Greater Manchester’s most in the know radio host Shell Zenner broadcasts the best new music every Monday at 9pm on DIY Radio UK.
You can also catch Shell’s broadcast right here at TVD, each and every Thursday.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
TVD Live: The Joy Formidable with A
Place to Bury Strangers at the 9:30 Club, 3/26
A love letter to Oliver Ackermann.
Dear Oliver,
Remember when you played that amazing show to a packed 9:30 Club in DC last Monday? I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was actually the day before yesterday. Wouldn’t you agree that The Joy Formidable played an amazing set worthy of awe and admiration? I have to say your band, A Place to Bury Strangers, easily could have headlined that show, but I might be a bit biased. I think you will agree with me that Brooklyn’s Exitmusic were the perfect opening act, with Aleksa Palladino’s bone-chilling vocals offering any music fanatic a soundtrack for the dreams they’d have that night.
I know we only met briefly after your set, but I feel like it was kismet, the way I interrupted the conversation you were having with your parents to tell you how much I loved your set. You looked awkwardly in my eyes for those eternal two seconds, and I blushed and looked away because it was the most intense experience of my life.
Posted in TVD Washington, DC Leave a comment
TVD Recommends: Sugar and Spice at
Rock and Roll Hotel tonight, 3/28
It’s Women’s History Month, so what better way to end it than by listening to a bunch of ladies spinning a vinyl-heavy set of music by the ladies of rock ‘n’ roll?
Sugar and Spice is everything nice! Starting today, on the last Wednesday of the month at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington D.C, Andria Leo (Andi Supreme), Jenn Bress (DJ Jennder) and Sun Kim (Sally-go-round) will highligh music by women from all eras and genres, everything from the Shangri-las to the Runaways to the Dum Dum Girls. Girl group, dance, pop, indie, rock, metal, if women are involved we’ll be sure to kick out their jams.
Frankly, we’re blushing at the really nice things Fritz Hahn said about the night in the The Washington Post’s Going out Gurus:
Posted in TVD Washington, DC Leave a comment
TVD Live: Eliot Lipp at Newby’s Memphis, 3/23
This past week, the tornado that is Fareveller hit ground in Memphis.
Acts like Ume and Those Darlins lit up stages and faces across a number of venues in midtown Memphis. Local and country-wide representation took turns bludgeoning Memphians with solid performances of great tunes. I had the opportunity to go see Eliot Lipp’s aural assault at Newby’s Memphis this past Friday, and luckily, lived to tell the tale.
Fellow beatmaker Mindelixir opened, playing plenty of what he’s known for—technical American dubstep is the name of his game, with plenty of mid-range wobble and super tight drum work. Mindelixir mixed his potions and dipped into instrumental hip hop by playing Hudson Mohawke’s crazy popular “Cbat,” but stayed above water for the most part with a tendency to only drop everyone’s favorite genre of womp womp.
Posted in TVD Memphis Leave a comment
TVD Recommends: Wolter Wierbos at Hi Ho Lounge tonight, 3/28
There is a thriving free jazz scene going on in New Orleans and the stalwart organizers manage to bring internationally known artists to town on a regular basis. The Dutch musician is one of the strongest and most engaging trombonists in the worlds of jazz and creative music.
Tonight he will be appearing with at least three of our city’s most incredible improvisers on trombone—Rick Trolsen, Jeff Albert and Mark McGrain. Other local trombonists also expected to appear.
Posted in TVD New Orleans Leave a comment
TVD Live: The Monsters of Rock Cruise, Day 2: Kix, Night Ranger, Helix, John Corabi, Firehouse
Even though The Monsters of Rock Cruise happened last month, and I left you hanging after my Day One recap (thank you, SXSW), I thought I would revisit the topic and share more photos taken during the second day of what is surely one of my most unique experiences. With that said, let me take you back to February 26, 2012—which felt to me very much like February 26, 1986.
Day Two on the Monsters of Rock cruise is where the party really got started. Baltimore rockers Kix kicked off the day with a blistering set on the ship’s top deck. These guys are terribly underrated and quite possibly the finest “Hair Metal” straight ahead rock band of their time. They sounded better than ever, blasting through classics from their 1988 masterpiece Blow My Fuse.
