Hard to believe but the month of May is just around the corner. And while that does mean warmer weather and another month of baseball (at least that’s what I think about), it also means that Music Millennium is lining up some awesome events at their store on E Burnside.
May will bring an appearance (autograph signing only, sadly) by legendary surf-popsters The Ventures, Seattle roots-rock outfit Massy Ferguson, and a performance by the great Steve Earle.
Peep the rest of the schedule as it stands right now, and be sure to keep an eye on Music Millennium’s website for additions and changes to the schedule.
5/1/11 Brian Oberlin Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 3:00pm
5/2/11 Community Day/Songwriters Circle Rich Waggoner, Mindy Dillard, Eric McEuen Monday, May 2, 2011 at 7:00pm
5/5/11 NoPoMoJo Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 6:00pm
5/7/11 Fonzarelli Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 5:00pm
5/8/11 Steve Earle Pre-buy a copy of the album for guaranteed admission. Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 3:00pm
5/11/11 The Ventures (signing) Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 7:30pm
5/13/11 Level Flow Friday, May 13, 2011 at 6:00pm
5/14/11 Joe Pug Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 3:00pm
5/15/11 Silverstein/Bayside CD signing Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 4:30pm
5/20/11 Lew Jones Friday, May 20, 2011 at 6:00pm
5/21/11 Massy Ferguson Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 5:00pm
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.
In each city Mike plays where there’s an affiliated TVD, we’ve got an opportunity for one of you to win the aforementioned “hyphenated-man” on vinyl in exchange for your comment to the contest posting. Let us know why you deserve to win Watt’s latest vinyl opera and the most convincing of the bunch will find the LP in his or her mailbox.
For the ninth of ten opportunities to win the new LP, Mike Watt + The Missingmen play Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge on Monday, 4/25. You have one week from today to be sufficiently convincing in the comments to be awarded the record. Comments from a previous hyphenated-man giveaway will still be considered for future ones. Winners must have a mailing address in the continental US or Canada.
Mark Fagan of TVD Austin spoke with Mike in advance of the tour:
Mike Watt’s rock & roll résumé is as impressive as they come. His legendary career began with the Minutemen in 1980 alongside guitarist D Boon and drummer George Hurley which ran until the tragic car accident in December 1985 that took D Boon’s life. He then started fIREHOSE with Hurley and Ed Crawford which existed from 1986 to 1994, and has played bass for the legendary Stooges fronted by Iggy Pop for the last eight years. And those are just a few highlights from his storied career.
He’s back in support of his newest solo album and third opera, hyphenated-man, which features Watt on lead vocals and, of course, holding down the low end on electric bass with his signature flowing style that has inspired and influenced fellow bassists for decades. Interestingly, he actually composed hyphenated-man on D Boon’s Telecaster instead of the bass as per his usual practice.
Due to the growing backlog of projects, Watt decided to start his own label—clenchedwrench—and hyphenated-man has the honor of being the first release from this new imprint. The Vinyl District had a chance to chat with Mike before he hit the road.
A BUNCH OF LITTLE THINGS MAKE ONE
TVD: I read that hyphenated-man is inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Can you go into further detail on this? Watt: … [The documentary film on the Minutemen] We Jam Econo, have you heard of this?
TVD: Oh, certainly. Watt: Ok, [hyphenated-man] was being made about the same time these cats Keith [Scheiron] and Tim [Irwin] asked me to help them. So I hadn’t listened to Minutemen in a long time because of sadness – with D Boon – but I had to hear it, ya know, for this thing. They wanted me to do a spiel and drive ’em around town. But hearing it was it was like, “Wow, I kinda like this little thing.” [Watt laughs] Ya know, no filler. I wanna work again with this kind of thing. I mean we got the idea from the English band called Wire, Pink Flag. But I still like the way ya know George [Hurley], Boon, and myself went and did this. I wanted to do it again. It struck a chord in me, a resonance in me. Mr. Bosch used all these little things to make one big thing.
Minutemen kinda did that with a record or a gig ya know, a bunch of little things make one. That’s where I kinda found a little parallel. So, in a way I went back to my old days, but then in the opera form. … I was also thinking of this other angle, as far as the middle-aged thing goes. Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz. I don’t know the intention of the writer, it was a man, L. Frank Baum. I don’t know his intentions. But my take is like, you notice that that tin man and scarecrow and lion, they’re the farm hands.
