VIA PRESS RELEASE | Independent artists from around the world have come together once again to create Talk – Action = Zero Vol. 2: a political action project curated and organized by Bank Robber Music and Rough Trade Publishing. The compilation album will be available exclusively on Bandcamp on Friday, August 28th and all proceeds will benefit Spread the Vote.

​The first volume of Talk – Action = Zero paid tribute to the countless Black Americans who have been murdered due to police brutality, with all proceeds benefiting Black Visions Collective. With a pivotal election on the horizon, Volume 2 highlights the importance of voting and empowering citizens to be heard at the polls. It features over 45 unreleased songs including the debut of Sunroof (Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones), and Repressed, a new collaborative project featuring Kurt Wagner (Lambchop), Mac McCaughan (Superchunk), Phil Morrison, Sarah Louis and Sally Hanson (House of Land).

The compilation also features tracks from Matthew Caws of Nada Surf, Neal Francis, Jennifer O’Connor & Travis Stever, Gary V, LIP TALK & WooF WooF, NY HUSTLERS, LoneMoon, Say Hi, Alanna Royale, Power of Attorney, Roots & Tings, Karyn Kuhl, Pink Mountaintops, The Long Ryders and many more. A majority of the songs featured on the compilation are related to voting, the election or the current state of the country, whether covers or new original songs.

All proceeds will benefit Spread the Vote, a national foundation that helps US citizens and communities empower themselves to be heard at the polls and helping with voter IDs, registrations, education and turnout. “Spread The Vote is thrilled to be working with BankRobberMusic / Rough Trade Publishing on this incredible compilation,” says Spread the Vote founder Kat Calvin. “Music has always been critical for every movement and at this moment, we need great music that inspires us to stand up for our democracy more than ever.”

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The Brit folk scene of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s was a deeper happening than a casual observer might suppose, and prime evidence is offered by the duo of Judy Dyble and Jackie McAuley. Borrowing John Peel’s nickname for his nanny, they called themselves Trader Horne and in 1970 cut a terrific LP for Pye Records’ underground subsidiary Dawn. 

At a glance it would seem that Judy Dyble is uncommonly familiar with the precipice of fame. To begin, she was replaced in Fairport Convention by Sandy Denny before the group broke big (in context). But if overshadowed her contribution was far from negligible; there’s the sunshiny psych-folk of the debut single’s “If I Had a Ribbon Bow” plus two Joni Mitchell interpretations, “I Don’t Know Where I Stand” and “Chelsea Morning,” strengthening the eponymous first album. She also co-wrote the nifty instrumental “Portfolio” with Ashley Hutchings.

She’s further noted as a pioneer in multitasking, knitting scarves and dishcloths onstage while her bandmates took flight. Shortly thereafter she was out of the Fairport picture, and it was around this point that she guested on The Incredible String Band’s The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter, lending her voice to “The Minotaur’s Song.”

Dyble’s second dalliance with wide recognition came in the prelude to King Crimson, specifically as a contributor to Giles, Giles, & Fripp. A handful of tracks on The Brondesbury Tapes carry her mark, most notably “I Talk to the Wind,” the alternative to Greg Lake additionally collected on A Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson. Just as interesting but significantly less retrospectively cited is her brief spot on “Ashes of the Empire/The End” from G.F. Fitz-Gerald’s Mouseproof.

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Quite a number of years back, the TVD First Date feature was inaugurated to introduce new talent to the site and to follow an artist’s development while getting to know their own music via their record collections. ’twas a nifty idea earlier on, however over the course of a decade some more than well-established artists have lent their time to the feature to shed a light on what brought them to their first stages and into our own consciousness—and we’re resharing a number of our favorites this week. —Ed.

“The first vinyl I ever bought with my own hard-earned babysitting money was The Go Go’s Beauty and the Beat.”

“I know the phrase ‘it changed my life’ is thrown around pretty freely, but I sat in my basement bedroom listening to this album for hours and hours that day, alternately cross-legged on the floor studying the cover and then dancing like crazy. It changed my life.”
—Tanya Donnelly, 2018

“The first record I bought with my own money was the debut album by Boston. At that age it was probably birthday money.”

