Lightning's Girl

Football Etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:34:00 +0000

It's always super exciting when a band sends you a message and it turns out they are really good. If bands like Tsunami, An Horse, Rainer Maria make you go weak in the knees, may I recommend to you Football Etc?

Positive No : Powers of Ten : New Song Alert!

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Powers of Ten by Positive No

You can read more about the song here.

"Powers of Ten" will be a part of a 5 song EP we are in the middle of recording with J Robbins at his studio Magpie Cage. This 12" record / digital long player will be available through my record label Little Black Cloud later this summer.

Bands / Musicians Who Have Stayed With Me since 1990

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:41:00 +0000

This is a work in progress as I am sure I have missed quite a few bands / musicians but this is the initial list I could think of. Out of nearly three decades I can't say I ever had one bad experience with opening my home to bands. Sometimes only one or a few members of a band would crash at our place sp instead of listing people's individual names, it seemed more logical to list just their band.

I didn't add Yo La Tengo or Silkworm because I lived in their homes (cat sitting) for many weeks rather than them staying with me.

In no particular order:

Jawbox
Treepeople (pre-Built To Spill)
Archers of Loaf
Small 23
Pegboy
Failure
Superconductor (pre New Pornographers / Thrones)
Seaweed
Rye Coallition
Sparkmarker
Heavy Vegeatable
Powerdresser
Isis
Cave In
Jessamine
Karp
Fitz of Depression
Peechees (members of Bratmobile/Rice)
Red Stars Theory (members of Modest Mouse / 764-HERO / Satisfact / Lync)
Refrigerator
Garden Variety
Railroad Jerk
Cloud Room
Narrator
Lync
Sunn O))))/Engine Kid/Thorr's Hammer
Sunny Day Real Estate
Jawbreaker
Walk the Plank (Calvin Johnson)
Sons of Ishmael
Sleep Capsule
Some Girls (American Nightmare / Locust / Cold Cave)
Dharma Bums
The Rapture
Dälek
Haste

The Positive No Cooking Show

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Fri, 03 May 2013 21:35:00 +0000

Phew! What a year so far. With all that has been going on with the record label and band, I am sad at how little free time I have had to write.

I will get back to writing / posting my music related short story series later this Spring but for now, here is a little light viewing.

We will be posting a brand new single next week and have another exciting band announcement just around the corner too.

For my old friends viewing this and thinking what the hell happened to you? Life post accident (you know, the whole being run over by a car thing) followed by pneumonia this Winter has meant I have spent a lot of time motionless and stuck in bed. I might be a butterball but I promise you, I am doing really well otherwise. Older. Wider. But still alive and really happy about that.

French Music Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:46:00 +0000

If you missed the swinging French music show Sara and I did exclusively for WRIR this past Sunday, here is a link to download it in full. Enjoy! xo

Hosting WRIR Tonight!

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:10:00 +0000

It's FUNd drive time at our ole community radio station WRIR! I surrendered the radio show I founded (Cause & Effect) last Fall but I have been asked to come back to help JJ with the whole begging for donations thing.

Independent radio stations don't like interrupting their one of a kind programming to have to ask for your help but as an all volunteer operation that still has bills to pay like rent for the building and equipment to transmit our signal, it has to be done.

The show theme for tonight is how a WRIR DJ is born.

JJ and I will be sharing two hour long sets based on the music of our lives. I have picked songs that represent my life from 1971 to 1990. These will be just a sampling of how as a music obsessed person I traveled from a world of just my parents music and top 40 radio drivel to the eclectic music junkie I still am today. They say a path is formed one stone at a time so my path to becoming a DJ is filled with what I am sure many will consider some surprisingly weird Rock(s).

What I really learned about myself as I meditated on the music that shaped my early life is that I love me some weird Pop songs and it has become clear to me that I was born this way. Tune in from 7PM to 9PM and hear where a DJ's earliest roots are based in. I will also try to explain how some people go to church to be a better, more enriched and wiser person but some of us turn to music and in my case, independent radio stations and record stores. These are my holy places and I am a better person for all of the things these two worlds have introduced me to.

