Alex Paulus, aka Paulus Bunion, is a few things. He’s clever, a talented songwriter, and modest—but he’s not good at hiding.
He’s got a dark twist of mind that pokes out from the edges. An overflow of unexpected cleverness is revealed in both his visual and aural art that allows insight into his unique perspective, resting somewhere between relaxed hope and hilarious realism.
We got a hold of an exclusive first look at his brand new music video to see his subtle cynicism at work.
Whoever keeps complaining about the demise of DC’s music scene should have stopped by the Mansion at Strathmore on Friday night for The Grey Area‘s release party for their new album 508.
Comprised of Jason Steinhauer on guitar and vocals and drummer Timothy Jones (TJ), Washington’s own The Grey Area manages to distinguish itself from the duos it pulls from – the likes of the Black Keys and the White Stripes – through its unique blend of power rock, blues and pop.
The band was playing as part of the Mansion at Strathmore’s Friday Night Eclectic series, advertised as “the hip party you would host – if you lived in a mansion with an art gallery, a cool band, and a bartender.”
When Ellen Willis was hired by the esteemed New Yorker magazine in 1968 to write about the seminal rock scene she became the first woman to cover the new style of music reverberating across the country.
Though extremely well respected by her peers at the time, she fell off the radar of music lovers in the ensuing decades. A new compilation of her work, Out of the Vinyl Deeps—Ellen Willis on Rock Music makes this important writer’s work available to a new generation.
Though I was very familiar with her better-known colleagues at publications like Rolling Stone, Creem and the Village Voice, I had never heard of Willis until I read about the new book in the New York Times Book Review. I devoured this collection of columns from the New Yorker, liner notes and longer pieces that appeared elsewhere during the heady period when rock went mainstream. She wrote about music from 1968 until 1974. plus a few special pieces that appeared in the 1980s and 1990s, but spent the rest of her career as a feminist theorist, author and teacher. Willis died in 2006 and her daughter edited the collection.
Of Montreal’s Paralytic Stalks clocks in at just under an hour and it ultimately registers every minute of its running time. However, that shouldn’t be read as a bad thing.
Ten albums deep into a career that falls into two distinct halves (with a little bit of expected overlap) beginning with the Elephant 6 twee-pop era and followed by the more stylistically robust glam and R&B inflected portion to which Paralytic Stalks is the latest unfurling, leader Kevin Barnes hasn’t exactly been identified with the idea of restraint in creativity at any point across that span. And this certainly has its appeal; part of the fun in Of Montreal’s younger toy-town psyche incarnation was the boldness of execution.
1997’s debut Cherry Peel made it immediately clear the band’s (as a band they indeed were in those days) music was a love it or leave it alone proposition. With the shift essentially begun with 2004’s Satanic Panic in the Attic and solidified on the big indie splash of 2007’s Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, Barnes’ confessional, heart-on-sleeve album-as-therapeutic cleansing has probably turned off as many listeners as it has won over with its conceptual boldness, judicious stylistic pilfering, and strident agenda of newness.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we are reposting Top Ten Sexy Songs: The Perfect Make-Out Mix, a playlist for when you get cozy with your special someone. No special someone? Perhaps you would enjoy this alternate playlist more. Happy Valentine’s Day.—Ed.
The undeniable Barry White, if I’m entirely earnest, is just too much. He’s sex ad-absurdum, a fertility idol covered in phalluses, and I just can’t see two people sharing a moment with his chocolaty baritone in the background.
The sexiest music is soft yet strong, rhythmic but unobtrusive. It serves the purpose of the moment, while going in for that first kiss, when every inch toward each other’s lips becomes a vaster expanse than the last. For moments like these, I’ve assembled the perfect Make-Out Mix, codename M.O.M. (which should serve as a conscious reminder in the heat of the moment to treat every girl in a way that’d make your mama proud). Handle these songs with care… With great power comes great responsibility…
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we present your choice of playlist: Nobody Loves Me and Top 10 Sexy Songs. Whether you view today as a celebration of love, or a reminder of the absence of it, we’ve got the perfect soundtrack for you. Happy Valentine’s Day.—Ed.
The “dating scene” is much akin to a Russian land war in winter—it’s brutal, brutish, unwinnable, and full of casualties. And I am well-equipped to give a report from the trenches—in all of my years on this lovely planet, I have never had a date on Valentine’s Day.
