Monthly Archives: January 2013

TVD Ticket and Vinyl Giveaway: The Funk 4 Peace Ball at UHall, 1/20

By Dulani Wallace | Published: January 15, 2013

Brandon Skall and Jeff Hancock, the founders of DC Brau Brewing Company, have a reputation that transcends the art of microbrew and hops. As a special event aligning the Inauguration and MLK, Jr. holiday weekend, Skall and Hancock partnered with Fort Knox Five Recordings for the Funk 4 Peace Ball, at UHall.

Jurassic 5 alumnus, DJ Nu-Mark marquees a lineup that features Fort Knox Five, Nappy Riddem, and Empresarios. It all happens this Sunday, January 20. And we’re giving away a pair of tickets to the show plus some vinyl.

Revered as one of the key figures in the late-’90s DJ explosion, DJ Nu-Mark is part of a pantheon of golden-age hip-hop DJs. Straddling between the avenues of indie and mainstream, Nu-Mark is on tour promoting Broken Sunlight, released in December 2012. In a July 2011 interview with The Vinyl District, Nu-Mark, talks about his roots as a DJ hobbyist in his teens. Now he’s been associated with such acts as Dave Matthews; he also appeared in the critically acclaimed documentary Scratch.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 9 Comments

TVD Ticket Giveaway: Thievery Corporation
at the 9:30 Club, 1/19
(Sold out!)

By Dulani Wallace | Published: January 15, 2013

To Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, the duo at the core of the Thievery Corporation, their music is designed to break the commercial mold. They’ve delighted fans for nearly 20 years in venues great and small. They’re back again, on a new mission to unite the sounds of the globe with the likes of you. So keep reading: You can win a pair of tickets to see them at the 9:30 Club.

On play mode for nearly two decades now, Hilton and Garza have crafted themselves as musical journeymen. Further, they’ve built a commune of diverse acts that bring the world’s hemispheres together.

Through Eighteenth Street Lounge and ESL Music — their nightlife hub and album label, respectfully — Thievery nurtures acts such as Congo Sanchez, Thomas Blondet, Mustafa Akbar, Ursula 1000 as well as their own. The label operates out of the basement of a three-level townhouse in Dupont Circle that was once the claim of president Theodore Roosevelt.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 7 Comments

Pissed Jeans ready new album, Honeys

By Matt Kelchner | Published: January 15, 2013

Allentown, PA four piece Pissed Jeans will be releasing Honeys, their follow-up to 2009’s excellent breakthrough record King Of Jeans, on February 12th via Subpop Records.

Back in November, noise-punks Pissed Jeans announced they would be releasing their fourth full length album in the beginning of 2013. It would be their third on Subpop Records and the first new music since Your Life Is Worth Pissed Jeans, a 7″ released in 2010.

As the year inches closer to February the group has already shared two tracks to preview, “Bathroom Laughter” and “Cathouse,” and it’s clear that despite not releasing anything for nearly two years, the band has not skipped a beat. If anything, their explosive, chaotic sound has been building and is finally being released to the world.

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Big Harp: The TVD
First Date and Vinyl
Giveaway

By Special to TVD | Published: January 15, 2013

“Ah, vinyl. Specifically, polyvinyl chloride. Who can resist its myriad charms? You can press records on it, run sewage through it, and make a great outfit for your freaky sex slave from it. All three functions lend themselves to some brand of obsessive fetishism, but none more than the first. Well, maybe the third.”

“Anyway, I was born right at the tail end of the LP’s run of dominance. I remember being three or four and sitting around the turntable in the living room with my mom and my sister, listening to Hoyt Axton sing “Greenback Dollar.” I was blown away that he said the word “damn” in the chorus, and it touched off a desire to warble curses in song that I’m still working out of my system.

