Reggae legends Toots and The Maytals are happy to announce the release of the band’s latest record ‘Flip & Twist’, released yesterday (4/20) digitally and in stores May 18.
In honor of today’s national holiday, Toots is releasing a special, 4/20-themed limited edition package, which includes a joint-shaped USB drive loaded with Flip & Twist, a Toots Stash Box, the physical CD of the album, and a variety of other gifts. The package is available via the band’s website along with digital copies of the album.
I sat on the roof, sunbathing in the strong signal that this smartass phone says it has. On the phone was Mike Hall of Sick Sick Birds, a Baltimore pop-punk band with a semi-new album out onToxic Pop Records. “Our first 7 inch was on that label,” Hall says. “And then we came out with this 12 inch last year called Heavy Manners. It’s 8 songs and it’s definitely a big departure for us because we did a lot of it ourselves at the warehouse.”
“It was fun. We were able to take our time a little bit more and get everything we really wanted done before we put it out. There was really no deadline. It’s more of a thought out record than any record I’ve been a part of.” Hall sounds stoked on this record, and the next one as well. “I think the next batch of songs will be a lot more collaborative. It’s a different lineup than what we’ve had in the past … it’s almost like being in the band you were in in high school, everyone’s just at practice goofing around and writing stuff together.”
Speaking of high school, I ask what he likes about playing music in this region. “It’s where I grew up. It’s just a lot of fun to play shows around here because you’re almost becoming part of the history that we grew up with. So it’s an honor. As songwriters, we’re defiantly shaped by the area we grow up in. I grew up with Dischord, and old DC hardcore stuff. That kind of shines through a little bit.”
But you live in…. “I love Baltimore. As we got older we realized that its a lot cheaper to live up in Baltimore. We’re sort of old people that are coming to terms with being old people. And having families and mortgages and stuff but still wanting to play punk rock… not being in a touring band anymore, its kind of a struggle sometimes… we find ourselves being more selective of the shows we play.. we’re played New York a couple weeks ago, we’re getting up to Philly, and go down to Richmond… were doing five shows in California this summer. So we’re doing what we can to get out of town a little bit, and balancing that with being family people. BUT IT’S FUN.”
Comment below with your email for a chance to win two tickets to see them, and a copy of the new album! YES, FREE! Hurry, this offer ends Wednesday morning at 7:00 A.M.
Feels a little like the morning after the prom around here to be honest.
The 3rd Annual Record Store Day is in the books and by all of the accounts I’ve witnessed and read, ‘twas quite a success indeed. We’ve got the last batch of RSD2010 vinyl from our giveaways lined up to ship and with that, we’ll have dispatched our duties for another year.
But we’re not going anywhere—we’ll still be bringing you what you’ve grown accustomed to over the close to 3 (!) years now. But we’re also mindful of what brought many of you here in the first place – free shit.
And it’s not just the vinyl we toss out at you each week – it’s the Mp3s from the archives which was an early TVD carrot and stick. And frankly, while we’ve developed quite the speedy and handy way of regurgitating the new tracks that land in our email daily, the ones from the archives have the most appeal. Well, for me anyway.
The conundrum has been…well, Google and their silent and speedy way of axing the blogs of copyright offenders and and even perceived offenders. This has happened often without legitimate cause or merit, never mind a warning or discussion. BOOM. Gone.
So we’ve cowtowed a bit to Google’s hammer because, with all transparency, we made commitments to the Record Store Day folks, the labels featured over the past month, and the advertisers splattered over there to the left — to just be here. It’s been a responsibility that we’ve welcomed with open arms which also meant we sorta had to play along.
So, it’s the morning after prom. My mascara’s running and there’s sand in my shorts and there’s old-style TVD read meat awaiting for the wolves at the downloading door.
Under wraps that is. We like to play by the rules.
Record Store Day may have come and gone this weekend but that’s not stopping us from waxing on a little while longer. —Ed.
“We … know a lot of other people who are really kind of weird, heavy-duty collectors. When we get together, it’s just horrible.”
Here we are – America’s favorite stunt-reviewer, musicologist, and record-collector: Byron Coley. The interview’s long – about a half-hour – but well worth it, if I do say so myself.