That, however, is not cause to turn all bitter and rail against the “Hallmarkiness” of this holiday, not the least of which because any holiday that dates back to Chaucer predates Hallmark. Ha. So, no, my dearies—I do not propose that we all sit down in some lame Sex and the City/Shit Girls Say kumbaya-ish “love sucks” circle.
Why not take a Zen approach to this and sit with it, as the Buddhists say, or marinate upon it, more colloquially put. Alternatively, as Ovechkin says, “it is what it is.” Or you could, you know, just Rage Against The Machine and assert how love is for losers. (Although, that would be a bit extreme because while dating sucks, love is awesome!)
I would not leave you without succor on this darkest of days. I will remind you that A. you are avoiding eating overpriced, horrible dinners (“put chocolate in her face/steak with extra shrimp”), earning the scorn of the poor overworked restaurant industry, and B. you get to have 50% off candy on the 15th. Here’s a little playlist you can chill to, rage to, and commiserate to.
Lightouts released their fourth single, “The Cure for Shyness” just last week. Check it out right here!
“My earliest memory of vinyl is a slinky one.”
“When I was in 1st grade, my parents would send me to my babysitter with a selection of my favorite records. By far, my fave was the “The Pink Panther Theme” by Henry Mancini . I would play it over and over, spinning in circles and playing a mean air sax until my babysitter would make me play something else. At that point, slink would turn into slither as the Jungle Book’s “Trust In Me” played over and over.
Childhood vinyl took a backseat to cassettes and CDs until high school, when my friends and I discovered the pleasures of mixing weed with our parents’ old record collections. My parent’s collection was eclectic for their generation—not a Beatles or Stones album to be had, but there were staples like Fleetwood Mac, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and oddities like Tiny Tim and The Kingston Trio that would become major influences to my songwriting.
He may be fifteen years and nine albums into his career, but Denison Witmer is a new name to us at Vinyl District UK. His latest album, The Ones Who Wait, is a reflection of his understanding of self and the growth that comes through life experience. It is an intimate take on the daily struggle of life, relationships, love both lasting and transient, and the sense of helplessness without ever expressing any sense of futility.
In Denison’s own words, the album is about “patience and reverence. Being mindful and open to what you’re experiencing. A desire to take hold of what’s happening in your life, yet trusting the mystery of it enough to let go and participate rather than dictate.” It is his lyrical insights which give this stunning album its core and emotional power.
Released on March 6th, this album is highly recommended, particularly for fans of Jackson Browne, early Paul Simon, and Josh Rouse.
Between a poor economy, mounting geopolitical tension, and the horrors of public transportation, it’s safe to say that life can pretty much suck sometimes. When it does, it’s always wise to look inside yourself and ask one important question: What would Zola Jesus do?
I have my guesses, but you can find out for yourself Thursday (2/16) night at the U Street Music Hall when goth infused singer/songwriter Nika Roza Danilova returns to Washington, DC, since we have a pair of tickets to give away.
They’re the band that people love to hate, while others like to love ’em, and as for you, well…you enjoy myself. Whichever the case, Phish has a pretty cool exclusive coming up for Record Store Day, which is certain to sell out.
Dig the deets, yon hippies…hipsters…hypnotherapists:
On Record Store Day 2012, Phish will release Junta, the band’s first full-length studio album, as a Limited Edition Deluxe 3-LP vinyl set, available exclusively at participating independently owned record stores across the country. Junta marks the band’s second release in conjunction with Record Store Day, and the first time Junta has ever been released on vinyl.
This LE Deluxe 3-LP vinyl set is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies. Junta was recorded at Euphoria Sound Studios in Revere, Massachusetts in 1987 and 1988 on 16-track 2″ tape and was mixed to 1/4″ stereo reels. In addition to writing and performing all the music, the band produced the album themselves.
In case you aren’t completely sick of seeing the tweets or hearing about upsets of last night’s 54th Annual Grammy Awards, we here at The Vinyl District are going to give you a break down of what happened from a first-hand account as we wind down and recap the night waiting in a busy terminal at LAX. Lucky you.
