In 2009, Starship 27 was released. The album, curated by drummer, producer, and DJ J-1, featured an assortment of West Coast beat producers. Shortly after the album’s release, eclectic Austin label, iNsect Records got in contact with J-1 and struck up a conversation. This eventually led to Starship Vol. 2 being released via iNsect.
Today marks the release of Starship 27, Vol 2 on iNsect Records. A few weeks ago, friend and founder of iNsect Records, Ben Webster, let me have a listen to this album and I was immediately hooked. No lyrics are needed because this 21 track instrumental album has some of the spaciest and funkiest beats I’ve heard in a while. Starship Vol. 2 will keep you nodding your head from start to finish and will definitely induce neck pains.
Starship Vol 2, sees the list of tracks and producers expand, including music by Dam-Funk, DIBIA$E, P.U.D.G.E., Devonwho, and Detroit’s own House Shoes and Waajeed . With Starship 27 Vol. 2, J-1 becomes the curatorial captain guiding the spacecraft on its voyage. “I chose all these folks because I’m truly a fan of all of their music…” says J-1. “I really think it’s a cool concept to have all the kats on 1 joint so everyone can see the talent that’s in our community.” I couldn’t have said it any better. For the artists I knew of on this album, I am still a fan, and for the one’s I wasn’t familiar with, they gained a new fan.
If you’re into hip hop, funk, soul, heavy bass, beats and just good music, this album is for you. If all else fails, you will be supporting an Austin label. Now go to the iNsect records website and pick this up! For now, here is one of my favorite tracks on the album, make’s me want to pop and lock every time I hear it:
James Vincent McMorrowcovers Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair” live at Today FM with Ray D’arcy in Ireland a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve dug his other stuff so much that we had to share. JVM’s dreamy crooning stands in stark contrast to the preteen’s funky anthem.
James Vincent McMorrow | Whip My Hair at Today FM with Ray D’Arcy
Bonus: “This Old Dark Machine” from his Early In the Morning album.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart drop its sophomore effort, Belong, on Berkeley’s Slumberland Records today. If you caught them at the Cats Cradle last year then you remember the night as being a fairly fuzzed-out ordeal. The New York City-based band returns to the Cradle this coming Saturday.
We have a pair of tickets for the first person to tell us in the comments where the band got its name and give us a good reason why you want to go to the show, I mean, hey, we know how to do a Google search, too. We won’t ship tickets so you should probably live close or plan to be in the area if you respond (so, there!).
Recorded with the production and mixing team of Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride), from what we can tell so far, Belong promises a bit more raw sound–a little more like catching the band live than their 2009 self-titled debut.
‘The Look’ is the next single from Metronomy, and will be released in the UK on April 18th. The album ‘The English Riviera’, the follow up to 2008’s critically acclaimed ‘Nights Out’ is issued the same day.
Hello friends! Here are the new VINYL releases for March 29th, 2011. Record Store Day will be here soon and you can download a PDF list of RSD2011 releases from The Vinyl District! Want your releases to appear on the list? email them to nashville@thevinyldistrict.com
This may be a first in the music business. The New Orleans Suspects, a super group that features ReggieScanlan of the Radiators, Willie Green on the NevilleBrothers, JakeEckert and KevinHarris on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and CRGruver of too many bands to mention, has released a video of them performing in the studio.
The group, which is going to break out hard this summer, is emerging on the scene after the Radiators perform their final shows in mid June. The band mines fertile musical territory represented by the repertoires of all of the bands that the members have performed in.
The song that they are performing in this video is just one musical slice of that they have in store for music fans across the country. Heads up promoters, booking agents and club owners, this band is going to turn some heads and burn some ears. (photo credit- Bob Compton)
Portland’s favorite gospel/blues/folk/country/punk collective The Builders & The Butchers sent out a missive today that features a fine opportunity for the artistically inclined among you. They and their friends in the band Murder By Death are looking for someone to create some artwork for their upcoming split 7″ single (to be released on MBD’s label Tent Show Records. Not only will your design be the envy of music fans and artists the world over but, according to the band, you will win a batch of free vinyl from both bands.
Don’t just take my word for it: read the e-mail from The Builders & The Butchers camp after the jump.
NYC natives Holy Ghost! have been keeping busy with remixing basically any band you’ve danced to lately (Cut Copy, Friendly Fires, Mark Ronson), DJ-ing across the globe, and now have their self-titled debut album come April 12th. Sticking to the DFA label’s brand of analog and electro-tinged disco-funk, Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser are supporting their debut with a full band tour opening for Cut Copy, which brings them to sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club this Tuesday (3/29) and Wednesday (3/30). Their new track “Wait & See” premiered earlier today.
Nick Millhiser chats with TVD ContributorBQ Nguyen about their start, influences, and why his boss’ band, LCD Soundsystem, is the best.