Ernest Greene is not the kind of name normally associated with pop glory, so this talented Georgian plies his trade under the more appropriate (actually, perfect for the sounds he creates) Washed Out.
Domino Records subsidiary Weird World will release a new album, Within And Without on July 11th, but the good people at the label haven’t sent us any music yet, no video either…we do, however, have a track listing, to whet your appetite:
1. Eyes Be Closed
2. Echoes
3. Amor Fati
4. Soft
5. Far Away
6. Before
7. You and I
8. Within And Without
9. A Dedication
A European tour immediately follows the release of the new album, with dates just confirmed:
Friday 15th July – Lovebox Weekender, London, UK
Saturday 16th July – Hultsfred Festival, Sweden
Sunday 17th July – Festival De Affaire, Netherlands
Thursday 4th August – Festaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
Sunday 7th August – Nouveau Casino, Paris, France
Saturday 8th August – Deaf Institute, Manchester UK
Tuesday 9th August – Scala, London, UK
Recorded with acclaimed producer Ben Allen, whose production work encompasses Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion, Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere and Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter, Within And Without is a full realisation of the excitement Greene created with his first release, 2009’s Life Of Leisure EP, on the awesome Mexican Summer label.
We go back to that EP for our track of the day, the glorious ‘You’ll See It’. Watch this performance of the track at Pitchfork 2010 here:
When you hear the name Alexanderyou may think, “The Great,” and indeed, as the lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Ima Robot, Alex Ebert is truly deserving of the moniker.
Alexander and Fam will be at 6th & Ion Tuesday, May 31st, and we have a chance for you to win a pair of tickets.
Indie folk rocker Alexander just released his self-titled debut album on March 1st, and “A Million Years” is exactly the kind of happy, wandering track to help you get through this dreary Friday, as you count down the hours till the weekend.
To win the tickets, simply tell us the song that makes you the happiest on a crappy day like today.
You can listen to Adam Arcuragi, a North meets South folk singer, any and everywhere: NPR, La Blogotheque, and on his current tour heading back to the Midwest on Tuesday.
At IOTA, Arcuragi stomps his feet, flips his long hair, and screams (in perfect pitch) to the ceiling. Reminds me of a possessed Dave Matthews at his best. The ache in Arcuragi’s voice brings me way down with the chorus of “Broken Throat,” “Oh don’t leave me god take me home / Oh don’t leave me god take me home / Comes and it comes in the form of the voice he knows / Singing oh I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,” without thinking I am lip-syncing by the last “I know.”
The Lupine Chorale Society get to flex their muscles in “President’s Song,” with a bass singer whose voice was so deep that I caught myself giggling, this talented barbershop injection to Arcuragi’s version of Mid Atlantic soul-country-gospel perfectly arranged. AA & LCS cut the set short, wrapping up with “Bottom of the River.” Already a hit, it allows Arcuragi the freedom to sing any way he wishes and hop back into the chorus, “I will lay on the bottom of that river / Spending my time where old swords go to die…” Just the same, it is delightfully loose.
This week Grimey’s posts their TOP 50 Vinyl best sellers for the week of Record Store Day. Make sure you scroll past the chart for upcoming events at Grimey’s.
Here’s what Grimey’s co-owner Doyle Davis had to say post RSD11:
Wow. Record Store Day. In the immortal words of Talking Heads, “What A Day That Was!” It was our best day ever in the history of Grimey’s. So thank you. Honestly it blew away the previous best day, which was RSD 2010, by the proverbial country mile. Thank you for choosing to spend the day or at least part of the day with us. The weather was crappy and cold but the vibe was warm and fuzzy, the bands were great and Chuck D from Public Enemy dropped by to hang out with us (and you). Chuck D! Here’s a shot of Chuck with Grimey’s owners Doyle (yours truly) and Mike Grimes.
And here’s a video of Chuck D’s passionate speech about creating your own local culture and supporting those doing so in your own community (it’s a Facebook link so you’ll need a FB acct to view it). Chuck also gave much love to our beloved WRVU in their campaign to save their broadcast license. He was only the most righteous, courteous and on point guy you could imagine! And yes, I got my OG copy of “It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back” LP signed. Thank you, Chuck D for putting the icing on our Record Store Day cake.