One note, for clarity’s sake: The “Bruce” mentioned around the 25-minute mark (during the Glenn Jones Destroys The Only Known Copy of A Shaggs 7″ Anecdote) is our dear friend, Bruce Milne, who founded and ran the Au Go Go label and who now runs the Infidelity label in Melbourne, Australia. He is also fond of hot sauces, large haunches of lamb, and Martin & Lewis memorabilia. He has a want list that will break your Internet.
If you find any of this interesting or entertaining, it’s certainly not due to my interviewing skills. No, it’s probably because I was minimally bright enough to hit the big red “record” button and stay the hell out of Byron’s way.
Kicks! is thrilled to be partnering up with The Vinyl District to be the Official Afterparty on Record Store Day! So once you pick up some vinyl jewels on the 17th, swing by the Black Cat backstage from 10 pm to 2am for Kicks! As an added bonus, John Davis of Title Tracks will be joining regular DJs Sara and Kim that night.
Kicks! is a monthly dance party held in the Black Cat backstage geared to providing a hullabaloo of a good time. We throw a mix of garage, punk, powerpop, girl groups, and psych into our cauldron to whip you up a dance night of sing-along fun and tail-feather shaking. And the best part about it – it’s free! For the last two years, Kicks! has been happily holding down a monthly spot at the Black Cat, one of our favorite places to see bands or hang out. The goal of Kicks! is to provide a fun, low key dance night to hear songs you love or to discover new bands. The Washington Post may have said it best:
“Kicks is one of the more user-friendly DJ nights on the Black Cat’s monthly calendar. From Queen to the Cold War Kids, Cheap Trick to the Vivian Girls, the Ramones to the Rolling Stones, it’s a night of pure fun rock and roll, mainly from the ’70s and ’80s, that begs you to have a couple of beers and jump around on the backstage. Just when you think you’re ready to leave, DJs Kim and Sara drop “Rebel Rebel” or “Teenage Kicks” and you find yourself saying, “Okay, one more song,” and then the next thing you know the lights are coming up and it’s time to go home, even though you meant to leave 45 minutes ago. Whoops.”
Kicks! began its inception as a night called Pow Wow held weekly at Felix in Adams Morgan and for a time monthly at Rock and Roll Hotel. Adam, who started Pow Wow, left DC for Los Angeles, and now runs the Pow Wow Podcast. The Podcast is free and updated weekly, and much like Kicks!, features a range of music depending on the week – expect to hear everything cool from the 60’s on. One week may feature krautrock from La Dusseldorf and Faust, the next a sampling of shoegaze from My Bloody Valentine, Moose, and the Boo Radleys, or it may be all new bands like Grass Widow, Young Prisms, and Brilliant Colors.
We hope to see some new faces on the 17th!
Here are some sample tracks of some of the bands we like to play: Teenage Head – Picture My Face | The Only Ones – Another Girl, Another Planet | The Human Beinz – Nobody But Me | The Real Kids – All Kindsa Girls | Flamin’ Groovies – Shake Some Action
Y’know, we really don’t ask you guys to come out for much. Oh sure, there’s been four Record Fairs to date and some event here or there we were high on, but beyond these we typically leave it to the other blogs to shoulder that burden.
This time however, we’ve got a good cause that we’d like you to leave the comfort of your turntable for. Just for a few hours. You can do it. Be strong.
Saturday, April 17, 2010 is Record Store Day as any reader of this blog knows. It’s a day set aside to promote the history and longevity of DC’s—and the nation’s—indie record stores.
Tickets are just $10.00 with all proceeds going toward the overhead for Fort Reno’s Summer 2010 Season.
Those of you who patronize one of our local independent record stores on Record Store Day will receive half off the price of admission with the presentation of a store receipt dated Saturday,April 17, 2010.
(A reminder: this is a dry event. Please join us as you would any Fort Reno concert.)
Ok, so…back awaaayyy from the turntable now…c’mon…and join us.
The reggae vibe in Washington, DC is currently in full effect. With the recent addition of Patty Boom Boom, you can always find a true reggae spot in the District to get your rocksteady on.
See-I at Eighteenth Street Lounge has become a true staple of this scene, filling in all the gaps in these never-ending 9-5 workweeks with just a little bit of zen happiness, and for just a few hours, letting us forget all the other bullshit in this world.