“I chose it over Kiss Destroyer. I’m not sure if it was the art that tipped the scales or because I already loved the track “More than a Feeling.” I can remember playing it over and over at my friend Nick’s house (his family had a serious stereo) and we beat the stuffing out of his couch with his brothers marching-band drum sticks.”
—Chris Gorman, 2018

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Here’s a question for your UFO nuts: If there are really advanced alien life forms out there, why haven’t they vaporized the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Your guess is as good as mine, but here’s what I do know–these Southern California socks-on-cocks have come close to killing me on multiple occasions, as I swerved into oncoming traffic in a frantic effort to turn the car radio dial to avoid “Under the Bridge.”

As my many near scrapes with mortality attest, the Red Hot Chili Peppers aren’t merely an annoyance; they’re a menace to all but the legions of Caucasian frat boys who’ve mistaken their ersatz funk for the real thing over the past 35 plus years.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ music isn’t, in and of itself, much worse than your average indie rock funk band. No, as anybody with intelligent ears will tell you, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ real downfall is Anthony Kiedis. Kiedis sings the way Bruce Springsteen dances, and not even the combined efforts of Flea and John Frusciante–whose decision to rejoin the band is an even bigger mystery than the fate of the Marie Celeste–can overcome his singing, which does a grave disservice to vocal cords everywhere. Think of it this way; Kiedis is the iceberg that sank the Titanic, and Flea and Frusciante are the band that kept on playing as the ocean liner sank beneath the waves.

What makes Kiedis’ singing so god awful? That’s an easy one. On the ballad he aims for pathos, ands hits bathos right betweens the eyes. And on the funk numbers his rap shtick is as wooden as a cigar store Indian. Given the choice between Kiedis and Mitch McConnell, I’ll go with Mitch any day. He has more soul, and probably has cooler tattoos.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Formed in 1979 by four UGA art students—guitarist Randy Bewley, bassist Michael Lachowski, drummer Curtis Crowe, and vocalist Vanessa Briscoe Hay—Pylon were the first band to connect the local party-rock scene with the art school scene at the University of Georgia.

​Before they even picked up musical instruments, they were painters and sculptors and gallery tricksters who applied their classroom lessons to rock and roll. After the B-52’s moved to New York, Pylon proved a small Southern town like Athens could maintain an active scene and produce important bands. “We saw them very early, and they were absolutely amazing,” says Mike Mills, bassist of R.E.M., a band that is by its own admission deeply indebted to Pylon. “They were melodic and driving and machinelike in a really good way. And very human. It was all so new to us. Pylon made us want to be better.” The producer and musician Steve Albini stated the band created “a kind of music that hadn’t been made before.”

Pylon’s first shows outside of Athens were a handful of support dates with Gang of Four, including both band’s New York City debuts. Gang of Four’s Jon King insists they’re “really, one of the best indie bands ever.” The Atlanta-based DB Records released Pylon’s legendary debut single, “Cool” b/w “Dub,” in 1979, with their overwhelmingly critically acclaimed studio albums Gyrate (1980) and Chomp (1983) to follow. Chomp was barely off the press when Pylon were booked to open a run of dates for a hot new Irish band called U2 (after previously playing two arena shows with them leading to the album release).

Most bands would have jumped at the opportunity, but Pylon were skeptical. At a critical point in the life of Pylon, they opted to become a cult band rather than stretch their defining philosophy too far. “There were a lot of people putting pressure on us about what we were supposed to do or what we had to do,” says Vanessa Briscoe Hay. “It wasn’t sitting well with us. We don’t have to do anything. It was a good life decision. And it was our decision. We made it together and we went out at the top of our game.” Pylon played their final show in Athens on December 1, 1983.

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Quite a number of years back, the TVD First Date feature was inaugurated to introduce new talent to the site and to follow an artist’s development while getting to know their own music via their record collections. ’twas a nifty idea earlier on, however over the course of a decade some more than well-established artists have lent their time to the feature to shed a light on what brought them to their first stages and into our own consciousness—and we’re resharing a number of our favorites this week. —Ed.

“I’ve been obsessed with vinyl records my whole life.”

“Literally my earliest memories are of playing my dad’s small but cool collection of records on a portable phonograph in my suburban bedroom in LA. Pretty choice records too. Everything from Da Capo by Love, Deja Vu by CSNY, to the bizarre experimental synth meditation of Terry Riley’s A Rainbow in Curved Air and Taj Mahal.