If you feel the same way, then please consider donating to your community radio station. You support local record stores by shopping in them but radio stations don't get your business just as passive listener. We need you to be an active listener and help us keep WRIR alive and thriving.

97.3 FM on your dial for locals or stream us live at www.wrir.org.

I will post my entire playlist with samples of everything plus why I played it after the show is done. I think it will fit nicely into my short story series that I have been sharing here over the past 6 months.

Flogging Molly's Matt Hensley Interview At HOHNER

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:08:00 +0000

Here is a video of Matt Hensley, retired pro skater gone Flogging Molly member being interviewed at our office. Some of you might not know this but besides working at a record store and running a record label, my full time day job is with Hohner (fretted department).

Having Matt in the office for the day was terrific and I think his passion for music is really captured nicely here. During this interview he also connects skateboarding to music, something I am always especially interested in hearing more about.

This is me bragging.

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I have a record label called Little Black Cloud Records and it just happened to work out that I have not one but TWO amazing records coming out between now and the end of April.

The first record to come out in 2013 is by a Seattle trio called the Universe People and it is called Go to the Sun. The digital will be out 2/19 and the LP will be done by 3/19. They already have one terrific video but here is their brand new one for the song "Druids". I have written about the band here before so I won't dwell but hot damn I love this song. And band.

The next record to come out will be by one of my oldest pals (not in age but in years we have been friends); Stephen Brodsky. You may recognize him as the singer and guitar player for a band called Cave In but he is also a ridiculously talented solo artist. The first single off his Hit Or Mystery EP is called "Real Surreal Beauty" and you can download the single for free via Rolling Stone. This EP will be available in the digital and 12" format 4/16.

Lastly, I want to celebrate a single I put out on Black Friday by the Richmond, VA artist Malhombre. His 7" features two very talented ladies (April March and Melissa Auf der Maur) and it is available for sale at my web store.

You can check out my label's Soundcloud page here. Sorry to brag but I really love these records so much.

This Should Be Interesting

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:44:00 +0000

Pacino as Phil Spector for an HBO thing.

I don't even miss the music,

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 20:58:00 +0000

when the vocals are this perfect. Check out The Ronettes isolated vocals on "Baby I Love You".

Hop Along

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:38:00 +0000

Had I discovered this album in real time, Get Disowned by the band Hop Along would have made it onto my best of 2012 list. It is always a treat to hear a female vocalist sing like an exciting runaway train AND put some effort into the lyrics.

Here a list of all of the things I think of when I listen to this album. Backyard fireworks, early PJ Harvey, dive bombing birds in spring, Liz Phair doing gymnastics, Weezer covered by Joy Formidable, the best house show you have ever been to, how do siblings play in a band together and make it work, Wye Oak acorns, and a band I should make sure I see play live.

CDs on the Comeback?

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:21:00 +0000

Does this brand new yet dated looking Newport print ad mean that LPs and tapes are no longer cool and CDs are making a come back?

I am not exactly sure who they are trying to target with this ridiculous marketing fail but you saw it in In Touch Magazine first; CDs are back baby!

PS: Smoking, always stupid.

2. Moooooose! : Tales of a Female Music Enthusiast

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:18:00 +0000

I attended Wandell Elementary in Saddle River, New Jersey. I was among the tallest girls in my grade and had earned the unfortunate nickname of Moose because of it. The irony is that to this day I am only 5 feet 3 but when you reach nearly that height at light speed before the rest of your class, you are a circus freak in a training bra. Throughout all of grade school I bordered on preppy (Hey, it was the ‘80s and there were whole handbooks dedicated to us) but also a total jock. Like so many kids at this crossroads age between grade school and high school, I could have easily gone in a couple of different directions (See the Breakfast Club for character references).