For the past 4 years, brothers Rootz and Zee (aka See-I) have been bringing down the house once a week, aggregating the most eclectic mix of DMV party people to the three-floor Dupont venue to groove in unison to the funkiest of reggae vibes. The occasion has become a weekly necessity for many people, nearly a religion, that provides us worn-out Districtonian’s the outlet we need to get past that Wednesday hump and closer to the weekend. Friends are made, Red Stripes are drunk, and people get very, very… happy.
See-I has been making music for 20 nears now, living in the Caribbean and moving to DC in the 80’s when the sound of Dancehall was booming in the District. Joining forces with Eric Hilton, the brothers toured with Thievery Corporation which took them internationally and now to DC, where everyone couldn’t be happier.
4/20:See-I will be twisting their way through the Rock n’ Roll Hotel with Fort Knox Five and Nappy Riddem to celebrate the new Chinatown location of Capitol Hemp.
Yes! That is correct, located at 13th and H in Gallery Place / Chinatown, the new Captitol Hemp location shall be very sweet indeed… some of the truly finest hemp products to be had.
So JOIN US, ROCK WITH US, GET HAPPY WITH US; enjoy a bit of zen happiness, and forget all the bullshit with us. We will get our reggae on, and laugh/boogie like fools.
We’ve got really sweet limited edition Fort Knox Five official Bob Marley 7″ remixes and tickets to the Capitol Hemp Anniversary Party …. that two of you could win.
Comment and tell us, why you love Earth Day so much (earth day = 4/22). The very best Earth Day tradition will receive word on 4/20 and a copy of this grand 45 in the mail soon after. Ready set GROW. I mean GO.
The Vinyl District is delighted to announce that our partnership with Ardent Studios is extending well beyond our Record Store Day Week spotlight with a weekly The Ardent Sessions Presents feature.
Each Friday Ardent will be handpicking for TVD a live session from the bands that swing through their studios AND in tandem with the live set, we’ll have a giveaway each week, and of course vinyl when possible.
Kicking off TVD’s very first Ardent Sessions Presents are one of our favorites, New Jersey’s The Black Hollies.
Like a child left alone inside of an eggshell colored room, armed with only an assortment of poster paints, my journey to Ardent Studios begins with the echoes of yesterday decorating the walls of my mind. Collectively, we can all agree that it was one great big buffet table, with every visible inch of the surface area filled with sterno fueled aluminum trays. When the trays were opened, The Black Hollies were quite more than pleased to see the contents inside contained genuine enthusiasm and most importantly, sincerity and LOVE.
Ever since that first visit back in the Summer of 2008, Memphis, TN has solidified its status as being the band’s second home. When you’re traveling the way our tiny little band does, time passes by rather quickly and memories are sewn into one’s heart, but on those rare occasions, magical moments carve out their place within you and bury themselves deeply inside your soul. A dear close personal friend of mine, Eric Christ, always spoke to me in high school about the Box Tops and Big Star. Little did I know that one day I would find myself positioned inside the embryo. I speak on behalf of the four of us when I say how grateful we are for the staff making our time at Ardent a hospitable and enjoyable one.
