Blog: Between Love & Like

Fats Domino may be unsinkable, according to Guided by Voices , but bassist Greg Demos proved he was just as much last night during the band's performance of "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" on Late Show with David Letterman . Slipping on his butt after a usual rock star move, Demos got right back up quick and laughed it off, all without missing a beat (well sort of). At the very least, he provided good advice to all bands who wish to play on Letterman: rock out like a bad ass while playing, just be sure to [...]

Sadness on the mom and pop store-front...My some-time employer reported today that long-time Dupont Circle record store, Melody Records , here in DC, will be closing this winter after 34 years in business. Jack and Suzy Menase opened the store in 1977, and moved it to its current Connecticut Ave. NW location in 1979. "While we wish that we could continue indefinitely, technology, the internet and the economy has taken its toll, and we have concluded, unfortunately, that it is not possible to survive in this environment," the Menases wrote in their letter. Melody [...]

My piece on the 2011 best concerts, in photos went live today over at the WCP , so go check it out! Erica Bruce's Top 10 Concerts of 2011, in Photos . One shot that proved the Marginal Man show was definitely "The Show for the Best Bruises," one I didn't include in the WCP piece is below: my own bruised gams from that show, the result of being at the front of the mosh pit and repeatedly thrown against the stage. I do not really recommend it, but the street cred is nice. [...]

2011 was a great year for a variety of reasons here at BL&L HQ, more so because the whole photography portion of things really took off. We shot a whole lot of photographs for Washington City Paper , The Vinyl District , and 930 Club this year, often so much that we didn't always keep things current here. So, FYI, we are going off the grid for a few days here but plan to have a great 2011 wrap up for the Washington City Paper by the year's end, which we'll also post [...]

The A.V. Club is running this great series called One Track Mind , where a classic indie song is discussed with its writer, and then the musician performs it live. There has been about nine episodes so far, and chats with people like Bob Mould on 'Hoover Dam' and St. Vincent on 'Surgeon' . One of the latest installments is with Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann , and the song discussed is "Web in Front" from 1993's Icky Mettle. Bachmann clarifies a few things about the song, [...]

I shot the Luce Unplugged December performance yesterday at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. "Luce Unplugged" is a monthly series that has a local musician come play for an hour after chatting about one of the paintings in the area of his/her choice. It's a great idea, one that showcases the two things DC has a lot of: local musicians and free Smithsonian events. The performer for December was Title Tracks frontman John Davis , who performed some great covers, as well as tracks of his own. My piece for the [...]

I live in Washington,DC which is home to a whole lot of punk rock history. Fugazi, Dischord Records, Scream ....the list goes on and on. I respect the harder stuff and will listen to it in small doses...but me, I'm more of a power pop kind of girl. A good hook and a catchy chorus that makes me want to dance around while listening is that which is near and dear to my heart. So it was completely fabulous this year to discover a couple local bands with songs and sensibilities along those lines. The shimmering [...]

No we're really not joking, and yes, like you, we wondered whether Bizarro World had finally come to pass. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco got his meteorological feet wet this morning at WGN , a Chicago-based news station, and delivered the 7-day forecast for the Windy City. "This is how it looks...You can read...I hope," to the laughter throughout the studio. We wouldn't count on Tweedy, "the hairy guy from Wilco," giving up his guitar for a green screen and weather patterns just yet. You can see the clip here [...]

Wild Flag rocked the snot outta Late Night with David Letterman last night. I've now seen them twice ( SXSW and the Black Cat a couple months back), and last night's performance was nothing compared to the power they bring during a full club set. Wow... Subscribe in a reader

The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn made a solo record this year while The Hold Steady in on their break. Titled Clear Heart Full Eyes , the 11 tracks come across a tad twangier than the full on testosterone-laden rock normally heard in The Hold Steady. Craig Finn - Honolulu Blues by Vagrant Records Finn is touring behind the record as well. Tickets go on sale this Friday (12/16). [...]

When shooting a headlining band, and there is no photo pit, I have to get there when doors open. As such, that means hearing the opening act as well. This can span the tolerable-meter spectrum, anywhere from "god-awful" to "how have I lived this long and not heard these guys?" When I covered and photographed Wire earlier this last year, the San Francisco-based Weekend opened, and I most definitely wondered the latter. Full of feedback and shoegazing thrash, I distinctly recall looking at the folks standing near me after, all of us [...]