Later on that day, Night Ranger took the inside stage and showed everyone why they are still incredibly relevant. Jack Blades and company brought everyone back to a time when “Sister Christian” was a radio staple. They even stretched their set to include the enormously popular Damn Yankee’s power ballad “High Enough,” which sounded better than the original.
Posted in TVD San Francisco Leave a comment
Vinyl Video:
The D Rizes Again!
The band that is unarguably more talented than the Beatles, Stones and Led Zeppelin combined have rizen from the ashez. ‘Nuff said.
You can pre-order Rize of the Fenix now before it hits stores on May 15. Pre-order now at the Tenacious D Official Store. And yes, it’s available on vinyl!
Tenacious D has also announced more tour dates this summer. Tickets go on sale for the following shows beginning Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31.
Posted in TVD New York City 1 Comment
Fort Lean:
The TVD First Date
“For whatever reason, I’ve always been fascinated with sound itself, not just music.”
“I’d hang out under the piano while my dad would play, and I was amazed by the process of putting a record on and hearing bass or a band come out of speakers that were as big as I was (we didn’t have a crazy system, I was just 2 feet tall). I think this led to my choice to work as a recording engineer – sound is cool!
When I’m in the studio, if there’s a budget for it I always request that we at least mix down to tape, and if the band can handle it, to track to it as well. I still prefer working on a real console with real gear and real buttons with a good 1/2″ machine as opposed to in the box, and this philosophy is the same for me with listening to music.
Posted in The TVD Storefront Leave a comment
Graded on a Curve:
Lampchop, Mr. M
After a wait of over three years, Kurt Wagner and his band of astute conspirators have delivered yet another highly distinguished album. Lambchop’s Mr. M unwinds as just one more example of Wagner and Co’s unfussy brilliance, and it adds to the oeuvre of one of the finest acts American music has produced in the last quarter century.
Due to the nature of their early musical inclination, a rustic sound that held uneasy relationships with the comforts of both contemporaneousness and tradition, Lambchop has been frequently identified as one of the more eclectic examples of the alt-country genre, a circumstance that’s only been amplified by the group’s residence in Nashville, TN. It’s a tag that Kurt Wagner and Co has never really bristled against, even after moving considerably beyond the template established by their first few albums, mainly because there really isn’t another genre that can comfortably house them.
However, Wagner can be grouped with Will Oldham, David Berman, and Bill Callahan, all artists that charted paths out of the early ‘90s US indie boom to their own uniquely expressive ends. But of this foursome, Berman is no longer musically active, riding out on a high note, Oldham is a heavily collaborative and highly prolific operator continually shifting between on-again off-again bands and projects, and Callahan is most accurately sized-up as a solo artist. In this group it’s in Wagner alone that we find an artist so inclined to explore the possibilities of a gradually shifting (in membership as well as sound) long term collective.
Posted in The TVD Storefront Leave a comment
Who the hell is:
Maundrie Fox?
Who is Maundrie Fox?
Maundrie Fox is Pittsburgh native producer and multi-instrumentalist Eric Anderson. It’s an MPC mix of sampled vocals, keyboards, and clattering beats. I like to describe it as “bedroom beat.”
What is your motivation?
Before any other instrument I played the drums. Because of that I am always most invested in the rhythmic quality of music. If I’m listening to something and I think the beat is unimaginative and the sample or the production doesn’t have much character then I’m going to be really turned off. So maybe with that being my focus, I also wanted to make something really melodic / euphoric that incorporated a lot of vocal samples. Ultimately though, I end up obsessing over rhythm tracks.
Posted in TVD UK Leave a comment
TVD’s 10 Weeks of Record Store Day Vinyl Giveaways: Rufus Wainwright, Out of the Game (Signed)
One of Canada’s finest musical exports, Mr. Rufus Wainwright, recently released “Out of the Game,” the first single and title track from his forthcoming album, to be released on Decca Records. Although the Mark Ronson-produced album isn’t set to hit shelves until May 1st, in celebration of the upcoming Record Store Day, TVD has your chance to snag a signed (!!!) copy of it right now.
While recording Out of the Game in May of last year, Wainwright told Rolling Stone that his upcoming album is his danciest, poppiest record yet, saying, “I just want to make something you love, driving around in your car listening or losing your mind to on a dancefloor. Something to serenade us through these very, very troubling times.” The Grammy Award-winning singer also revealed that the songs on his newest album were heavily influenced by two major personal moments in his life, including the death of his mother, Kate McGarrigle, and the birth of his daughter, Viva.