P.S. Thank you for not only showing me the velvet cloak Jimmy Page wore throughout the mastering of Led Zeppelin III and the now bronzed bottle of queso dip Billy Gibbons used to dip his Mexican peso in for that solo on “La Grange” but for taking me on the blindfolded path to the secret Echo-Chamber. —Justin Angelo Morey
(To be read in ones best Elvis accent…) Hell, if Memphis ‘aint The Black Hollies’ favorite city then my baby’s Montgomery glands aren’t protected by pink areola. We like peanut butter, bananas, and karate too man. When The Black Hollies arrived to cut our Ardent Sessions, two things were on MY mind, the year 1988 and the Cocktail Soundtrack. I was always a huge Fabulous Thunderbirds fan ever since “Tuff Enuff” was featured alongside Michael Keaton’s struggle as Hunt Stevenson in the 1986 hit film, “Gung Ho.” Yeah, I know all about YY Bottom, Hookey B and the No MSG’s, Mickey “Mouse” Funn, and Reve Bopper. Man, it’s even rumored that Gilly Bibbons from Bottom used to bring in special lighting rigs to illuminate the live room at Ardent in order to capture that perfect feel for when he was tracking. And what about them tones captured on Zep III? But something about Jimmie Vaughan’s playin’ always spoke to me. For me “Powerful Stuff” was not just a clever title for a Fab T-Birds record. It really rang true with its namesake. For me, that record was, and still is, VERY powerful stuff. I wonder if any of it was recorded at Ardent. It had to be. Anyone? With much respect, gratitude, and love to all our friends, the beautiful people of Memphis, and everyone who works at Ardent, the Black Hollies are much obliged for all you have done to support our little band. —Jon Gonnelli
The Ardent Sessions were a joy. We were plied with as much Red Bull as we could drink then banged out a set, complete with our requisite comedic interludes, in Studio B (I think?). Everyone who works there is friendly, profesh, and totally used to dealing with a band on tour. Their hospitality is staggering. We were able to wander the hauls of the studio agape at all the amazing records that were created there, as well as annoy the staff by constantly entering rooms we weren’t supposed to be in. Staring at the covers of Tres Hombres, Led Zeppelin III, and the Soundtrack from Cocktail got me super-psyched to beat the shit out of some drums and it was awesome to play a set in such an amazing studio for some of our best friends in Memphis, including the guys from The Bulletproof Vests (great band!) —Nick Ferrante
Enter to win The Black Hollies’ ‘Softly Towards the Light’ on vinyl 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!
It’s a long story, with too much nonsense to go into just yet, but I managed to catch Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore on the road in the car in Massachusetts, listening to, according to him, “bottom-of-the-barrel ‘Sister’ outtakes” with Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley. Would have been nice to have gotten the interview nailed down one of the two other times I saw him in the past week, in person, with a digital recorder in my jacket pocket, but hey, the watery, craptacular quality of the cobbled-together Skype recording I have here provides a nice contrast with the pristine audio I delivered with the earlier portions of this series. My bad, sorry.
In any event, I’ve got about a half-hour’s worth of audio to whittle down into some semblance or order and intelligibility. But! Jon’s webmonkeys have an excerpt for you. Please enjoy. Think of it as an amuse bouche before the 32-oz. porterhouse.
One of the bits I am immediately trimming out occurs not long after my questions ran out of steam and we both got bored with the whole thing, at which point Thurston decided to turn the tables on me. “Hey man, I wanna ask YOU a couple questions.” So here, in full, is the transcript of this “interview,” because why not, you will never hear it: TM: Who are all these men in blue pushing me around?
CG: Um, is that a song lyric? I have no idea. Are they cops?
TM: (Pause. Vibe of disappointment hangs thickly in the air.) What’s your favorite Crucifucks track?
CG: Oh, man. See that’s … that’s not fair, because you’ve got the drummer in the car with you. It’s, um … I can’t really pick one. Can I get the next question?
TM: Who’s the most famous music personality you’ve ever slept with, naked? Besides Tom Smith.
CG: (Sharp intake of air.) Uh … It’s … This is, um … Ooh, wow … I’m a virgin.
TM: You’re a virgin?
CG: Yeah, I’m going with that.
TM: Hey, uh, have you ever seen Andrew W.K. naked?
CG: Define naked.
TM: Without the wig.
So there you go, a little taste of the sort of insight and hilarity, &c., you can expect once I edit this puppy down.
Oh, and tomorrow? Nearly an hour’s worth of spiel with America’s foremost record-collecting badass, Byron Coley.
Until then, cg
P.S. For the record, I have never slept with Tom Smith. (Naked.)
Pat’s a Brooklynite who’s orignally from a small hamlet in Nebraska, and his life has taken an interesting bunch of turns; he’s a founding member of Opium Taylor (which you can read about here) and the infamous neo-no-wave pinups Liars, after which he went on to form the short-lived n0 things and then T.A.P. with Anna Barie in 2006.
