Revolution in the Head

I trust that everyone had a nice Record Store Day yesterday? Good. I enjoyed mine as well, thank you for asking.

Some previous commitments kept me out of the stores until very late in the day. Because of this, I wasn’t able to complete a full trip around “The Circuit” like I had hoped, but I was still able to drop into two or three of my favorite shops and perform a customary flip through the bins. It was Red Onion Records & Books that had me reaching for my wallet on this particular day. I somewhat randomly settled on the selections below, though I easily could have doubled my pile and then some. It’s maybe a good thing that I no longer live within walking distance of this fine establishment.

Nilsson, Aerial Ballet
Harry Nilsson’s second album, released in 1968. This is an original issue and is fantastic shape. I’ve had a cd copy of Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, which is an odd studio amalgam of Nilsson’s first two albums Pandemonium Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet (confused yet?), but have always been curious to hear the original albums themselves. Fact: there isn’t anybody on this earth who doesn’t enjoy Harry’s wonderful rendition of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”.

Video: Harry Nilsson, “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1969)

XTC, White Music and Drums and Wires
I’m not entirely sure why I finally opted to buy two of XTC’s first three records on this day. These records are hardly rare; in fact they are practically fixtures in the used bins. And why did I opt for the bookends White Music and Drums and Wires, but passed on the released in-between Go2? It could be because Ivan played “Statue of Liberty” at the last Heavywax and it sounded downright revelatory. At any rate, I’ve always considered myself more of a Skylarking/Oranges & Lemons/Dukes of Stratosphear XTC-fan, but that was more out of ignorance than an actual educated preference. I look forward to finally exploring their earlier, new-wave roots.

Video: XTC, “Statue of Liberty “(Live, Old Grey Whistle Test, 1978)

A brief break from the musical content to plug something that is certainly near and dear to our hearts: tomorrow, Saturday April 19th is Record Store Day (formerly defined in these parts as “every Tuesday”).

It’s no secret that the record store is an endangered species. You don’t need a blog to tell you that fewer and fewer people are buying actual LP’s and compact discs. MP3’s have their good and bad qualities, but there are still those of us who remain happily stuck in the middle ages. Our computers will never replace our stereos and those digital files will never take the place of a beautiful slab of vinyl. I’m veering into soapbox territory here, so maybe I should stop.

At any rate, should you wish to participate in this special event and you live in the DC area, listed below are some of the fine establishments, all locally owned, that deserve and appreciate your custom.

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The following stores comprise what I affectionately call “The Circuit”; they are all easily accessible from each other by foot and each offer their own unique reasons for visitng. For vinyl lovers, nothing beats a lazy Saturday afternoon stroll/pillage through The Circuit.

Som Records :: www.somrecordsdc.com
1843 14th Street, NW, WDC

Red Onion Records & Books:: www.redonionrecordsandbooks.com
1901 18th Street, NW, WDC
(10% discount on sales this Saturday)

Crooked Beat :: www.crookedbeat.com
2318 18th Street, NW, WDC
(free grab bags for the first 50 paying customers; one grab bag will contain a $20 gift certificate)

Smash! :: www.smashrecords.com
2314 18th Street, NW, WDC
(10% off all music sales this Saturday)

DJ Hut :: www.djhut.com
2010 P Street, NW, WDC
(10% of all vinyl & cd’s and a raffle to win a Numark portable turntable)

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Vinyl freaks looking for treasures that are off the beaten path are advised to find their way to the following:

Orpheus Records :: www.orpheusrecords.com
3173 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
(currently in the midst of a going-out-of-business sale, with deep discounts of up to 50% )

Joe’s Record Paradise :: http://www.joesrecordparadise.com
1300 East Gude Drive, Rockville, MD

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Still buying cd’s? Me too. You don’t have to give your dollars to Best Buy, Barnes and Noble or Borders. The following stores all continue to offer great selections:

Melody Records :: http://www.melodyrecords.com
1623 Connecticut Ave, NW, WDC

Olssons Books & Records :: www.olssons.com
1307 19th Street, NW, WDC
(free swag and live performances from Vandaveer, These United States and Revival)

CD Cellar :: www.cdcellar.net
709 B-West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA
(new Arlington location coming soon!)

CD Warehouse:: www.myspace.com/thinkinground
3001 M Street, NW, WDC
(new Arlington location coming soon!)

Tonight marks the return of HEAVYWAX, our monthly vinyl-only dj event, co-hosted by ivaner.

Ivaner can’t be with us this evening, as he is traveling somewhere in the southern hemisphere, but I’ve asked our good friend Les, aka The Pin Striped Rebel, to help out in his absence. I’m excited to hear what gems Les has to offer. And, being the newcomer that I am, I’m hoping to get a few spinnin’ tips from a seasoned pro, to boot. Should be a fun night. For me. Hopefully for you too!

Come join!

/////////////// HEAVYWAX
/////////////// WHEN: Friday, March 14, 9:30PM-2:30AM
/////////////// WHERE: The Hotel Bar (Upstairs), The Rock & Roll Hotel, 1353 H Street, NE, WDC

/////////////// NO COVER

HEAVYWAX occurs monthly, every second Friday, at the Rock& Roll Hotel.

Just back from a fantastic weekend visiting friends in Nashville. Said friends sure know how to play host, taking us to the finest restaurants, record stores and honky tonks in Music City. The weekend was capped off with a trip to the legendary Ryman Auditorium, part-time home to the Grand Ole Opry, to take in an amazing performance from Wilco.

