Monthly Archives: June 2020

Graded on a Curve: 10,000 Maniacs,
In My Tribe

Some things you should know about the 10,000 Maniacs:

1. There only five of them. None of them are maniacs.

2. Natalie Merchant has a voice so lovely I’d dive into an icy lake to rescue it. Kinda husky, but not husky in a hockey player kinda way. More like Stevie Nicks without the cockatoo on her shoulder kinda way.

3. 10,000 Maniacs have yet to receive their due for spawning the Lilith Fair.

4. Natalie Merchant’s a folk artist in the grand tradition of the late Dan Fogelberg.

5. The word that best sums up the the music of 10,000 Manias is placid. But not placid as in Lake Placid, the horror movie where a 30-foot-long saltwater crocodile chows down on the citizens of Maine.

5.1. Had the man-eating crocodile in Lake Placid put In My Tribe on heavy rotation, today he’d be the owner of a New Age boutique.

6. “Like the Weather” is a fantastic song and I love to sing along with it in the car, despite the fact I don’t know the words. This tends to irk the other people in the car.

7. Cat Stevens’ “Peace Train” appeared on the original release of In My Tribe, but was omitted from later U.S. releases. I don’t want to go into the religious issues involved, but suffice it to say that had Salman Rushdie jumped aboard the peace train, Stevens would have pushed him off.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

In rotation: 6/26/20

HMV’s Doug Putman on the future of CD: HMV’s owner Doug Putman has spoken to Music Week about the future of the chain and physical music following its reopening. In the latest issue, Putman calls on the music industry to back HMV as it tries to regain some momentum after lockdown – and warns on a possible change to the product mix if suppliers don’t fully support him. HMV stores were able to open from June 15, in line with other record shops. The entertainment chain introduced strict safety measures, including social distancing signage, screens and sanitiser. Across the music retail sector, sales were up last week and were given a further boost by the Love Record Stores promotion at the weekend Shoppers returned to HMV from last week, and Putman is confident that vinyl fans will accept the new normal. “I think that’s just the culture, if you love being in an HMV,” he said. “We just have really great customers.” HMV also launched a new personal shopper service, which enables customers to leave a list with staff, who could also provide recommendations.

Kirkley, UK | Former restaurant to be transformed into vinyl lounge: A record store is to relocate and expand its business with the opening of a vinyl lounge in a popular former restaurant. Aux Records will move from its Waterloo Road base, in Kirkley, around the corner to London Road South as it prepares to welcome customers to the new vinyl lounge. The new site has been empty for almost a year after the closure of Desmond’s restaurant. Owner Jan Mulder said: “We are relocating to the former Desmond’s restaurant around the corner on London Road South and expanding our current business. “It is still going to be based around our vinyl store, but with a cafe and lounge where people can come and listen to music and have a coffee. People can still come and browse and buy records with a wide range on offer.” The store opened last autumn after Mr Mulder left his job at a care agency to pursue his passion for music. He said: “I’m really excited about the move. The current business has been building since I opened last October and we are ready to take it to the next level.

Move The Record aims to support local vinyl stores with live music streams: A bit like High Fidelity, but online and with many record stores. Want to save independent record stores (who often gain essential revenue from hosting live events and representing acts under their own labels) from closing, as a result of the coronavirus? Good, Rob at Championship Vinyl would salute you – but we’ll stop talking about the Nick Hornby novel and subsequent John Cusack movie High Fidelity now (promise). Move the Record is a global initiative devised in response to the uncertain future that bricks-and-mortar record shops are facing worldwide. And let’s not forget, the 33⅓ vinyl LP only just celebrated its 72nd birthday, so it’s high time for an online event. Move the Record’s first edition is set to take place across Friday 3rd July and Saturday 4th July, and will comprise 2 x 12-hour broadcasts of 2-hour sets from record shops around the world, featuring a diverse range of some of the world’s best DJs, all playing in the world’s best record stores. Organisers say that discounts of up to 20% – as well as various other offers and events – will be in place across partaking stores’ online platforms for 48 hours.

