Perhaps it’s just me. It’s Monday at 3PM and already I’m pining away for Friday, 5PM. Of a long, three-day weekend.
Well, no. I’m of course it’s not just me.
And like a carrot at the end of a woefully long stick, we’ve got a bit of an incentive to trudge through the five day work week in the form of a pair of tickets to check out Hot Hot Heat on Friday (9/3) at the Rock and Roll Hotel.
Touring in support of this summer’s new release, ‘Future Breeds’ an LP Alternate Press spoke of as, “[An] album . . so wondrous, it feels like all of the universe’s mediocrity was taken away via some sort of aesthetic rapture.”
Friday can’t come soon enough, hm?
As mentioned, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see the band in exchange for your rapturous entry in the comments to this post. Sell us on the idea of giving you the tickets and the best of the bunch bangs down Friday’s door with these in hand.
We’ll choose a winner at 5PM this coming Thursday and remember to leave us a contact email address – ok? Seriously.
Story/Stereo, the brilliant (and free!) evening of both words and music at Bethesda’s Writer’s Center returns for a new season on September 3rd and we’re delighted to be joined here all week by the musical guest on the program, John Davis.
John will be performing tracks on Friday night spanning his career to date. It’s being called, appropriately enough, “John Davis plays John Davis.” Expect to hear material from Title Tracks, Georgie James, and Q and Not U.
In advance of the evening, we’ve asked John to pull the curtain back a bit on his well of inspiration and rattle off the first five tracks that make their appearance on random shuffle on his ipod. Now, those of you who’ve been reading the blog for a while know that we ran a similar feature a little while back with uh, shall we say, ‘revealing’ results—both good and well, …bad. We’re much more optimistic in regard to John’s taste level.
So, without further ado, all this week John Davis (and his ipod) are your guest DJs on The Vinyl District. —Ed.
Environments – “The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore” Kind of dumb to have this one come up first when I press shuffle on my mp3 player but the shuffle logic has its own sense of humor. If you’ve combed through thrift stores for LPs, you’re probably familiar with the “Environments” series of soundscape LPs. Very much a productof the 70s, you had one side of an LP with, say, a 25-minute thunderstorm. The other side would be a creaking boat adrift on the sea, as you do. Sometimes they got deep, like “Tintinnabulation” (from Environments 2), which essentially sounds like a Buddha Box that you can’t modify. My personal favorite, as I’m sure you’re wondering, is “Gentle Rain In a Pine Forest.” Make of that what you will. That said, “The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore” is pretty good, too, though 31-minute tracks should not be coming up in shuffle, especially first. Also unclear is what renders this recording “psychologically ultimate.” Still, I can listen to stuff like this ALL day.
Link Wray – “Deuces Wild” Raw, guttural music from an early D.C. musical legend. If we’re naming restaurants after Marvin Gaye here, I think we need something for Link, too. For more on Link’s story, read Mark Opsasnick’s interesting overview of the early rock scene in the D.C.-area, “Capitol Rock.” I had no idea P.G. County was such a hotbed. As for “Deuces Wild,” it’s not as well-known as “Rumble,” of course, but it’s a fierce, feral slice of instrumental badness and a good way to start the day.
R.E.M. – “Lotus” This is from “Up,” R.E.M.’s first record without founding drummer Bill Berry (from ’98, I think). Coming off the absurd winning streak that this band ran, essentially, from its inception in the early 80s up through the mid-90s (although 1994’s “Monster” was the first sign that trouble was afoot), “Up” was a disappointment at the time. The loss of Berry was palpable and the record is overlong, certainly. There are some highlights, however (“Daysleeper,” “Lotus” and “Suspicion,” for starters) and the somber vibe is sometimes appealing. Still, when my old Georgie James bandmate Laura Burhenn told me that “Up” was her favorite R.E.M. record, it led to great consternation on my part.
Booker T. And The MGs – “Something” This is from Booker T and The MGs’ stupendous record, “McLemore Avenue,” their collection of covers of songs from The Beatles’ “Abbey Road.” I can only imagine how flattered The Beatles must have been to have their tunes covered by musicians the caliber of the MGs. No joke, this band and this record are outstanding. It was a huge thrill to traverse the real McLemore Ave in Memphis the couple of times I’ve been lucky enough to pass through town and check out the Stax Museum that stands on the site. If you’ve never been, please do go. I touched Isaac Hayes’ car there!