If you have never heard of Roland Janes, he is one of the unsung heroes of the Memphis music industry (back when there was one) and also, along with Carl Perkins and Scotty Moore, defined the guitar style that came to be known as rockabilly.
He played on the majority of Jerry Lee Lewis’ 150+ Sun recordings. That alone gives him an unquestionable pedigree in Memphis and world music, but Roland also was a founding member of Billy Lee Riley’s Little Green, played live with and recorded an uncountable number of Sun sessions with artists like Charlie Rich and Sonny Burgess among many others, opened Sonic Studio in 1962 (where he recorded almost all the local bands who made appearances on George Klein’s Talent Party show, which aired Saturday afternoon on WHBQ TV’s Channel 13), and owned or co-owned a number of independent record labels in the ’60s and early ’70s.
Since 1982, he has been working at Phillips Studios as a producer and engineer, which is where I first encountered him on a Tav Falco’s Panther Burns album recording session in the spring of 1984.
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.
ExDetectives – The Lawn
Realistic – Token Gestures
DINOWALRUS – What Now
Anna Vogelzang – One & Only
Shigeto – Huron River Drive
Alan Wilkis – Shadow (feat. Lyrics Born and White Hinterland)
Ambassadors – Unconsolable
Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Heart Attack (Cosmic Kids Remix)
Baby Baby – Haters Clean
Ladyhawke – Black, White And Blue (The Big Pink Remix)
TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Orcas – Carrion
Grand Duchy – Silver Boys
The Darkness – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us
Sea Of Bees – Gnomes
Yalls – Settle Down
Hoots & Hellmouth – Why Would You Not Want To Go There?
Unicycle Loves You – Wow Wave Cinema
CFCF – Exercise #3 (Building)
Mombi – Glowing Beatdown
Leland Sundries – Apparition
Abstraxion – Moriyabasa (DJ Kaos Re-Edit)
38 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!
…and we’ve got the final list of confirmed DJ’s for the first DC Record Fair of 2012!
After two Record Fairs in 2011 staged just beyond the DC border, the Washington, DC Record Fair returns to DC proper on Sunday, February 12 at Washington’s new home for hilarity, the Riot Act Comedy Theater in the heart of Penn Quarter in downtown DC—news certain to be appreciated by a tiny, albeit vocal contingent of fair goers. (See? We listen.)
We’ll have 40 dealers from up and down the East Coast on both floors of Riot Act—10 above and 30 below—and of course, unlike the photo above, ample lighting, ample food and drinks, Bloody Marys, and right—a ton of records.
Did we mention the DJs? Here’s the schedule for the day:
11:00 – 12:00 Cobruhhh | Windian (Just added!)
12:00 – 1:00 Sean Marquand | Phenomenal Handclap Band
1:00 – 2:00 Patrick Kigongo | Ra Ra Rasputin
2:00 – 3:00 Cerphe Colwell | Cerphe’s Progressive Show
3:00 – 4:00 Will Eastman | Volta Bureau
4:00 – 5:00 DJ Roz | Champion Sounds
Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
I’m confused? When I started putting together this Idelic Hour playlist I was under the impression that this was “granny week” in LA? I thought what a cool fucking idea—a playlist of songs dedicated to none other than my “momma’s momma!” Grandma, a classic Idelic Hour muse it shall be.
Now, days later I realize it is sadly not Granny but Grammy fever we’re experiencing here in LA. Of course I will go to a party or two, schmooze around, pat backs, congratulate, complain and console with industry types. After all, I can “get my Grammy on.” For a couple of years I was even on the selection committee. Hell, I’ve even been nominated for one!
“…and the winner is—NOT ME! Ha ha, what a rush!
My take on 2012 is that you gotta take the good and the lame and roll it into one cool life. The sad fact is that the Grammys, like most of the major label establishment, try hard to be cool but fall embarrassingly short. In the end The Grammy show makes the Academy Awards show and those film yuppies look cooler than us music headz, when in truth they are NOT. Shame really.
All said, this week rock ‘n roll dreams will come true. I saw a screening of a very cool film last night called Re:Generation. Check for it here. Let’s twist, shake, and re-generate! Why not let “rock granny roll” here on the Idelic Hour.
Fuck it, my grandma kicks ass on the Grammys!
The Idelic Hit of the Week:
Frightened Rabbit – Fuck This Place
