Author Archives: TVD

Check out this cool project that was covered by TVD Cleveland. I definitely think they should add Seattle to their list of cities to visit…but without your help they may not be able to get this project on the road, so read up and help them out! – Steph

And you thought vinyl records were dead? Not so fast.

The New Face of Vinyl is a project that explores why young people across the United States have started a digital “devolution” by buying and listening to vinyl records. Throughout the country, young people are buying more and more vinyl, thus getting back to the analog roots of listening to music. Collecting and listening to vinyl has become a unique experience for many teens and young adults throughout the world who have chosen to explore the once forgotten black wax. Photographer Ben Meadors and writer Owen McCafferty are setting out to discover what vinyl means to these people, and will create a full color photo documentary book to tell the story.

The project at its core, explores and focuses on the cultural changes occurring as a result of this new found interest in vinyl. The reasons why vinyl has become so popular now are vast; Owen and Ben want to set out to New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, Portland and San Fransisco and talk to young record collectors, store owners and occasional vinyl-lovers to find out what keeps bringing them back for more.

After collecting all the pictures and interviews, the team will compose a 180+ page full color photo-documentary-book to tell the story, and share their experiences with the world.

Owen and Ben have chosen to use the popular organizationKickstarter to help collect donations in order to cover the traveling and printing expenses of the project.

The project won’t receive funding if $6,500.00 isn’t raised by July 31st 2011, so visit the site and make a donation to help Ben and Owen make this exciting project a reality.

Keep an eye on their site for updates, photos, and stories. You can follow the project on Twitter via @newfaceofvinyl.

I hope everyone survived Sasquatch/Folklife and enjoyed a weekend with some sunshine. Luckily we have ample time to recover for Block Party and Bumbershoot. I’m hoping sharing this post from TVD San Francisco will send Seattle the message that we are ready for the sun to stay! I love Jason’s summertime picks and I hope you do too! – Steph

Summertime and the livings easy…

Now that Memorial Day weekend is over, it’s time to pull together my ultimate summertime playlist. I find myself thinking of songs that remind me of my favorite summertime activities, which include, but are not limited to; drinking beer by the pool, drinking beer while grilling by the pool, and drinking beer from a keg by the pool while grilling and playing lawn darts or as they are more commonly known, “Jarts”. (Yes I am originally from the Mid-west) Now instead of giving you a clichéd list of summertime favorites put together for your next pool party or cookout, I decided to dig a little deeper and find out the stories behind a few summertime staples. The results speak for themselves.

“Feel Good Hit of The Summer” – Queens of the Stone Age– Conceived after a three-day Millennium party, backing vocals by the metal god himself Rob Halford, and a drug cocktail reference that would make Nikki Sixx blush, here’s my vote for all-time best Summer anthem.

“I Fought The Law” – The Clash – Much-covered classic originally recorded by Sonny Curtis and The Crickets (post Buddy Holly) in 1959 and famously covered by Bobby Fuller Four in 1965. Just as the song became a top ten hit, Bobby Fuller was found dead in a parked automobile near his Los Angeles home. The police considered the death an apparent suicide; however, many people still believe Fuller was murdered. The song was later covered by The Clash and then again by Green Day. The Clash version reigns supreme as it turns out that Green Day had never in fact fought the law, having only brushed up against it.

“Doin’ Time” – Sublime – “Doin’ Time” is a loose cover of “Summertime” by George Gershwin, composed for the opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics tell of a cheating girlfriend, whose infidelities and poor treatment of her lover makes him feel like he is in prison.

“Schools Out” – Alice Cooper –What’s the greatest three minutes of life asks Alice Cooper? “There’s two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, when you’re just getting ready to open the presents. The next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school when you’re sitting there and it’s like a slow fuse burning.” Cooper says, ‘If we can catch that three minutes in a song, it’s going to be so big.’” On a seperate note; the greatest three minutes of my life during high school can be attributed to the first time I, um, never mind.

“California Girls” – The Beach Boys – The music for the song came from Brian Wilson’s first LSD experience. According to Brian Wilson himself, shortly after taking LSD, he ran up to a bedroom and hid under a pillow, shouting “I’m afraid of my mom, I’m afraid of my dad.” Randomly, he got up, said “That’s enough of that” and went to a piano. David Lee Roth would later cover the song while suffering a different form of LSD referred to as Less Significant and Disappointing.

“Song #2” – Blur – The first time this song was played live lead singer Damon Albarn stated that “This one’s called ‘Song 2′, ‘cos we haven’t got a name for it yet”. The working title ended up sticking and the number two eventually became associated with the song. Other fun facts: it is the second track on the album, the second single from the album to be released, it reached #2 on the UK singles chart, is exactly two minutes long, and Woo-Hoo are the only 2 words you remember.

“Born To Run” – Bruce Springsteen – The prior year, Springsteen had released two albums to critical acclaim but with little commercial success. The lyrics to the song are appropriately epic for his last-ditch, all-or-nothing shot at the stars, yet they remain rooted in the universal desperation of adolescence. There is a rumor that the drums and cymbals are on separate tracks because the drum track was recorded and played backwards (the sound is consistent with backmasking and ‘tape flip’ can be heard during the middle of the first verse). Springsteen has so far offered no comment about the track’s backwardness.

