Monthly Archives: April 2015

Led by singer-guitarist-producer Chad Clark, DC-based outfit Beauty Pill made a fair amount of experimental pop headway back in the 2000s. Much has transpired since, including serious health issues for Clark, but in a positive turn the band has returned with Beauty Pill Describes Things as They Are. Originating from a two-week project commissioned in 2011 by Arlington, VA culture hub Artisphere that allowed visitors to observe the creation of the album, it’s a rigorous, gripping work out now on CD and digital via new label Butterscotch Records. A limited second edition clear-vinyl 2LP is available for order and will ship in June, and Beauty Pill will be performing at Artisphere on April 30, May 1, and May 2.

In purely quantitative terms, Chad Clark biggest achievement is as a studio wizard. His name has appeared in dozens of credits, a sizeable number from the District of Columbia and surrounding regions, e.g. The Dismemberment Plan, Mary Timony, and Bob Mould, with his mastering skills helping to shape a considerable amount of classics in the catalog of Dischord Records.

As Dischord was the home of Beauty Pill’s first three releases this isn’t a surprise, and in fact Clark’s relationship with the label spans back to the mid-‘90s through the ensemble Smart Went Crazy. More than just a precursor to Beauty Pill, they recorded two LPs, ‘96’s solid Now We’re Even and the next year’s impressive Con Art, both assisting in widening Dischord’s scope as they established the leader’s sonic diligence and stood as an early example of the fruitful union of indie rock and cello.

It took a few years for Beauty Pill to emerge after Smart Went Crazy’s dissolution; initially a trio, they debuted with “The Cigarette Girl from the Future” in 2001, the EP recently lengthened to long-playing status with five additional tracks and nifty packaging by Butterscotch. In ‘03 an expanded quintet produced follow-up EP “You Are Right to Be Afraid” and ’04 brought The Unsustainable Lifestyle.

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“There’s a real magic to vinyl. To me, they belong to an atmosphere that is conducive to looking inward versus outward. The wow and flutter, the slow steady spinning, the warm tones, the hiss and crackle. It’s almost elusive as to what exactly feels so right about listening to music on vinyl, but whatever it is, it’s magical.”

“My introduction to vinyl was through old Johnny Cash LPs at thrift shops. Some of my favorites were the records that had been the most abused. Some of them had been warped by the sun, bent, scratched, or worn down over the years, and I loved getting to know those quirks particular to each album. Those flaws became part of the music itself and I grew to love the fact that vinyl has a life of its own.

The physical process of sitting back and listening to my favorite album on vinyl is so much different than any other medium. For starters, I have to want it. I obviously cannot take a record player everywhere with me; it’s not portable so I really have to want to listen to whatever it is. With music apps, it’s easy to listen to music and not really love what I hear because it’s all so accessible, just a click away, and if I get tired of something, there’s an endless amount of other things to check out.

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Sixty years, thousands of concerts, five hundred and fifty-two Kickstarter backers later, and Tom Paxton released his sixty-second album in time for his final “big time” concert tour.

“Whatever my point was, anyhow,” says Paxton, “I think I’ve made it!” But the prospect of Tom Paxton running out of points to make seems just as impossible to his fans as it does to him. The iconoclastic folk hero may be leaving the weary road behind, but he’s far from stopping altogether.

His new album, Redemption Road, couldn’t be more aptly titled. It’s not so much that he’s written a thinly-veiled confessional as he is revisiting a musical life well lived through his signature stripped down, witty, reflective, political songwriting. With Redemption Road, the seventy-seven-year-old reflects on his travels, on his friends, and on why life remains so fun for him, despite its absurdities and pitfalls. Tom Paxton had a lot he wanted to say with Redemption Road, but it’s far from a collection of swan songs. Musician friends as varied as John Prine and Janis Ian lent their talents and their voices to Paxton’s musical snapshots, making the collection of songs on Redemption Road even more poignant. 

When we talked with Tom, he was jovial and exuded a kind of happiness that comes naturally when one feels unyoked from obligations. Tom is living life on his own terms and loves every minute of it. Among many other things, Tom shared his thoughts with us about touring with old friend Janis Ian, continuing to create and perform in his golden years, and his delight and bewilderment about the resurgence of 33-1/3 records.

