Cause & Effect Special Fun(d) Drive Show with Grave Mistake Records

In conjunction with WRIR's Spring Fund Drive I have a special Richmond themed Cause & Effect. 

May 5th from 7pm to 9pm / WRIR / stream it live at WRIR or 97.3 fm for locals

I will be interviewing Alex D. - owner of Grave Mistake Records (plus member of Government Warning, Wasted Time, ect) as well as playing mini cause and effect sets reflecting his early influences, highlighting bands from our region, records he has played on, and artists on his label.

Alex has been kind enough to create a prize pack for the occasion so the first person to donate $100.00 during my show will not only get all the usual radio station goodies (2 WRIR station shirts, keychain ...) and the pleasure of knowing they are keeping their community radio station afloat, but a sweet collection of records on Grave Mistake as well.

The second person to donate $100 will have get their very own Cause & Effect show meaning this lucky person will suggest an artist or band to me and I will create a two hour show based on that their pick that will be aired at a later date.

If all of this isn't exciting enough, we welcome you to come by the station from 7PM to 9PM to say hello, donate, and eat some incredible free food donated by top notch local restaurants. (Actually happening every day / night during the fund drive.)

Our location is 1621 West Broad St - right above the Camel.

See the show invite on Facebook here.

Taking Punk To the Masses

This is a book / DVD coming out this month ? !






















From Fantagraphics Books

"Taking Punk to the Masses: From Nowhere to Nevermind visually documents the explosion of Grunge, the Seattle Sound, within the context of the underground punk subculture that was developing throughout the U.S. in the late 1970s and 1980s. This musical journey is represented entirely through the collection of Experience Music Project, Seattle’s museum of music and popular culture, pulling from a permanent archive of over 800 filmed oral history interviews and 140,000 artifacts – instruments, costumes, posters, records and other ephemera – dedicated to the pursuit of rock ’n’ roll.
Featuring over 100 key artifacts from EMP’s collection, Taking Punk to the Masses illustrates the evolution of punk rock from underground subculture to mainstream embrace. These artifacts are put into context by the stories of those that lived it: Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart, Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson, X’s Exene Cervenka, Sub Pop founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, Black Flag’s Henry Rollins, Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan, Blondie’s Chris Stein, Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, and nearly 100 others.

Tracing a lineage from “Louie Louie” to the rise of Grunge with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Mudhoney, Taking Punk to the Masses is the first visual history of one of America’s most vibrant music scenes, as told by its participants and seen through the surviving artifacts."

Read about the massive Nirvana  exhibit happening at Experience Music Project in Seattle here.
Or here.

Jungle Fever

It is at times like this that I wish I had money (AKA was employed again) to grow my record label because I would beg this band to be on it in a minute - SO GREAT! They are a three piece from San Diego, CA; two girls and a boy. Maybe punk isn't dead after all.





Listen to them here (also their website)

Myspace here.

April 28th, 2011: Cause & Effect : The Flaming Lips

Tonight from 7pm to 9pm on WRIR I will be celebrating all 28 years of music brought to us by the Oklahoma weirdo geniuses better known as The Flaming Lips. I will also be celebrating the band's decision to not call themselves the Tijuana Toads which was seriously in the running to be their band name early on. Yikes!


Pulling from nearly 30 years of catalog, influences, and peers hasn't been easy but I tried my best to showcase where the band came from, especially early on because that music has played a life long role in the foundation to the band's trademark sound.


Party hats and confetti are welcome.

*post show update - download the show here.

View the set list here. 

I forgot to announce on air The W.A.N.D by the Lips off of My War With...sorry. And it is funny to see hear (at least for me) what trips me up each show, this time it was the Butthole Surfer's song title. Sometimes the connection between my brain and mouth doesn't work very well. Oh well.

Deface Value

Yet another cool thing relating back to records.

 "Welcome to Deface Value, home to defiled, degraded, doodled-on, and some downright deranged, altered album cover art. Vintage LP covers provide the canvas; ball-point pens, pencils, sharpies, fingernail polish, stickers, and elements of collage provide the media. Since many of the covers were found second hand, we’ll never know what provided the inspiration, adding to the artwork’s mystique.This gallery features covers from my personal collection as well as others that have been authentically found or intentionally altered by readers.

Deface Value was created and is maintained by the owner of Jive Time Records, a Seattle-based store specializing in used vinyl. We feature semi-annual, in-store exhibits of this artwork and more. Follow Jive Time on Facebook for show announcements.

Thanks for the hot tip D !

How to Fix an Oversized Center Hole of a 12" Record

I recently had the unfortunate experience of dealing with finding a fix for 100 clear LPs that a pressing plant messed up and wasn't offering to repress for me. (Don't get me started - its a long and frustrating story based around my need for a clear LP with no center label)

Every single record in this first press has a center hole that is absurdly large and when it is placed on a turntable, it won't play correctly. There are DJ quick fixes like using notebook paper circle reinforcement tabs or tape but since this was an LP I am releasing on my label for an artist - I needed this fix to be attractive and something I would be proud to sell.