“Dancing in the Streets” – Martha and the Vandellas – Written by Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, the song highlighted the concept of having a good time in whatever city the listener lived. The idea for dancing came to Stevenson from watching people on the streets of Detroit cool off in the summer in water from opened fire hydrants. The song was recorded in two takes. While produced as an innocent dance track, the song took on a different meaning when riots in inner-city America led to many young black demonstrators citing the song as a civil rights anthem to social change. The British press aggravated singer Martha Reeves by putting a microphone in her face and asking her if she was a militant leader. The journalist wanted to know if Reeves agreed, as many people had claimed, that “Dancing in the Street” was a call to riot. To Reeves, the query was patently absurd. “My Lord, it was a party song”, she said.

“Walking on Sunshine” – Katrina and the Waves – Estimates are that the song will have earned $1 million per year for the decade ending in 2010. According to a former employee of EMI, “Walking on Sunshine was the crown jewel in EMI’s catalog,” and it was one of EMI’s biggest earners from advertisers. The song is very popular in commercials and advertisers typically pay $150,000 to $200,000 per year to use the song. To put it in perspective, advertisers can get “Walking On The Sun” the mid nineties hit song from Smashmouth for about the same price as a bag of Skittles.

“Hot Fun In The Summertime” – Sly And The Family Stone – The single was released in the wake of the band’s high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fanbase. It reached #2 on the U.S. pop chart and #3 on the U.S. R&B chart. Thematically, the song is a dedication to the fun and games to be had during the summer, although it has also been analyzed as a commentary on the race riots of the late-1960s. On a lighter note, if the riff sounds familiar it’s because the members of Toto have also cited it as the inspiration for “Hold the Line”.

What songs are essential to your ultimate Summertime playlist? Please join the conversation in the comment section below.

Check out this show happening in Portland Sunday, May 22. The $1 pancakes and music combo, I’m into it. Who’s up for a little road trip? – Steph

The New York-based artist Dara Greenwald has some sturdy NW roots, having brought her stirringly political and personal work to Portland in February 2010 when she helped co-curate an exhibit at PNCA entitled Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now. Soon after that, Greenwald was diagnosed with cancer, which she is in the midst of treatment for as you read this. While she does have some healthy insurance, it’s hardly enough to cover the expenses she has incurred as a result of this diagnosis. So, her fellow arts community is raising up arms to help raise money to help stave off the piling up bills.

The first such event here in Portland is taking place on Sunday May 22nd at the art center Disjecta on 8731 N Interstate. For a sliding scale fee ($8 – $100), you can partake in a pancake breakfast and special performances by Stephen Malkmus and Rebecca Gates. The whole thing is going down from 11am until around 2pm with the music starting at noon. Screw this lazy Sunday nonsense, get up and get out for a good cause.

Enjoyed reading this My First Record coming from Portland, check it out and enjoy. -Steph

Stephanie Schneiderman, former member of the folk-pop trio Dirty Martini, has just released her 7th solo album, Rubber Teardrop. It continues in the downtempo sexy electronica vibe that she cooked up with collaborator Keith Schreiner on her previous effort Dangerous Fruit but manages to turn up the heat and the intensity throughout.

I grew up in a house full of music. I have two older sisters and when we weren’t practicing on piano, French horn, clarinet and flute, we played records. We had this tiny little record player with horrible sounding speakers that kept cutting in and out. The first songwriters that stood out to me were Paul Simon, Pat Benatar and Billy Joel.

I used to play the album Glass Houses for hours while roller skating around the perimeter of my (tiny) basement absorbing the melodies and lyrics. I think what pulled me in were the stories told in the songs and Billy Joel. I loved his bravado. I loved his voice. I loved his band. And if I hear that album now I can remember the smell of my basement.

Another album that made an impact on me was Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young’s So Far. I discovered it when I was about 14 and I couldn’t get enough of the harmonies and listened to the whole album over and over again. I liked the feeling that I was taken on a ride from the beginning to the end. And I was drawn to the darker melodies which I think influence my writing to this day.

Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years is still one of my all time favorite albums. It’s an album that my parents played a lot and my earliest musical memories involve being at the beach listening to it. His songwriting is clean and poignant and creates so much room to breathe. The melody lines become that much more potent because they’re surrounded by space. Every word feels important. And then there’s so much ease about the whole thing. Most of my favorite songwriters have these same qualities.

Pat Benatar was and still is a huge inspiration for me. I’m part of the generation of young girls who stood in front of their mirrors singing her songs trying to emulate her foxiness. In The Heat Of The Night was the album I listened to a bunch. She brought such a different angle to rock and roll, a more feminine but equally bold approach. Her songs were punchy little gems and so easy to sing along to. I recently had the opportunity to open for her this last summer, and she’s still amazing.

Happy Birthday Robert Johnson, from TVD Seattle.

This past Sunday would have been the 100th birthday of one of the most notorious figures in American music, Mr. Robert Johnson. Though he never made it big before his untimely death in 1938, at the age of 27, allegedly after drinking whiskey that had been poisoned by the jealous husband of a woman Robert had been flirting with, Johnson penned tunes that would become blues standards, and influence musicians for decades to come.

Countless musicians cite him as an influence, and his songs have been covered by everyone from Cream to The Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin.

Legend has it that Johnson’s talent stemmed from a deal with the devil himself, made at a crossroads outside Cleveland, Mississippi. Whether you believe this or not, there is no doubt the man could play some serious blues.