I could have remained an athlete who wore docksiders and popped collars off the field but once I discovered punk rock, that part of me was erased. For those of you who have seen the movie Valley Girl, I went through a transition much like the lead Julie was heading towards thanks to Randy. Only my Nicholas Cage gateway drug to counter culture was a slender Goth behind a record store counter. If we want to talk true confessions of a music obsessed woman, the movie Valley Girl made me fall even more deeply in love with being an outsider during a a time where I when I was easily influenced. I mean this "Melt With You" montage is teenage girl catnip on par with flavored lip gloss and folded notes that say "Do you like me? Circle yes or no". If I had to pick a side, Randy and Fred win.

Our story moves to Crazy Eddie, a popular consumer electronics chain in the Northeast that also happened to stock music. The closest location to my home growing up was on Rt. 17 in Paramus and it was there that I purchased my very first LPs, cassettes, and various stereo gear*. It was this one store among the chain with an absurd ad campaign led by a man in a turtleneck no matter what season, and two very thoughtful employees, that accidentally directed me down a path of a lifetime obsession with music.

Picking up where I left off in my last short story, I had stumbled across the band Midnight Oil via a late night TV show. I didn't know where one would find a band that wasn't played on the radio so I coyly asked the two offbeat looking characters behind the store counter to help me. One of them was an incredibly tall and lanky goth with a hypnotic bird's nest of black hair. His name was Athan and at the time he played in a band called Fahrenheit 451. Every time my Mom or Dad drove me to Crazy Eddie, I prayed that Athan might be working so I could bask in his beautiful, new romantic, Bahausian shadow.

My recollection of the second employee is much less vivid but this can be attributed to the fact that my focus was entirely on Athan who had become my adorable grade school crush. Unfortunately gentleman number 2 has been pushed to a sidekick roll in my memory. My imagination has painted him as Pretty in Pink’s Duckie so while I was mostly star struck by the tall glass of doom and gloom, he was still charming and important to this story line.

During the middle part of this decade I had yet to fully understand what alternative meant or that it carried a distinct wardrobe / ethos / soundtrack. If we agree that the world can be broken down into two sports teams, the normal people verse the not so normal, these two Crazy Eddie employees were captains on the freak side. I approached them with my desperate need to own a Midnight Oil record and they didn't cringe or laugh. Instead they leaned in a little closer to me and inquired further. “You like this kind of music?” I confessed that I didn't know anything about this style of music, but was VERY interested. I felt like a tourist in a foreign country meeting two people who finally spoke my language. We shared an interest in something I had yet to comprehend but there was a bond between us that they not only recognized, but took the time to develop. I believe this is why so many of us on the planet have a deeply personal attachment to record stores and their employees. I know I am not alone in this experience and for those record store clerks who wonder if getting paid minimum wage has any sort of pay off, it does. You help shape young ears who in turn discover who they are through the music you direct them towards.

Athan and store clerk #2 found me the album 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 by Midnight Oil but then they went one step further. They turned over a bright yellow Crazy Eddie bag and with a magic marker in hand, they wrote down a list of bands they thought in their humble opinion I should check out. Before the internet this handwritten list meant really only one thing. In order for me to take any of the bands on their list for a test drive, I would have to purchase them one at a time. And purchase them all I did. Approximately once a month my Mom or Dad would drive me to the store (about 15 minutes from our home), and I would cross another band off their handwritten list.

While exploring the record racks on my own, there was little I recognized. I didn't really know what “light wave” or “heavier wave” meant but I was instantly compelled or repelled over the album art and the names of songs. I would pick a record or tape that best appealed to me through the tactile / visual experience. This technique of judging a record by the cover is one I know most people my age once relied upon. Our early record collecting ways depended on it. Pre-internet or access to music magazines and fanzines, cover art was the bait that lured a potential listener like me in. Colors, images, patterns, fonts, band photos, song titles, and credits were more important than the music itself because if the record failed to interest someone on the visual level, people were less likely to buy it. Unless the band toured and you had seen them to know what they sounded like, their album art was as important as the music itself. It’s entire purpose is to sell a listener on a band before even one note is heard. Once you spent your hard earned allowance on a record and brought it into your home, your were more likely to give it as many chances as it took to grow on you. Again, this is not an experience unique to me and because I still work at a record store and see this happen first hand. Even with all the bells and whistles that a band can use via modern technology to sell themselves, great cover art or packaging can still lure a person towards making a purchase without a customer having a clue as to what the artist sounds like.

