Author Archives: Emily Bress

TVD Ticket Giveaway: Real Estate at the 9:30 Club, 8/12

By Emily Bress | Published: August 8, 2012

Nothing beats going to a summer show for one of your favorite bands. Except for winning tickets for that show because, let’s face it, music sounds so much damn sweeter when served to you on a silver TVD Ticket Giveaway platter.

Well, start salivating kiddies, Real Estate is performing at the 9:30 club this Sunday, August 12th, and one lucky winner will get a pair of tickets fo’ free.

Real Estate’s Martin Courtney, Etienne Duguay, Alex Bleeker, and Matthew Mondanile remind us that there is more to Jersey than GTL and leopard print. These indie rockers have a magnetic sound that rejuvenates even the most jaded of auditory systems.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 39 Comments

TVD 24-Hour Ticket Giveaway: Hot Chip
at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 7/22

By Emily Bress | Published: July 19, 2012

Updated: Tickets are still available to see Hot Chip, and there is a “Shut Up” discount offer through the Shut Up and Play the Hits documentary. The password is playhits.—Ed.

Face it, it is hard going to bed on Sunday knowing that the repetitive drone of yet another work day is right around the corner, and this feeling is only amplified during the summer months. Luckily, TVD is here to help you make the most of your weekend before you go back to the week’s routine.

London electronica group Hot Chip is touring in support of their new album In Our Heads and bringing their addictive dance beats to the Merriweather Post Pavilion this Sunday, July 22nd. We are giving away a pair of tickets to the show just because we love you.

While it seems like many electronic groups today are trying to savagely bass-pound you to death, Hot Chip‘s hypnotic sound invokes an ambiance of subtle sophistication. Their gentle and melodic vocals, playful percussion, and infectious bass shocks your body into movement while a gaping smile spreads across your face. The best kind of happy pill.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 18 Comments

TVD Ticket Giveaway: Jukebox the Ghost at the 9:30 Club, 6/29

By Emily Bress | Published: June 25, 2012

When your ears are ringing with simplified bass as your head pounds with the trivial mess of lyrics that compose the logic-defying, still-popular hit “Call Me Maybe,” a catchy song with soul is not only refreshing, but damn near life saving.

Imagine, for a moment, songs to sing along to without wanting to punch yourself or those around you in the face. Jukebox the Ghost is your knight in indie armor to rescue us all from summer hit mediocrity.

We’re here to help. You can save your sanity without destroying your car’s radio by winning a pair of free tickets to see Jukebox the Ghost perform a dose of lively melodies at the 9:30 Club, this Friday, June 9th.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 14 Comments

Bringing it on home.
TVD Ticket Giveaway: Social Distortion at the 9:30 Club, 11/6 or 11/7

By Emily Bress | Published: June 13, 2012

Social Distortion has been writing and performing great music for over three decades, and you can now be a part of their legacy.

They will be performing at 9:30 Club in November, on the 6th and 7th, and TVD is giving away a pair of tickets to see one of the shows.

From our glowing review last winter, Social D “is currently experiencing a career high in terms of commercial success. When Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes was released early last year, it reached number 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, marking Social Distortion’s first ever Top 10 album and highest ever peak on that chart in their entire 32 year career.”

And we concluded, “Bottom line here? Social Distortion were impeccable. A rock n roll show for the ages not too be missed.”

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 18 Comments

TVD Ticket Giveaway:
The Cribs at the Black Cat, 6/7

By Emily Bress | Published: June 1, 2012

It’s a British Invasion! (Well, sort of.) Thursday, June 7, English trio The Cribs storm the Black Cat and wouldn’t you know it, we’ve got a pair of tickets for one of you to win to Thursday’s show.

When you’re Indie and English, you basically have a sizable portion of the music industry in the palm of your hand. This is especially true for The Cribs, whose brand new release, In the Belly of the Brazen Bull is their second consecutive Top 10 UK album. “Come On, Be a No-One” is the first single off of the LP.