Aberdeen, UK | Aberdeen Vinyl Records shop relocates and announces plans to reopen: Aberdeen Vinyl Records has moved premises and announced its plans to reopen. The store, which was based in Aberdeen Market, stated it has now moved to a new unit on Union Street. Located on 101 -103 Union Street near HSBC, the popular vinyl record store will reopen on Monday June 29. The shop’s spokesperson said: “We’ll be sharing the shop with our good friends at Gift Wrap and we’ll have slightly more floor space than we had in the Market. “We’re getting our shop signage and social distancing measures all worked out and ordered up now.” In addition to more than 5,000 LPs, the store also has some reasonably-priced collectables on offer.

Read More »

Posted in A morning mix of news for the vinyl inclined | Leave a comment

TVD Radar: Tony Allen Live in London, short film streaming now

VIA PRESS RELEASE | World Circuit Records today present Tony Allen Live in London, a short film about Tony Allen’s recent Rejoice live shows. The piece was filmed at one of the two very special Rejoice shows Allen performed at London’s Church of Sound in mid-March, just a few weeks before his untimely passing at the end of April at the age of 79. Watch/share the film below.

In addition to clips of live performances from the night, the piece features interviews with Allen himself and some of the prestigious musicians who joined him on stage including South African trumpet player Claude Deppa and double bass player Mutale Chashi. Tony commented on the film back in April, “I played two shows in London in March, which were meant to be the first of many Rejoice shows this year. It was good to be playing these songs on stage so many years after the recording. My good friend Claude Deppa is a great South African trumpet player, we asked him to play Hugh’s parts on stage. Unfortunately, the lockdowns started shortly after.”

Allen will be posthumously awarded the Outstanding Contribution To Music at this year’s AIM Awards, taking place virtually on August 12, with recent single “We’ve Landed” receiving a nomination for Best Independent Track. Allen & Masekela’s second single from the album, “Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be The Same),” is a jazz-meets-Afrobeat-hued tribute to Fela Kuti, the towering pioneer of Afrobeat who collaborated closely with Allen for decades. The video for the track features footage of Allen & Masekela playing the song at the original 2010 recording sessions at Livingston Studios in London. Stream/share the video below

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

Graded on a Curve: Joseph Spence,
Bahaman Folk Guitar: Music from the Bahamas, Vol. 1

There are a few utterly joyful experiences in this world, and one of them is the music of Joseph Spence. In 1958 while on a field recording expedition in the Bahamas, Samuel Charters captured Spence’s unique guitar playing and idiosyncratic singing; the combination is amongst the most infectious entries in the folk canon. Those tapes comprise Bahaman Folk Guitar: Music from the Bahamas, Vol. 1, first issued by Folkways in ’59, and has received a welcome reissue by the label, tucked into an old-school tip-on jacket with the original liner notes.

From Andros Island in the Bahamas and a stonemason by trade, Joseph Spence is one of folk music’s true originals. The notes to this reissue emphasize the importance of the guitar to Bahaman life during the period of its recording, and amongst no shortage of talent on the instrument, Spence was acknowledged as the best around. He tapped into the three threads of song popular in the island nation at that time; the older “anthem” songs, southern USA-derived spirituals, and the “folk songs” that accompanied dancing and enlivened parties.

When Charters first heard him, playing for workers as they built a house, the folklorist was convinced a second guitarist was accompanying him nearby. Later that day, on the other side of the settlement of Fresh Creek, Charters recorded Spence entertaining a small gathered audience. This LP offers the bulk of that impromptu session, a landmark in personal folk expression that resulted in subsequent releases on Elektra, Arhoolie, and Rounder.

I first read of Joseph Spence in Byron Coley’s “Underground” column in SPIN magazine, the April 1988 issue in fact, though by the time I caught up with it, that edition was about a year old. It took me good while longer than that to hear the guy’s stuff, as the store racks turned up nothing, and the same with the libraries in my area. Of the locals I consulted who were affirmative of Spence’s stature, none were record collectors. Those were the days.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

Marchelle Bradanini,
The TVD First Date

“In the modern arms race to reduce music to its most easily digestible digital form, there is something so defiant and downright radical about vinyl. Having an artist demand your time and attention for the length of an entire LP seems revolutionary in 2020. And yet even with our ever-dwindling attention spans, there is still something in our core which desires that deeper, magical and transformative connection.”

“Music has always been my lifeblood and the well I return to when nothing else makes sense. I’ve spent countless late nights alone with my records listening to the understated brilliance of Karen Dalton, Bobbie Gentry, Lucinda Williams, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Nina Simone, Julie London, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Howlin’ Wolf to name a few of my greatest hits. My relationships with these records is so personal and intimate. It’s like visiting an old friend that has some insight into the universe I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of.