My favorite part of this story isn't however about the music these two guys exposed me to or how it led me to a lifetime love of underground, underdog music. It is the fact that one of these two people has reappeared in my life multiple times. The Duckie character is someone I will never forget however I still don’t know his name nor did I ever get a chance to thank him for this small gesture that has a long lasting, massive effect on me. Athan and I however have crossed paths many times since Crazy Eddie shuttered its doors in the late ‘80s

The first time we reconnected was when I illegally drove into NYC with my very new driver’s license to buy records. Buying records was that important to me and at the time I didn't know where else to find the kind of music I had decided I liked. I drove 40 minutes to the Tower Record’s in the Village (The Broadway location near where Other Music still stands) with my tattered Crazy Eddie bag in my jacket pocket. I was still buying records off the list. I selected an Elvis Costello LP and carried it proudly to the counter. The man behind the register without looking up at me replied that the record was I was about to purchase was brilliant. I replied that I should hope so because he was the one who picked it out for me. He looked up in shock. The little girl he once knew was now in her late teens and still buying his recommendations. My heart nearly exploded. I never knew what happened to Athan when the store in Paramus closed down but there he was. We caught up briefly and then parted ways. He still confined by a counter and I still being a dedicated kid customer. I was too young to get how important his list was to me at the time so I stupidly never thanked him for what has turned out to be a relief effort on par with emergency rescue. I had been a lost teen and he and his cohort not only supplied me with a map but highlighted which roads to follow.

I still aspire to write at least one song as lyrically poignant as this one by Elvis Costello.

A decade later I was working at Caroline Distribution as an entry level sales rep. One of our exclusive record labels Cleopatra Records was in the office for a meeting and in walked Athan to represent the label. It is funny how nearly all this time later, he still managed to make my heart explode with nervous energy. He wasn't just a handsome, well dressed man, he was my musical guru. It hit me like a hammer as I sat in a conference room listening to him speak about the label’s upcoming priorities in 1997. I wouldn't even be in that room working for one of the best independent music distributors (at the time) if it weren't for Athan. My passion for non top 40 music took off with the help of those two guys at Crazy Eddie and I have spent every day of the rest of my life expanding on that original list they fed me. After the meeting we caught up on the fire escape out the office’s back door as he smoked a cigarette. I reminded him of who I was and he didn't seem all that surprised that we had found each other again. The music business is filled with many people but it often behaves like a small, private community defined by just a handful of people. The joke is you will work with the same person at least twice during your career and I still find this to be very true of the music industry.

This time I took the time to thank Athan. I tried my best to explain to him how he helped shape me as a person but there really isn't a cool, articulate way to explain that to the catalyst in person. We have worked together for many years after that day and we are still loosely in contact. We may be middle aged now but when I think back to the first albums I purchased, the neon yellow bag I now have framed, or Athan and the other record store employee, I am still a confused teen looking for members of a tribe I had yet to define.

Athan has gone on to play in many bands over the decades but here is a look at his most recent band, Black Tape for a Blue Girl.

This post is a humble dedication to those who take the time to share their knowledge in a thoughtful way to strangers. I have lived my life trying to give back to others in a way that has shaped me for the better. For every action, there truly is a reaction.

*My scores at this Crazy Eddie also included this super ridiculous Sony turntable. It was vaguely portable and I recall dragging this thing on a plane with me and trying to play records on the fold down table in front of me in the late '80s. This is just further proof that my obsession with vinyl started young.

Bad Brains' Hardcore Hot Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:32:00 +0000

It is a real thing.

And Two 2012 Singles I Loved Plus a Bonus Round

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 04:27:00 +0000

If you haven't noticed, 2012 was all about the ladies for me.

Maybe that is why I am extra excited to release the debut by this band in 2013 (2 ladies, 1 gent). Here is a look at their first video and a second one is on the way! Universe People from Seattle, WA. ! ! !

