Monthly Archives: April 2016

Garden State Sound
with Evan Toth

All jokes aside, New Jersey is a pretty great place. While it has a lot to offer as a state, it also has a rich musical history of which many people remain unaware. Everyone knows Sinatra and The Boss, but there’s much more.

Rob Fusari is a young man but he’s already accomplished so much. After scoring major hits with Destiny’s Child, Will Smith, and others, he connected with Lady Gaga which culminated in co-writing and producing a few—umm, I guess we’ll call them—monster hits.

After forays into a few alter-ego musical acts, Fusari is now ready to step behind the writer’s keyboard and mixing console—a talented singer and multi-instrumentalist performer, this Wednesday (4/27), he performs a solo show at New York City’s Cutting Room. The show, a William Paterson University music event where Fusari is an alumni, is a mix of his own music and music of the Beatles.

Tune in and sit down with Fusari and me as we talk the Grammys, multiplatinum records, Lady Gaga, writing, producing, and how hard it is to resist the temptation of the music industry no matter how difficult of a road it may be.

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Jessica Rotter,
The TVD First Date

“I don’t think I appreciated the artistry behind an album until I started collecting vinyl.”

“One of my friends had boxes of records he wanted to get rid of before he moved to a different state and he dumped them at my house and I got to look through – judging an album by it’s cover was always fun and spinning the mysterious ones was enjoyable too. Not to mention, the album art of the seventies is just so amazing. (Can we talk about Captain and Tenille?)

I proceeded to steal a bunch of vinyl classics from my parents and then finally became a regular at neighborhood record stores. I bought modern and vintage records and some would come with surprises. I got a Simon and Garfunkel record that came with an absolutely brilliant double exposure poster of the two of them with the 59th street bridge. And I absolutely loved Radiohead’s In Rainbows packaging. I love the hands-on experience of vinyl and the opportunity for bolder artwork choices.

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Graded on a Curve: Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Collectors’ Item: All Their Greatest Hits!

When it comes to the bands representing the “Philadelphia Sound” that came to dominate the soul charts in the early seventies, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes were inarguably the best. Signed to Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International label in 1972 and featuring the mind-blowing baritone of lead singer and soul legend Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes recorded masterful soul, R&B, and disco tunes that were alternately inspirational and heartrending, thanks chiefly to the band’s myriad musical talents, the stellar production of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and the almost phantasmagorically powerful pipes of Pendergrass, who at his most passionate could both cause people of the female persuasion to swoon and blow the wooly off a mammoth.

I picked Collectors’ Item: All Their Greatest Hits! for two simple reasons; (1) it really does cull the biggest hits from the band’s golden years of 1972-1975 with Philadelphia International, before Pendergrass defected to pursue a solo career, and (2) it has one of the cheesiest album covers I’ve ever seen, a horror of pastels with the band in blue leisure suits (with Harold in lime green!) huddled together as if for protection against the dubious painting skills of one Victor Juhasz. I have half a mind to buy the album and frame it on my wall next to a black light painting of a unicorn.

Melvin & The Blue Notes were a vocal group, and the music on their songs was provided by the legendary MFSB, a stable of more than 30 musicians based at Philly’s Sigma Sound Studios who also worked with the Spinners, Wilson Pickett, the Stylistics, the O’Jays, and others. They’re chiefly remembered for their great proto-disco track “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” which was to become the theme song for Don Cornelius’ Soul Train. How cool, I ask you, is that?

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TVD’s Press Play

Press Play is our Monday recap of the new and FREE tracks received last week to inform the next trip to your local indie record store.