When I think about the first time I heard Nebraska or Highway 61 Revisited or Lead Belly or Aretha on vinyl, it’s basically the equivalent of BC / AD. They altered the course of my life and thinking and fundamentally challenged and changed my worldview.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

Graded on a Curve:
New in Stores for
June 2020, Part Five

Part five of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases presently in stores for June, 2020. Part one is here, part two is here, part three is here, and part four is here.

NEW RELEASE PICKS: Céu, APKÁ! (Six Degrees) This is the fifth release from the São Paulo, Brazil-based singer and composer Céu, but it’s the first I’ve heard. The blend of pop, electronic elements, dance rhythms, classic Brazilian song and even flashes of psychedelia has me excited to investigate her earlier stuff, though this set is being promoted as a metamorphosis for the artist (indeed, a chrysalis gets mentioned). She’s accompanied here by her producer-drummer husband Pupillo and a core band of familiars that includes Frenchman Hervé Salters on keyboards (he also co-produced). There are a few guests, with guitarist Marc Ribot among them, which I admit perked my interest right up, though the quality of Céu’s vocals and compositions had me shifting focus right quick.

Nine out of the eleven tracks are hers. In what’s described as a new move for Céu, she tackles a pair of outside compositions, specifically interpreting Caetano Veloso’s “Pardo” and a fresh piece, as she requested that Dinho from the group Boogarins write a song for the album (“Make Sure Your Head is Above”), a smart move as she and Ribot shine on the track. Overall, I’d guess that listeners into folktronica and Tropicalia should find this record right up their alley. The album also seems to have been out for a while, as a compact disc and vinyl was issued in Brazil last year (a green opaque club edition co-released by a few Brazilian entities), though Six Degrees is handling the distribution in the USA and Europe. My copy of APKÁ! arrived on CD, but I have noticed a vinyl pre-order online. Hopefully, it gets another pressing on wax, as the contents strike my ear as especially conducive to the format. A-

REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICK: Sound of The San Francisco Christian Center, s/t (Cultures of Soul) Founded in 1954, The San Francisco Christian Center is noted as one of the first churches, circa the late ’60s, to welcome disaffected hippies. If you’ve studied up on the era, you know there was quite a few youngsters in the Bay Area fitting the description, as thousands seeking the idyllic liberation lifestyle poured into the region and were greeted with…something else. Frankly, the SFCC’s generosity was just a Christian thing to do, but mentioning it really gets to the good vibes positivity that emanates from the grooves of this reissue. The LP was initially self-released in 1978, with that edition (there have been no other pressings until now) highly sought after and very expensive. It features a killer band soaring under the direction of multi-instrumentalist and arranger Carl Fortier, with the results stylistically intersecting with the bold and lush motions of the same era’s pop-soul and R&B.

To be sure, this album effectively underscores the intrinsic connection between gospel and its secular genre descendant, soul, but folks who prefer their Christian sounds to be hotter and a little edgier and rawer need be prepared for the pure breadth that’s in evidence across this album, as Fortier and the band gained access to what sure sounds like a mellotron (there are also synths), which intensifies the lushness placing this as contemporary to ’70s Stevie and Earth, Wind & Fire. Another stated influence on the proceedings is the San Fran-based Andraé Crouch, with this association hopefully driving home the sounds on offer here. Still, as someone who gravitates to those wilder examples of gospel heat (as previously compiled by labels like Tompkins Square), I must relate how this LP completely won me over, as the sheer celebratory joie de vivre in the playing and singing ultimately proved impossible to resist. Originals have sold for hundreds of dollars, so this repress is a smart buy for those inclined. A-

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Record Store Club | Leave a comment

In rotation: 6/25/20

UK | Love Record Stores Day boosts music retail, taking over £1 million in revenue: “We had really high hopes for Love Record Stores Day, but things exceeded even our most ambitious expectations.” Love Record Stores Day has delivered a big boost to music retailers in the UK after taking over £1 million in revenue. Taking place online on Saturday (June 20), Love Record Stores Day was held to replace the rearranged Record Store Day 2020 — which has been postponed twice this year due to the coronavirus outbreak — as the latter will now be split over three dates (August 29, September 26 and October 24). Its aim was to get music-lovers to support their favourite independent record stores by shopping online, with an array of exclusive and limited edition vinyl releases being made available by a variety of artists and labels. …A survey of participating retailers discovered that the vast majority of this stock was sold out within one hour of being made available online.