Recently they premiered the vid for “Glitters Like Gold,” which is armed with great music and pointless (yet endearing) fact bubbles.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 3 Comments

TVD Ticket Giveaway: Chairlift at U Street Music Hall, 4/21

By Emily Bress | Published: April 17, 2012

We know you all are just ecstatic about this coming Earth Day weekend—any excuse to party, right? Well, TVD is here to help you honor mother earth in the only way we know how, tossing back drinks and listening to some damn good music.

This Saturday night, April 21st, 9:30 Club and the Black Cat present Chairlift with Nite Jewel at U Street Music Hall, and we are giving away a pair of tickets to the show.

Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly make up the synth-pop duo of the one and only Chairlift, found in Brooklyn. The group’s sophomore album Something has a lighter finish than their debut album Do You Inspire You. It teeters closer to psychedelic and is more brooding than their pop-dreamscape debut.

Their video for “Met Before,” released last month, is unique in that it’s an interactive, choose-your-own adventure. When they appear, the viewer clicks on one of a choice of arrows in order to determine what happens next in the plot. Will Caroline follow the blonde or the guy in glasses (who happens to be Jorge from Violens) ? (There is also the standard version.)

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 7 Comments

TVD Ticket Giveaway: DJ Shadow at Fillmore Silver Spring, 3/27

By Emily Bress | Published: March 22, 2012

Mondays suck, but that doesn’t mean they have to drag down the rest of the week with them. Tuesdays are known to be a little bit better, and can help you to cope through the work week. We just made them even better.

We are giving away a pair of tickets to see DJ Shadow perform at the Fillmore Silver Spring this Tuesday, March 27th. So you can wake up with a smile Monday knowing that Tuesday night is going to be filthy fun.

DJ Shadow (aka Josh Davis) has been cranking out unbelievable records since 1991, and his talent has been unquestioned after the insane success of 1996’s Entroducing. Often described as an experimental hip hop trailblazer, DJ Shadow’s tracks show an unrivaled talent for sample mixing.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 8 Comments

TVD Recommends: The Deli’s UN/OFF Austin 2012 Party, at Gypsy Lounge, tomorrow!

By Emily Bress | Published: March 14, 2012

As if Austin’s SXSW Festival hasn’t already sonically blasted your eardrums to oblivion with amazing music, The Deli Magazine is throwing a two stage rager tomorrow night, March 15th, at The Gypsy Lounge. Did I mention it was free? Oh yeah, and that we are one of the sponsors?

The Deli’s Un/Off Party will feature both an indoor and an outdoor stage for you to jump around in front of, hopefully without spilling anyone else’s beer. The music will be an eclectic medley of alternative folk and hair-whipping rock.

Self-proclaimed “disco dust” sensations Reptar will be headlining the outdoor stage. Like what you here? The group’s debut album Body Faucet is due out May 1st. Also performing on the outdoor stage will be Body Language, The Stepkids, Gangstagrass, and Vacationer.

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

TVD Ticket Giveaway: Gomez at 9:30 Club, 3/12

By Emily Bress | Published: March 7, 2012

Gomez’s newest studio album Whatever’s On Your Mind may have been written while the band members were worlds apart, but their sound has never been more together.

They are reunited at last and playing at the 9:30 Club next Monday, March 12th.

We wouldn’t want you to miss out on the upbeat pop machine—we so love to be good to you and are giving away a pair of tickets to the show.

Posted in TVD Washington, DC | 20 Comments

TVD Vinyl Giveaway: Grieves’ Together Apart

By Emily Bress | Published: January 24, 2012

Lately, it has been hard to remember that it is in fact winter in Colorado. Jackets are light, and the snow has been lighter, and this January has turned your favorite slope into the world’s longest water slide. While the elusive snow may inhibit some crucial downtime on the slopes, it definitely will make for a more pleasant outdoor experience at Icelantic’s Winter on the Rocks.

This is the first winter concert in Red Rocks’ history, featuring Grieves & Budo, Atmosphere, and Common, this Friday, January 27th, at Red Rocks Ampitheater, so at least for this week, I am rooting for the warm weather.

