The Dig have made quite a number of appearances here in 2010, having even taken over TVD for a full week back in June. Perhaps to keep that particular drive alive, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see the band as they return to DC next Thursday (10/14) at the Black Catalong with Henry Clay People.
The Dig are touring in support of their recent LP ‘Electric Toys’ which can be found here on iTunes and in any one of your city’s fine independent, mom and pop retailers, the band would like you to know.
Let us know why you should be chosen for the pair of tickets to see The Dig in the comments to this post and the most convincing of the bunch will take home the tickets for next Thursday’s show.
We’ll close this one on Tuesday (10/12) to give you plenty of time to conjure up your response—and remember to leave us a contact email address with your entry.
Remember, we’ve teamed up with ReadysetDC for all of our ticket giveaways so you can enter to win either here at TVD or at ReadysetDC.
If you’ve come to understand our tastes, you’ll recognize that London’s The Supernovas are a straight shot right up the center:
“Vinyl is something that has always been seen as a thing of the past by many of my generation. If I got a penny for every time I had someone say to me; “Vinyl?!? Who still plays vinyl?!?” when I was trying to sell them one of our 7”s, then I’d at least have enough to buy a copy for myself!
For me though, it was still very important that we released our singles on vinyl as well as digitally. I’m a Northern Soul enthusiast and as such, am part of a small collective of people (the readers of this article included) that genuinely believe that vinyl just sounds better than the compressed digital formats that people are so familiar with in this digital age. And in my opinion, there is no sound stronger than a 45rpm vinyl.
Vinyl for me is special – a real tangible format unlike an MP3. You can’t frame a digital download. You can’t store it in a box in the attic for your grandchildren to find 50 years later and play on a dusty old system that sounds as old (and magical) as it actually is. And you can’t find one in the bottom of a box in a charity shop and then flog it on eBay for ten times the price you bought it for.
My love affair with vinyl began when I was 18. I had just began a DJing residency at The Bar; a club in Hanway Street, located in London’s Soho area which specialised in Mod, Jazz and Soul. I had started the night with another musician friend called James Bone (although he got barred after that night but that’s another story!) and we didn’t own a single record between us! My whole set was made up of CDs (which I didn’t realise at the time was a big NO – not cool at all!). It didn’t take me long to work it out though and before long I was up in my Nan’s loft, trawling through boxes upon boxes of records, hunting out various little gems – the first of which was Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ which was backed with ‘Can I Get A Witness’ the latter is a track which I still play at every single DJ set I do and have done since!
From then on, my quest for a decent record collection began in earnest and I started visiting all of London’s independent record shops (a dying trade which really seems to be kept alive by the medium of vinyl alone) in search of something special. The most memorable of these trips was a visit to a shop in Camden where I came across a 7-inch of N.F. Porter’s ‘Keep On Keeping On’. The price was £8 and I only had £5 on me. I had never actually heard the track before (although I had heard a friend, Mike mention it in the past) so I put it back on the shelf and left. The next time I saw Mike I told him about it, he gasped, his face dropped, ‘You’re gonna be gutted when you hear this’ he said and turned on his computer, brought up YouTube and played me the track. He was right. I was gutted. Shortly after it had finished, we both put our jackets on, ran to the bus-stop, headed back to the shop to find that it had gone. The next couple of weeks were spent frantically searching the Northern Soul sections of various record shops in the hope of finding another copy. Eventually, a routine check on eBay managed to produce the goods and I scored a copy from Holland for just £6 and happy times were restored!
This for me is what vinyl is all about. I probably could have just gone on iTunes and downloaded the track for 79p, but where would the fun have been in that? There is no chase with a click on iTunes and no great feeling about ownership of an MP3 either. Trying to find that elusive copy that only a few people own and everybody wants is real. Vinyl epitomises this elusive side of the game and that is why for me, it is so important to keep it alive.” —Joei | The Supernovas
About a year ago I purchased that DJ crate up there in the graphic which I’ve taken to calling ‘The Box.” It’s not that I DJ often either, but when I’ve been invited to do so, the box holds just enough LPs to make a night of it.
Dutifully, I’d pack my LPs into the thing for the night and afterward, usually the following morning over coffee or copious amounts of water, would take the time to refile the previous night’s records back on the shelves in their rightful, alphabetical, in order by sequential date of release—spot.
And then it’d sit empty.
Now, I got this “problem” you see, and it has zero to do with a lil’ blue pill, thank you.
I’m a chronic ebayer. It’s what I do. Type in a few well honed key words, and I’m off to the races. Then typically afterward, Paypal.
My new thing, my new fix, is buying sealed LPs of records that have etched themselves indelibly into my fiber. I mean, not the best records ever by traditional standards or something of the sort—just mint, pristine, sealed versions of records I’ve inhabited for eons.
I’ll tell you where it started—about 2 months ago, armed with a fine merlot and a high speed DSL connection, I scored the complete set of Beatles LPs—the UK versions—sealed, mint…the first of the set all in Mono. My wallet sobbed, I was over the moon—and boom, the entire Beatles LP career catalog (more or less) landed on my doorstep.
Oddly though, these were sore thumbs…where should I put them? I mean, I HAVE this set in multiple incarnations, just not …sealed.
“The Box.”
The box became the perfect location for these gems and the ebay gems keep a-coming. I thought I’d chronicle this week a few of the sealed records that are now cramming that once empty box and who knows – as the box gets er, …filled…we’ve got a bit of a recurring column here at TVD. (Aw, hey – it’s content – ok?)
I was reminded just how great a live band The Fleshtones are during their all too brief set at the 9:30 Club’s 30th Anniversary Concert last July, and this week America’s most-revered garage band return to the very same venue this Saturday night—and we’ve got a pair of tickets to giveaway to one of you to check out the NYC legends on us.
“It’s unabashed party rock ‘n’ roll, expertly composed and executed; in a perfect world, ‘Jet Set Fleshtones’ would be on every car radio all summer long.” —Variety
“The Fleshtones have been throwing a rock ‘n’ roll party for the past 30 years, and amazingly they show no signs of slowing down. Take a Good Look … comes well-stocked with their patented blend of ’60s-style garage rock and frat-house R&B.” —Performing Songwriter
Let us know why you should be chosen for the pair of tickets to see The Fleshtones in the comments to this post and the most convincing of the bunch will take home the tickets.
You need to act fast though—we need to close this one out tomorrow, Thursday (10/7) at noon—and remember to leave us a contact email address with your entry.
Remember, we’ve teamed up with ReadysetDC for all of our ticket giveaways so you can enter to win either here at TVD or at ReadysetDC.
Le Noise Film is a 38-minute black and white film of eight live-in-studio performances of every song on Neil Young’s brand-new album Le Noise.
In addition to the performances, there is also a personal introduction by Young himself, along with behind-the-scenes clips from album producer, Daniel Lanois, and more. The performances, shot by filmmaker Adam CK Vollick, feature Young on acoustic and electric guitars at Lanois’ home studio in Silverlake, CA, where Young and Lanois recorded Le Noise.
The Dig have made quite a number of appearances here in 2010, having even taken over TVD for a full week back in June. Perhaps to keep that particular drive alive, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see the band as they return to DC next Thursday (10/14) at the Black Cat along with Henry Clay People.