Wellington, NZ | The music’s not over, don’t turn out the lights: Julian Lloyd Webber popped in and bought a Pat Boone album. An obliging Kenny Rogers was getting fish ‘n’ chips next door. One of those Oasis guys dropped by. In the decades of selling music out of Slow Boat Records on Cuba St in central Wellington, Dennis O’Brien has seen a parade of famous musicians pass through his shop. He originally started Slow Boat in a storeroom off Plimmer Steps before moving to Cuba St. Eventually, he bought the former Westpac bank on the street, which has been home base for years. “I bought the bank,” O’Brien half-laughs in the back office, stacked high with music. As he prepares to sell most of the business to current staff and take a step back, it is the old friends that pop in that he’ll miss the most. “Everybody comes in at some stage, every guy I have ever been to school with.” …The history of the shop is peppered with celebrity, such as the time in 2015 a customer bought a Tami Neilson album, only to find out the singer was in-store and signed it for her. Neil Finn played in-store one day in 2015. Robert Plant, of Led Zeppelin fame, dropped by in 2013 and bought an album by British singer Holly Golightly.

Harrogate, UK | U2 star this week in Harrogate’s Vinyl Sessions event: Harrogate’s weekly online Vinyl Sessions event returns this week with two classic albums by U2. The double bill of terrific albums from the peak of the Irish rock superstars’ success on Wednesday night will include The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree. Since vintage hi-fi expert Colin Paine set it up two years ago, Vinyl Sessions has raised more than £13,000 for Friends of Harrogate Hospital charity. Even when lockdown forced it to move from physical to digital, Starling bar and cafe in to Zoom, it has still managed to raise more money as it has continued to shine a light on some of the world’s greatest music acts. Released in October 1984, recording on The Unforgettable Fire began in May 1984 at Slane Castle, where the band lived, wrote, and recorded to find new inspiration. The album was completed in August 1984 at Windmill Lane Studios and is full of what lead singer Bono described as atmospheric sounds and “sketches”.

Asheville, NC | Mark Capon brings an analog pastime into the digital age: Mark Capon, co-owner of Harvest Records on Haywood Road in West Asheville, says his shop has been closed to the public since March 17. Despite being allowed to reopen at a limited capacity, he plans to wait to ensure the safety of his staff and the community at large. But while the storefront remains shuttered, the business has started offering curbside pickup, mail orders and the occasional local delivery as Capon tries to reimagine the usual record store experience through a virtual platform. Instead of customers leisurely thumbing through hundreds of vintage and new vinyls — which includes about 10,000 pieces of vinyl among its 15,000-item inventory — Capon says he’s using the store’s social media accounts to present glimpses of its collection and highlight noteworthy offerings. “It’s a physical store with physical media that people like to come in and comb through, so you kind of have to rewire your brain to get people to feel like they’re still combing through the records,” he says.

Daniel Johnston Box Set Confirmed For Record Store Day: Daniel Johnston’s work will be celebrated in a new box set. The special Record Store Day release comprises several out of print albums, alongside some cool merch. Only 500 copies will be available, with ‘The End Is Never Really Over’ following the much-loved songwriter’s death last year. The box set features vinyl copies of two albums – ‘1990’ and ‘Artistic Vice’ – alongside seven stickers of Daniel’s inimitable doodles, and a 16 page art-book. Alongside this, you’ll get a Jeremiah the Frog pin, and a Daniel Johnston x FOLK Clothing tee with the songwriter’s Captain America ‘End of the Show’ drawing. Pretty damn snazzy, we’re sure you’ll agree. ‘The End Is Never Really Over’ is out on August 29th.

Posted in A morning mix of news for the vinyl inclined | Leave a comment

TVD Radar: The Running Man (Deluxe Edition) 2LP OST in stores 8/14

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Varèse Sarabande Records is thrilled to announce the upcoming special release of The Running Man Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition) by GRAMMY®-winning composer Harold Faltermeyer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Cop Out and the upcoming film Top Gun: Maverick). The Deluxe Edition version will be available digitally and released on LP for the first time on August 14, 2020. The LP version is available for pre-order today, June 15, on VareseSarabande.com.