The Luyas - Animator

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 03:44:00 +0000

The Luyas didn't make my end of year list but for some reason my iPod likes to their play songs often in shuffle mode. In turn their 2012 release Animator has really grown on me. Thanks technology. You know me.

Stream the Final Broadcast Album

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 03:28:00 +0000

NPR has the final Broadcast album streaming right now entitled Berberian Sound Studio. There are 39 short, spooky musical interludes that sound exactly like all the wonderful haunting library music that members Cargill and Keenan love(d) so much. Do not however expect vocals from Trish, this is an movie score of the instrumental kind. This album will be out via Warp records next Tuesday on January 8th.

Last but not least here is an interview with James Cargill that includes a great mix he created of sountracky goodness.

Top 5 Records of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000

I could try to stretch it out and make this list 10 records long but I won't. These are the records I really listened and still listen to weekly.

1) Chris Cohen - Overgrown Path - Captured Tracks

2) Melody's Echo Chamber - S/T - Fat Possum

3) Cate Le Bon - Cyrk - The Control Group

4) Paws - Cokefloat! - Fat Cat

5) Holograms - S/T - Captured Tracks

Runner Up : Mount Eerie - Clear Moon - Self Released

It is tempting to include the records I released this year on my own label but I will step out of my bubble world for today. Obviously I love Malhombre, Gauchiste, and Dunebuggy because I released those albums in 2012 . Duh.

Closure

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 21:08:00 +0000

Life doesn't often offer us the opportunity to have 100% closure on the curve balls it throws out. People exit our lives without parting words. Mother Nature has one sided conversations with us. Tragedies typically unfold so quickly that we never have the chance to fully digest what has happened because we go into autopilot to cope and survive.

2012 was a year of healing and a lot of waiting for me. I don't know how long I thought it would take to recover from being struck by a car but ultimately I will never be the same person I was before August 30th, 2011. The accident did potentially permanent things to my body but my emotional tectonic plates have also shifted in all sorts of strange directions. I take in life and feel it differently. I am more fragile in some ways yet stronger in others. My understanding of what is important is clearer than ever and my relationship with myself not to mention those around me has new meaning and potency.

I wasn't able to discuss a great deal of my 2012 openly because I had a lawsuit pending as a result of my accident. After a year and half of living my life under a microscope as various insurance companies and their lawyers surveyed me and my healing process, the case finally came to close this December. You don't understand what hell is until you feel truly destroyed as a human being physically and mentally and then on top of that, you have a group of strangers judging every inch of that healing process including the person you were leading up an accident you were a victim of. The whole process was invasive, stressful, and made healing / moving on all the harder. The good news is that it is finally all over and unlike most terrible things that have happened to me, the legal aspect at least had a very clear ending.

I wrote about the worst aspect of my accident nearly a year ago but because of my legal issues, opted not to write more until now. The unfortunate reality is that my minor brain injury is still ongoing. All of the issues I mentioned back in February still exist. I am fortunate that I am able to work and hold down a full time job but there are still moments where my mind fails me. I have to keep very detailed notes relating to how I perform all the important tasks I do daily. I basically have life cheat sheets and while my memory and my cognitive powers seems to improve a little more every month. There are still glitches. I am easily mentally overwhelmed and in turn I had to make some major life changes this year. I had to decide what my body and mind could actually handle verse all of the things I wanted do.

It is because of my brain injury that I stopped doing my radio show Cause & Effect. What was once a pleasurable learning exercise became torturous. I could no longer remember all the things I wanted to do in order to go on air and offer what I felt was a proper show. My brain practically tried to shut itself down under the stress of being on air which as you can imagine is a worse case scenario for a music DJ. My issues with sensitivity to certain sounds and frequencies (also concussion related) just added to my woes. My solve was to retire and I am utterly thankful to the volunteers at WRIR who continue to keep the show alive for me.

I also don't DJ out in bars as often now. It has been heartbreaking because I still collect records. I still have music I want to share, but it is much harder for me physically carry all the gear / records. I don't have the stamina to stay out late no less be in an environment with a booming sound system or a noisy crowded room. Loud events or things that will potentially have strobe lights or flashing light shows are things I have to be extra careful about and try to avoid if possible. I don't leave the house without ear plugs and I also now have gun range ear protectors that I am going to try out as an ear plug alternative. That being said, if you see me at a show with giant headphones on, don't laugh, okay? I really need to protect myself and I would rather look stupid than not go out at all.

