Review :: Total Control :: Henge Beat

Another one I'm coming to late here, but thanks be to Josh at Red Onion for turning me on to it before it completely passed me by. Been a longtime fan of Eddy Current Suppression Ring and the UV Race and it's no surprise that this collaborative side-project of the Aussie garage punk makes some great noise. My imagined garage rock workshop Down Under has all of these guys working an assembly line together, spooling together meters and meters of CrO2 with their tiny little hands.

From the Iron Lung Records site:

The combination of all their previous work and a steady live band has come together to form the great Henge Beat LP. Beautifully housed in a bright European-art-designed gatefold sleeve. These guys have outdone themselves with this one. Musically it rests somewhere between late 70's UK new wave a-la Ha Ha Ha era ULTRAVOX and the "now sound" EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING Aussie garage that we all know and love. Add a dash of hopeful Krautrock flavor and the recipe is a smashing success. We could not be happier to offer this perfect execution to you. 

Swing by Red Onion and pick up your copy like I did or, if your xenophobia's acting up, stay in your . Alas, 2011 must have been a good year. Too bad I drank it all

  Total Control :: Retiree

Instagram :: Lands & Peoples :: Red Onion Records

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(taken at Red Onion Records & Books)

News :: Record Store Day 2011

I think we can all agree Record Store Day has gotten a little out of hand. I'm a much bigger fan of record store day, the one where I roll out of bed every Tuesday, grab a coffee and a fresh Choco Pie, check my funds with the robotic teller, and determine how many records I can afford while still adhering to my phantom alcohol budget. You know that one. But, if the Upper-Case Annual Big Deal keeps the economy spinning during the holiday-starved month of April, so be it. Where's my Hallmark card for Record Store Day - one that spells out all the sweet nothings for me.

To make it all nice n' sleazy for you, the fine folk(s) over at Red Onion Records & Books have compiled their personal list of special releases for today, most of which will sit on the shelves for about 30 seconds before appearing on eBay for $500. But, some of these titles kick ass, so you won't want to sleep in. Grab your umbrella and your most fashionable pair of galoshes, and get in line by 11am. Doors open at noon.

The List:

• Glenn Jones/Black Twig Pickers: Even to Win is to Fail/Mont Syrup LP
• Mitchell and Manley: Norcal Values LP
• Oval/Liturgy: Split LP
• Big Star: Third LP (test pressing version)
• Superchunk/Coliseum: split 7"
• Vivian Girls: I Heard You Say 7"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers/Ramones 7"
• New Pornographers: Moves 7"
• Kings of Leon: Holy Roller Novacaine 10"
• Polvo: Celebrate the New Dark Age LP
• Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: Broom LP
• Various Artists: Franz Ferdinand Covers 12"
• Yeasayer: End Blood 7"
• Pressed At Boddie (Numero Records compilation on LP)
• Flaming Lips: Heady Nuggs 5LP box set
• Phish: Two Soundchecks 7"
• Built to Spill: Ripple picture disc 7"
• Black Angels: Another Nice Pair LP
• Deerhunter: Memory Boy 7"
• Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues 12"
• Fucked Up: The Town LP
• Lower Dens: Deer Knives 7"
• Panda Bear: Tomboy LP & t-shirt
• Blitzen Trapper: Maybe Baby 7"
• Quicksand: self-titled 7"
• Burn: self-titled 7"
• Youth of Today: self-titled 7"
• Elliot: U.S. Songs LP
• Black Market Baby: Potential Suicide 7"
• Decemberists: Live at Bull Moose CD
• AC/DC: Shoot to Thrill 7"
• Adele: Rolling in the Deep 10"
• Sonic Youth: Whore's Moaning 12"
• Bruce Springsteen: Gotta Get the Feeling 7"
• Various Artists: Follow Me Down - Vanguard's Lost Psychedelic Era 2LP
• Television: Live at the Old Waldorf 2LP
• Beach Boys: Good Vibrations 78
• Deftones: Covers LP
• Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American 3LP
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: self-titled LP
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: You're Gonna Get It LP
• Caribou: Swim Remixes 12"
• Country Joe & The Fish: Electric Music for the Mind and Body LP
• Death Cab For Cutie: In Living Stereo 7"
• Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity LP
• Dom: Things Change 10"
• Foo Fighters: Medium Rare LP
• Grateful Dead: self-titled mono LP
• Grinderman: Evil 12"
• Grinderman: Palaces of Montezuma 12"
• Jimi Hendrix: Fire 7"
• Justin Townes Earle: Move Over Mama 7"
• Mississippi John Hurt: The Immortal LP
• Owen: O, Evelyn 7"
• Piebald: Volume I-III 3LP
• Skip James: Today LP
• Syd Barrett: An Introduction to... LP
• The Doors: Riders on the Storm 7"
• Various Artists: Portable Shrines Magic Sound Theater 2LP
• Antony & the Johnsons: Swanlights 10"
• Architecture in Helsinki: Places Like This LP
• Arthur Russell: World of Echo 2LP
• Joan Of Arc: Don't Mind Control LP
• Damien Jurado: Live at Landlocked LP
• Queen: Keep Yourself Aive 7"
• Wild Flag: Future Crimes 7"
• Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American 3LP
• Kill Rock Stars LP
• John Fahey: Requia LP

There's a shit-ton more titles available at nearby shops like Crooked Beat, Smash, and Som Records, but my eyes are actually dripping thick, viscous, hot red sap from staring at lists in Excel format. Read the full official list here, if you think pain makes you a stronger human being. I'm a simple man, and can appreciate minimal options.