The NJ powerhouse The Gaslight Anthem did a show on the Jersey shore Friday, at Convention Hall in Asbury Park. If you've never been, Convention Hall is on the boardwalk, next to a Howard Johnsons foncy ponts supper club, and is probably as big as your grammar school auditorium with better acoustics. A show there in and of itself would be something. But the boys went one better and, as a holiday gift to fans, brought that other NJ powerhouse up to join them, the one whose Christmas shows at Convention Hall are shows of legend, [...]

TheNewRecord , a free music platform put together by a cadre of independent record labels went live today. Anti-, Kill Rock Stars, Sub Pop, Century Media, Daptone, and SideOne Dummy are among the 30+ labels involved in the new venture. The co-founder of SideOneDummy Records, Bill Armstrong, was also the creator. "As a fan, I felt that new music wasn't being organized in a way that made it easy to find....I wanted a filtered environment with what I consider other high quality artists whom we might share similar or even some of the same fans," he [...]

GBV @ the 930 Club, 10-21-2010 The "classic line up" of Guided By Voices -Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, Kevin Fennell with Jimmy Pollard-is releasing the first record of new material in 15 years shortly. Titled Let's Go Eat the Factory , the 21 new songs were recorded "in the living rooms, basements, and garages of various long-time band members." Some tracks were recorded more-or-less live at Mitch Mitchell's garage, where the band would often practice back in the early- and mid-90s. These sessions comprised Mitch, Bob, and Jimmy Pollard, Bob's [...]

The Black Keys announced that El Camino , the follow up to Brothers , will drop on 12/6. Danger Mouse helped produce El Camino so one can only ponder of the interesting combination of sounds we will get. (Hot fact of the day: Danger Mouse produced their 2008 record Attack & Release as well.) The first single,"Lonely Boy," will be released 10/26. Black Keys' guitarist and singer Dan Auerbach says of El Camino , "I think where this record is going to shine for me is playing the songs [...]

The first time I saw A Place to Bury Strangers , I thought of that old Memorex print ad of a guy sitting in an easy chair, facing his stereo. His hair is blown back like the music coming from his stereo was so strong and clear it was like he was literally blown back. A three-piece from NYC, APTBS is like an indie-rock mashup of Motorhead and Pink Floyd playing through Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound;"unique but blistering loud, with a beat that's almost visceral. They're also incredibly nice guys. So it was super cool [...]

Gaslight Anthem announced today that they have moved labels, from Side One Dummy to Mercury Records. We're pleased to announce that we have just signed with Mercury Records (that's Mercury/Island-Def Jam Records for North America and Mercury Records UK for the rest of the world). We have had a great run with the folks at Side One Dummy Records, they have been really terrific to work with, and they will always be our dear friends. We in the band felt that this was the best time to make a move to ...support our goals as a band, and we've [...]

Singer/songwriter Jens Lekman may, at first listen, seem like a strange Swede. His songs, like "I Broke Up a Fight" and "Waiting for Kirsten," a song about waiting to see Kirsten Dunst at her hotel in his hometown, seem, well, odd. Lekman's songs initially appear as silly musical stories about nothing. But then he brings out a line that just nails how it feels when go through one of the deep situations we all endure at some point while on this mortal coil, and your perception is immediately changed. Lekman covers them all, heartache/hope/love/longing, and in the end, [...]

Well how hip is the Guggenheim Museum in NYC these days? Seems they have booked none other than MGMT for two dates, one as the 2011 Guggenheim International Gala After-Party band on (11/10), and the other for the next night, 11/11 for the general public. Museum members will have a presale on 10/13 and 10/14, with member pre-sale codes announced via e-mail on 10/13. "More details to be announced soon," says the info page . They even include a contact email and phone number there as well. I hope they [...]

Shooting for the WCP has me hopping lately so I've been remiss in doing the double post over to here as well. But I had the great pleasure last night of shooting the swelligant vision that is Bryan Ferry . Admittedly, I was rather nervous-when shooting an icon, you don't want to mess it up and you want the shots to be beautiful. The trouble with Ferry's set last night is that he seemed to dislike being in a spotlight. Every other band member-guitar player, go-go girls (of course he had go-go girls, he's Bryan Ferry), saxophonist, backup singers-they [...]