My band Positive No finally played our first show this December too. I am grateful that my fellow band members have been patient with me. While we didn't play out for several reasons right away, a key element has been the molasses speed my memory works at to do things like remember lyrics. I needed to practice the songs so many times that they become muscle memory. It takes me FOREVER to remember a song by heart now and while I could use a lyric sheet when we play live, I feel like it is distracting as an artist to work off of a piece of paper. I would rather be in the moment that wrapped up with reading. I was fearful that I couldn't be in a band again but thanks to great ear plugs and band members with a lot of patience, we have managed to start playing out and finally share our hard work with others. This is just one more thing I am incredibly thankful for this year. My return to making music in a band has brought me utter joy. Our next show is January 21st and then we will probably take a few months off while our bass player welcomes a new addition to his family.

I have a lot to be grateful for this year. I am still here. I have a tremendous life partner and together we purchased our first home plus play in a band together. I found full time work in a field relating to music after 3 years of instability. I still run my small record label Little Black Cloud Records and there is already a tremendous line up of releases in 2013. I have learned that I am not defined by the events that have taken place in my life or the activities I participate in but rather how I handle those things as a human being and the community I surround myself with. We are not alone. Our lives are connected to everyone else's and by acting with love, respect, and equality for all we not only become better people ourselves but enable those around us to be empowered too. That is the real stuff health and happiness is based upon.

It is important for me to stress that I am not looking for pity. Life is hard for all people. My story is not all that unusual and I want to share my experiences because I want anyone who is struggling in life to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There will always be a new day. Hardship and pain can feel like a never ending endurance test but it will eventually pass. You can't expect tidy closure on everything so ultimately peace of mind can only come from one place and it is within. If only I was wise enough to figure that out a whole lot sooner. The good news is I understand that now and that is the best closure of all.

Happy New Year.

2012 Youth Brigade reunion @ the Black Cat in DC

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:17:00 +0000

Government Issue and Scream were good but Youth Brigade were my favorite part of the night.

Somebody had already posted the all-star finale to their set that included Alec Mackaye from Faith, Huner Bennett from Dot Dash, Tom Bernard and John Stabb from Government Issue, all joining Youth Brigade to play "Stepping Stone".

The highlight of the night for me was seeing my old friend Bert play bass again live; I never thought that I would have that opportunity! (Youth Brigade). You can't tell from my crummy cell phone photo but he was playing his old bass with the sticker across it that said "UNTOUCHABLES" Classic.

Vintage New Order Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:58:00 +0000

Hey New Order fans, help me figure out what the story is with this amazing 1989 tour poster I have owned since high school!

In short my mom was a desk top publisher and worked with someone who worked on this poster. Sadly my memory is terrible and my mom passed away years ago so I have hit a wall in regards to figuring out if this was a promotional poster or something the band sold as their shows.

My educated guess leads to me to believe this poster was created for the 1989 tour with The Sugarcubes and PIL however those bands are not mentioned on this poster at all.

Also it is an interesting design choice that June is written in Spanish, not English. The two dates listed are the same days New Order played in Irvine, CA in 1989 so it makes sense that this poster was created for the shows but it is interesting to me that there doesn't seem to be any other pictures of this poster anywhere on line. Was it sold on tour? Was it placed around the city as a promotion thing? Perhaps someone out there on the planet knows the answer? Please leave a comment if you know anything!

Roland S Howard for $300

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:50:00 +0000

Well, sort of.

Obviously the talent and skill of Howard's iconic guitar playing comes from the man himself first and his gear second BUT for $300 you can buy a pedal to help recreate his sonic cathedrals.

Don't know who this legendary guitar player is? Shame on you. Watch this.

Thine : If Nico Was a Boy Band Duo.