We headed to the hardware store and a few office supply type places for a remedy to our disastrous situation but nothing was acceptable or handsome enough to pass off as a cool addition to a limited record pressing. Aquarium type clear tubing almost worked but in the end we discovered that cutting tiny 1/4 inch bits did in fact fit in the hole but when you placed it on the spindle, it got stuck. Not just sort of stuck, it practically acted like glue. FAIL.

As a last ditch effort we looked up clear blank labels from on line label companies. I should add here that they needed to be clear because the LP I had pressed was clear and has no center label so you can see through the whole record to view the cover art. We have elaborate packaging planned for this LP so paper labels on the record won't do and to keep with the integrity of the all clear vinyl, we needed to find a clear label. Anyhow, we found a site that offered a promising product and we sent away for samples. After weeks of failed trials, we had finally found our perfect fix. The 4" clear labels fit exactly where a paper center label goes and when you apply one on each side of the LP and then pop your spindle through the hole, it creates the perfect, proper sized hole. Even after several plays, the hole maintains its shape and doesn't stretch.

The labels are fairly thick so we found placing a small pin prick hole in the center as a starter hole made popping it over the spindle a lot easier but the huge relief for us was that it worked and was a simple fix. All it requires is peeling a label off of the paper it came on and placing it on the LP. Sure, we had to order them from the label place but hell, it saved the first pressing of a record I really didn't want to toss out. As annoying as it was to deal with a pressing plant flaw, I hate being wasteful so this was the ultimate happy ending for my me and my label.

Thank you onlinelabels.com for saving the day. Here is a link to labels we found to work best.I wouldn't wish this problem on any record label but if for some reason you are faced with this same disaster, at least you know there is hope.

Who is still willing to pay for music?

“I don’t get younger people anymore; I don’t get normal customers anymore,” Mr. Miller said. “I get people that for one reason or another are outside the mainstream of American merchandising.”

Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

Read about this thriving CD only store called Chicago Digital here.

The Independent Label Collective Update

Six week weeks ago I was laid off from the ILC (along with one other) and much of the staff either quit that same day or put in their two weeks notice shortly there after. While normally I would never put this kind of information in a public place like a blog, I am posting about it because the ILC website still reflects that we are in fact still employees there. This is simply not the case. In fact out of the 8 employee profiles on the collective page, only 2 actually still work there (Jason and Andy).

I have asked to have the website updated but this has yet to happen and personally feel like this is false advertising to have a staff list that is 80% wrong and out of date. I am sorry for any confusion this has caused stores, distros, labels, and artists but unfortunately it is out of my hands.

If you have question or needs regarding the Independent Label Collective I unfortunately can't help you. I have also removed my label from this distribution company and have absolutely no ties to ILC at all.

About Record Store Day : TOMORROW

If only the general public was this excited about buying music the other 364 days of the year. Artists and record labels release limited cool records every week people. Every week. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the buzz RSD creates for record stores and the music being released on the big day, God knows the music industry could use all the help it can get, but there appears to be a disconnect in the weeks and months following it.

Do music fans not realize that these same artists they are fawning over for their limited RSD titles also release equally as limited and interesting things during other times of the year? There is so much fantastic music out there in record form (ok,and some terrible ones too) to be explored all year long. I urge anyone who is planning to fight the crowds tomorrow to keep going back to your local record stores the rest of the year.

Best Wedding Invite Ever

It's an invite, it's a record. The story can be found here.


Paper Record Player from kellianderson on Vimeo.

April 14th, 2011 : Cause & Effect : Low

Making more out of less, this is how many people describe the band Low. Since 1993 core members and married couple Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker have become masters of taking space and somehow, magically, turning it into something hypnotic, powerful, and epic. This formula, the ability to make something special out of nearly nothing has become my mantra as of late and I find Low's catalog hugely inspirational because of it.

I am on week 6 of being out of work and when you are suddenly stripped of the steady income that allows you to do much of anything beyond the bare bone essentials, you have to quickly adjust your life. When all the extras are removed by necessitous you are left with just the frame of what have grown accustomed to. You have no choice but to closely examine how you live each day, what is really important, and decide what you can and can't live without. It's almost like being brought back to a naked new born status and you rebuild yourself using whatever you have left around you and inside of you. On some days, it is hard to imagine building a kingdom out of a pile of rubble but then you can listen to any song from Low and hear that it is possible. With just guitars, drums, and their voices they make great things happen. Gorgeous meaningful things.