Wrap up warm, and Grieves’ chill beats will help defrost your dancing shoes. Colorado native Benjamin Laub (aka Grieves) is a lyrical talent to watch; his music is derived from real pain and experience that bring the words and the emotion to life. He paired up with Budo in 2008, and they have been supplying a steady dose of hypnotic flow with multi-instrumental rhythms and intensified lyrical narratives. The duo is joining the likes of T-Pain and Gym Class Heros for the 2012 SnowStorm Music Tour starting in February, but you have the chance to see them first at Red Rocks.

Posted in TVD Denver | 51 Comments

TVD Ticket Giveaway: Nurses at Hi-Dive, 1/15

By Emily Bress | Published: January 10, 2012

What better way to fight off that fuck-work-want-play cold you may or may not exaggerate to your boss this coming Friday or Monday than a glass of cold beer and the warm drones of some good music? Yeah, we couldn’t think of one either and we are happy to enable a self-declared 3-day weekend by giving away a pair of tickets to see Nurses this Sunday, 1/15, at the Hi-Dive.

Calling out sick to see Nurses—it does seem meant to be. Let the acid flashback inducing concoction of psychedelic pop melt away your senses and stresses this Sunday night and hopefully you can forget about Monday all together. It helps that Nurses’ new album Dracula is an indulgent snack of pure auditory seduction. It is a perfect accomplice for an opportunistic extension to your holiday vacation. They never are long enough, and neither is this album.

Dracula triggers an obsessive twitch with its on-trend, vamp-happy title and its relatively more important stock of addictive hooks and infectious lyrics. It is unconventional, haunting, and sexy—much like the infamous figure it shares its name with. It may be impossible to listen to this Nurses masterpiece and stay in a post-holiday funk. Just try it and see.

Posted in TVD Denver | Leave a comment

1,2,3’s single “Scared
But Not That Scared” released today

By Emily Bress | Published: December 5, 2011

Although 1,2,3’s name evokes an elementary simplicity any kindergartner could grasp, their music is tenaciously complex with a mutinous disregard for traditional genre conventions.

1,2,3’s debut LP New Heaven was a highly acclaimed gateway into the duo’s unique vision and sound. Today, the Pittsburgh powerhouse expands upon the success of New Heaven with the release of their single “Scared But Not That Scared.”

Posted in TVD Denver | Leave a comment

Weekend Shots!

By Emily Bress | Published: December 2, 2011

Snow be damned; it’ll take more than a little frost-slap in the face to derail a hard-earned weekend of booze, beats, and booty.

December might play dirty, but Denver can play harder. So bundle up in a nice whiskey blanket and strap on your dancing boots—this weekend has got a great selection of shows to thaw you out.

Read More »

Posted in TVD Denver | Leave a comment

Captured Tracks Launches Shoegaze Archives

By Emily Bress | Published: November 29, 2011

Today, Captured Tracks is making, and slightly tweaking, music history with the launch of their Shoegaze Archives. For those who still have doubts about the resurrection of vinyl, the Shoegaze Archive series will shut them up.

If the words “never before released on vinyl” make your mouth voraciously water, then it is strongly advisable you check out The Shoegaze Archives. The collection encompasses all the indefinable, loud, melancholic, motley recordings of the late ’80s and early ’90s—great music that has been collecting dust in an obsolete vacuum of abandoned CDs.

Many Shoegaze original recordings were denied the pleasure of a stylus’ doting caress—an unfortunate consequence of the renouncement of vinyl in the early ’90s. Captured Tracks, with the support of the original artists, is righting this odious wrong by resuscitating these off-the-shelf recordings through remastered vinyl releases. Each album will be remastered with extensive liner notes and delectable bonus tracks.

Posted in The TVD Storefront | Leave a comment

TVD Live: BIRR Presents Orbit Service at The Walnut Room, 11/12

By Emily Bress | Published: November 15, 2011

The Walnut Room’s behind-closed-doors, back-room venue exudes the air of delicious exclusivity. At first I thought I had the wrong place last Saturday; the small laid-back pizza parlor seemed like a foreign and gauche environment for a live show.

I quickly tried locating the stage before my confusion became blatant to the boozing patrons, when someone asked me if I was there to see Orbit Service. I was then led to the very back; a door was opened then shut, incasing me in a shadowed, intimate arena. Facing the stage, which was now hard to miss, I exhaled in relief and allowed myself to relax into the ambience.