All their stuff, from the cassettes onward, are pretty great, and their LP “Terrific Seasons” was played nearly constantly at Chez Grier for months on end after it came out in 2008. Back then, they seemed to me to referencing the sounds and vibe of early 80s downtown NYC (Sonic Youth/Swans/no-waveish stuff &c) and some Metal Box-era PiL, but somehow with even more spookiness and mystery thrown in. I loved it. And last week? Pat flowed me a track they’re working on which takes things on a different path entirely – it’s aggressively friendly, in a way, and utilizes sonic events that could have all come from drum machines and synths circa 1985, but which have nonetheless been arranged in a way that creates something more or less totally hyper-modern. It’s witty, knowing, cool, and – for those of you who like to dance – extremely, extremely danceable. Which, to me, makes them even weirder, in a good way. “This is not one for the streets,” he told me. “(It’s) one for the club.”
I interviewed Pat over Americanos at a coffee shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It’s Ground Zero for the Maclaren stroller crowd, so I apologize for the screaming kids, etc., you’ll hear at several points. Hey, it was either interview him outside, or do it inside the coffee shop and risk earning the almost certain annoyance of the 250-pound barista and the layabouts pretending to blog on their Mac Airbooks.
Topics and themes: African music, Pat’s favorite record stores in New York City, future/primitives, Rush, dubstep, dancehall and other London musical genres, crazy album covers, and divesting oneself of vinyl one no longer needs. ++cg
Saturday, April 17, 2010 is Record Store Day as any reader of this blog knows. It’s a day set aside to promote the history and longevity of DC’s—and the nation’s—indie record stores.
Tickets are just $10.00 with all proceeds going toward the overhead for Fort Reno’s Summer 2010 Season.
Those of you who patronize one of our local independent record stores on Record Store Day will receive half off the price of admission with the presentation of a store receipt dated Saturday,April 17, 2010.
As a lead up to Saturday night, we asked Olivia Mancini to give us one of her favorite Fort Reno memories:
“The summer of 1992 was boring. Probably no more or less boring than any other pre-driving summer, but boring nevertheless. By August, I’d finished being a CIT. Summer Musical Theater Workshop was done. I’d probably even read the books on my summer reading list, and when a boy who lived down the street who I didn’t really like called to see what I was doing that night, I was just bored enough to say, “Why? What’s up?
“Fugazi’s playing. At Fort Reno,” he said. And even though I hadn’t really heard too much about either of those things, I said, “Oh. Cool.”
So I met him on the corner of 39th and Morrison and we walked up the hill toward Deal Junior High, making stilted 13-year-old chit chat about our summers and our dogs and our brothers and sisters. We could hear the music as we approached the Fessenden St. side of the park.
When we got there, it was already pretty dark. The music had stopped and a band was on the rickety-looking wooden platform stage, adjusting drum sets and moving around with guitars and lots of wires. We picked our way through the outskirts of families and picnic blankets to the big crowd in front of the stage.
When the music started, I had never heard anything like it. It didn’t even really sound like music to my ears, gently raised, as revealed in a previous TVD post, on pop gems of the 1950s and ‘60s–and showtunes. It was loud and scratchy and fierce and the people around me loved it. They started to move and jump and bang around and, carried away in the moment, I forgot that I was 13 and awkward and at a concert with a boy with whom I had nothing to talk about. And I jumped around too and let the bass rumble in my chest and the kick drum pound in my ears and thought about how if my short life ended right then, I’d be going out pretty darn happy.”
So, remember Sal? She wrote for TVD about a year ago then went M.I.A. But now she’s back. And we couldn’t be happier. —Ed.
Sal Go here. The last year was crazy, and I only remember half of it. My editor is currently hungover and craving pancakes out in the ruins of Detroit, but I’m back in the mix now. I start my contributions to The Vinyl District with a short interview featuring Burleigh Seaver. Seaver is in Shortstack, a DC-based rock and roll quartet, influenced by the likes of Credence Clearwater Revival and John Lee Hooker.
How coincidental! They are playing the Black Cat Mainstage this Friday! Birds of Avalon and Suns Of Guns will support. The show celebrates their new record, Please Leave My Mind. After this party, it’s a few shows over the summer, and mini tours up and down the east coast to promote the new album, released by Free Dirt Records.
Even better news! The band will give away two tickets and two albums to two lucky Vinyl District readers! To win, just comment below with your email. On Thursday morning, we shall print out your names, fix them to our dartboard, take a few swigs of bourbon, spin around in an office chair, and fire away. Seaver plays guitar and provides backup vocals in Shortstack. He also mixed the new album in his studio. “I have my own studio, but it’s not my full time job. But I do audio for a living.” Seaver says. He talks about his awesome job at National Geographic, where all in one day he could work on a show about wolverines, then about submarine salvage, and on to Hitler’s secret weapons. I am extremely envious of his career.
