Author Archives: Jon Meyers

TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has personally supervised with the reissue series from his back catalog—all newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios.

In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team. We’ll be selecting five winners for each 180 gram vinyl reissue package.

We return to our giveaways this week with the very first remaster from the Archive Collection, 1973’s Band on the Run. 

Our friends at Popmatters noted in their 2010 review of the reissue, “The 2010 Band on the Run reissue is the first release in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, and the remastered sound is superb. The sound on the previous, 25th Anniversary, remaster was pretty good, but this is noticeably superior.

McCartney personally supervised the process, working with the same team who did the recent remastering of the Beatles’ catalog at Abbey Road…the sound is somehow deeper and rounder than on the 25th Anniversary Edition. Comparing the two side by side, there’s a slightly thin sound to some tracks on the previous discs, a sense of narrowness or confinement. There’s a greater depth to the Archive set, particularly to the bass lines, because this is McCartney, after all.”

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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. This week, of the thousands of songs we heard this year, we’ve selected our 10 favorites for 2012.

Kitten – Cut It Out
Weird Dreams – Little Girl
Cub Scouts – Do You Hear
Lightouts – The Big Picture
Sillyboy – Supply ChainKing of Spain – Motions
Mystery Pills – The Glass Traditions
The Royal Concept – Naked & Dumb
of Montreal – Feminine Effects
Smith & Burrows – This Ain’t Jersey

TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has personally supervised with the reissue series from his back catalog—all newly remastered at Abbey Road Studios.

In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team. We’ll be selecting five winners for each 180 gram vinyl reissue package.

We return to our giveaways with the only LP credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, 1971’s RAM—the Mono Mix. 

“RAM, simply put, is the first Paul McCartney release completely devoid of John’s musical influence, Pitchfork noted with its review this past May. “Of course, John wiggled his way into some of the album’s lyrics– in those fresh, post-breakup years, the two couldn’t quite keep each other out of their music. But musically, RAM proposes an alternate universe where young Paul skipped church the morning of July 6, 1957, and the two never crossed paths. It’s breezy, abstracted, completely hallucinogen-free, and utterly lacking grandiose ambitions. It’s an album whistled to itself. It’s purely Paul.”

“Or actually, ‘Paul and Linda.’ This was another one of Paul’s chief RAM-related offenses: He not only invited his new photographer bride into the recording studio, he included her name on the record’s spine. RAM is the only album in recorded history credited to the artist duo ‘Paul and Linda McCartney,’ and in the sense that Linda’s enthusiastically warbling vocals appear on almost every song, it’s entirely accurate.”

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TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has personally supervised with the reissue series from his back catalog—all newly re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios. In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team.

Today however, we’re slightly breaking from our running theme to toss in a bit of a holiday surprise, as you can enter to win Sir Paul’s brand new Christmas 7″ “Christmas Kisses,” of which we’ll select 5 winners for what’s basically already a holiday classic.

From Paul’s website: “Paul has announced a very special Christmas treat for fans with the release of an exclusive iTunes album ‘Kisses on the Bottom – Complete Kisses’ on November 26th in the UK / internationally and November 27th in the US. ‘Kisses on the Bottom – Complete Kisses’ will feature the hugely acclaimed album ‘Kisses On The Bottom’ alongside the entire 13 tracks from ‘Live From Capitol Studios’ concert performance, and four bonus tracks including a special festive recording of ‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)’, which Paul recorded at Avatar Studios in New York in September.”

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TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has personally supervised with the reissue series from his back catalog—all newly re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team. We’ll be selecting five winners for each 180 gram vinyl reissue package.

We return to our giveaways anew this week with the only LP credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, 1971’s RAM.

“RAM, simply put, is the first Paul McCartney release completely devoid of John’s musical influence, Pitchfork noted with its review this past May. “Of course, John wiggled his way into some of the album’s lyrics– in those fresh, post-breakup years, the two couldn’t quite keep each other out of their music. But musically, RAM proposes an alternate universe where young Paul skipped church the morning of July 6, 1957, and the two never crossed paths. It’s breezy, abstracted, completely hallucinogen-free, and utterly lacking grandiose ambitions. It’s an album whistled to itself. It’s purely Paul.”