I remember trying to work the dulled chrome stack of knobby boxes in my grandma’s wood-paneled basement so my cousins and I could whirl in wild abandon to the intoxicating strains of “You Make My Pants Want to Get Up and Dance” by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. But these memories are primeval, origin myths loosely rooted in uneven soil. The concrete years of my childhood were filled with cassettes first, then CDs, and it was only sometime in my late teens or early twenties that vinyl reentered the scene.

Posted in The TVD Storefront | 8 Comments

Graded on Curve:
Yo La Tengo, Fade

By Joseph Neff | Published: January 15, 2013

Through a recording career that began four decades age, Yo La Tengo has chalked up a lot of high points. During their fabulous run they have become one of the most reliable groups of the last thirty years, and their new album Fade continues to find them in fine form. In expertly crafting their most concise musical statement since the mid-90s, the band remains in a state of constant evolution, and the record connects as just another unfussy classic in their already plush discography.

Yo La Tengo has been a veteran band for longer than some of their fans have been alive, but they’ve never really come off like elder statespersons, instead preferring to just be themselves and keep on doing what they do, the sturdy components of their sound being fairly immune to the aspects of groundbreaking newness that’s such a recurring element in the indie scene they helped define.

Even through periods of modestly experimental growth that have resulted in the band becoming a quite different affair (and one that’s much larger in terms of popularity) than most of their early fans would’ve ever predicted, Yo La Tengo has never really displayed any attempts to grasp onto the coattails of the latest thing. Instead, they have followed their own path, a circumstance that has been quite refreshing.

For example, when they handed off “Here to Fall,” a track from their last full length, 2009’s Popular Songs, to practitioners of the hip-hop field for a remix EP, they didn’t seek out the latest buzz-worthy artists from within that scene, instead engaging with established veterans like RJD2, De La Soul, and Pete Rock. And when they did the same for last year’s Fade teaser EP “Stupid Things,” they arrived at the wily talents of Eye Yamataka, the Japanese noise experimentalist and member of Boredoms, a guy who’s been active in the indie/u-ground since the late ‘80s.

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TVD Premiere:
Summer Hours,
“Close and Closer”

By TVD HQ | Published: January 14, 2013

We’re delighted to debut Summer Hours‘ latest single “Close and Closer.” The band’s latest album, Closer Still, will be released February 5, 2013.

“When I was about 15 years old a friend brought me to Rockin’ Rex!, a great record store in Yonkers, to see some bands play live. At the time I was listening to a lot of David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust era, as well as some older metal like Iron Maiden. The bands set up in the back of the store and all these punks crowded in between bins of records. It was my first DIY experience and I instantly felt like I had found something that mattered, something that I had been searching for.

My friend, Ben and I would travel over an hour to go to Rockin Rex! (there were no record stores in the town we lived in) to search the bins of 7”s and LPs and get recommendations from Tony, the owner. Tony later inspired Ben and me to start our own zine, Satisfaction Guaranteed. We eventually put out an issue that came with a compilation of NYC Hardcore bands. The compilation was done by John, one of guys who worked at Rockin’ Rex! (and member of the band Awkward Thought.)

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TVD Live: The Young Rapscallions at The High Watt, 1/9

By Morgan Swank | Published: January 14, 2013

Guess who’s back? Fresh off my five-month vacation in the Big Apple, I’m back in Music City, USA, and man does it feel good. If there’s one thing I can count on Nashville to give as a homecoming gift, it’s a damn good rock ‘n’ roll show in a hole-in-the-wall venue on a warm Wednesday night in January.

I’m talking about none other than the Californian natives The Young Rapscallions‘ gig at The High Watt in downtown Nashville as part of their Over the Hills 2013 Tour currently sweeping the East Coast.

Judging from the crowd gradually flooding into the venue throughout the night, it’s safe to say that everyone knows at least two things about the four raucous Rapscallions: 1. Yes, that is the infamous funnyman Chris Mintz-Plasse (immortalized from his roles in Superbad, Role Models, Movie 43, etc.) with the drumsticks in his hand, and 2. They shred really, really hard. Flourishing acting careers aside, The Young Raps seem to be getting bigger and better since their 2007 inception and 2010 full-length album Everything Vibrates.