And thanks to Matt & Kim, the No Name BBQ crew, United Record Pressing, Yeah In The ‘Boro, Jonas Stein and Turbo Time Records, the Nashville Film Festival and everyone else who helped make it such an amazing day. Mark your calendars now for our next big outdoor event: Americanarama Deluxe in the back parking lot on Saturday, October 15th. This year’s annual fall festival will be in conjunction with the Americana Music Association Festival and Conference. We’ll have live bands all day and all the usual goodness plus a storewide sale.
Our Record Store Day event was well-covered in the media. Billboard magazine ran a nice piece about RSD in Nashville with coverage of the goings on at Third Man as well. The Associated Press ran a piece on Jack White and Third Man and also included some love for Grimey’s as well. Here’s the link from Yahoo. And Rolling Stone magazine just won’t quit! Last week they tagged us a one of the best record stores in the US and just last night I got my “dead tree” edition of the new issue and lo-and-behold they feature Nashville as “Best Music Scene” of the moment with a nice mention and photo of our little record store. The article is behind a pay-wall online but here’s a scan of the piece as a PDF. Thanks RS!
That’s all I’m going to say about RSD at this time. We’re still basking in the glow and trying to restock the store. Damn y’all bought a lot of stuff! We learned a lot from this year and we promise to make RSD 2012 even better.
Great job again Grimey’s. We thank you for all that you do! And now, THE CHART!
Top 50 Record Store Day Releases
1. Mumford & Sons w/ Laura Marling – Dharohar Project 10″
2. Kings Of Leon – Holy Roller Novocain 10″
3. Justin Townes Earle – Move Over Mama 7″
4. The Civil Wars – Dance Me To The End 7″
5. Matt & Kim – Block After Block 7″
6. Ryan Adams – Class Mythology 7″
7. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues 12″
8. Big Star – 3rd Test Pressing LP
9. Nirvana – Hormoaning 12″
10. The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar 7″
11. Bob Dylan – In Concert: Brandeis University 1963 LP
12. Bruce Springsteen – Gotta Get That Feeling 10″
13. Ray Lamontagne – Live Fall 2010 LP
14. White Stripes – Let’s Shake Hands 7″
15. White Stripes – Lafayette Blues 7″
16. The Velvet Underground – Foggy Notion 7″
17. Jimi Hendrix – Fire 7″
18. Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive 7″
34. Rome (Danger Mouse/Jack White) – Two Against One 7″
35. Rush – Caravan 7″
36. Fela Kuti – Monday Morning In Lagos 7″
37. The Doors – Riders On The Storm 7″
38. Queen – Keep Yourself Alive 7″
39. The Decemberists – Live At Bull Moose CD
40. Yeasayer – End Blood 12″
41. Grinderman – Palaces Of Montezuma 12″
42. Grinderman – Evil 12″
43. Syd Barrett – An Introduction to Syd Barrett
44. Akron/Family – <BMBZ> LP
45. Superchunk / Coliseum split 7″
46. The Clutters – Under Suspicion 7″
47. The Cars – Sad Song 7″
48. Flogging Molly – Don’t Shut ‘Em Down 7″
49. Various – Follow Me Down: Vanguard’s Lost Psychedelic Era LP
50. Mastodon / ZZ Top – Just Got Paid 7″
Record Store Day is EVERYDAY at Grimey’s so make sure you go check out some free live music and maybe grab a free beer while your at it.
Upcoming In-Store Events
In-stores are all free and all ages, always. Come rock with us.
