Category Archives: TVD Austin

TVD Austin contributor Mike Harrell wanted to share a few words about the passing of Poly Styrene on Monday:

X-Ray Spex lead singer Marian Joan Elliott-Said AKA Poly Styrene, passed away from complications due to breast cancer Monday, April 25th.

The band formed in England in 1976 and is one of the more influential punk bands of the era. Although they only released one album, Germ Free Adolescents, they left a mark on the punk rock world that few could deny.

Arguably their finest moment was the single “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” which was not included on the original album (it was placed on the CD re-release in 2005). Musicians of all types, such as Billy Bragg, Kathleen Hanna, The Beastie Boys, and Boy George have all been influenced by her and all have paid tribute.

If you are not familiar with her fine work as a vocalist then go out and pick up a copy of this album. It may be more difficult to find on LP but it’s worth the hunt. Rest in peace Poly and thank you for changing the face of music forever.

Hey folks,

In case you don’t already know, this weekend is the Austin Record Convention at the North Austin Event Center (10601 N. Lamar). Head on over an peruse over 300 tables full of vinyl goodies!

Here’s a list of dates, times, and admission:

Regular Admission: $5, good for both days

• Saturday April 30th 10am – 6pm
• Sunday May 1st 10am – 5pm

Early Shopper Admission: $25, good for all three days

• Friday April 29th 10am – 6pm
• Saturday April 30th 8am – 6pm
• Sunday May 1st 10am – 5pm

The music is delicious, but please don’t lick the band.

Living in a music-filled and artist-oriented town such as Austin, TX means the constant barrage of new music can be overwhelming. There are the veteran musicians who play to sold-out shows in familiar and nostalgic locales because their 20-plus year career has earned more than a full house of fans; and there are the brand new starry-eyed dreamers who would sell their soul for a record contract, deserved or not. Somewhere in between, there are a handful of individuals who are musicians by birth, who live and breathe music, who simply exist in a normal realm that happens to be incredibly artistic. These last treasured few are the ones to watch; Adoniram Lipton- front man of Slowtrain– belongs in this category.

Bound To Find You Out is the first full-length album from Slowtrain, and in short, it is awesome. Mastered with obvious, tedious precision the 10 tracks are full-bodied, well-rounded and endlessly interesting. The layers are fascinating: laid down neatly and stirred up with the highly skilled musicians’ endeavors in piano, organ, harmonica, and guitar. The lead vocals and accompanying harmonies soar through the well-written lyrics, yet somehow envelope the listener with emotion by allowing tiny squeaks and tweaks to remain. And the whistling is like icing on top of an already delicious treat. This is smart music.

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Slowtrain frontman Adoniram Lipton and I exchanged emails prior to their album release party Friday night at the Continental Club. Tomorrow, I will be posting a review of their new album, Bound To Find You Out.

1. What was the first album you owned?

I fall into that age bracket where my parents stopped listening to vinyl before I was born and I didn’t catch on until just after high school. So the first actual album I ever purchased was The Band’s self-titled record, the brown one where they look all scraggly.

First tape was Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em back when cassette tapes were displayed in those enormous plastic pieces of scaffolding. I kind of miss the excitement of watching the clerk take off all those trappings to reveal the cassette tape within. It’s kind of like your wedding night when you think about it.

The first CD I ever purchased was Dylan’s Greatest Hits 2. I was 14 years old and driving up I-95 in my father’s truck. There was some NPR type program doing a radio biography of Dylan and talking about the iconoclastic electric tour and subsequent retreat to the country. The next song they played was “Lay Lady Lay” so as soon as we got home I bought the first record I could find with that song on it.

2. Favorite album of all time? Why?

Ahh yes, the second most difficult question in the world (the first being “what does your band sound like?”). Looking ahead to question 6, I’m going to exclude any Dylan albums. I’ve loved Joe Cocker’s With A Little Help From My Friends since I first bought the tape many years ago. I still listen to the record front to back all the time so let’s go with that.

3. How/when did your band form?

Slowtrain has had an evolving and fluid membership for many years now. I always hate solo artists who give themselves a band name even though it’s just them so let’s be clear that this isn’t some Bright Eyes thing, more like The Jayhawks. The lineup we’ve got now is the best we’ve ever had incidentally.

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Blue Bird-Metamorphosis

Self-described as “make-out” music, the debut EP, Metamorphosis, from Omaha’s 7-piece band, Blue Bird is making retro-infused waves. Sweet songstress Marta Fiedler croons lovey-dovey sentiment through a skilled rollercoaster of vocals on top of a band with a full wingspan of sound. This EP is well-written music that seems to hit the target mark of love song meets bicycles on a nature trail. Blue Bird incorporates everything to be missed about the untainted innocence of generations past and combines it with the exciting prospects of the future, all while holding your hand. Aptly-named title track, “Metamorphosis”, is the most progressive and fully blossomed on the EP, and perhaps the most fascinating with its intriguing harmonies and mentions of a lover changed. Overall, the la-dee-dahs and lovebird tunes are perfect for, well, makin’ out.

