Monthly Archives: January 2012

Lightfoot: The Vinyl District Showcase Week Enter to win tix & vinyl!

By Jon Meyers | Published: January 24, 2012

We’ve been in this racket long enough to know that it’s not every day a band or artist attains the lofty ambition of releasing their first single on vinyl, not to mention it arriving in tandem with said artist’s first full EP. Washington, DC’s Jessica Louise Dye, or Lightfoot, is the exception to that rule.

Via sheer will, tenacity, and perseverance—and did we mention she’s super fucking talented too?—Lightfoot’s 7″ single and EP, Scarlet Sails is available this week, and as such, DC’s Black Cat is hosting a release party this Friday night, January 27th. Joining Jess on the bill are Loose Lips, Ugly Purple Sweater, and Paperhaus—all of whom we’ve cornered this week for a chat about records in anticipation of Friday night’s event.

In addition, Lightfoot has given TVD a pair of tickets to Friday’s release party and a copy of the new 7″ to give away to one commenter to this post or the remaining ones throughout this week. Just let us know in the comments why you want to be in attendance Friday night – and why – and the most convincing of the commenters gets the single and two tickets. See, simple? Lightfoot, and TVD, loves you.

First up this week is Loose Lips’ Don Potter on vinyl, and it should be said that while it’s Lightfoot’s vinyl/EP coming out party, it’s Loose Lip’s final farewell show. The last. That’s it. No more. (I mean, not to pressure you at all for Friday.)

What was the first record you ever listened to?

There’s this great photo of myself as a baby sitting on the floor with some giant 1980s headphones on my head, and the maroon album jacket for Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks face down on the floor next to me. How could my parents subject a young child to so much beautifully articulated pain and heartache?! Oh well, I forgive them. Blood on the Tracks is one of my favorite albums to this day.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 1 Comment

Tête à Tête with
Vox and the Hound

By Ariane Trahan | Published: January 24, 2012

I missed their debut performance at 2010’s Foburg music festival. I caught chunks of their set at Saturn Bar when they followed Man/Miracle (remember that entertaining post?) Friday I got another chance to bask in the mellow-ish sounds of local lovelies, Vox and the Hound. Where southern subtleties seesaw with folk-friendly psychedelia and modern indie – their first EP Hermosa (Jan., 2011) is somehow music ideally matched to all four seasons.

With dozens of shows behind them and pre-production underway for a second album, the good ole’ boys of Vox And The Hound had a drink with me in the backyard of Carrollton Station, complete with heavy humidity and spilled drinks.

Our players tonight are Leo DeJesus (Vocals/Guitar/Percussion), D Ray (Keys/Trombone/Vocals), Rory Callais (Guitar/Vocals), Andrew Jarman (Bass/Vocals), and Eric Rogers (Drums).

Let’s get down to brass tacks. I loved Hermosa, which you recorded at Living Room Studio. Looking back on that process, size up your experience in the last year with all the new songwriting.

Rogers: With Hermosa we wanted to get a very raw, very organic sound and with that studio it’s a big open room. It’s an old church. It made it very earthy. In contrast with the next record we’re kind of taking a leap forward from that. It’s gonna be more, not synthetic…

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Ocha La Rocha introduces a new format, the digital 7”

By Eric Slager | Published: January 24, 2012

Ocha La Rocha, the creative vehicle for Atlanta singer-songwriter Johnny La Rocha, has always supported vinyl. Having self-released two full-length records and an EP, Ocha La Rocha is preparing for the release of their latest album, Ocha Scores.

Set to be released early this year on 180 gram collector’s vinyl, Ocha Scores was recorded, mixed, and mastered entirely in La Rocha’s home studio. In anticipation of the release, Ocha La Rocha has conceived a very unique type of preview.

Introducing, the digital 7”

When you visit www.ochalarocha.com, you are greeted with a flash player that looks and functions like a turntable. Clicking the arm starts and stops the track, and clicking on the record flips it to the other side.

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Beyond Beyond is Beyond Week: Disc 3

By Mike Newman | Published: January 24, 2012

Well, the Beyond Beyond is Beyond psych compilation release date is upon us! Warm up those headphones and grab the whole epic thing over at Bang Bang Boogaloo.

And our buddy and artist, Justin Gabbard, has some limited-edition (only 25 hand-numbered) posters of the amazing cover art for sale over at his webstore, for those of you who having been asking about it.

As I put this comp together I found myself wondering how it would’ve played out if it had been pressed to vinyl. So let’s get back to our hypothetical triple-disc Beyond Beyond is Beyond compilation album.