“Or actually, ‘Paul and Linda.’ This was another one of Paul’s chief RAM-related offenses: He not only invited his new photographer bride into the recording studio, he included her name on the record’s spine. RAM is the only album in recorded history credited to the artist duo ‘Paul and Linda McCartney,’ and in the sense that Linda’s enthusiastically warbling vocals appear on almost every song, it’s entirely accurate.”

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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.

Stereo Telescope – Geography
Sally Shapiro – He Keeps Me Alive (Cedric Gervais Remix)
Night Moves – Headlights
The Yes Way – On The Rights
The Maginot Band – Veiled Clock
Apache Dropout – Candy Bar
Diamonds Ahead – Diamond’s Ahead
Trust – Dressed For Space
ERAAS – At Heart (The KVB Remix)
Newtimers – Heavy Weather

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Kiki Pau – Tomte Mars

San Fermin – Sonsick
Wooden Wand – Southern Colorado Song
Radio Free Universe – Rise
Woollen Kits – Susannah
Mmoss – Another Dream
Mountains – Living Lens
Onward Chariots – Mama
Christina Courtin – Varsity
Team Me – Sixteen Steps
Armand Van Helden – You Don’t Know Me (Dave Silcox Remix)

22 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!

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TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has supervised personally with the reissue series from his stellar catalog—all newly re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios, and each featuring a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased tracks.

In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team. We’ll be selecting five winners for each 180 gram vinyl reissue package.

Today, the next LP we’re making available from the Archive Collection is 1980’s McCartney II.

“…McCartney II, made while Wings were on hiatus, was another purely solo effort. “Waterfalls” is a Rhodes-driven ballad that would make a great Adele cover, but what’s striking is a kooky experimentalism — see the leering, Kraftwerk-y “Temporary Secretary” — that foreshadows the current era of the laptop dance-pop auteur,” Rolling Stone wrote with its review upon McCartney II’s rerelease in June, 2011.

“For someone who could write perfect pop songs with the effort it takes most folks to assemble a sandwich, these freewheeling records must’ve been fun to make. They sound like it.”

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TVD is delighted to have been selected by the team behind the Paul McCartney Archive Collection to exclusively spotlight the meticulous work Paul has supervised personally with the reissue series from his stellar catalog—all newly re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios, and each featuring a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased tracks.

In the spirit of the season, the entire Paul McCartney Archive Collection to date, as well as 2012’s Kisses on the Bottom will be available to TVD readers through a series of special giveaways during the month of December, courtesy of Sir Paul and his team. We’ll be selecting five winners for each 180 gram vinyl reissue package—and we kick it off today with Paul’s first solo release, McCartney.

“The record has a homespun charm, and a feel that suggests McCartney wasn’t putting too much pressure on himself to carry on the Beatles flame or make a statement,” Pitchfork noted with its review upon McCartney’s rerelease in June, 2011.

“Paul played everything on the record himself, apart from some backing vocals by Linda, recording much of it at home on a four-track…The highlights of McCartney’s later solo albums were often uptempo rock songs, or big, show-stopping tunes, but here, apart from “Maybe I’m Amazed,” the peaks include two versions of the same quiet song, “Junk.” The sparse vocal version features McCartney accompanying himself with acoustic guitar and a bit of bass and percussion, ticking through a nostalgic inventory of disused objects.”

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“When I was a child, I did not care much for music. I was far more interested in science fiction, video games, and comics, and the usual stuff that a young nerd would enjoy. I tried to like pop music like Michael Jackson or Cyndi Lauper, but it really wasn’t doing it for me in any way.”

“Then I noticed kids of my age wearing Iron Maiden t-shirts, which looked unbelievably cool and instantly piqued my interest. I wanted to know all about this stuff! Was it from a comic? A cartoon?

Nope, Heavy Metal! I was introduced to the world of Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, and Anthrax at a very young age by my school chums and it left a rather alarming first impression! It was far too abrasive and dangerous sounding, and I was instantly put off by the noisy dirge, so upon leaving my friend’s house I was lent a vinyl record that pretty much shaped my interest in music and led to a pursuit of some sort of career doing this kind of thing.

It was the tasteful and important body of work of cultural significance known as Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses, complete with the slightly distasteful rapey front cover. This kinda music I could get into, far more sleazy and exciting.

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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.