In the year 2019, America is a totalitarian state where the favorite television program is The Running Man—a game show in which prisoners must run to freedom to avoid a brutal death. Having been made a scapegoat by the government, an imprisoned Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has the opportunity to make it back to the outside again by being a contestant on the deadly show, although the twisted host, Damon Killian (Richard Dawson) has no intention of letting him escape.

The original (1987) 17-track soundtrack has been expanded to 35 tracks, which include additional music and unreleased and alternate cues. The album was remastered from the original Paramount Pictures sources. The package features original artwork, images from the film and a booklet with extensive liner notes by film music journalist Daniel Schweiger.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

Lauren Lakis,
The TVD First Date

“Analog has always ruled my heart, versus its respective digital counterpart. Give me an old hardbound book over a kindle, 35mm film and polaroid snaps, and the warmth of a tape machine or record player any day.”

“Having been raised on tapes and CDs, my introduction to vinyl records came later in life, around the time I was writing my first album. I grew up first listening to my mother’s CDs: Natalie Merchant, Matthew Sweet, Boys II Men, and the entire Cranberries discography played on repeat in our Baltimore home. She was pretty hip to the ’90s music scene and was a big fan of the short-lived Lilith Fair.

Naturally, my first CDs were gifted to me from her boyfriend’s mother; Fiona Apple’s Tidal and Garbage’s debut self-titled album. I imagine she walked into a Sam Goody store and asked what the kids were into these days, and I’m so grateful they handed her those albums! I still listen to them today, and they certainly continue to influence my songwriting.

When I was a teenager in Baltimore City, we had this amazing music store called Sound Garden, where my friends and I would go every Friday night. We would save up our money all week just to spend it on iced chai lattes and used CDs, to hold us over until the following weekend.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

Graded on a Curve: Nicole Mitchell & Lisa E. Harris, EarthSeed

Born in Syracuse, NY, with time spent in California and Chicago, Nicole Mitchell is a flautist, composer, bandleader, and teacher. Hailing from Houston, TX, Lisa E. Harris is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, composer, and singer of striking, often operatic, power and feeling. The new release EarthSeed is their collaboration, inspired by the works of the late, very great and remarkably prescient science-fiction novelist Octavia E. Butler, and featuring Mitchell’s long-running Black Earth Ensemble with vocalist Julian Otis in a prominent role. The results demand the listener’s attention but also offer moments of humor along with marvelous singing and playing. It’s out June 26 on 2LP, CD, and digital through FPE Records.

EarthSeed is directly inspired by Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, Octavia E. Butler’s two novels from the 1990s, those books comprising her third thematic science-fiction series (after the Patternist and Xenogenesis collections) and the late-work (she passed on February 24, 2006, a year after publishing her final standalone novel Fledgling) that underscores her literary foresight in relation to the unpredictable, stressful and at times downright unsettling nature of current events.

With this said, per Mitchell in the PR for this release, “All the words and all the text in the music are ours, they’re not Octavia’s,” that is, “except for the word EarthSeed” (the cover art is “Patternmaster,” from Krista Franklin’s 2006 artist’s book SEED (The Book of Eve)). It’s also important to note that the music was recorded in performance at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Fullerton Hall on June 22, 2017 (by commission), and that Mitchell’s Butler-inspired work spans back to her Xenogenesis Suite from 2008 and Intergalactic Beings from 2014.

FPE’s background for EarthSeed also relates how Harris discovered Butler’s writing as she worked on her opera Lilith. This was four years prior to meeting Mitchell in New Orleans while attending the New Quorum Composers’ Residency (the other composers invited were Wadada Leo Smith and Damon Locks). Upon discovering their mutual appreciation for Butler’s books, they immediately decided to create as a team a work inspired by the author.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

In rotation: 6/24/20

UK | Love Record Stores event delivers £1 million boost to music retail: The Love Record Stores event delivered a big boost to music retailers, according to figures release by campaign organisers. The event was a day of online shopping for vinyl exclusives at indie retailers and HMV, with a range of strictly limited-edition releases being made available to music fans. Love Record Stores ambassador Tim Burgess was a Music Week cover star this month, alongside interviews with organisers. The aim of the initiative was to provide participating stores with a significant spike in custom and revenues in the absence of Record Store Day, which has been postponed until later this year. Alongside the retail activity the event was supported by a virtual in-store, with performances by a number of artists and exclusive DJs sets broadcast throughout the day.

