One of our favorite venues, the Rock & Roll Hotelis hosting what they’re calling “The First Annual Summer New Year’s Eve Party” this coming Friday night and they’ve hooked us up with a pair of tickets to get into the hands of one of you guys.
From the press accompanying the tickets: We here at Rock and Roll Hotel are hosting a killer party on July, 23rd that we’re calling “The First Annual Summer New Year’s Eve Party.” Yes, it’s the middle of summer, but what greater party is there than a New Years one? So we’re bringing that sparkle and shine to the club on the 23rd from 6 pm to 3 am.”
The line up of DJs is pretty damn impressive too: Yes Giantess, Audio Ammo, DJ Chris Burns, DJ Autorock, DJ Metaphysical and DJ Phil Real.
Not too shabby, hm? Plus, there’s free food, free leis, and tons of free stuff.
As mentioned, we’ve got a pair of tickets to giveaway in exchange for simply asking for them in the comments to this post. Plead your case, offer your first born children—we don’t care. Just make it so your comment stands out from the rest and that person’ll get one pair of General Admission tickets on us and the Hotel.
We’re choosing our winner at 5PM this coming Thursday (7/22) to give you plenty of time to stock up on the Advil.
And finally: remember to leave us a contact email address!
I’ve been a fan of DC’s Tereu Tereu for quite a while now and so, with the impending release of some fresh vinyl and the launch of a summer tour, an opportune moment arrived to spend some quality time with the band for a full week.
We’ll get you up to speed on the vinyl and the tour tomorrow (with ways to win some stuff into the bargain) but to kick things off Brendan Polmer, the band’s drummer and resident vinyl enthusiast weaves a lucky tale that has me more than a bit envious… —Ed.
Dumpster Diving for Vinyl | About a year ago, I stumbled upon a vinyl goldmine in the unlikeliest of places– a dumpster inside a freight elevator of a self-storage facility on H St NE, Washington, DC.
I was in between apartments and checking out a storage unit to hold some of my crap while I searched for a new place to live. The building had once been used for storing cars, and thus had two large, industrial car-sized elevators that were now being used to haul large, heavy items to the storage units on multiple floors. As the storage employee who was showing me my potential unit lead me onto one of the elevators, he apologized for the mess that greeted us as he opened the elevator’s vertical barn-door gate. There was a mattress or two, a broken chest of drawers, a portable clothing rack and a large plastic dumpster on wheels, about five-feet high and equally wide, filled to the top with a ton of crap. “What happened? Someone didn’t pay their storage bill?” I asked jokingly.
“Yea, it’s all goin’ to the dump man,” he said. “Happens all the time. Sometimes people fall behind on their rent and can’t pay no more. Sometimes they just die and nobody comes to claim their stuff. Either way, we gotta toss it.”
As the elevator jerked upward, I peered over the ledge of the dumpster to take a look at what exactly was being thrown out. The first thing that caught my eye was a vintage AKAI reel-to-reel tape recorder. Now, I’m quite the hi-fi nerd, so my first instinct was to ask if I could check out this obsolete yet glorious instrument of music playback technology. “Yea, go ‘head man, it’s all goin’ to tha dump anyway.” I reached into the dumpster and pulled out the ancient relic. It was heavy as shit, about 40 pounds, but it was gorgeous. I then looked back into the dumpster and what I saw next gave me the chills—a painting of Stevie Wonder’s face peering up at me in front of a bright orange background, smiling behind a pair of sunglasses. It was the LP cover of his 1980 release “Hotter Than July.”
“Woah! There’s vinyl in here!” I yelled. I was so excited, all I could think about was what else could be underneath all the layers inside the dumpster of what appeared to be books, newspapers, old photographs and other personal items. The elevator stopped. I didn’t want to leave the dumpster, but I had to look at a storage unit. Five minutes later, after checking out the unit, I asked the employee if I could hang out for a while so I could, um, dumpster dive for vinyl. He said it was cool, as long as I put everything I didn’t want back in the dumpster when I was through.