It might seem like a stretch to describe a band in such non musical terms but jt all stems from humans making dynamic things happen and if it can be done with sound, I would like to think it is possible to apply this concept in other directions. Once again, I thought I was just doing a radio show on the band Low and their influences, peers, and followers but their resonated in an entirely surprising way. I already understood that music is powerful stuff but it never fails to amaze me when I can feel the ripple effects so personally.

Tonight from 7PM to 9PM I will try my best to not beat the whole slow-core concept to death and investigate the music of Low on multiple levels : their regional influences, the use of harmony in Rock music, bands who Low has paid homage to along the way, music from their record label, and yes, a few groups who helped define the slow/sad-core movement.  You can hear the show on 97.3 FM on your dial here in RVA and for all others, you can stream the show live at www.wrir.org.

****UPDATE****

Here is the link to download the show in full.
Here is the link to my set list. 

Oh World, You Are a Complicated Place.

Yet another inexplicable video involving a turntable. This time it includes a pregnant drug dealers and remote control cars.

Why I Love My Job

I am technically still unemployed in the full time sense but I do still work at Deep Groove once a week and Jay, the owner, was on the news today talking about records as National Record Store Day approaches (this Saturday). Jay is one of the best people on the planet and is a natural on camera.

Check him out!

Sonic Wallpaper

This is a two part series via BBC radio that is a much listen to for music fans of soundtrack music and library music. (The stuff that bands like Stereolab and Broadcast have built their sound upon)

From BBC's website:

"It's the music which has surrounded us our whole lives, but which most of us have never quite heard let alone listened to... and nearly all of it made in the UK.

Sometimes called 'Source music', 'Mood Music' or as it's best known, 'Library music': a hugely important part of British sonic history. Its use and purpose is simple: it's well produced, economic music for film, TV, advertising and radio. Never commercially available to the general public, this music was pressed onto vinyl from the 1950s onwards in short, limited quantities and then sent directly to TV production houses and radio stations for use when necessary.

From the mid 1960s onwards, as TV and radio productions expanded, so did library music usage. As a result the golden age of TV (and our memories of it) is not only punctuated but dominated by classic library music.
Sports themes, situation comedies, game shows, cartoons, talk shows, classic children's tv, the testcards and even Farmhouse Kitchen was brought to us all with the help of library music. Themes for Terry And June, Grange Hill, Mastermind, Match Of The Day and of course that gallery tune from Vision On are all well placed library cues. But there are reels (and reels) of gorgeously crafted, equally great stuff that never made it past the elevator door! We have been surrounded by it forever, but we know so little about it.... Where does it comes from? Who actually makes it? And how do you actually set about making music for the inside of a waiting area, a lift or for a plane before it takes off?

In this first ever documentary about library music we'll look into its history (starting in 1909), speak with the dynastic library owners (de Wolfe, KPM, John Gale), We find out what's it's like to make music to imaginary pictures by speaking to the library music makers (which could include Jimmy Page and Brian Eno), and even have a word with the Musicians Union who banned UK recording of library music throughout the late 60s.
We also talk to the modern day enthusiasts, the collectors (Jerry Dammers) and explore the contemporary influences of this extraordinary musical genre. And of course re-acquaint ourselves with some of the most familiar music we've never listened to!"

Presented by collector and archivist Jonny Trunk.

Listen to the show here.

Thanks D for the tip!

April 7th, 2011 : Cause & Effect : Lucinda Williams

Every now and then I get to work on a show that takes me down a path I have never been down before. Sure I knew Lucinda's name, the work of some of her influences and peers, but I could hardly call myself truly knowledgeable. The beauty of building a set around an artist whose music is new to me is that everything sounds fresh and exciting to my ears.

I wasn't prepared for Lucinda Williams' music to resonate so deeply with me and while Cause & Effect is always a rewarding experience for me, it becomes even more meaningful when a musicians catalog of songs won't just spend a week in my ears but a lifetime.

Tune in from 7pm to 9pm at 97.3fm on your dial in RVA or stream the show live at www.wrir.org.

Sour Grapes

We adults are quick to point out how spoiled the kids of today are. They have all kinds of games, devices and gadgets that we older folks missed out on. There is however, some consolation for the 'post-youth'. They are force fed the music of Hannah Montana and the like, and we had THIS:



RIPPING IT UP!! Dip and scoop!

(Thanks to JHALAL DRUT for this great video.)

This makes me wonder.

What would have happened if VCU had won? At least I can balance out these feelings of horror with awe of how quickly this powerful short film was put together. Art wins.

Typically I post about music but since this took place about 6 (long) blocks away from my home I felt moved to share it. It is however an interesting song choice; "Memories" from Clint Mansell who used to be in Pop Will East Itself and now does loads of soundtrack work and this particular track comes from the movie Moon.



VCU Riot after 2011 Final Four from MONDIAL on Vimeo.

Long Live the Queen(s)

At long last, something by Elton John I actually like. Behold, his SNL skit from last night.