UK | Who Needs RSD? British Music Retailers Surpass £1m In One-Day Sales: Though the first of three planned Record Store Day 2020 legs won’t arrive for two months yet, UK-based music retailers enjoyed more than $1.24 million (£1 million) in one-day sales on Saturday, June 20th. The substantial sum derived from the Love Record Stores event, during which fans were encouraged to purchase limited-edition (and vinyl-exclusive) albums from their favorite British music retailers. Importantly, June 20th was the original date of Record Store Day 2020, which organizers have now split into three weekends (across August, September, and October). As part of the Love Record Stores initiative, labels and artists (including Elton John, Tom Walker, and The Rolling Stones, among others) shipped approximately 50,000 vinyl units, encompassing 83 new and reissued records, to retailers ahead of 6/20.

Grass Valley, CA | Clock Tower Records up for sale: After almost nine years of owning Clock Tower Records in downtown Grass Valley, Curt Smith is putting the business up for sale. He said he’s making the decision not because of COVID-19 or the subsequent orders stemming from the pandemic, but, rather, because of his current health condition, and because he wants to spend more time with family. Smith said he got into the record business because he enjoys listening to entire albums, and interacting with others about their musical interests. “When you pick (an album) up, you actually listen to the whole record,” he said, adding that many great songs from albums were never played on the radio, meaning music lovers may have otherwise missed out on a certain song if not for records. In addition to his store, Smith sells his inventory online. He noted that for decades records have been growing in popularity and in 2019, for the first time since the early 1980s, records were on track to actually outsell CDs.

US | 19 awesome Black-owned record stores: Racism, racial inequality, and racial injustice have plagued America for centuries, but long overdue conversations on these topics have been happening on a major, mainstream level ever since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police led to nationwide protests, all of which happened during a worldwide pandemic that especially impacts black and brown communities. Because of this, we’ve seen a recent increase in activism, fundraisers, and the promotion of art/literature that benefit the fight for racial justice. Even beyond that, there are more ways to get involved, including directly uplifting and supporting Black people (those you know and those you don’t) in regard to their ideas and their endeavors, in your everyday life. One of the most direct and sustainable ways to support the Black community is to shop at and support Black-owned businesses as often as possible, especially now that the pandemic has taken its toll on small, independent businesses in general. …We’ve compiled a list of 19 Black-owned record stores all across the US.

12 record shops unite on 24-hour Move The Record streaming event: Vinyl outlets in Europe, the US and South America will participate in the event on July 3rd and 4th. 12 record shops from around the world will take part in a two-day, 24-hour streaming event called Move The Record. The two 12-hour broadcasts will take place on July 3rd and 4th, with DJs like Bradley Zero, Steffi, Prins Thomas and Fred P playing sets. There will be a discounts in place at all the shops for 48 hours, with a sweepstake competition offering prizes including vinyl, hardware, studio sessions, production courses and merchandise. All of the proceeds will be distributed among the participating record shops. “We all—artists, clubs, labels, distribution, pressing plants—are facing uncertain times as a direct result of the Covid crisis,” said Dana Ruh, who will DJ from Berlin’s KMA60, which she runs with Jamie Fry. “Our industry is all connected, and many people have already lost their jobs. Clubs are closed; performing artists have lost their primary source of income; record stores—our cultural hubs of community and discovery—are struggling to stay afloat. So on July 3rd and 4th, myself and 11 other stores around the world will come together to support one another. It’s all connected. We are all connected.”

Posted in A morning mix of news for the vinyl inclined | Leave a comment

TVD Radar: The Buddy Holly Story OST deluxe editions in stores 8/21

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Varèse Sarabande Records will release The Buddy Holly Story Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition), with all songs from the Academy Award®-winning film available for the first time on LP, CD, and all streaming platforms on August 21.

The LP format will include a black vinyl record in a standard jacket with printed inner sleeve, and the CD format will include a 16-page booklet, with both packages including rare photos of the icon, courtesy of his estate and the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. With the announcement of this exciting upcoming release, pre-order is available now on varesesarabande.com. The expanded soundtrack features 22 tracks in total, including 11 tracks not released on the original soundtrack.