NATURAL CHILD – Saturday, April 23rd @ 4:20 Infinity Cat sensations Natural Child have been taking it to the people of late, opening for the Black Lips, releasing a single on the Scion/Vice series and dropping 7″ bombs on Infinity Cat. Now it’s time for the full-length. Their brand new album drops on 4-20 (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) and we’ve got them playing in the store the following Saturday at 4:20! So make the proper preparations and head on over to rock out with us and Natural Child! Scuzzy garage rock, psych, a little Southern twang and some heavy, loud thunder await you. Natural Child’s website Infinity Cat’s website
Ik Ben Listening Party – Saturday, April 23rd @ 5PM Our pals in Ik Ben (Dutch for ‘I am’), the Hylbert brothers, have a new vinyl-only album to unleash called “Ocean Wayfare” and they’re bringing it to Grimey’s for all of us to check out. We’ll hang out, drop the needle and soak up the sounds while throwing back some beers. That’s right, it’s beer:30! What’s Ik Ben about you ask? The group offers glimpses of inspiration from the likes of the Velvets, The Dirty Mac, Faces, Big Star, Kristoffersen, Townes van Zant and the Glimmer Twins. Or you could say it’s “brother rock”. Come see Natural Child and stick around, won’t you? Ik Ben on Facebook
Fleet Foxes Listening Party – Saturday, April 30th @ 5PM Another beer:30 event! That means we throw a party and share free beers with you! For this occasion we’ll be previewing the new Fleet Foxes album “Helplessness Blues”. Come hang with us, listen to the golden voices of the Fleet Foxes and drink some beer. We’ll have some cool stuff for you to win as well with the grand prize being an extremely limited color vinyl LP of the new album (only 100 made!!!) plus we’ll have some silk-screened posters and a Sub Pop prize pack to give away. You can also enter to win a pair of tickets to their sold out show at the Ryman on May 13th. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon, eh? Fleet Foxes’ website
The CLUTTERS – Tuesday, May 3rd @ 6PM
The Clutters have long been one of our favorite Nashville bands.I’ll never forget watching Grimey hand Cameron Crowe a copy of their debut “T&C” and passionately recommending it to him. And sure enough, Crowe mentioned it as one of his favorite releases of 2005. And The Clutters keep getting better and better. They just released their new 7″ single “Under Suspicion” for Record Store Day (and we still have it in stock) and now they’re ready to unleash their brand new full-length with a full-on Grimey’s in-store performance. The new album is called “Breaking Bones” and will be out (officially) on May 10th on Chicken Ranch Records. However we’ll have it a week early for this in-store. The Clutters will tear the roof off and I want you to come rock out with us. The Clutters’ website
NEW MASTERSOUNDS – Wednesday, May 4th @ 6PM New Mastersounds are the funkiest band in England and one of the original proponents of the contemporary deep funk scene, along with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. They are also a badass soul jazz band with chops to die for. They do it all. Do. Not. Miss. New Mastersounds website
TALIB KWELI – Thursday, May 5th @ 6PM Boo-ya! Straight outta Brooklyn, Talib Kweli will hit Grimey’s for a Q&A with fans and an autograph signing. He’ll be performing later in the evening at The Cannery Ballroom but don’t miss this chance to hang out with the co-founder of Black Star (along with Mos Def) and get him to sign copies of his latest, “Gutter Rainbows”. Talib Kweli’s website
Contributor Brieahn DeMeo had a, shall we say, less than stellar Tuesday evening.
Let me start off by saying I love Black Cat. I love the dirty, divey, true music lover feel of the place. I love that when you go, you feel like you are in the company of dedicated music folk, the ones who support the underground bands, and love I them for it. I want to start off with this because I had a less than fantastic time at Black Cat the other night.
I’d been going through a bit of dry spell as far as show-going was concerned until I hit up 2 shows in 3 days recently (Cut Copy and The Guggenheim Grotto), so I was feeling the music bug and decided to take a look at Black Cat’s upcoming schedule. As I clicked away looking for a band that peaked my interest, I stumbled upon British Sea Power. I redirected to their website and took a little listen. “Alright, I’m intrigued.” They have a pretty raw sound, but in a space like Black Cat that’s generally an asset. I called up a friend and we set plans to see the show.
First up was A Classic Education, hailing from Bologna Italy, an international night at Black Cat. Lead vocals and guitar, a tall and lanky kid with some awesome hair took the stage to start. They’ve got a little bit of a 60’s crooner rock band, with a little bit of a Smiths/Shins vibe but with a little something else. I could see them playing my high school prom were I in high school in 1962, and in a totally cool kind of way.
Halfway through their set they covered Sam The Sham’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ which is one I haven’t heard in a while. I kinda loved it. The set built up momentum and by the end I was pretty impressed, and expecting an equally good set from the headliners for the evening, British Sea Power.
Unfortunately this was not the case. I’m not entirely sure what the issue was, but as British Sea Power took the stage it was clear that this wasn’t going to be the most stellar performance. Now I get it, you get into a venue like Black Cat and you don’t expect the amazing acoustics of other larger venues, the space just doesn’t allow for it, but you do hope that you can at least make sense of the music.