Marek Grechuta – “Gdziekolwiek“ I can’t tell you how great this song is. It’s a bit like Scott Walker or “Odessa”-era Bee Gees but nowhere near the drama. Grechuta was a Polish singer-songwriter who had a voice that really haunts me. It’s not especially striking in any obvious way but it’s evocative, for sure, and it transcends the fact that I can’t decipher a word (he sings in his native language). Plaintive and direct, Grechuta’s voice and this song will always remain with me. Like his fellow countrymanAndrzej Wajda’s films, there’s a deep current of sadness running through Grechuta’s music but also a resolve and a clarity that keep things from dissolving into the maudlin.
I woke this morning trying to reflect on what seems to be the “summer that never happened?” Well, it feels that way here, snuggled in our canyon. Still today I’m comforted by the fact that somewhere in the world there are people having a great time experiencing rock n roll together.
This week’s Idelic Hour is actually part two of my salute all of you who are packed your knapsack and made it to one of 2010’s summer rock festivals. As I write, many of you are waking up on a muddy field at Reading or Leeds. This week’s playlist features songs by killer live acts that hit 2010 summer stages and a couple that “blew minds” many summers ago.
“For years it was just the building across from the little shop with the great gyros.
It’s funny how perspective can drastically change even though our surroundings don’t change much at all. As my musical talents and tastes grew so grew the way I looked at the brick building that housed Ardent Studios. I spent a long time looking in from the outside as a musician in Memphis, but as our band grew and as our sound melded I found myself bumping into Ardent a little more each year. I remember seeing Jason Gillespie at one of our shows in November of 2006. I could tell there was something about that guy but it was until a full two years later that the seed was germinated. I suppose things that are meant to be will stick around one another without always understanding why.
After forging a synergistic relationship with two sound engineers from Ardent we were set to record a 5 song EP and begin building the foundation of our relationship with the studio as well. As a musician it’s a very special moment pulling into the Ardent parking lot for business purposes. It’s a fairly inconspicuous building (like most great places in Memphis). You can see a kiddy pool or two in the adjacent houses that back up to Ardent and it’s shaded by a heavy canopy of Midtown trees that makes it blend in to the neighboring buildings.
Opening the door is a different experience though. It’s still just as cozy but the history and spirit of the building really come in focus as you pass by gold record after gold record. Movements of soul, rock, grunge and everything in between have come through Ardent and it’s an honest pleasure just to be invited in the building. That’s why when Rachel contacted us about playing an Ardent Session I got the same giddy feeling I did the first time pulling in the parking lot.
I really can’t imagine a more comfortable studio situation. The staff is passionate about music from top to bottom and the standards of quality are set very high. To be able to invite all our friends inside was even better than just experiencing it by ourselves. I can’t recall a single person not having a big smile on their face that night. I couldn’t help but think about the great artists that had been in the spot I was standing while we went through our set. I can highly advise anyone that’s a fellow musician or fan of music to check out the next Ardent Session. Whether it’s a local act or someone national coming through, you’re going to have an unforgettable experience. The music is palpable in Ardent Studios. Oh and the place across the street has great gyros.
We actually don’t have any physical copies of CD’s or records at this time. We’ve sold all our EP CD’s and our new album won’t be finished until November or December. But if you go to rainydaymanual.com you guys can download a high quality digital copy of our EP Vox a Copia for absolutely free.
We’ve got a Kickstarter going to raise the money to mix the album with Jason G and Mike W from Ardent and we’re almost done tracking the album. With promotion of the kickstarter at our next few shows (Sept 19th at Neil’s w/ Mobley) we’ll ideally get the bulk of our kickstarter funds and be ready to mix, master, print and plan a tour. We haven’t decided on a venue for the CD release yet but it’s going to be an extravaganza of a party for sure. —Chris Faulkner
We’ve got the brand new single, “Velcro Shoes” from Pete Yorn off his upcoming self-titled album produced by Frank Black. The album will be available everywhere on Sept. 28 on Vagrant, and the iTunes pre-order with bonus track will begin Sept. 7. Pete will be playing The Roxy in LA on Sept 27, NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 5 and Austin City Limits in Oct. 9.