The additional songs include many performances that were in the film, such as “That’ll Be the Day,” “Mockingbird Hill,” and “Tennessee Waltz” performed by Gary Busey (as Buddy Holly), “Chantilly Lace” performed by Gailard Sartain (as the Big Bopper), and “You Send Me” performed by Paul Mooney (as Sam Cooke).

Buddy Holly is one of the most revered musicians in rock and roll history, and The Buddy Holly Story is his definitive legacy film. The project earned three Oscar® nominations, including “Best Actor” for prolific character actor Gary Busey, who has appeared in over 150 films, including Lethal Weapon and Point Break.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

TVD Radar: Airto, Seeds on the Ground blue vinyl reissue in stores 7/31

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Airto’s second album, and second and last release for the Buddah label, brought back largely the same crew that appeared on his debut record Natural Feelings (also reissued by Real Gone): vocalist (and wife) Flora Purim, composer and multi-instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal, and bassist Ron Carter, with contributions from Dom Um Ramão (who later replaced Airto in Weather Report) and Severino De Oliveira a.k.a. Sivuca.

Given Airto’s connections to Miles Davis, Weather Report, and Return to Forever, Seeds on the Ground could easily get lumped into the jazz fusion category. But that would be a mistake. This totally unclassifiable (and, by the way, exceedingly rare) album was no mere blend of rock and jazz influences. Instead, Seeds on the Ground was truly a fusion, an ecstatic melding of bossa nova, psychedelic rock, Brazilian folk, Latin jazz, free jazz, and “world music.” If that sounds a bit calculated or intimidating, it’s not; what makes this album so compelling is how organic and intimate it all sounds.

Airto played with probably the three most legendary fusion groups in jazz history, and later released a bunch of albums, many for the CTI label. But it would be hard not to label this beautiful record as his crowning achievement. Our proud Real Gone reissue features the original gatefold cover art, and comes in an ocean blue vinyl pressing limited to 1,000 copies.

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

The Godfathers’
Peter Coyne,
The TVD First Date

“I grew up in the ‘60s and ‘70s in a large, working class Irish family in south London—10 kids plus Mum and Dad—and there was fabulous music coming out of every room and shiny black vinyl 45s, EPs, and LPs everywhere in our noisy house.”

“My sisters loved great pop music like The Beatles, Stones, soul and reggae and my older brothers ‘digged’ ‘heavier’ stuff…Dylan, Cream, Hendrix, and there was always plenty of traditional Irish music, rock & roll and Johnny Cash around. I was fascinated by vinyl as a child and studied the labels for more information and noticed the same RGM Productions credit on 3 great records—‘Telstar’ The Tornadoes, ‘Johnny Remember Me’ John Leyton, and ‘Have I The Right’ The Honeycombs.

I later on discovered that RGM meant Robert George Meek, the true name of sonic genius, maverick producer Joe Meek. I guess even at an early age I was attracted to outsiders. Psychedelic pop like ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’ Traffic’s ‘Hole In My Shoe,’ and ‘Lazy Sunday’ Small Faces caught my attention—there’s a dreamy innocence that kids love and it still has the power to take you to an alternate universe. Glam rock was the omnipresent soundtrack to my teenage years and Roxy Music’s debut ‘Virginia Plain’ the very first 45 I ever bought.

Read More »

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

UK Artist of the Week: Nuala

It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through the year already, considering we’ve been stuck in lockdown for most if it, but here we are. Summer is very much upon us and to celebrate, we thought we’d treat you to a cheeky bit of reggae-infused pop to mark the occasion. Singer-songwriter Nuala’s new single “Stuck In the Middle” is out now.

Combining soul, reggae, and pop sensibilities, Nuala’s latest single is already giving us that Friday feeling—and it’s only Tuesday! Nuala’s smooth, sultry vocal tone is distinctively strong throughout, reminding us of the likes of Natasha Bedingfield and even a bit of Hayley Williams as a result.

Nuala may look young, but her voice fuses vintage twangs with more contemporary tones creating a sound that is undeniably infectious—and we just love it.

“Split Down The Middle” is taken from Nuala’s forthcoming EP “Me&Me,” in stores later this year.

Posted in TVD UK | Leave a comment
  • SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL INDIE SHOPS SINCE 2007


  • Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text
  • Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text Alternative Text