Land of Leland – Daylight Savings
The Julie Ruin – I Decide
Japancakes – We’re in the City
Supersillyus – Mirage a Trois
Gaps – What Makes You (Maya Jane Coles Remix)
Bella D – The Crystal Ceiling
Boudoir Noir – Wild Valentine
Acapulco Lips – Awkward Waltz
GAIKA – SECURITY
Vincent Colbert – Beth (Hold On)

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
The Clientele – Since We Last Spoke

Alex Bent – Blonde American Girl
Joshua Bley – Revelations
Sea Caves – Spanning the River
Electrocado – Baited (Phria Remix)
Easy Does It – GET
Love Taps – Falling Fast (Durkin Remix)
2/3 Goat – Whiskey Sins
MICA – Lin (feat. LODENT & Margaret Knapp)
Lady Parts – Spirit Animal
Jessica Audiffred – K.O.

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In rotation: 4/25/16

How a Chatbot Helped This Vinyl Records Startup Make $1 Million in 8 Months: The vinyl store, called The Edit, has sold $1 million worth of records since it debuted eight months ago. David Cotter, CEO of ReplyYes and former Amazon general manager, attributes much of the site’s success to his chatbot technology, which leans on an algorithm that recommends records based on purchase behavior and other interest-level signals. Yet, there’s also a human element. (Hysterical. —Ed.)

Echo Park’s new player in vintage vinyl prepares to open: Blue Bag Records shut its doors last month, but the Sunset Boulevard storefront will soon be filled with another record shop: Cosmic Vinyl. In addition to records, Cosmic Vinyl will also sell 8-tracks and vintage audio equipment and also host live Americana music, said Oren Pius, who is opening the shop with cousin Eitan Kalma. One of the shop’s unique features will be a living room area where customers will be able preview music on two listening stations. The “goal of the shop is really being part of the Echo Park community and having a hang out [for] the people that love to listen to music,” said Pius.

A Turntable Maker Tries to Spin Upmarket, Crosley is trying to move beyond entry-level record players: At the South by Southwest festival in March, an Urban Outfitters store in Austin invited aspiring musicians to come and cut their own singles…The tune was simultaneously being etched into the grooves of a plastic record. Then the song was played back on a minimalist turntable called the C10. With its wood veneer base, adjustable tonearm, and high-end Ortofon OM 5E cartridge, the C10, priced at $399.95 and up, is Crosley Brands’ attempt to move beyond the market for entry-level record players, which it dominates. Crosley is also the world’s No. 1 turntable brand, with 1 million sold each year.

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Prince, 1958–2016

Prince has died today in Minneapolis.

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We’re closed.

We’ve closed up the shop for our annual spring break. While we’re away, why not fire up our FREE Record Store Locator app and visit one of your local indie record stores?

Perhaps there’s an interview, review, or feature you might have missed? Catch up and we’ll see you back here on Monday, April 25.

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TVD’s The Idelic Hour with Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Today marks the sixth Friday that I’ve dropped an Idelic Hour on the first week of Coachella. A lot has changed, but the essentials of a week in the desert seeing music with other folks is still fairly intact. (Yes, I know backstage is not as fun and the stealing a golf cart is no longer…)

Back in 2010 sharing a Coachella playlist to hip a friend and music heads used to be somewhat exciting. The ego rush of facilitation—music discovery—used to be exciting and righteous. Now…we’re in a “post streaming depression.”

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TVD Live Shots: Ace Frehley at B.B. King Blues Club, 4/12

So I’m in New York City for a speaking gig at a marketing conference called ClickZ Live, and Ace Frehley is playing down the street at B.B. King in Times Square. Having just witnessed the epic David Gilmour show the night before, I think what the hell, I’ve got to keep the rock ‘n’ roll momentum alive. What better way to do that then to see one of the greatest guitar players of all time?

I’ve been a KISS fan since I was a kid, 27 years a card-carrying member of the KISS Army. Growing up I actually thought that these guys had superpowers. Any why wouldn’t I? No one had ever seen KISS without their makeup in the ’70s, something that will never happen again in this real-time media world where virtually every person on the planet has a media studio in their back pocket. In the case of KISS though, they had the songs and the musical chops to not only sustain that mystique, but to take it to another level—and Ace was my favorite member.