Asked about working with Pete, Frank notes, “We headed down a path of realization I stripped Pete down a whole bunch. We battled in the best sort of way. I tried to get the session into a fearless and raw place, and to his artistic credit Pete took his songwriting to a fearless and raw place. This listener will find his or herself sitting right next to Pete on the couch. And the record totally rocks out.”
It’s our very first Q & A ‘First Date’ and it’s also the debut of a new contributor to TVD, Leah Henry. —Ed.
She is huge in Sweden. Now, Jenny Wilson is ready for the US.
Jenny Wilson, founder of First Floor Power,who began her solo career in 2004, took the New York City stage twice last month. During our introduction Jenny acknowledged that her New York shows went well, the first at Union on Tuesday July 13th and the second at Pianos on Wednesday July 14th. When asked specifically about the performances Jenny says, “It was something completely new, solo, without my band, fun, very different.”
Jenny Wilson’s self-released second solo album Hardships! had its debut in the United States yesterday, August 24th.
What songs do you think they liked best? The audience…well, I think the most popular is ‘Like a Fading Rainbow’ it’s getting some play here, and a lot through YouTube. And the next one would be ‘Only Here for the Fight’, since they can go online and download it for free.
How important is it to make it in America, is that your goal? Very important – if you make it in America, you’re big. It is just one part of my goal, I want to spread my music, there are so many amazing bands in America – I would like to be a part of that scene.
I thoroughly enjoyed Hardships!. It felt like pop-R&B-spiritual, how would you describe this album? Well, I would describe it like that; a mixture between new and old R&B, soul, and electronic stuff too. I wanted it to be as organic and rhythmic as possible.
I know you have a song entitled Hardships but why did you choose to name the album ‘Hardships!’ as well? The theme is struggle, motherhood, fighting, and I am describing motherhood from a battlefield perspective. It sounds powerful to me. I am not sure what it means to you [being American] but, that was my aim. I had a lot of different working titles and this was one of the later entries.
Fun seems important in your music, how important is that in this album? When I make them, I try to grab the feeling. I want to surprise myself, how can I describe this… I want to challenge myself, with lyrics as well. I don’t want to feel secure; I want to go out where I haven’t been before. In this album I touch on some dark topics and I add fun.
You mentioned producing earlier, and you currently run Gold Medal Recordings, how has that changed you as a musician? To run a label… it was more… I started it to have sole control over the product. I am not ‘the business’, I am not an enthusiastic label manager, I hate all of that shit. I am a true artist. I try to do it myself as much as I can. I don’t want be a part of some major label and get lost. It’s not important to have a lot of people around, if I have to describe my idea to five different people, it doesn’t work. I try it. I decide. And I get the results. I want my music to be brave, personal.
Who/what are you listening to right now? I am listening to a lot of Wu Tang Clan, mostly the 90′s records with ODB and RZA – the dark landscape of hip hop, gospel. Also – African music from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Mali. I love the rhythms.
Which Swedish artists are you listening to at the moment? Oh! Have you heard of El Perro Del Mar?
No, I haven’t… Well she is amazing, just amazing
Style? Pop, it’s just great. I must admit I am a big Jens Lekman fan. As Jenny corrected my terrible pronunciation of his last name (Lek-Mon) she goes on to tell me about how she toured with Jens in 2005 and how she believes him to be a brilliant artist.
This is an odd curiosity question but, do you prefer one side of your face? Good question! I noticed that I do that, which side to I turn to again?
You have your left side to the camera. And I don’t know why, I have this really beautiful scar on the right side of my face. After Hardships!… I will show it.
Who doesn’t love the sound of a banjo being plucked? I was lucky enough to catch the end of our neighbor’s front stoop banjo serenade yesterday on my way in from walking Bowser. Made me want to have a good ol’ hoedown right there on the street, but I did somehow refrain.
It put me in such a good mood though, that I’m going to give away an 8×10 print in honor of loving banjos. All you have to do is leave a comment, and we’ll pick someone at random to win a copy of this pic in the mail. It was taken almost a year ago at the end of the Tweed Ride in DC. You have until the end of this week to leave a message!