This is disc 3 and it is the final side. Side B of the third disc would be blank, kind of like Johnny Winter’s Second Winter double-vinyl LP! So let’s dig in…

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Dichroics:
The TVD First Date

By Special to TVD | Published: January 24, 2012

Dichroics play the Christian Nightmares’ showcase at Johnny Brenda’s this Saturday, 1/28 with Circle of Buzzards and DJ Los spinning nothing but vinyl throughout the night!

“The first record I owned was a 45 of Hall and Oats “Private Eyes.” I was eight years old and didn’t know anything about music. I picked it out because I’d heard it on the radio in our station wagon. For more than two years that was the only record I owned.

I quickly got bored with listening to it and soon began manipulating it on the little plastic record player I had, slowing it down to 33rpm’s at the hand clap on the chorus, shooting rubber bands at the record arm from across the room while it played, and scribbling all over the cover with crayons.

When I was ten my brother and I both got BB guns for Christmas. I shot holes in Hall and Oats for target practice in the backyard and eventually destroyed the record by throwing it up in the air until it shattered on our driveway.

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Who The Hell Is:
Phone Joan

By Laurence | Published: January 24, 2012

Why Phone Joan?

There are many reasons why we think you should, but mostly because you could. Just dial +47 917 99466.

Can you tell us a bit about where you are from and how you got together?

Most of the band members rose from the cold and wet basements of Oslo, Norway’s indie-rock scene during the financial crisis that took place around 2008-2009. All of us were starved for anything with substance. The superficial and tiring Norwegian music scene needed someone to shake things up a bit. So we all decided to call her. She’s the one bringing us together. This, and the fact that we were promised lots and lots of beer (and if you think about it…. who the hell could say no to that?) made us form Phone Joan in 2009.

You’re video for ‘Damned’ is pretty powerful stuff, tell us more.

You know, information is so shock oriented. More and more of it is aimed to produce an emotional rather than rational response to what is presented. And most of the propaganda gladly vomited on us is only aimed to create fear. From one day to another, it seems the only question is how to top it. Everyone’s ending up screaming at each other, but none of us ever get the time to sit down and listen.

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Power-Pop-A-Licious: The Movie!

By Jon Meyers | Published: January 23, 2012

Last Spring, TVD was honored to partner with Power Pop Legend Paul Collins as he curated and assembled 19 of the finest Power Pop acts out there right now for a weekend showcase—Power-Pop-A-Licious—in my old stomping ground of Asbury Park, NJ.

The Asbury Lanes is where it all went down and Derek Davidson, bassist for NYC’s The Electric Mess was there to play the showcase and to capture it on film. We’re thrilled to debut the results of his efforts at TVD.

(Just try to sit still when watching. Impossible.)

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The Vinyl District Showcase Week: Sockets Records’ Cigarette

By Special to TVD | Published: January 23, 2012

This Saturday (1/28), Sockets Records holds its 2012 Showcase at the Black Cat, featuring performances by Protect-U, Imperial China, Buildings, and Cigarette.

The prodigious local indie label, specializing in “experimental, incidental, minimal and arranged sounds” since 2004 (anyone ever heard of those Bluebrain fellas?), will be joining us all week at The Vinyl District. Artists from Sockets will be sharing their love of vinyl and music as a preview to Saturday’s blowout.

First up, Evan Napala of Cigarette, who reminisces about sorrowful female vocalists played on ’60s suitcase turntables in New York City.

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Farewell to Etta James, the “Matriach of Rhythm and Blues”

By Dulani Wallace | Published: January 23, 2012

Etta James was somewhere between the femme fatale and grand dame of the Rhythm and Blues movement. Her lyrics were sulky and yearning, occasionally content. Though few of her songs were self-written, the verses were custom-made.

Etta crossed-over last Friday on January 20th, a few days after Johnny Otis—the man credited for discovering her fierce talent. Otis, the multi-hyphenate singer, songwriter, producer, and et cetera, died on January 17th.

With good reason Otis singled out the teenage James (at the time, part of a doo-wop group called the Creolettes) to groom for stardom. He changed the group’s name to the Peaches, and produced the song “Roll With Me Henry.” (It was later changed to “Wallflower” due to the “sexually suggestive” original title.) Nevertheless, it became a hit, and Ms. James took a solo turn after the record contract expired. She found a new home at Chess Records, already a breeding ground for great blues-rock crossover music. It was 1960.

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Beyond Beyond is Beyond Week: Disc 2, Side B

By Mike Newman | Published: January 23, 2012

Well, I told you all about the Beyond Beyond is Beyond psych comp last week. It’s official release date is tomorrow but go grab it now as a free digital download over at Bang Bang Boogaloo. I promise it will blow, at least, your mind!