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TVD Ticket Giveaway: Blonde Redhead at U Street Music Hall, 1/18

By Charles Gray | Published: January 14, 2013

Twenty-three years ago, on January 18, DC mayor Marion Barry was arrested by the FBI on drug possession charges. After conviction, Barry would go on to reclaim his position as Mayor of the nation’s capital.

Since America (and DC) is all about forgive and party, this is an event in history worth toasting. There are tons of things you could do to celebrate this and the upcoming Presidential Inauguration this weekend, but really, the only one worth considering is Blonde Redhead at the U Street Music Hall, presented by the 9:30 Club. We’ve got a pair of tickets to see the living legends of noise and post-shoegaze that we’re ready to give away to a lucky fan.

2013 rings in the 20th anniversary of the band, who now has a back-catalog eight albums deep. Starting in noise rock of the early ’90s, Blonde Redhead is known for their evolution as a band who made their impact with Misery is a Butterfly, 23, and Penny Sparkle all released on 4AD in the past 10 years. As of late they’ve been touring like crazy in what one could only guess could be a build up to a new recording.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 9 Comments

O Emperor,
The TVD First Date

By Special to TVD | Published: January 14, 2013

“Neu!’s album Neu!…I got this record in special edition white vinyl a few years back (in fact it was a Birthday gift from our singer Paul, in a rare display of inter-band affection.)”

“From the very first listen this just blew my mind completely. The approach and aesthetic was nothing like anything I heard on American or British records of this era, seeming light years ahead of its time. There were certain aspects that seemed familiar, but were still totally unique without being overtly obtuse (despite the second track consisting entirely of almost 5 minutes of heavily affected cymbal sounds, fuck yeah!)

The first track, “Hallogallo” (which has the coolest drum sound/playing of ALL TIME) just hits you with 10 minutes of driving groove that is both intense yet dreamy, meandering yet focused, simple yet complex. This sets the tone of what’s to follow; a record that is spontaneous and improvisational without the results ever sounding throwaway. To me, this is a real sign of deep creative understanding between the two core members and something that’s so rare, cosmic, and special.

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TVD’s Record Score with Mike Newman, Vol. 6

By Mike Newman | Published: January 14, 2013

TVD’s Record Score is brought to you by TVD NYC’s own Mike Newman, who recently scored some great records and is now intent on sharing them with you. New stuff and old stuff, straight from the vinyl to your ears!

We’ll always provide links in the playlist where you can score the records online, but always remember to hit up your local independent record store!

The playlist for this sixth edition of the Record Score podcast follows after the jump. Hope you dig!

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TVD’s Press Play

By Jon Meyers | Published: January 14, 2013

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.

Total Warr – Bambastard (feat. The Death Set)
The Cannanes – Bumper
Renny Wilson – By and By
Elephant 12 – Holiday
As Elephants Are – Lucifer
Social Studies – Away For The Weekend
Rice Cultivation Society – Honey Hide
Tashaki Miyaki – Unsatisfied (Replacements cover)
ERAAS – At Heart (The KVB Remix)
Arbouretum – Jagged Promises

TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Brokeback – The Wire, the Rag and the Payoff

Camper Van Beethoven – Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out
The Yes Way – Barcelona
Apparat – A Violent Sky
Useless Eaters – a6 black night ultraviolet
Arrica Rose – Without My Love
Rosco Bandana – Feels Like Mississippi
FLOTE – The Cascades
Freeze-Tag – Kiss, Kiss, Kiss
Hands – Trouble
Jez Dior – Love Me To Death

10 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!

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TVD’s The Idelic Hour with Jon Sidel

By Jon Sidel | Published: January 11, 2013

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

This week started off with a birthday party for a true rock ‘n roll hero. Yes, David Bowie turned 66 on Tuesday and we all celebrated the news that the “Thin White Duke” is back with a song from his new album.