Two hours later, covered in sweat and sneezing from the dust I stirred up, I salvaged an impressive 150+ records! The poor bastard who couldn’t pay his storage bill (or, for all I know, was dead) had quite the collection at one point in his life, with most of it ranging from blues, funk, sixties and seventies soul, and r&b, as well as some early go-go and hip-hop.
Most of the records were in decent shape, others not so much. But from what I was able to save, I created several mixtapes of epic proportions, recorded samples into an MPC for my amateur attempt at beat production, and kept others solely for their glorious album artwork appeal.
So now, without further ado, I present to The Vinyl District with my Dumpster Diving 4 Vinyl! mixtape. Enjoy! —Brendan Polmer, Drummer, Tereu Tereu
(Ed. Note: Stream with option to download each Mp3 by clicking links.)
As editor here, I’m amazed at how much stuff we’re offered that I turn down. Actually, the turndowns wildly outpace the things we cover or the stuff we giveaway. We could be supremely busy and chock full of content if it weren’t for the damn filter that’s often employed.
Which is why I’m pleased this morning to recommend Sunday’s ‘No Love Lost’ at Velvet Lounge, curated by Fan Death’s Sean Gray and No Control!’s Denman Anderson. Short of all the vinyl and record store chatter, this is the stuff we planned on spotlighting nearly three years ago at the inception of this thing—the good taste bar continually high (and rising.)
So, Sunday? See you there. —Ed.
All words by Sean Gray and Denman C. Anderson
As an oversimplification, it’s easy to define Cold Wave as, “synth music.” And while there may be nothing wrong with that, the subtleties that carve out cold wave merge in a place that is darker and more bleak than simply using synthesizers to define a particular sound. The artists that emerged in late 70’s to early 80’s in a way, created a sound of acceptance. Acceptance of a way of living that is not organic, but is made by humans, and expressed by machines. An acceptance containing within it, all of the existential crises and fears of that reality. This acceptance feeds into every aspect of life from the political, to personal and human. It is this bleakness that we connect to. A problem with neither quantifiable solution, nor discernible definition. While other, similar genres may have tackled this continuum in their own way, for example, the violence and anger of industrial music, Cold Wave and much of its offshoots leave us with the idea of acceptance of the bleak sociological effects of technology.
The resurgence of this music and the progression it has taken in the past few years, in many ways, has much to do with the idea that the listener is always surrounded by technology that continually, and ironically, leaves them with less and less control. The hollow spaces gnawed within us by this life directly relate to the dark tones that both the first cold wave, and the “new wave” of today have brought us.
Many of its fans and followers would have nothing to do with this analysis, simply staking their claims to cold wave as, “good music.” Of course the first step in any audio exploration is to simply ask, “Who should I be listening to?” Here then, are three both noteworthy albums in the scene, all excellent starting points.
Kas Product – Try Out Upon hearing this LP for the first time, the average listener might not be sure what to make of it. However, once you hit the song So Young So Cold, there’s a surging energy that can’t be denied. Their debut album, released on RCA in 1982, “Try Out” sent an influential shot across the movement, and Mona Soyoc’s vocals were the blue print for all cold wave. Standout tracks include the obvious, “So Young But So Cold,” but also, “Break lose,” which utilizes the low ends of the synth and creates something more of a dance track that treads the line from poppy to morose.
Asylum Party – Borderline Compared to the Kas Product LP above, the 1989 release on Lively Art, “Borderline,” finds Asylum Party harnessing a much richer and more fleshed out sound. This album gives a fresh perspective on a scene that sometimes can become too redundant. Stand out tracks include, “Pictures,” which is a haunting song built on the foundation of a pounding beat that lands, not too far off the influence of industrial music of the time. Other songs, like, “Julia,” are the very definition of pop, but maintain their own wispy beauty. The dark romance of, “Borderline,” stands up strong, even today.