Holy Ghost! | Wait & See
TVD: So you guys have 20 dates opening for Cut Copy between Europe and their North American tour; I assume you’ve been friends since they recorded In Ghost Colours at DFA with Tim Goldsworthy a few years ago.
NM: Yeah, they came to New York to do their last record with Tim, and I met them, I believe, on their first day in New York because they needed to borrow a drum set to use on their record. So I loaned Tim and them one of my kits. After that, with the Juan MacLean we did a pretty long tour in Australia opening for them and so we’ve gotten to know them pretty well over the years.
TVD: But your first live gig as a 4-piece band was just last May at Under 100 in NYC?
NM: Yep. Since then we were basically on tour up until early December and had a little break until recently. Although the past month has been pretty busy gearing up for the release of the record, and we spent a fair amount of time re-tinkering the live set.
In each city Mike plays where there’s an affiliated TVD, we’ve got an opportunity for one of you to win the aforementioned “hyphenated-man” on vinyl in exchange for your comment to the contest posting. Let us know why you deserve to win Watt’s latest vinyl opera and the most convincing of the bunch will find the LP in his or her mailbox.
For the fourth in what will be ten opportunities to win the new LP, Mike Watt + The Missingmen play Chapel Hill’s Local 506 tonight, 3/28! You have one week from today to be sufficiently convincing in the comments to be awarded the record. Comments from a previous hyphenated-man giveaway will still be considered for future ones. Winners must have a mailing address in the continental US or Canada.
Mark Fagan of TVD Austin spoke with Mike in advance of the tour:
Mike Watt’s rock & roll résumé is as impressive as they come. His legendary career began with the Minutemen in 1980 alongside guitarist D Boon and drummer George Hurley which ran until the tragic car accident in December 1985 that took D Boon’s life. He then started fIREHOSE with Hurley and Ed Crawford which existed from 1986 to 1994, and has played bass for the legendary Stooges fronted by Iggy Pop for the last eight years. And those are just a few highlights from his storied career.
He’s back in support of his newest solo album and third opera, hyphenated-man, which features Watt on lead vocals and, of course, holding down the low end on electric bass with his signature flowing style that has inspired and influenced fellow bassists for decades. Interestingly, he actually composed hyphenated-man on D Boon’s Telecaster instead of the bass as per his usual practice.
Due to the growing backlog of projects, Watt decided to start his own label—clenchedwrench—and hyphenated-man has the honor of being the first release from this new imprint. The Vinyl District had a chance to chat with Mike before he hit the road.
A BUNCH OF LITTLE THINGS MAKE ONE
TVD: I read that hyphenated-man is inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Can you go into further detail on this? Watt: … [The documentary film on the Minutemen] We Jam Econo, have you heard of this?
TVD: Oh, certainly. Watt: Ok, [hyphenated-man] was being made about the same time these cats Keith [Scheiron] and Tim [Irwin] asked me to help them. So I hadn’t listened to Minutemen in a long time because of sadness – with D Boon – but I had to hear it, ya know, for this thing. They wanted me to do a spiel and drive ’em around town. But hearing it was it was like, “Wow, I kinda like this little thing.” [Watt laughs] Ya know, no filler. I wanna work again with this kind of thing. I mean we got the idea from the English band called Wire, Pink Flag. But I still like the way ya know George [Hurley], Boon, and myself went and did this. I wanted to do it again. It struck a chord in me, a resonance in me. Mr. Bosch used all these little things to make one big thing.
Minutemen kinda did that with a record or a gig ya know, a bunch of little things make one. That’s where I kinda found a little parallel. So, in a way I went back to my old days, but then in the opera form. … I was also thinking of this other angle, as far as the middle-aged thing goes. Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz. I don’t know the intention of the writer, it was a man, L. Frank Baum. I don’t know his intentions. But my take is like, you notice that that tin man and scarecrow and lion, they’re the farm hands.
Isaac Slusarenko is a name that should be quite familiar to the vinyl collectors and music aficionados of Portland. For the past 14 years, he has been in charge of Jackpot Records, a store that caters to the discerning listener thanks to their knowledgeable staff, and reputation for bringing in amazing bands for in-store performances or meet-and-greets. In 2004, Slusarenko also began a record label using the same name as his shop, reprinting local and international albums of note, and cultivating relationships with The Wipers’ leader Greg Sage and the enigmatic Jandek, both of whom have allowed Jackpot to reissue their work on vinyl. This year will see one of the first original recordings released by the label, Dave Depper’s song-by-song recreation of the Paul McCartney album Ram (out on May 3rd), and reissues of the last two Wipers albums Silver Sail and The Herd.
The first record I purchased happened when I was in 3rd grade at my elementary school evening carnival. Each year our school had a carnival with the usual activities: bingo, cakewalk, moonwalk, etc. You had to purchase tickets in order to play the games. I think it was 25 cents a ticket.
One of the school classrooms had been converted into a garage sale. Tables were set up with the usual late ’70s items: candles, ceramic owls, and macramé. But I was drawn towards a table with a small box of records. I browsed through the box and found it – the object of my desire…a copy of The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (a first pressing, as I found out later in life).
