things, there’s a pair of tickets with your name on ’em if you’re the one singing loudest in the comments.

That’s it. That simple. (And while you’re at it, download the current single below.)

We’re choosing the winner the morning of the show, so make it good and make it fast…

Middle Distance Runner – The Unbeliever (Mp3)

Middle Distance Runner “The Unbeliever” from maxwell sorensen on Vimeo.