It’s the second night of two gigs at B.B. King and the place is pretty jam-packed. The guy in front of me is wearing a GnR shirt from the shows last weekend in Vegas—he’s from Spain and went to both, and now he’s front row for Ace. That’s a fucking rock ‘n’ roll trooper for ya. He tells me there is a rumor that Paul Stanley is going to make an appearance, something that turned out to be just that, a rumor.

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TVD Live Shots: David Gilmour at Madison Square Garden, 4/11

David Gilmour

Will David Gilmour and Roger Waters ever tour together again as Pink Floyd? Gilmour famously said he is “done with Pink Floyd” during an interview in 2014, but dammit, if Axl and Slash can share a stage in 2016 then there really is no reason why Gilmour and Waters can’t put aside their differences. That’s just wishful thinking of course, but in the meantime, I’m quite happy with what Mr. Gilmour has going on currently.

A brilliant new record titled Rattle the Lock (released in September of 2015) and a handful of tour dates featuring songs from Rattle along with a slew of Pink Floyd classics. I was in New York earlier this week and caught the show at the legendary Madison Square Garden.

David Gilmour-2

This was my first time to MSG and surprisingly the first time I’ve seen David Gilmour live. I’ve seen Roger Waters several times before, then again he tours much more frequently. Another thing to note is that as a photojournalist I absolutely refuse to use stock photo in my reviews and for the first time in several years I didn’t have a photo pass for this show. Apparently they are just impossible to come by. (For the record, Roger has always been very photog friendly so I’m not sure why management was so strict. Furthermore, I have no idea what the benefit is of having one photographer shoot every show.)

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Jazz Fest 2016: Our picks for the first weekend, 4/23–4/24

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell hits it stride when the calendar turns to the weekend. Rockers Pearl Jam have a giant slot on the Acura stage at the end of the day on Saturday and the Red Hot Chili Peppers close out on Sunday with a slightly shorter set. Here are our picks for everything going on in between. The full schedule for Saturday is here.

Nigel Hall has had an incredible year. After bowing out of the funk band, the Nth Power, the longtime sideman released his first solo album to great acclaim and went off on his first solo tour. This year, he has a prime slot opening the Acura stage at 11:30 AM.

Trumpeter Brice Miller has led the Mahogany Brass Band for decades and they are always on my pick list due to the powerfully emotive performances by Miller and his bandmates. This year I send out extra props because Miller recently completely his Ph.D. and is now billed as Dr. Brice Miller.” Congrats!

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Graded on a Curve:
Neil Diamond,
Beautiful Noise

Neil Diamond is many things to many people: a God, a histrionic huckster, the best showman since Elvis, the anti-Christ who foisted “Song Sung Blue” upon an innocent public, and the writer of a whole bunch of great songs who slowly descended into the tar pits of treacle like a dinosaur at La Brea. Me, I lean towards the last choice. His early work was great, but he turned into a kitschmeister and sentimental vampire, in which form he has caused much unnecessary human suffering.

Take 1976’s Beautiful Noise. Produced by The Band’s Robbie Robertson—which won him an appearance at The Last Waltz, much to the disgust of Robertson’s more discriminating band mates—it led critic Robert Christgau to proclaim, “This is a monstrous record.” Although he went on to concede that “it takes a special kind of chutzpah to create a monster.” “Pop program music” is how he described the music, but I’m sticking with overly sentimental and histrionic; Diamond is the champion of grand gestures, which explains both his popularity and the existential nausea he inspires in people who like their music human-sized. As Christgau said of 1972’s Hot August Night, “it’s obvious that the man is some sort of genius rock entertainer, but for the most part the great entertainer is striving for bad art and not even achieving it.” Ouch.