Neutral Project – Comme Un Oiseau De Proie… 1989 was apparently a very good year for this type of music, as Olivier Champeau, of other noteworthy band, Little Nemo, helped Yvon Million and Dominique Oudiou, (before the appearance of Kristian Dernoncour), produce a truly noteworthy slab of cold wave, “Comme Un Oiseau De Proie…,” on the Aspect D’Une Certaine Industrie label. This album goes much farther into the exploration of darkness than the other two mentions, utilizing the lower ends of the sound spectrum to create this atmosphere. It’s interesting to note that Neutral Project rely, by and large on only the beat to craft their music, but that’s just part and parcel for a genre that likes to let simple, bleak sounds bleed through. Tracks such as, “J’appelle,” are both amazing and a good representation of this sound, while a track such as, “Future,” almost become an out and out dance numbers. Of course, “Sodeil de Nuit (2eme Eclipse),” may well be one of the best cold wave songs ever written.
All of these albums helped form the ice-cubed building blocks of the genre we now look back on today, and yet, with everything mentioned above in mind, they seem more relevant than ever. Come out to Velvet Lounge this Sunday the 18th to experience and share in these sounds across eras. Let’s be empty together.
“I’ve been to Memphis many times over the last few years to perform in coffee bars and at the International Folk Alliance Showcase. However, I can say with authority that I did not really know Memphis until I came to do the Ardent Sessions recording in August 2008. I had been homeless and living in my car for over a year and a half at that point, touring the country, and playing music. I was just coming off a long and very manic-depressive tour with a bluegrass band and I was heading to Minnesota to see my family and take a break before a crazy fall schedule. I was completely exhausted.
There was an energy all around in the studio that night. It was obvious that Ardent Studios is a special place where special things happen. The records on the walls and the stories people tell you when you’re there back it up big time. It was a safe place to be in a summer of storms and Rachel was the perfect host. I felt like people really wanted to listen to me play my songs there and that felt good. The entire vibe transcended any negative weight I carried into the studio with me. The music flowed through me and I felt free.
Brad Bailey, Nick Pagliari and Blair Combest played before me and blew me away. The room was filled with an eager audience. It was silent during the songs and intimate the whole time. The lights were dim and candles were lit. I played mostly long, sad songs. It was amazing to be able to play on the Steinway, it’s not an opportunity that I get very often.
Ardent was a bright spot in a dark time for me. I can see it in my eyes in the video. I look like someone who needs a week of sleep and maybe a heart transplant because that’s who I was that day.
Currently I am still touring and making a new album in Atlanta. Hope to see you on the road…” —John Elliott
Enter to win John Elliott’s LP “Too Many Ghosts” by simply leaving a comment, your name, and a contact email address in the comments to this post. We’ll choose one winner each Friday for that week’s giveaway which ALSO includes the entire Ardent Music catalog. (That’s just 2 artists at this point, but hey, who’s counting?)
To hear more great Ardent Sessions please visit Ardent Presents.
If you’ve been playing along at home over the past two weeks, you’re well aware that we’ve been following The Caribbean all through the mid-west and down south via their between libations Tour Diary. The ‘Discontinued Perfume’ Tour Diary to be exact.
And if you have been following this missives from the road, you’ve probably asked yourself two things: 1. How can these guys be so damn charming? and 2. Just when the hell are they playing in our neck of the woods?
The answer to number one leans heavy on writer’s embellishment and the answer to number two is this coming Sunday night (7/18) at Galaxy Hut. Lucky you!
The charming and effusive gents of The Caribbean, fresh off a tour of the heartland’s seediest dive bars, have bequeathed TVD a pair of tickets to Sunday’s show to put into one pithy commenter’s hands.
That’s right – leave us some feedback in the comments to this post and the most charming among them will score the pair of tickets for Sunday night’s show. We’ll choose our winner by noon on Saturday (7/17) so make with the word-smithery already. And remember to leave us a contact email address!
Man, I love to hate on Pitchfork. And I have here with frequency— so I’ll spare ya the tirade.
But…crap. Today I totally agree with their review of School of Seven Bells’sophomore release, “Disconnect From Desire.” I mean, they gave it an 8.0. “SVIIB have since toured extensively, and their road-tripping appears to have made them more focused songwriters and performers. In the last two years they’ve not only coalesced into a band, but a band with a distinctive signature. That the flirtatious earworm “Bye Bye Bye” on new album, Disconnect from Desire, near-quotes “Soon”‘s hiccupping breakbeat seems appropriate somehow. SVIIB still work with a handful of shoegaze motifs, which they now use to highlight certain emotional states (typically turmoil and ambivalence). But it’s the band’s assertive pop melodies that prevail on their sophomore album.