You’re regarded as one of the first folk artists to break away from performing traditional folk songs in favor of your own music. What does that legacy mean to you now?

It just seemed to me like a natural thing to do, to try to add to the [folk] legacy. Before me Woody Guthrie, of course, was the greatest writer of folk music in America and I really think I was picking his example and doing it in my own time. It just seemed a logical thing to do. I loved the music that I had learned—the traditional music—and I just wanted to make my own contribution.

I always admire artists that go their own way, especially when fellow artists are bewildered or outright hostile towards them. That you had the confidence in your own songs to break away from the tight-knit folk scene of the early ‘60s is hugely admirable.

You know, I’ve been asked many times—back when so many people in the ‘60s were going electric and going rock—why I didn’t do it. I think the real reason is that I didn’t think I’d be any good at it! [Laughs]

Really?

Yeah, I think I would have made a lousy rock singer. It never spoke to me. I loved The Beatles, and I still think The Beatles were one of the best things to happen in the twentieth century. But I didn’t have those kinds of chops. What I had was a love for simple songs, and I loved the sound of an acoustic guitar. I still would rather hear Doc Watson than just about anybody you could name. I think I was just following my instinct.

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Minus undue pomp, the immensely influential UK outfit Wire has unveiled its latest effort. A key player in the uprising of 1977 and just as important to subsequent progressions of post-punk, through a pair of hiatuses, a founding member’s departure and a consistently evolving sound they’ve grown into one of contemporary music’s great units. Wire doesn’t reach the heights of the group’s finest work, but it easily vindicates their continued existence, and it’s out now on LP/CD/digital via Pinkflag.

The style of music known as Rock, a form derived from the crosspollination of R&B and C&W and distilled by bands reliably featuring vocals and guitar but crucially dependent upon a human rhythmic engine, has proven versatile and resilient since it surfaced in the mid-section of last century. But if it’s true that Rock will never die, its undiluted essence has basically nothing to do with longevity.

Certainly, the Rock ideal can be located by focusing on the ins and outs/ups and downs of a pertinent career, but it can also be found through absorbing one album, or even better, just a 45 RPM single. Indeed, the embodiment of Rock can be uncovered in a solitary song and pinpointed further in succinct moments; the scream at the beginning of the Stooges’ “T.V. Eye,” the slashing progression along the guitar neck in the middle of The Jam’s “In the City,” and the extra thrust in the drumming at the end of The Beatles’ “I Wanna Hold your Hand.”

And yet a measurement frequently employed to make the case for truly exceptional rock acts is an ability to persevere over time, especially in instances where influence endures over sales figures; so it is with Wire, though the group’s lifespan consists of distinct eras, each with its proponents. Most lauded is the ’77-’80 run, a period offering three consecutive studio masterpieces. However, a considerable number of younger listens have surely been struck by the unusually productive return from their ‘90s layoff.

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PHOTOS: RICHIE DOWNS | Unlike say with St. Patrick’s Day, the well-worn adage “Every day should be Record Store Day” is a concept we can truly get behind. And while we’re thrilled many of you will be hitting up your local indie record stores for Record Store Day, your local mom and pops deserve a warm hug throughout the rest of the year as well.

And it’s with this in mind that the lovely ladies of Ex Hex—Mary Timony, Laura Harris, and Betsy Wright—joined us recently on a random Tuesday, during a random week, of a random month, for an entirely unrandom record rummage at Washington, DC’s Som Records to drive the point home that you needn’t set aside just one day a year for a trip to your local vinyl vendors.

Ex Hex themselves held down the #2 spot on our Best of 2014 list last year with Rips, their debut release on Merge Records. Our own Joseph Neff wrote in December, “a dozen songs, all highlights; Ex Hex has produced an outstanding debut that sounds like an instant classic.”

The band takes these 12 classics and more to Chaz’s Bull City Records this Saturday for a Record Store Day in-store, but for now we’re in Washington, DC—and we’re record shopping with Ex Hex.

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L.A.-based romance rockers Lady Low shower us with literate pop.