I paid for it with my red ticket and walked home happy. I felt like a grown up making a big purchase. I remember the feeling so vividly. I had played my parents’ copy constantly with my older brothers. Now it would be mine and so there in that moment started my hobby/habit of collecting of records. I still have the LP in my collection.
“Je Ne Sais Quoi” [I don’t know what] or WTF? Staff WriterDulani Wallace tells you where to get Charlie Sheen’s face immortalized in vinyl.
For better or for worse, Charlie Sheen is onto a new career path with his My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option Show. His reputation, still oddly held to high esteem, continues to bring life to parodies, tributes, and rebukes on- and offline. Even record stores may feel a little impact in sales because of the release of the Charlie Sheen EP by Genevan Heathen.
When Rachel asked me to contribute to this column, I was immediately keen on the idea. I’ve often spoken fondly of that first full-length album, Sly & The Family Stone‘s album Fresh. Now, I have to frame things for you slightly because, really, we’re talking about an entirely different era and time. Yet just as if it had happened yesterday, I can remember as vividly as any event of my life the day I bought that record.
I turned four years old in 1973, and of all the toys my mom & dad had bought for me, the one I had taken to most readily was my Fisher-Price Turntable (which looked an awful lot like this one ). My brothers Charles & Steven were teenagers at the time & both of them had already amassed collections of records, some of which they had grown tired of. Several of my father’s clients worked for record labels and/or record manufacturing plants here in Memphis. From time to time, dad would bring home these boxes of LP’s and 45’s and give them to my older brothers. Being finicky teenagers, they didn’t really care for most of them, so I would always end up with a cache of these second-hand records. In retrospect, I wish that I had already known how to take better care of most of those records; a lot of them (it would turn out) are now out-of-print Stax/Volt classics, promotional items from Warner Brothers, Columbia, Hi Records, Motown, Tamla, Harvest, Playboy, and other various labels.
But, I digress. On the occasion of my fourth birthday, dad told me that I could buy a record album (as they called them) of my very own that I would get to pick. I remember that there was a song which played on the radio that I liked a lot called “If You Want Me To Stay”, and I used to get really excited whenever it came on. So there, on my fourth birthday, they took me over to Zayre, a store kind of like what would be like K-Mart or Wal-Mart today but on a much smaller scale. I remember pouring over the racks of records and affixing on the one with the guy in the leather jumpsuit doing a jump kick on the cover. It just so happened that record had my favorite song on it, and that would be my fourth birthday present.
On that day, when I got home with my record in tow, I remember how my brother Charles taught me how to care for records properly. He taught me how to carefully remove the record from the inner sleeve and place it gently on the turntable, how to put it back in its case, how to hold the center with one hand and the edge with the other so as not to get fingerprints on the vinyl. As I became fixated on the album, I also became fixated on taking care of records so they would last a lifetime. Though it’s been played a great deal since 1973, I still have my original copy of Fresh on vinyl, and it remains one of my favorite albums of all time.
At the age of 10, E.J. Friedman’s first job was a weekly DJ gig at the original Silky Sullivan’s in Overton Square where (according to a piece from the Memphis Press-Scimitar) he would “prod patrons to disco.” A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he began splitting his time between working in film & television production and writing the music blog Loudersoft in 2006. E.J. loves the sound the needle makes in his headphones when it drops and hits the first groove. He approves the usage of ‘disco’ both as a noun and a verb.
As usual, lots of cool new releases available this week at End of an Ear and other fine local independent retailers. The item that caught my attention this week: “A limited edition three-track 12-inch EP [from the Melvins] featuring a nine-minute cover of the Wipers ‘Youth of America’ on the B-side. None of these tracks have appeared on vinyl prior. Limited to 2,000 copies on silver/gray vinyl.” Click through for the full list.
From the forthcoming Crystal Stilts album, ‘In Love With Oblivion’, this wham-bam pop blaster cranks it up a notch from last Autumn’s ‘Shake The Shackles’ single. Check it out here:
There is still time to catch the Crystal Stilts in the UK…
March 28th – Leeds: Brudenell Social Club
March 29th – Birmingham: Bar Academy
March 30th – London: Cargo Tickets
At times comprised of anywhere from 9 to 14 members, the folk group Paulie Pesh take the stage at Continental Room in Fullerton one last time for their March residency. I’ve made it out to a couple of their shows so far and every time I’m in awe of how they can all fit on the cozy, Chuck E. Cheese-like stage without some sort of domino effect happening from one person who sneezes or bumps elbows with another, only to make everyone lose their shit. And despite that worry and any sort of discomfort, they all keep their heads high and show no sign of awkwardness to provide the audience with an inspiring set.
I caught up with singer-songwriter Paulie Peshkepia on new music, remembering the birthdays of his 14 band members and of course, vinyl.