This one had everything going for it: an historic venue with superb acoustics, an absolutely rapturous audience, a set list to please even the most ardent Wilco trainspotter (26 songs in all, each album represented), and of course, the band itself, fresh off an appearance the evening before on Saturday Night Live, playing at the absolute height of its confidence and powers. Quite simply, it was one for the ages.

Jeff Tweedy, clad in the same Gram Parsons-esque nudie suit worn the evening before on SNL, kept the banter to a minimum for the first hour, opting instead to cram as many songs into the set as possible. Highlights included the three selections from “Summerteeth” (a gorgeous “Pieholden Suite”, the always transporting “A Shot In The Arm” and buoyantly defiant “Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain”) and a rare mid-set three-fer from the band’s first album “AM” (including the John Stirrat led “It’s Just That Simple”). For the first encore, Tweedy stepped to the very front of the stage and offered up a sublime version of “Someone Else’s Song”, sans-amplification.

For this leg of the tour, the band is occasionally augmented by a three-person horn section, affectionately dubbed “The Total Pro’s”. I loved what the horns added to “Hate It Here”, moving it from side two of “Abbey Road” to a dusty vinyl slab served up by Stax Volt. I’ve been growing a little weary of the misguided and narrow dad-rock accusations/backlash to “Sky Blue Sky”, so it was particularly nice to see the Nashville crowd really respond to the newer numbers. “Hate It Here” in particular seemed to whip the crowd into a full-throated sing-along frenzy. During the first encore set, Tweedy got all the help he needed (and then some) when he solicited for some old-fashioned call and response vocal work on “The Thanks I Get”. So great.

Just like in DC last week, a very active camera crew was present. One can only wish that some sort of concert film is in the works. Hard to imagine large portions of this show not making the cut.

Setlist:Via Chicago / Blood of the Lamb / Pieholden Suite / California Stars / Company in my Back / You Are My Face / Side with the Seeds / Pot Kettle Black / Shot in the Arm / She’s a Jar / Handshake Drugs / Impossible Germany / It’s Just That Simple / Pick Up the Change / Too Far Apart / Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain / Jesus etc. / Hate It Here / Walken / I’m the Man Who Loves You / Encore #1: Someone Else’s Song (Tweedy solo w/o amplification) / Misunderstood / The Thanks I Get / Red Eyed and Blue / I Got You / Monday / Encore #2: The Late Greats

In 1994, British writer Ian MacDonald undertook the most ambitious study of the Beatles music to date. In his landmark book “Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records in the Sixties”, MacDonald chronologically presented every song in the Beatles recorded history. MacDonald’s exhaustive studied approach was somewhat academic in nature, but it also provided great thrills for the Beatles-obsessed masses.I remember borrowing my brother’s copy of this book and letting Mr. MacDonald take me on a journey deeper into the heart of the Beatles’ music. I’d read a passage about a particular song, put the book down, cue up that song and listen with the newly acquired insights, noticing things I’d never heard before.

Lather, rinse, repeat, ie, etc, eg. It was a blast.

(Incidentally, “Revolution in the Head” has recently been put back in print and obviously comes highly recommended. I’m tempted to finally purchase my own copy of the book but am slightly afraid of the ramifications this action might have my ability to be a productive, interacting member of my own household.)

So…yet another music blog, right? Does the world really need another one? Probably not. And while it seemed appropriate to christen this site after one of my most favorite books, I don’t really aspire to a level of Ian MacDonald-like analysis of music, nor do I think I am capable or qualified to provide that level of analysis.So what exactly is the point? It’s actually fairly self indulgent in essence.

I buy a lot of music. I also read a lot of music magazines and books. I spend many of my waking (and even some of my non-waking) hours listening to and thinking about music. While I recognize that this hardly distinguishes me from so many others or qualifies me as any kind of expert, it does present some practical challenges. The bottom line is that at some point, all of this stuff fills and begs to leave my head and go…somewhere else.

I’m fantastically lucky that the person with whom I have chosen to share my life also shares this passion to some degree. And I have so many friends who are somewhat, ahem, afflicted, in varying degrees, with similar conditions. Still, there’s only so much that a person can share. Time constraints and geographic boundaries often prevail. So consider this an audio journal of sorts. It’s the place where I will brain dump the landscape of my musical mind, in order that I may free up that space for the next discovery or revelation to take residence. Perhaps you will find it interesting. And if you do, please feel free to make liberal use of the comments. That’s what they are there for, of course.

But like I said, this is mainly an exercise of self-indulgence. I don’t really aspire to be any sort of tastemaker and I’m not on some sort of mission necessarily to evangelize the next great so-and-so. There are plenty of excellent blogs out there that already do this and do it exceptionally well. Really, it’s just a place for me to share thoughts on the things I’ve been enjoying musically. It could be a new release. Or it could be a record that is 30 years old. In most cases it will be full length records (because this reflects how I listen), but it may occasionally be a single song. I have ideas for regular “features” that I will share in time. But for the most part this will just be a place for me to write about the records that I have been recently enjoying. I hope you enjoy it.

As a sidenote, I must mention that I have an additional motive with this site that has very little actually to do with traversing my musical mind. This site also has the purpose of serving as my own personal web design/development sandbox. I say this because I want to make the caveat that the scenery here may change often and without warning. Certainly this current Wordpress theme is merely a temporary decorating decision. My intention was to not start writing until I actually had a custom design ready to go, but a friend (and personal blog hero) successfully convinced me that it was better to just start writing and worry with the rest afterwards.

Every time I move somewhere new, the first thing I do is set up the stereo. It could then be months before the first picture is ever hung. Consider these first few posts the equivalent of that. We’ll get things looking prettier soon enough.