In addition to Ronson’s work behind the boards, Out of the Game features guest appearances from Sean Lennon, members of the Dap Kings, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, and Martha Wainwright (the singer’s sister), to name a few. Wainwright has also mentioned that he was heavily influenced by pop heavy hitters David Bowie, Elton John, and Queen during the Out of the Game writing and recording sessions.
Posted in The TVD Storefront 28 Comments
TVD Presents at The Grog Shop: Cursive, 3/29
In which we introduce a recurring feature here at TVD where Clevelanders, you have an opportunity to win free tickets right in your own backyard. —Ed.
Good day, guys and dolls! Have we got a treat for you. This Thursday, the Grog Shop is hosting a show featuring three great bands: Cursive, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and Conduits! We want to see YOU there so we’re giving away a pair of tickets to the show and a copy of Conduits’ new self-titled album.
I know, I know, you can barely contain yourself right now. It’s completely understandable. What could be better than free tickets to this great show at the Grog Shop AND a free album? Not much.
I mean, look at that lineup. Cursive is touring in promotion of their new album, I Am Gemini, a tale of twins separated at birth who are reunited. Of course, the catch is that one twin is evil and one is good. In this concept album, Cursive dabbles in painting the tale of the two brothers through the nuanced lyricism of Tim Kasher and the hard-hitting guitars and breakneck rhythm changes for which the band is known.
Posted in TVD Cleveland 9 Comments
New Orleans Jazz Festival unveils 2012 Schedule and Posters
Today is the day that is eagerly awaited by tens of thousands of fans of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The daily stage and time schedules were released at a press conference at the New Orleans Fairgrounds.
The paddock area, home to the Lagniappe stage over the seven days of the festival (April 28-May 6, 2012), buzzed with anticipation since many of the members of the local media are also longtime fans of the signature event of the New Orleans festival season.
This being a Jazz Fest crowd, music was required and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which is celebrating 50 years of existence, provided the entertainment with special guests and poster stars Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Shamarr Allen. During a spirited version of “Bourbon Street Parade” the two special guests and Hall regulars Mark Braud and Freddie Lonzo sparred during an all-horn breakdown.
Posted in TVD New Orleans Leave a comment
TVD Live: Miniature Tigers with Geographer and The Chain Gang of 1974 at DC9, 3/22
Although Geographer would attest that “Heaven Waits,” little did each of us know that heaven is a place on earth, and we found it at that sold-out DC9 show last Thursday, where not only did Geographer’s performance blow us all away, The Chain Gang of 1974 and Miniature Tigers helped keep us all on Cloud 9 for the entire evening.
As usually, I was rushing to get to the show in time to see the opening band Pretty Nice, the first of the four bands that evening, but unfortunately I didn’t make it for them. I thankfully and unexpectedly arrived for Chain Gang of 1974, who I was convinced would play later in the evening, but had just started their set when I arrived. Straight outta Los Angeles, Chain Gang also may have come straight outta the ’80s and will charm all devoted New Wave- and Paisley-era fans.
Polished, poised, and full of punk rock swagger, frontman Kamtin Mohager is The Chain Gang of 1974. He’s on the cover of Chain Gang’s latest release, Wayward Fire, all the band’s t-shirts, and you really can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s on stage. He’s got the rock star power stance down, cocking his hips and bass into the air during the breakdown of “Hold On.” Polished like The Killers but with the emotional integrity of The Stills, Chain Gang of 1974 released Wayward Fire last year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear “Hold On” or “Heartbreakin’ Scream” on the radio one day.
Posted in TVD Washington, DC Leave a comment
TVD’s Record Score
with Mike Newman
TVD’s Record Score is brought to you by TVD NYC’s own Mike Newman, who recently scored some great records and is now intent on sharing them with you. New stuff and old stuff, straight from the vinyl to your ears!
We’ll always provide links in the playlist where you can score the records online, but always remember to hit up your local independent record store!
The playlist for the second edition of the Record Score podcast follows after the jump. Hope you dig!
Posted in TVD New York City Leave a comment