Who knew Choco Pies were made from natural Chinese pig poo?

News :: We're In Your House :: Kurt Vile @ Red Onion Records

Review :: Paleoacoustics :: Roedelius

Roedelius
Selbstportrait I
Bureau B




I'm gonna pretend for a minute that this blog has no particular aesthetic. I stumbled down the embarrassment that is 18th St. NW the other afternoon and picked up this one from Red Onion (surprise surprise - very likely the only place you'd find a title like this in DC). I've been a longtime fan of Cluster, Harmonia, Conny Plank and just about anything that came out of the 1970's Germanic landscape. I even went as far as to write a graduate thesis on the Zodiac Free Arts Lab in West Berlin, which was co-founded by Roedelius in 1967. I think it's since become a porn shop or something... maybe Chuck E. Cheese. Anyway, handing over an hour's pay for this one was a no-brainer.

Mr. Roedelius (who turns the decidedly palindromic age of 77 this year) was and still is a prolific motherfucker, having recorded this set during his off-time from Harmonia, Cluster, and both of those acts' sessions with Mr. Eno. Oh, to kick back and press record when you're not busy inventing ambient music. The liner notes here suggest a bucolic tone - Roedelius claims that these are spontaneous compositions influenced by "balmy summer evenings" in the Weser Uplands. Just him and his Farfisa VIP 600, a shitty reel-to-reel, and a few effects pedals, watching the deer fornicate outside his perch of pleasant living. This is the one to have when you're having more than one.

Roedelius :: In Liebe Dein

Video :: Remote Viewing :: Fresh & Onlys

Fresh & Onlys

"Waterfall"

Play It Strange

In the Red 

As of now they're booked for the Red Palace on 4/25 with the Crocodiles. I'm not missing it. Nope. Not a chance. Uh-uh. No fucking way. Forget about it. By no means. Nay, sir. Negative. Not in a million years. Not on your life. You calling me a liar? I can't live to regret it. I haven't got room on the agenda in the afterlife. I've got plenty of appointments to keep, but sitting around crying about this show's not one of them.

Now I just heard today that one of the dudes from the Crocodiles is married to Dee Dee, the lead singer of the Dum Dum Girls. So he can fuck himself six ways to Sunday, right back to where he came from, but you'd better believe I'll be front row for the Fresh & Onlys, making it very difficult for them to do anything other than be incredibly loud and unstoppably rock and roll.

Some new copies of last year's Fresh & Onlys release just hit the racks at Red Onion today. Get some, get some, get some. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like the chopper gunner, I'll stand idly by, dry heaving until you land.

Video :: Remote Viewing :: Cloud Nothings

The Cloud Nothings album is out today on local label Carpark Records. So to celebrate the release we're posting some watchin's. After you're done with the videos, you should make a move over to Red Onion to pick up a copy on vinyl. This first one came out this past week and involves some awesome hair braid on hair braid action, which mainly reminds me of the last time I got drunk in Georgetown.

"Should Have"

"Should Have" - Cloud Nothings from John Ryan Manning on Vimeo.

For those of you who didn't catch this next one when it came out last fall, here's a video that makes me miss my MTV. It's a simple tale: shovel-toothed nerd kills homeless man, replaces organs with machine parts, programs him to respond to remote control and play basketball. It's a plan too good to fail. There's also a Herbert West/Re-animator thing going on that thrills the Lovecraft fan in me.

"Hey Cool Kid"

Carpark Records

And, finally, a live set that brings the whole act, led by frontman Dylan Baldi, down to Earth. With Beach House moving to Subpop this past year, Carpark kind of got the spring board treatment. But the hometown label continues to dependably bring lightweight acts to the foreground without wearing away any of the homegrown, sweat-and-toil earnestness that makes independent music great.

"Should Have [live]"

And now I'm looking forward to a solid tour from Cloud Nothings come SXSW season.

Review :: Paleoacoustics :: Electronic Music Winners

Electronic Music Winners
Columbia/Odyssey, 1976

It's rare that I sift through the Electronic/New Age section of a record store (how are they clumped together anyway?), but this recent find at Red Onion Records & Books made a case to change my habits. Here's the premise: four distinguished judges must select the best electronic compositions from a pool of 129 unlabeled tapes representing composers from 15 countries. The results, seven in total, are contained in no particular order on this LP.

What this collection so beautifully exhibits is the common thread from classical composition to literally "computer music," while simultaneously setting itself apart from any recognizable form. Each of the seven pieces here demonstrate masters of composition grappling with music as technology. Like an equestrian attempting to ride an octopus, these men and women have little to guide them but the rules of nature. For instance, Joel Gressel's Points in Time utilizes the ratio-relationships within the 12 semitones of an octave and applies them to rhythm, resulting in a constant accelerating and decelerating rubber band of tones. Paul Lansky's Mild Und Leise is a stunning lesson in timbral change, like watching piranhas trapped under a thick sheet of ice. Slippery and distant, until the ice gives way.

Mild Und Leise - Paul Lansky