As for Beautiful Noise, it reveals the mature Diamond to be a caricature of a parody of a satire, with all the authentic soul of an organ grinder’s monkey. The title track makes it plain; this guy doesn’t mean a word he’s saying. Locked away in a penthouse somewhere, I doubt he ever hears the sounds of the city, and if he does, they only irk him, just as the thought of being forever in blue jeans would make him blanch.

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In rotation: 4/15/16

Re-vinylizing: Indie music shops gearing up for Record Store Day: Nine years ago, with illegal downloads crippling the music industry in general, things were looking grim for independent record stores. In fact, the situation is still far from rosy and numerous record shops continue to fail every year. For the survivors, however, the outlook is improving. And that has a lot to do with the efforts of Record Store Day, an organization formed in 2008 to secure hundreds of new vinyl releases and other promotional items, to be distributed exclusively at participating stores.

Owner of Burbank’s Atomic Records says major labels have turned the tables on Record Store Day: “People want to buy original Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis records,” he said. “That, to me, is celebrating record stores. It’s about vintage vinyl.”…”Unfortunately [it has] been totally co-opted by major labels who want to get their product of new vinyl into stores,” he said. “It’s been a mix of emotions for record store owners,” he added. “Some people are really happy about it and some people can’t stand it.”

Music lover buys old vinyl record for £1 in a junk shop – finds out it’s actually worth a LOT more: A record collector who picked up an old LP for £1 in a junk shop actually got a much better bargain than he realised when he had the item valued. The anonymous man purchased the record – by 1960s British band Complex – in a junk shop in the north west of England. He was drawn to it after seeming to recollect the image on the cover, but it wasn’t until he got home and did some research that he realised its potential value. Now it’s expected to sell for around £10,000

Record Store Day 2016: For Shangri-La Records, prepping for Saturday’s 9th annual Record Store Day means opening a few hours early. “We said 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but usually we open a little earlier because of the big line of people. As soon as we’re ready, we let them in. I think last year we opened at 8:30 a.m.,” Shrangri-La Records owner Jared McStay says. Bolstering the lot of official Record Store Day titles Shangri-La plans to have on hand Saturday will be a major increase in the rest of the store’s stock of new vinyl.

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TVD Live Shots: Generation Axe at the Fox Theater, 4/8

Generation Axe is guitar extravaganza bringing together five of the greatest axe men on the planet for a night a pure unadulterated shredding. Featuring Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tosin Abasi, each of the five basic food groups of face-melting was represented well. Backing up the all-star lineup is a very capable band of musicians including Malmsteen keyboardist Nick Marinovich, Zappa Plays Zappa/ Dethklok bassist Pete Griffin, and Animals as Leaders drummer Matt Garstka.

Up first was Tosin Abasi, a Nigerian American guitarist best known as the guitar player and founder of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. I’m not too familiar with this guy, but he set the stage pretty well for what was to follow. Another interesting note is that he plays an 8 string guitar and was probably the most technical savvy shredder of the night.

Tosin played some mind-boggling solos with a full band before passing the torch to Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt. The cool thing about this show is that each guitarist plays a 20 minute set then transitions via superjam to the next. The flow is quite brilliant and definitely led to some interesting encounters that fans won’t likely see ever again.

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Jazz Fest 2016: Our picks for the first Friday, 4/22

The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell kicks off on April 22, 2016—the earliest date since 1994. With three days during the first weekend and four days during the second, Jazz Fest has something for everyone. Here are our picks. The full lineup is here.

When the great New Orleans drummer Smokey Johnson died last year, his funeral was packed with a who’s who of the New Orleans music community. The second line afterwards featured at least a dozen drummers. At the forefront was Shannon Powell, who leads a tribute to Smokey in the Blues Tent at 11:15 AM.

Smokey was best known for writing the famous beat leading off the classic R&B tune, “It Ain’t My Fault.” But he was also a versatile performer who spent years with Fats Domino and also played jazz as well.

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  • SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL INDIE SHOPS SINCE 2007


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