I used to inspect every millimeter of the artwork looking for hidden details—meaning and or clues as to how this music was created. The art, band photos, fonts, and music were all part of the same experience for me at that very young age. I clearly remember the cover of that Love record scaring the shit out of me. Of course it had to do with the violence of some of the music but they (some more than others) also looked like they would fuck you up pretty bad if you disrupted their photo shoot at those ruins they are posing in.

The first record I bought with my “own money” (pretty sure my parents gave me the money as I was in elementary school) was the double LP Beach Boys compilation entitled Endless Summer. I was obsessed with the early Beach Boys ballads like “Warmth of the Sun” and “In My Room,” but the stand out track for me was “Don’t Worry Baby.” I credit that song’s teenage longing and palpable sweetness for ushering in my feelings for the opposite sex long before they would’ve naturally arrived!

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In everything he did, John Lennon spoke his truth and questioned the truth.

​An incomparable and uncompromising artist who strove for honesty and directness in his music, he laid bare his heart, mind and soul in his songs, seeing them as snapshots of his current emotions, thoughts and world view. Believing the one quality demanded of himself as an artist was to be completely honest, he did not disguise what he had to say or conform his messages to be more in line with what he felt others thought they should be. Love, heartbreak, peace, politics, truth, lies, the media, racism, feminism, religion, mental well-being, marriage, fatherhood – he sang about it all, and one just needs to listen to the songs of John Lennon to know how he felt, what he cherished, what he believed in, and what he stood for.

On October 9th, 2020, Lennon’s 80th birthday, in celebration of his remarkable life, a collection of some of the most vital and best loved songs from his solo career will be released via Capitol/UMe as a suite of beautifully presented collections, titled GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES. Executive Produced by Yoko Ono Lennon and Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, these thirty-six songs, handpicked by Yoko and Sean, have all been completely remixed from scratch, radically upgrading their sonic quality and presenting them as a never-before-heard Ultimate Listening Experience.

Mixed and engineered by multi GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks, who also helmed the mixes for 2018’s universally acclaimed Imagine – The Ultimate Collection series, with assistance by engineer Sam Gannon who also worked on that release, the songs were completely remixed from scratch, using brand new transfers of the original multi-tracks, cleaned up to the highest possible sonic quality. After weeks of painstaking preparation, the final mixes and effects were completed using only vintage analog equipment and effects at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, and then mastered in analog at Abbey Road Studios by Alex Wharton in order to ensure the most beautiful and authentic sound quality possible.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings is set to reissue Between the Buried and Me’s acclaimed third album, Alaska on vinyl. Releasing September 25th and available for pre-order today, the 2005 record features newly remixed and remastered audio by the group’s longtime collaborator, Jamie King, at Basement Studio. The double album will be sold across all major retailers, while a limited edition, pressed on marbled-red vinyl, can be found exclusively on Between the Buried and Me’s website. This special reissue of Alaska comes as the GRAMMY®-nominated band celebrates 20 years together.

​In the mid-2000s, the North Carolina five-piece had firmly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the hardcore scene. Their first two albums – 2002’s Between the Buried and Me and 2003’s The Silent Circus – had garnered the group an ardent fanbase, who appreciated their exceptional musicianship, sharp lyricism, and unique blend of progressive metal with cerebral math-rock. Following the release of their critically acclaimed sophomore effort – which marked their debut with Victory Records – the young band underwent several personnel changes. They cemented their line-up with guitarist Dustie Waring, bassist Dan Briggs, and drummer Blake Richardson, who joined founding members Tommy Rogers (vocals, keyboards) and Paul Waggoner (vocals, guitars). With their band in place, Between the Buried and Me went into the studio with Jamie King and Matthew Ellard to record their third album.

Released in the fall of 2005, Alaska found the group continuing to challenge themselves, creatively and sonically. While Alaska was certainly a hardcore record at its foundation, it also featured a wider spectrum of musical styles and experimentation. Synths, jazz-inspired percussion, and even acoustic guitar lines punctuated the songs – especially on softer interludes like “Medicine Wheel” and “Laser Speed,” which closes the album. Highlights also include the epic opening number, “All Bodies,” title track “Alaska,” and long-time fan favorite “Selkies: The Endless Obsession.”

The ambitious album received wide critical acclaim upon its release. AllMusic dubbed it “stunningly satisfying,” while Mind Equals Blown declared that “Alaska stands as one of the band’s strongest works…pulling us in with winding melodies and catchy grooves.” Sputnik Music praised, “brutal and beautiful, this is a strong contender for album of the year.”

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