I ask if putting out the record on vinyl was considered during production. Seaver confirms. “We really wanted to do it on vinyl. I’m sure you know that more and more things are coming out on vinyl these days. And we all have bought records for years. I used to work in a record store. So it’s definitely something we wanted to do. We ended up doing 180 gram vinyl on it, which is awesome. Thanks to our label, which is very cool.”
That is very awesome. 180 gram vinyl that you slip out of the case and instantly want to lick. I am distracted by this vision. Meanwhile, Seaver sounds easy going over the phone, unfazed by the three dropped calls and my struggles with the tape recorder. I get it going again and he talks about their label. “It’s a label called Free Dirt that’s based here in DC. This guy John runs it. He’s been really helpful. A lot of the stuff they do tends to be more like, old-timey, or like string band music… but it’s pretty cool. I think we’re definitely the most rock and roll record that he’s done. But we’ve known him for a while, he’s done really good work.
“The record looks so cool. I think the modern model of when you buy a record and you get a digital download with it is fucking brilliant. Because it’s so much nicer to just buy a record cause it’s like this big… THING. You can look at it, it’s heavy, you know, it’s just cooler than a CD, but everyone also has ipods and all that. So it makes it easy to enjoy. Our old drummer Scott did the artwork. That’s what he does, so we’re lucky to have him for many years. A good way to get cool flyers done.”
I look through my notes to see that Mr. Seaver has been in Shortstack for approximately 50% of their existence. As the lead guitar player, he must hold a pivotal position on the band’s sound. Has he changed their direction completely? Is the group dynamic different?
“Um. ” Seaver is quiet. 6 seconds roll by. But before I get worried, he continues. “Yeah I do. The person whose spot I’m in now only played slide guitar, called lap-steel. And I play that a bit, but I mainly play guitar. Since I joined we’ve moved away from having like a country slide guitar kind of thing into having like a rock and roll sound. You know, when people ask me what we sound like, I say it’s like early rock and roll, but more echoey or something. Still got elements of the country stuff, still coming from the same place but it’s arrived at a different sound.”
What’s so great about playing music in DC? “Well I grew up in DC. So I like it. I mean, DC has changed quite a bit during my lifetime. Well, I think DC is unique it’s really like a small… like if you took the government away, it’d kinda be like a small country town. The government brings a lot of people who sort of come and go depending on what’s happening. A lot of people who aren’t from here. But it’s small enough though that it creates a unique vibe as compared to New York or other places.”
“Another thing is that there really isn’t a manufacturing base here at all. Nothing gets made in DC, as compared to Baltimore or Philly, or NY or Boston, things get made there. So DC is more of an idea town than anything else. So it makes an interesting place to live. If you read the DC paper it’s so different from anywhere else because it focuses on like, concepts of government and things like that.”
Great, so you like DC. It’s interesting and small and doesn’t make shit except ideas. Do you play out a lot?
“We want to make each show more of a unique event. We wait until we have something new or more interesting to do than last time, rather than banging it all out again on a Friday night.”
For the uninitiated, Chris Grier is a Washington, D.C.-based musician who has been making brutal and beautiful music here and abroad since 2003, with results that skitter along that rarely glimpsed border where “wildly seductive” meets “what the hell?” He has collaborated, recorded and performed with some of the planet’s most interesting and inventive musicians, including Thurston Moore, Mike Watt, Andrew W.K., Tom Smith, Don Fleming, Matthew Wascovich, Hugh McElroy, Ian Wadley, Little Wings and Little Howlin’ Wolf. He is also a member of the long-running avant-garde collective To Live And Shave In L.A. —Ed.