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 02:01:00 +0000

Thine = Joel R.L. Phelps (Silkworm/Downer Trio, Quartet) and G. Stuart Dahlquist (Burning Witch/Sunn O)))/Asva).

Swan Song : Positive No

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:20:00 +0000

I won't be too dramatic about this but the reality is aging is a bitch. It is hard to imagine that I will be in bands for a whole lot longer so I am treating Positive No like it is my last band. I turn 41 in a couple of weeks and I have to be honest, there are just some things that are harder for me to do. Some because of my accident last year, others because the cranky adult in me doesn't have the stamina and patience for what comes with being in a busy band.

The last time I was in an active band was the early 2000s. After Dahlia Seed broke up in 1996 I dabbled in a few NY/NJ based projects like Scissorettes and Souvenir. I ended my decade in bands with Down with the Ship, a math-metal band that also included the incredibly talented drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste, Burnt By the Sun, Melt-Banana, Discordance Axis). We played maybe one or two shows but then I moved to Richmond, VA and oddly enough, Dave ended up here shortly after me.

Photo by James Damion at Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J.

I spent the next decade working behind the scenes in the music industry, recorded my solo album under the name of Ringfinger, but never returned back to the band world. I am not really sure why. I was working a serious full time job but I think part of it has to do with getting older. Part of it was nobody here in RVA really knew I played music or if they did, didn't care enough to ask me if I wanted to join their band.

It wasn't until Kenny and started dating that the idea of being in a band again seemed possible once more. Kenny was the first person in a decade who seemed serious about wanting playing music with me. (Thank you for that by the way!) We began working and recording demos last Christmas and our home recording project snowballed from there. Willis joined us on drums; a free agent after he parted ways with Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. Matt joined us on bass rather recently and we met through my current job at Hohner. We are Positive No.

It didn't strike me until our third proper practice how much I really missed this experience. I love the creative energy of playing with a group of people. I had been singing quietly alone in my apartment for so long that I forgot about my old voice. The big voice that can make grown men flinch. No more tippy toeing around neighbors who I feared would be bothered by my creative process. There is an immense freedom, a feeling of utter joy that comes with making a little noise with friends. I am happy to be in this place again and happy to revive this old part of me I thought was long gone.

Positive No will be playing live on WRIR this coming Saturday afternoon. It is our first public performance ever.

We will then be playing our first live show in front of people at the end of December at Strange Matter here in RVA.

DCHC : HOLY SHT

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning's Girl) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:30:00 +0000

This press release just rolled in!

"To celebrate the production of the documentary film “Salad Days: The Birth of Punk in the Nations Capital,” a who’s who of DC punk bands from the 1980s will convene at the Black Cat on December 28 and 29, 2012. The lineup includes Kingface, Black Market Baby, Dag Nasty (December 28th), Scream, Government Issue and Youth Brigade (December 29).

Dag Nasty will be performing together for the first time in over 27 years and playing songs from their classic album “Can I Say” with original vocalist Shawn Brown. Government Issue will be playing a collection of songs from their early catalog and will feature Brian Baker on guitar and Tom Lyle on bass as well as vocalist John Stabband Dag Nasty’s Colin Sears on drums. Youth Brigade were one of the first bands on Dischord in 1981 with their “Possible” 7” EP. This will mark the first time they’ve played together in over 30 years. Minor Threat’s Steve Hansgen will be playing guitar and joining original drummer Danny Ingram, bassist Bert Queiroz, and vocalist Nathan Strejcek.

Each band will be playing abbreviated and short clips from the film will be shown. Guest DJs will also be performing on both nights.

"Salad Days: the Birth of Punk in the Nations Capital” is a documentary-in-progress that examines the fertile Washington, D.C. punk scene of the 1980s. D.C. based bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Black Market Baby, the Faith, the Slickee Boys,Void, Government Issue, Marginal Man, Dag Nasty, Gray Matter,Beefeater, Scream, Rites of Spring, Fugazi, Shudder to Think, Nation of Ulysses, Jawbox and others defined the DC aesthetic. "

Online tickets are already sold out but it looks like DC residents can still buy them from the box office 8pm to midnight - cash only $18 ! ! !