We have the pleasure of premiering the quintet’s steamy video for the punchy single “Rainy Day” which finds them basking in a whirlwind of sparkling confetti, praising the rain’s ability to wash their blues away. Perhaps it’s the authenticity of the performances or the glamorous string section, but I am convinced every member of this band delights in an evocative mood.

Described as “where strings and heartstrings collide,” “Rainy Day” is the A-side to a cover of the Buzzcocks’ “You Say You Don’t Love Me.” Both singles were released this past March and although the 7” is Lady Low’s sophomore release, the individual members are seasoned industry pros who know exactly what they are looking to deliver to audiences.

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Lonnie Donegan may still be far from a household name in the United States, but he’s a legend in the United Kingdom for inventing a whole new genre—skiffle—before rock’n’roll was born. Like punk, skiffle—which incorporated jazz, blues, and folk, and was usually played using homemade or improvised instruments—made playing it a viable proposition for even the poorest of the poor, and it’s cool rhythms galvanized an entire generation of U.K. youth. The Beatles, the Stones, Van Morrison, Elton John—all were skiffle fanatics before rock’n’roll hit England, and all incorporated elements of its sound into their early music.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, the guitarist and vocalist got his start playing trad jazz in the mid-1940s, but a military stint in Vienna turned him onto the new sounds being played by the American Forces radio station—sounds he would later incorporate into so-called “skiffle breaks” while he was with Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen. With a washboard, a tea-chest bass, and a cheap Spanish guitar, Donegan and two other musicians would play American blues and folk tunes. In July 1954 he recorded a skiffle version of Leadbelly’s “Rock Island Line,” and presto—a star was born. Before he knew it he was playing on the Perry Como show, and young adherents—including those proto-Beatles, the Quarrymen, got off on this new style of music. Which was ironic seeing as how down the road it was those very same Beatles, with their newfangled beat music, who muscled Donegan off the pop charts for good.

Over the ensuing decades he would have his moments—recordings in Nashville, reunion shows, a long stint as a record producer, and most importantly, an album with Van Morrison (The Skiffle Sessions—Live in Belfast 1998) which won him much overdue acclaim. But just as important—but less appreciated than his collaboration with Morrison—was the 1978 LP Puttin’ on the Style, on which the King of Skiffle played an iconoclastic handful of songs accompanied by many of the musicians he’d influenced and inspired over the years including Albert Lee, Rory Gallagher, Brian May, Ron Wood, Elton John, Nicky Hopkins, Ringo Starr, Mick Ralphs, Jim Keltner, Leo Sayer, Ray Cooper, Peter Banks, Michele Phillips, and numerous other lesser known musicians. Produced by Adam Faith, the LP wasn’t a hit, but it provides a unique look at a musician who generally kept it simple taking advantage of a full deck of musical aces—which had both its advantages and disadvantages.

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Press Play is our Monday recap of the new tracks received last week—provided here to inform your next trip to your local indie record store. Click, preview, download, purchase.

Dustin Lovelis – Idiot
Birds of Night – Asleep in the Pine
Carly Rae Jepsen – All That (The Knocks Bootleg)
Fetty Wap – Trap Queen (Slaptop Remix)
Overjoy – Like A Wave ft. Lex Famous
BLITZ – Gyal Go Mal
Fauna Shade – Marzipan
DJ Earworm vs. Katy Tiz – Whistle (While You Mash It)
Benjamin Yellowitz – Ash Wednesday
Mune – Khazé

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
SPC ECO – Feel Me

Goldroom – Mykonos (Fleet Foxes Cover)
Graham Czach – Out of the Dark
Wise Blood – Cretin’s Club ft. Priscilla Sharp
Lykke Li – Never Gonna Love Again (Jeff Bhasker / Lollipop Remix)
Muzzy Bearr – Suede (Feat. Denmark Vessey)
Emerald Park – LiberTeens
The Danes – The Ultimate Tool
Ioan Delice – We Up (Remix)
Zedd ft. Selena Gomez – I Want You To Know (Justin Caruso Remix)
The North Country – The Cross We Bear

12 more FREE TRACKS on side B!

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