Desire‘s lead track and first single “Windstorm” signals the transition as its instrumental drone slides into the Dehezas’ crystalline vocals. Far from fuzzy and undefined, the song draws clean, three and a half minute pop parameters. “Joviann” and “Babelonia” achieve similar results with intros, outros, and choruses drenched in atmospheric distortion that dissipates to reveal melodic throughways. “Heart Is Strange”, a marvelous club banger with the zeal and vivacity of Ladytron’s “Destroy Everything You Touch”, marks yet another shift in aesthetic priorities…”
Don’t take it from me—or from Pitchfork for that matter—decide for yourself as we’ve got”Disconnect From Desire” on vinyl for one of your mailboxes out there. Get at us in the comments to this post with your plea for the LP and the one that reaches 8.0 or higher will score the record.
And please—I can’t stress this enough—leave us a contact email address. You could pen a 10.0 comment but if we can’t let you about it, you’re outta luck.
“When I was seventeen I inherited my dad’s record collection. He wasn’t a frivolous spender and therefore not a frivolous collector. He wasn’t the type of person to spend money on a careless whim. My dad deemed many activities commonly thought of as normal and worthwhile to be extraneous to our familial lives (examples: vacations outside of northern Ontario, eating at restaurants, having friends that weren’t my sisters and cousins). Accordingly, his record collection is succinct, consisting only of music and artists that he loved and respected. (A side note on respect: my dad hated almost everything, so for him to express an interest in something meant that it had to be pretty special in his eyes).
My dad played guitar in a bunch of different bands from the time he was a teen until well into his 30’s. He and my mom met in a rock band called Bootleg that toured around Ontario and border towns like Buffalo and Detroit in the 70’s and early 80’s. Unfortunately, my dad’s rock star ambitions never came to fruition. Instead, he had a family and became a music teacher. The advent of middle age and obligatory fatherly duties sealed his fate and confirmed that his talents would go forever unrecognized by the listening masses. If he could do it over again I know he would pick our family over musical success, but I also know that this change in direction turned my dad into a bitter cynic.
His cynicism fueled many blasphemous rock music criticisms. Of the more notable are, “Robbie Robertson couldn’t play a guitar solo if his life depended on it,” or, “The only thing Jimmy Page was good at was copying other people.” Up until I was seventeen I was pretty sure my dad hated all music that other people liked. I don’t remember him ever listening to music. Not when I was around at least. He wrote songs and played his guitar, but never expressed an interest in artists or albums. That being said, I never really got to know my dad outside the relationship of parent and child. Because I was in my teens when he died, I didn’t know much about his personality aside from the stereotypically dad-ish, disciplinarian persona he exuded when he was alive.
Photo: Rory Gunderson
A year or so after my dad’s death, when my mom began cleaning out his solitary haven in the basement, I was given the responsibility of hauling his records up the stairs. My mom didn’t want to give them away because she knew how much they had meant to him. She suggested I hook up my grandma’s record player in my room and keep my dad’s collection up there. I obliged, partly because my seventeen -year -old brain thought vinyl was cool (although I really knew nothing about it at the time), but also because I was curious and wanted to explore this facet of my dad’s life that I knew nothing about.
Through his records I learned something about him that I never knew when he was alive: that he loved psychedelic rock bands from the late 60’s and early 70’s. The first record of his that I ever listened to was Spirit’s album, The Family That Plays Together. Shortly after I became acquainted with Son’s of Champlain’s 1969 release, Loosen Up Naturally.
Thanks to my dad’s collection I also discovered and grew to love blues guitarist Albert King. His album, Born Under A Bad Sign, piqued a previously unexplored interest in blues music. Another personal favourite is jazz and blues pianist, Ray Bryant’s album, Alone with the Blues. This record inspired me to actually practice the piano when I was seventeen, rather than spend my time playing half-assed renditions of Bryan Adam’s songs from the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Soundtrack. Because most of these artists and albums were unknown to me when I pulled them out and dropped the needle there were some trial and error moments, but that was part of the excitement in discovering so much new music. My greatest discovery to date was when I pulled out Townes Van Zandt’s eponymously titled album where he’s sitting at a kitchen table on the front jacket. Like many of the other albums in my dad’s collection, I had no idea what it would sound like, but it’s now become one of my top five favourite records.