I for one can’t really say if this Birthday release, “Where Are We Now” is Bowie at his best. However, upon hearing Bowie’s voice and its sentimental tone, I was touched and moved. The record reflects on cool days gone by and memories of Berlin, I gather. Growing up under the “gamma rays” of Bowie’s creative shine, it’s hard not to ask, “Where has it all gone?”

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Weekend Shots!

By Megan Toothaker | Published: January 11, 2013

As we watch the ominous clouds circle overhead and fear (or welcome) the forecast of snow this weekend Seattle, let’s not forget that the best way to stay warm in the city is by watching a great band with a foaming, icy pint of Mannys in your hand. Sunday will bring you just the right band for this, as Geographer headlines a show at Barboza.

Beautiful things often come out of tragic experiences oddly enough, and that is the case with the formation of Geographer. After reeling from the pain of losing family members, Geographer front man Michael Deni left New Jersey and ended up in San Francisco with his guitar and synthesizer along for the ride. During this adventure he picked up Nathan Blaz and Brian Osteicher and essentially formed Geographer.

Their music is mainly carefree pop, but more often than not, an ambient sound shines through. The band just released Myth, the follow-up to 2010’s Animal Shapes. Both albums received fine reviews, so expect their live performance to be no different. On An On will be opening up for the band at the 21+ show at Barboza on Sunday the 13th. Doors open at 8PM and tickets are $10 advance.

If Geographer isn’t your cup o’ tea, here’s what else is going on in Seattle this weekend:

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Weekend Shots!

By Charles Gray | Published: January 11, 2013

So usually when shots come around, fate sets Memphis up with a limited option of live sound excursions. Well holy crap Memphis, this Friday/Saturday has opted for the opposite and is stocked with more music to offer than Lil B’s discography… or at least pretty close.

This weekend we’ve got you training with the devil, throwing down with some local yokels, and jumping headfirst into an evening of folk and gangsta rap. (Err, what?) I totally hope you’re of age because it’s time for some weekend shots!

Friday (1/11) starts off with a bump, and then another bump in succession, and then a snare hat, and then some crescendo sounds, and then most likely a drop that’ll hit you in the face with more sub bass than in James Earl Jones vocal chords… or the way they EQ Howard Stern’s voice on the radio. Voodoo Village staple Strooly has made his way west from Nashville and is bringing along a grab bag of tastes that might reference anything from trap hats to island rhythms to hype electro drops at Brinson’s.

Last year he released an EP acting as half of the dart “post-trap” act GRIM, slang quite a few originals on Soundcloud, and even released a snazzy remix or two, traversing the work of artists like TNGHT and Kendrick Lamar. If your thing is dance parties for dance parties’ sake, this has your evening set up.

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Weekend Shots!

By Tim Hibbs | Published: January 11, 2013

Lucky 2013 is here and with it, a host of happenings in Nashville. First of all, the New York Times just selected our burg as the latest “it” city. Um, does that mean we’re bad at playing tag? In any case, it’s good to see the “paper of record” recognizing us for something other than hillbilly moonshine dementia (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Truly, the New Year is off to momentous start with all manner of music mania. Oh, let me count the ways.

MUSIC CITY ROOTS | The city’s best weekly radio show/ live music showcase began its winter season on January 9th with a sold-out doozy of a show starring the legendary Leon Russell. Have you ever wondered what God might look like with shades and a Stetson?

Every Wednesday, Music City Roots gathers an eclectic assembly of artists, delivering a fast-paced, 2-hour show, all for just $10/$5 for students. If you can’t make it in person, you can stream the show live at their site and catch up on past shows at the Roots Radio page.

THE STONE FOX | This West Side restaurant/ club quickly became a preferred gathering place for musicians and music lovers, not to mention fans of good food, since its opening last year. A just-completed renovation expanded the bar to wrap-around proportions and a pair of January residencies, Chris Scruggs on Sundays and Paul Birch on Tuesdays, promise weekly doses fantastic free sounds (but be sure and bring some cash for the tip jar!)