And the comp release show at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn on Thursday was amazing, with next-level sets from The Zabalas, Woodsman and Hopewell. Check out some great pics from Kristin Viens.

And Velcro Lewis himself will be spinning the full compilation Wednesday night in Chicago at Rodan, if ya happen to be there.

We’ve covered disc one already, side A and side B. As well as side A of disc two. So today, let’s move on to the second side of the second vinyl disc…

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TVD Ticket Giveaway: Cowboy Mouth at the 9:30 Club, 1/26

By Morgan Swank | Published: January 23, 2012

Alright ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a really awesome giveaway this week. New Orleans rock outfit Cowboy Mouth is coming to the 9:30 Club on Thursday (1/26) and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give to one lucky winner. Go ahead and grab those stetsons and boots with the spurs so you can dance your way out of them at the show!

Hailing from the salty marshes of New Orleans, Cowboy Mouth has been bringing the sounds of the Bayou and classic Southern rock ‘n’ roll since the early ’90s. In 2011, the raucous rebel rousers released their 10th studio album aptly titled Mardi Gras and are now on tour making stops in select states all over the U.S. to bring you their tunes and a damn good party.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 19 Comments

TVD Recommends: Kevin Hearn at Schubas Tavern, 1/24

By Eric Slager | Published: January 23, 2012

If you have the misfortune of being unfamiliar with Canadian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Hearn, then do your self a favor, and keep reading, because you’re not going to want to miss this.

Most known for his work with the Barenaked Ladies, Hearn has played with the Rheostatics, toured with Lou Reed, fronted Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle, and most recently released his second solo album, Cloud Maintenance. A follow-up to Mothball Mint (1997), Cloud Maintenance brings us the sort of light indie-pop that Hearn has perfected.

Kevin Hearn – Don’t Shuffle Me Back

Unfortunately for fans across the country, it looks like Hearn has only one upcoming show scheduled. Fortunately for Chicago, it just so happens to be at Schubas Tavern. Like I said, you’re not going to want to miss this show.

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Behind The Scenes
at Wilcox Sessions

By Ash Eliot | Published: January 23, 2012

This past Saturday, I wandered over to Wilcox Avenue in Hollywood to get a behind the scenes look at locally grown Wilcox Sessions. UK bred The Good Natured were coming through the homemade studio – literally in the living room and kitchen of a gorgeous condo.

A little over a dozen people, including the crew, band, management and friends, were in attendance to help create the magic that goes behind these beautiful and artistic sessions. The founders Chris Litten and Menaka Gopinath have seen quite a few staple LAers and touring acts come through their home for the Wilcox Sessions.

Locals Hanni El Khatib, Family of the Year, Fitz and The Tantrums, and Voxhaul Broadcast, to name a few, have taken off their shoes and performed in the couple’s living room. Even lead singer David Dennis of Voxhaul stopped by to watch on Saturday and attempted to eat a power bar (one of the many snacks there), which was grabbed out of his hand and hilariously thrown across the room due to the noisy wrapper. On top of LA locals, SD-based Little Hurricane and the infamous Moby (yes, I’m serious. The real MOBY) have also been featured on the site.

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TVD’s Press Play

By Jon Meyers | Published: January 23, 2012

It’s our weekly Twitter #MusicMonday recap of the brand new tracks from last week that the folks in the press offices want you to be hearing. We post, you download.

Gross Relations – Cut The Final Scene
Pond – Fantastic Explosion of Time
Fort Romeau – Jack Rollin’
Larkin Grimm – Paradise and So Many Colors
Santigold – Big Mouth
Black Bananas – Rad Times
The Elkcloner – Crossfire
Thomas Azier – Metropolitan Tribe
Simone Felice – New York Times
The Adultery Brothers – What’s the Point

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Conduits – Top of the Hill

Tayisha Busay – Heartmeat/Lovemuscle
Elephant & Castle – En Memoria (feat. Tune-Yards)
Walter Rose – Driving South (feat. Lucinda Williams)
AU – Solid Gold
Air Review – America’s Son
AVAN LAVA – It’s Never Over
Barna Howard – Promise I Won’t Laugh
Barry Adamson – Turnaround
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic (Psymbionic Remix)
Big Sir – Our Pleasant Home

28 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!

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Introducing: Little Racer

By Laurence | Published: January 23, 2012

Hailing from oh-so-fashionable Brooklyn, Little Racer’s debut double A-side single, “Split For The Coast” / “The Town” was released in December, and has remained on our turntable ever since.

In the fine, longstanding tradition of quality maintained by the Young And Lost Club label, the band, formed in late 2009, consists of Elliot Michaud (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Ish Nazmi (bass, backing vocals) and Mike Seay (drums, backing vocals) and look destined for great things in 2012.