1: Don’t Leave Me
2: Everything Can Change
3: Metamorphosis
4. New Year’s Song
5. Give Me Light

The line behind End Of An Ear before they opened. Photo by Mark Fagan.

Mark and I positioned ourselves at different record stores on Saturday. He was at End of An Ear and I was at Waterloo Records. Although neither of us decided to get up at the crack of dawn to jump in line, we both scored the majority of what we wanted. It was really great to see the turnout at both stores. I spent over 2 hours at Waterloo shopping and waiting in line to check out. I’d never seen it so busy. Simply awesome.

Here’s our list of what we got. Let us know what you came away with too.

Mark:

Rolling Stones- Brown Sugar 7″

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Today, everybody’s looking forward to Record Store Day, but we’ve been counting down for months.

Here’s the best of our Record Store Day 2011 coverage for you to study before you get in line outside your favorite local record store bright and early.

There’s a Vinyl District in every city. Support your local indie record store!

Happy Record Store Day!

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Although I’m still devising my strategy for the big day tomorrow, I do have my list of most wanted Record Store Day releases. Since I’m sharing mine, how about you share me yours in the comments?

Big Star– Third (Test Pressing Edition)

Bruce Springsteen– Gotta Get The Feeling b/w Racing In The Street 7″

Built To Spill– Ripple 7″

Dio– Killing The Dragon

Nirvana- Hormoaning

Rush– Caravan/BU2B

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals– Class Mythology EP

The Black Angels– Phosgene Nightmare 10″

The Cars– Sad Song 7″

The Rolling Stones– Brown Sugar 7″

So glad today is payday!

As mentioned in the Candy Golde interview post, we have two copies of their new EP on 10″ vinyl we are giving away!

This EP features four original songs plus a cover of Paul Simon’s “Boy In The Bubble”. Limited to only 5000 pressings, this is surely to be a collector’s item.

In order to win a copy before it’s street date on 5/10/11, all you need to do is comment on this post and we’ll select two winners (U.S. and Canada residents only) this Friday (4/15). What a nice little present courtesy of TVD right before Record Store Day!

Here’s an mp3 of “Trouble’s Coming Down” for you to enjoy in the meantime.

http://soundcloud.com/the-vinyl-district/candy-golde-troubles-coming

The day after their ear splitting first ever live show together at Club Deville during SXSW, I had the pleasure of sitting down for lunch with new Chicago all star band, Candy Golde. Featuring Nick Tremulis (Nick Tremulis Orchestra), Rick Rizzo (Eleventh Dream Day), John Stirratt (Wilco, The Autumn Defense) and none other than Bun E Carlos (Cheap Trick) behind the drum kit, these heavy hitters delivered what you’d expect: great rock n’ roll music.

TVD Austin: So tell me, how did Candy Golde come about?

Rick Rizzo: Nick gave me a call and asked me if I’d write some songs with him. He had this idea of just writing songs with friends and I was the first one he called. They came together very quickly and we built it from there.

TVD Austin: How long ago was this?

Nick Tremulis: (sings mimicking the Mariachi singer at the table next to us) I think that was a year or so a-goooo!

RR: I’ve played with Bun E and John before and we all knew each other and it just seemed like a great band to have together and as long as we weren’t writing a bunch of bullshit, we said “yeah, let’s do it”.

Bun E Carlos: It’s all about the songs. If the songs weren’t any good, what’s the point of dragging our ass into doing it.

TVD Austin: You are releasing a five song EP in May. Any plans for a full length?

RR: EP’s are easy, full length’s are a pain in the ass.

TVD Austin: Then another EP perhaps?

NT: I wouldn’t mind it. It’s all about having the time.

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At SXSW this year, I had the privilege of meeting Mono Stereo’s manager, Danny who hooked me up with a bunch of cool Mono Stereo 7 inches and a copy of the forthcoming album (due out this Fall). Needless to say, I was blown away. The song, “Me And My Machine” is the best single I’ve heard this year.

Since Austin is such a great town for fans of psyche/garage/pop, I wanted to share this post that our TVD UK buddies posted today. I can only hope that they make it to next year’s SXSW or to Austin’s Psychefest!

Sweden has long since been a fertile breeding ground for great psych/garage/pop. The 80s saw the The Nomads, Pushtwangers, Watermelon Men and others make great underground rock records, and in more recent times The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and The Hives have each impressed, with visceral live shows and a string of fine albums and singles to their names.

The latest band in this tradition, but with their own sound and a distinctly NOW feel, are Mono Stereo. Debuting with a limited fan-only release, the ‘Space Out’ EP was released at the tail end of 2009; last year saw the band release a U.S. Only 45, ‘On And On’ / ‘A Matter Of Confusion’, followed by the ‘Me And My Machine’ single. An album is on the not-too-distant horizon, and this week we caught up with the band to discuss their attitude and output:

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