The band has an electric violin, which is so amazingly awesome…when you can actually hear it. They even had a trumpet, which I tried desperately to catch a solid note of. The majority of the set was just a giant bubble of noise, I don’t know any other way to describe it. There were a few songs that got it together but for the most part it was hard to figure out what was going on. It was just really rough. I’m not ready to give up on them completely though. I do really like their sound, I’m gonna chalk this one up to a rough performance—and poor sound engineering.
It’s been a true pleasure—and an informative one at that—to wake up each Friday morning to Scott Hull’s “On the Record” column right here at TVD. Scott is a mastering engineer and the owner of Masterdisk mastering studios in New York City. Over the past 11 weeks Scott has delivered a brilliant seminar in the art of transferring your studio wizardry to vinyl (among other formats.)
As we’ve been teasing over the past number of weeks, we have an opportunity to tour the world class Masterdisk studios for an up-close, in-person seminar with Scott himself. Masterdisk is offering a hands-on workshop for record lovers on Wednesday, May 4 from 6:30 to 8:30. You’ll get to see their studios and hear what a master really sounds like—and they’ll show you how a recording gets onto vinyl.
Your chance to attend begins right now. The details:
Wednesday, May 4, 6:30—8:30 p.m. at Masterdisk Studios; 45 W. 45th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY. (Between 10th and 11th Avenues.)
This free event will give 20 attendees a first hand look at many topics covered in Scott’s “On the Record” blog series for TVD. Listen to music played in some of the finest listening environments in the world. Gain an understanding of what route the music takes from final mixes to the final master. Get a close up look at record grooves through our lathe’s microscope. Observe a record being cut in person. And more. This will also be a great chance to ask any questions you might have about vinyl and/or mastering.
The first TWENTY of you to RSVP right here by sending us an emailwill be registered for the Master Class. We’ll confirm with you when we get your email, and again as we approach the day of the event. Please be aware that you’ll have to get to our studios in NYC to participate. If you reply but later find you won’t be able to attend, please let us know so someone else can take your spot.
Yesterday, while working our weekly shift at Crooked Beat, Jourdan and I had a bit of a High Fidelity moment. We put on the new Peter Bjorn and John, Gimme Some, and everyone in the store wanted some of that. We could have sold 5 copies if we had them in stock.
Sadly, the one behind the counter was not priced, and if it’s not priced, sorry buddy, it’s not for sale yet. You can probably convince Bill to sell it to you if you run in today to grab it. Anyway, I kept commenting on how poppy the album is and how I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. Another dude in the store remarked that is was very New Order. I didn’t get a chance to listen to the whole LP, but it sounded pretty decent, though not as good as Writer’s Block. Check out the track below and see what you think.
We’ve got an opportunity for you to win free tickets and the brand new “Love Notes/Letter Bombs” autographed on vinyl in every TVD city where the tour stops!
“As I write, lines from our work-in-progress third album drift into the house through the open windows. John is messing around with some new software in the studio/garage, and something I sang the other day about lying and surprising each other is playing over and over.
We’ve been working on the album in bits and pieces through the Fall and now the Winter. I’m filling notebooks with lyrics, but haven’t yet fit most of them to particular songs. John’s been creating instrumental tracks, beats, anything he finds interesting and new for us, and we’ve sung melodies in “la’s” over them. It sounds really exciting. (I suppose saying it sounds ‘exciting,’ is sort of like a menu which describes a sauce as ‘delicious,’ with no other distinguishing characteristics…but, you know what I mean.)”
And it is exciting now that the record’s been realized, released, and sitting on your local store shelves. “Love Notes/Letter Bombs” is as disarmingly wonderful as The Subs themselves and we’re delighted to be hitting the highway with Blake and John and crew to hit that point home.
The Submarines | Fire
TVD will be trailing The Submarines all across the US and Canada over the coming months and where’s there a TVD city among their tour stops, you’ll have an opportunity to win a pair of tickets for that city’s show as well as an autographed copy of the new release.
Entering is easy: simply plead your case in the comments to the post that’s relative to your city as to why you should win the The Sub’s tickets and vinyl, and the most convincing and arm-twisty of the bunch will be awarded the prizes. Courtesy of The Submarines. And us.
TVD New York City – it’s your turn! The Submarines play The Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday, April 26th. Get at us in the comments and we’ll choose a winner on at 9AM on Tuesday for that night’s show! Now, …go!