Hey there,
Records changed my life, and if you’re reading this, if you’ve somehow meandered over to this corner of the digital whatever, you undoubtedly feel the same way. By records, of course, I mean vinyl – LPs, EPs, 7″s, 10″s, &c. Sorry to be so bloody obvious about it, but I just read the “artist testimonials” on this thing a few minutes ago, and The Boss was waxing poetic about CDs, for eff’s sake. Who let this guy in? Reading comprehension, Mr. Springsteen, look into it. This thing is called RECORD Store Day.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of these anti-digital wingnuts that gets his pantaloons knotted up over CDs and downloading and MP3s and “odd-order harmonic distortion” and blahblahblah. Spare me already. I use vacuum tubes like freakin’ packing peanuts, and I even bought a goddamned 500-pound vinyl-cutting lathe a couple years ago for the purpose of learning how to cut records my own self, but the phrase “analog-vs.-digital” still gives me hives every time I hear it. CDs are just fine, so are downloads and MP3s, “lossy” or not. Sure, they’re not as good as a well-recorded analog thing, yadda, etc., but if this is what you’re spending you’re time worrying about, I advise you to cancel the Stereophile subscription, lose 40 or 50 lbs., and move out of mom’s basement/the crappy group house and get some semblance of a life.
No, records are just better.
I mean, empirically better. It’s not subjective. Not even close. They sound better. They look better. And they’re just plain cooler. We all know the reasons. Preaching to the choir is lame anyway, and I wouldn’t want to be a member of any congregation that would hire someone like me anyway.
All of this irritable late-night rambling is just a way of setting the context for what’s in store for you – I’ve been asked to take over this blog for a few days by Jon. Why? Who knows. But what you do need to know is this: I am far too damn lazy to type these days, so I’m taking the easy way out and interviewing friends and acquaintances about vinyl. It’s easy for you, too; you won’t even have to read, just click on whatever MP3 thingie Jon’s webmonkeys set up with my posts, and you’ll get all the goods.
As for Record Store Day itself? I love it. Just don’t do what I did last year and decide to queue up only a half-hour before the starting gun goes off. You won’t get jack-shit. Everything I was looking for was gone in femtoseconds, snatched up in twos and threes by a smelly herd of pudgy Mojo-reading beardos, the bastards.
Our inaugural installment of the Record Store Day Interviews features Allison Wolfe – radical provocateuse, founding member of Bratmobile, Cold Cold Hearts and Partyline, and, of course, one of the women who started the whole Riot Grrrl thing. (She’s also a rather hilarious cartoonist, and a first-tier partyer.)
I had a whole other thing on tap for today, but my interview subject sort of disappeared. And, as it happened, Allison was a stone’s throw away in Williamsburg – drinking foam cups of beer from the Turkey’s Nest in McCarren Park with about a half-dozen mutual friends. She agreed to drop what she was doing, and we moseyed on over to the benches by the softball field, away from the Wayfarer-wearing frisbee-throwers and that goddamned ice cream truck that marauds the neighborhood, playing a mangled version of the theme from “Cletus The Slack-Jawed Yokel” at 120 dB, constantly.
As always, Allison was hilarious. Topics covered: Quasi-criminal record-buying behaviors, an ex-boyfriend and his risible taste in music, Kurt Cobain’s love of rare Vaselines vinyl, Malcolm McLaren, Bow Wow Wow, the pain of losing records to ex-bandmates moving out, and, as many of us have done, deriving a ballpark estimate of the size of one’s LP collection by counting the number of 12″x12″ spots taken up in one’s IKEA Expedit bookshelves. Among the things you will learn from this interview: Duran Duran was what converted Allison from a listener into a record collector.
Where does the time go? It seems as if it were just yesterday—amidst the sky high drifts from Blizzard #2 of the 2009-2010 Winter season—when we launched the first in our series of Record Store Day 2010 Giveaways.
Since then, Spring has sprung and we’re at the culmination of our 10 weeks and need I remind you that Record Store Day is, uh…this weekend?
We’re planning on going out with a bit of a bang in regard to our giveaways this week – of which we have quite a few (as well as some RSD exclusives to toss at ya.) But first up for the week, our friends at Friday Music have compiled a reissue set to truly have you asking – where does the time go?
The rules can’t be any simpler for our last RSD2010 Giveaway. All you need to do to enter to win is to leave a comment in the comments section to this giveaway letting us know why you deserve to win this week’s vinyl.
Be creative, funny, incisive—whatever it takes to grab our attention to deem you the winner. Most important however is to leave us a contact email address! You can be brilliant as hell, but if we can’t track ya’ down, you’re out of the running.