It’s too bad I can’t talk to my dad about how much happiness his records have brought me or how many musical interests we now have in common. Hopefully one day I’ll have a kid or encounter some appreciative person who will take my records so that when I die my collection won’t end up in the 0.99 cent pile in the Value Village home wares department.” —Jessica Lanza
Batusis will perform at Crooked Beat Records on Thursday, July 29th. The duo have profoundly influenced the direction of punk rock and its aftermath: Cheetah Chrome, guitarist of Cleveland icons Rocket From The Tombs and Dead Boys.Sylvain Sylvain is the wildly charismatic New York Dolls axeman.
Batusis will be playing around 4 -5 songs acoustically. They will also be playing a full set at the Black Cat later that night. This is an early performance starting at 5pm. Performances are free and all ages.
So, chillens, I’m sick with some kind of crazy fever but since I was on vacay last week, I won’t take a sick day today. If I sound crazy or if this column sucks, let’s just blame my health, shall we?
Writing nonsense through a fever is just one sacrifice I’m making today. It’s really agony, I tell you. The other sacrifice? I just listened to “Closer to the Edge,” by 30 Seconds to Mars. That was hard, guys. But the band and their new album are getting lots of shout-outs on Twitter today, and so I did what needed to be done. For you. The reader(s). (Hi, Dad…)
I was going to expound upon exactly why I intensely disliked that song, but I’m not really sure I can put it in words. I found the vocals grating, the drums seemed weirdly exaggerated and not particularly interesting, there was some odd Enya keyboard stuff happening, and it’s hard to pull off a “clapping and singing only” anthem-style interlude in the middle of a fuzzy-instrument-heavy emo song. And that’s all I’ve got.
I used to get 30 Seconds to Mars confused with Dogstar, because they both have handsome actors in them. [Insert tasteless joke about a starlet known for dating handsome actors here.] Dogstar is Keanu Reeves’s band. 30 Seconds to Mars is Jared Leto’s. Both bands get kind of grumpy when you talk too much about their famous actor members, because it’s about the music, all right?
Dogstar hasn’t done anything since the turn of the century. This is a pity because their 1996 EP is called ‘Quattro Formaggi’ which is a hilarious name for anything other than a pizza. I wish I’d thought to name my cat Quattro Formaggi. I would like to see more EPs with such chilling, evocative titles.
30 Seconds to Mars, however, is still alive and … emoting. Although the new album, ‘This is War’ came out wayyyyy back in December 2009, the band’s been on tour most of the year promoting it. On Saturday, they played T in the Park, the annual monster outdoor festival in Edinburgh, and Jared Leto wore a kilt. This is important, because Jared Leto, as we have already established, is a handsome actor, and everyone loves handsome actors in kilts.
Maybe the kilt was also a magical audio-wave distortion device that transformed 30 Seconds to Mars’s simultaneously wailing and breathy music into … something listenable. Like a vuvuzela chorus, or karaoke. That would explain some things.
Actually, the “genre” tags on Wikipedia do a nice job of explaining things. According to that fount of knowledge, 30 Seconds to Mars is hard rock, emo, neo-progressive rock, post-grunge, alternative metal, and progressive metal. If you gave me a piece of paper and asked me to write down the worst possible genre combinations, progressive emo metal neo-post-alternative hard rock would pretty much be my answer.
So, shocker: People on Twitter like progressive emo metal neo-post-alternative hard rock, and I do not. Also, Jared Leto. In a kilt. And don’t go listen to that song, no matter how many of your Twitter friends might tell you it’s speaking to them.
Role #mmodel: “@TonyCankles: #MM #MusicMonday BRAND NEW Tony Cankles “Bangers On A Set List” My #musicmonday pick: Mudhoney.Hey guys did I tell you I’m not feeling well, huh, huh, did I, huh?