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.
Yelleand French Horn Rebellionbring a double dose of electro-goodness to 9:30 Clubnext Wednesday (4/27) for a late show (10pm doors), and we have a chance for you to win a pair of tickets to shake your stuff all night…
TVD Staff WriterClark Newman and I have been looking forward to this show for a while.
I think that everything sounds better in French. Par example, the chorus of Yelle’s “Je Veux Te Voir”:
Je veux te voir
Dans un film pornographique
En action avec ta bite
Forme patatoes ou bien frites
Pour tout savoir
Sur ton anatomie
Sur ton cousin Teki
Et vos accessoires fetiches
Translation:
I want to see you
In a pornographic movie
In action with your cock
Potato shape or fries
To find out
About your anatomy
About your cousin Teki
And your fetish accessories
Haeligewielle is the debut release on Tartaruga Records from London based solo artist Petrels. This seven track album stretches over fifty minutes and is a swirling soundscape of noise, threaded with crushing melody, layered with a coating of occasional vocals.
The album was created utilising found percussion, bowed strings and bent electronics and starts with the solemn drone of ‘After Francis Danby’ and shimmering ‘Silt’ through to the tremulous ‘Winchester Croydon Winchester’ with it’s cascading rhythms.
Released on April 25th in a limited run of just 100 CDs, each one screen-printed, individually numbered and sewn together, featuring a fold-out double-sided screenprint insert.
This CD will be on sale exclusively from the Tartaruga website with the full digital release scheduled for 8th May 2011.
Today rules period the end. Why? Because in a few hours I’ll be working on recording my bands next EP with none other than Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls. We got started with The Pete at The Soul’s own Little Eden Studios earlier this week, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything is going.
We’re on our way to another perfect recording and days like today are why I have stuck with being a counterculture subscriber via music for half of my life. I was looking through my diary (yes there are some musings I do no publish) and I thought it would be fun to share some of what I had written during our last recording session with Pete from about a year ago for our previous release Bringing Wreck. Bringing Wreck? Yeah, that’s what we do every time we play.)
When we first went to Little Eden a year ago, I didn’t know Pete at all, save the fact that you know, The Souls tour internationally to sold out audiences in every hemisphere. That’s all. Just that little fact. I didn’t know what to expect, especially being a non-traditional frontman. It’s a mixed bag for females in rock, especially if you’re not a bass player (which people seem more comfortable with for some reason) Sometimes you get weird macho douchebag vibes from guys who think you’re better off being a groupie.
K Conroy Tears It Up In The Studio Earlier This Week
I had of course never heard one ill word about Pete in my life, but things like that hang in the back of your mind when you’re a minority within a minority ( If any chicks, especially women of color, are out there and thinking of starting a band DO IT!!) When I first started playing out I didn’t think anyone would get the sound we were going for. We still don’t sound like other bands that are around these days. So I was hella scared that the accomplished Souls guitarist, with no less than 8 studio albums of his own behind him, might be a bit skeptical about what I was doing with a rock band.
However, I’ve come to learn that rock and roll doesn’t disappoint. I could be an immigrant girl from a developing nation, and Pete could be a white guy that was from the suburbs of NJ; but music is so universal that those differences don’t matter at all. I do believe a more powerful and complete force that unites in that way is impossible to find.
M Smith Be Slappin’ Da Bass, Man
From my diary: 4/11/2010
Hey ya,
SO what’s happening is the band is doing superamasingfantasticwonderful. PETE from The Bouncing Souls is recording our EP. It sounds f—ing sick insane incredible. So good y’all, so good. He’s so great! … I can’t believe the performances he got out of us. So wonderful insane incredible fantastic. Pete said to me, “Talk about having a Devil inside!” OH YEAH is what I have to say to that! …
What’s real nice is that he treats me 100% equal and fully acknowledges my position in the band. I told him Dr. Dr. needed to be nastier and he got it 100%. HE likes the songs a lot I think and he called the chorus of “Hell Yeah” a celebration. A celebration! And especially complimented me on my lyrics which I f—ing love and am flattered by. I personally really love how Hell Yeah turned out—they’re all amazing but that one is especially close to my heart. My dividends are finally returning! Hallelujah, Amen!
If you haven’t already, listen to Bringing Wreck. It will change your life. It changed mine. 😉