The Chapman Family – A Certain Degree
Night Moves – Headlights
The Griswolds – Heart Of A Lion
Rice Cultivation Society – King Midas
Algernon Doll – Spiral Sounds
Don Froth – VAP
Lewis Watson – Even If
The Love Loungers – Last Night Changed It All
LEMONADA – RUF.LIFE
Delhi 2 Dublin – Turn Up The Stereo

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Paul Buchanan – God is Laughing

TKTTSM – Eyeyeye
Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors -Tennessee
Stereo Telescope – FIRES
Unicycle Loves You – Sun Comes Out (And I Don’t Care)
Golden Void – 1983 (Hendrix Cover)
Atlas Genius – Back Seat (Goldroom Remix)
Citizens! – True Romance (Gildas Kitsuné Club Night Remix)
Cliff Dwellers – Escercesm
Kristinia DeBarge – Cry Wolf (ChazzTraxx Extended Remix)
Dream Curtain – This Landscape Is Our Escape

16 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!

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There’s a compelling counter balance at work with The Joy Formidable. On stage, the trio’s ferocious sonic assault is literally thunderous, explosive, and transformative—yet in person, Ritzy, Rhydian, and Matt are disarmingly warm, funny and approachable, and none too shy with the shared enthusiasm for a rummage through a record store when the opportunity presents itself.

The band was in Washington, DC on November 10th to play a special benefit for Saint Stephen’s Church organized by DC’s Positive Force which we chronicled here in the days following.

That afternoon, prior to soundcheck the band descended the stairs to Neal Becton’s Som Records. With local luminary Kid Congo Powers acting as host, the band set about just as we do here at TVD HQ with our Saturdays—rummaging for records.

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“‘Forget Regret’ is a phrase that I have tattooed on my neck.”

“To me it’s a way of looking at the past with an active positive attitude. There is so much more to do and experience. Why regret the past? It cannot be changed. The protagonist in the song sees it differently. He has committed all kinds of misdeeds but has reassured himself with the same mantra.

This character was inspired by some people I know who are absolutely capable or ripping and roaring through people’s lives with little visible remorse. I guess it can mean either. Enjoy!”
—Ari Shine 

After touring relentlessly behind his last album Ghost Town Directory and receiving plaudits from sources like No Depression, Americana UK, and Big Takeover, on September 25th Ari Shine released Songs Of Solomon, his most honest and rugged batch of songs yet. It has also made the Grammy ballot for Americana album of the Year.

We’re delighted to exclusively debut “Forget Regret.”

Ari Shine Official | Facebook | Twitter

“Seems like everyone I know or have met in music grew up listening to vinyl records. Either their parents were listening to vinyl or their older siblings were doing it. I on the other hand had only a very little experience early in life with any sort of vinyl.”

“I had no idea what it was until I was about 10 years old. My brother and I were snooping around my grandma’s house and in the basement we found a cabinet/table that opened up into a radio and record player. I recognized the turntable contraption from some MTV rap video I had seen and started “scratching” an old record pretending to be a DJ.

My dad found us playing around with the thing and told us to stop. He then went into one of his stories…he told us about when he was in high school and his older brothers had started a DJ business for dances. They didn’t know what was “hip” at the time and so hired my dad to be the DJ. My dad loved it–flipping through records, getting each track ready, and choosing the next song that people would love and dance to. “It used to be an art,” he always tells me.

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True story: Perry Farrell personally turned me on to Jethro Tull. Well, I was among a huge crowd at the (old) 9:30 Club the night Jane’s lost the Grammy for “Best Metal Act” to Jethro Tull. (Metallica lost to them too, if memory is serving me correctly.)

Prior (to be honest) I didn’t get it. Oh sure, I knew the classics, but all that mincing about with the flute…I dunno. But Jane’s delayed their arrival on stage for the outcome of the Grammy award and upon losing and announcing such from the stage, lept into the heaviest version imaginable of “Aqualung,” and Perry, dressed in a silver body suit with orange hair and made up akin to a psychotic Raggedy Ann, and yes – mincing about – opened my eyes. I never again heard Tull as I had prior. I became…a fan.

For you guys who we’ll call the “pre-converted,” we’ve got a fantastic giveaway—Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick, the 40th Anniversary Edition, which follows the release earlier this year of the sequel to Tull’s Thick As A Brick, Thick As A Brick 2.

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