It’s true. Very soon you’ll log into thevinyldistrict.com and see the graphic above.
We’re moving to a glorious Blogger and Google-free world in wake of tragic, recent events.
But while we reconfigure our new home, we’ll still be doing our daily business at vinyldistrict.blogspot.com, all old-school like, so don’t think you’ll be forgotten in the slightest during our migration.
So, very soon, it’ll be back to business as usual:
“Last year my band Big Smith had the amazing experience of meeting John Fry, Rachel Hurley, and the gang at Ardent Studios. We loved seeing our buddy Pete Mathews nestled in his array of monitors and consoles, learning about the amazing success of the Soulsville Charter School,and being moved and inspired by our tour of the Stax museum, as well as the work and legacy of Ardent. I’ve written about this once in a lifetime experience at Ardentelsewhere in more depth.
Of the old Boston Garden, it was often said that when opposing teams played there, they not only played the Boston teams; they also had to play “the ghosts” living in the rafters: the specter of past Boston teams: their legend and their victories. At Ardent, it might be said that when you play there, you not only get to play with your band, you get to play with the ghosts. The legacy of great music is everywhere apparent at Ardent, from the gold and platinum records hanging on the walls, to the album covers and photographs, to the equipment. Holy mackerel, the equipment! A 2-inch tape machine is a great, lovely beastie under any circumstance, but when it has played a role in producing legendary music…well, these things ought to be preserved as monuments—preferably working monuments on which my bandmates and I get to record.
Another thing that distinguishes Ardent from other places with ghosts is how alive the ghosts are at Ardent. At Ardent, the ghosts are alive and well, and consequently so is the spirit. The feeling of family you get at Ardent is not confined to the studio or the people who have worked there. Walking the halls and occupying the studios you get a vision, or at least I did, of the kinship of an amazing diversity of musicians in an amazing diversity of genres who care deeply about what they do, who approach their art with passion and creativity, who believe that rendering our experience faithfully through music can be a high calling, and who think one ought to do his or her part in helping others answer that calling. What you do then is give your head a good shake, and in the best tradition of Ardent technicians and staff, and the musicians who’ve moved the earth at Ardent, you set to work.
We’re touring in support of our latest studio album, “Roots, Shoots, and Wings,” and are writing and rehearsing songs for the next one.” —Jody Bilyeu
Enter to win Big Smith’s CD “Roots, Shoots, and Wings” by simply leaving a comment, your name, and a contact email address in the comments to this post. We’ll choose one winner each Friday for that week’s giveaway which ALSO includes the entire Ardent Music catalog. (That’s just 2 artists at this point, but hey, who’s counting?)
To hear more great Ardent Sessions please visit Ardent Presents.
To announce the release of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros’“Up From Below – Deluxe Edition” we’re slipping you the Turbotito remix of “Desert Song” by Filip Nicolic this morning.
“Up From Below – Deluxe Edition”features live versions of “Up From Below” and “Carries On” plus the videos for “Home” and “Desert Song” and also a demo recording of “Home.”
Which is not a knock on any of the bands that comprise Rock & Roll Hotel’s Saturday night bill. Upon introduction to all four of them last week, they’re all up to something unique and totally worthwhile and easily come from diverse schools of thought.
So, it’s one cool bill indeed and it’s our job to let you know about it. And as such, it’s our job to get you out of the house, away from your turntables, and over to the Hotel for a night of music—whether you’re a fan of one or all of the bands already, or if they’re as new to you as they were to me last week.
We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to Saturday night’s foursome at R&R in exchange for your comment in the comments portion of this post. Whether you’re an old fan or a new one after snagging all the downloads below, let us hear it, and the most convincing of the bunch gets the pair.
We’ll choose a winner by 9AM on Friday morning so get to it—and remember to leave us a contact email address!
From the press accompanying the tickets: We here at Rock and Roll Hotel are hosting a killer party on July, 23rd that we’re calling “The First Annual Summer New Year’s Eve Party.” Yes, it’s the middle of summer, but what greater party is there than a New Years one? So we’re bringing that sparkle and shine to the club on the 23rd from 6 pm to 3 am.”
