Denver's weekly publication, Westword, sat down with Asobi Seksu frontwoman Yuki Chikudate for a quick interview. Yuki talks about her mother growing up in post-WWII Okinawa, working with Oliver Vaughn (Cocteau Twins, Pixies) on the cover art for Fluorescence, and life in the public eye. Click the link below to read the full interview over at the Westword.
James Husband will be recording his own version of influential indie outfit Guided by Voices' "Buzzards and Dreaful Crows" for an upcoming Guided by Voices tribute album. The album will also feature The Flaming Lips, Thurston Moore, Blitzen Trapper and more. Click the link below to head over to Consequence of Sound to get all the details on the compilation.
In an interview with Artrocker, Vivian Girls share the secrets of their style, inspired by mid-century America, Native American designs, and 80s and 90s movies. Learn about the best places to buy vintage in Brooklyn and San Francisco, and their take on high fashion. Click the link below to read the interview over at Artrocker.
No, it isn't actually Joe Haege (31Knots, Vin Blanc) day. But we should still take some time to commend him on releasing two albums in a day: 31Knots Trump Harm and Vin Blanc's Chroma Key, both released on Polyvinyl Records June 7th. Click the link below and head over to the Portland Mercury to read a comparison of the two albums, and about Haege's appearance as a preacher in a local Portland film titled How The Fire Fell.
PASTE Magazine recently posted the 20 best of Montreal songs of all time. And for some of these, I would certainly have to agree. Think you can guess the #1 of Montreal song? Head over to PASTE and see how your list stacks up.
of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes and his brother David Barnes (of Montreal art director) sat down with The Wedge for an intimate video interview. Watch as Kevin and David explain the kinship between thecontrollersphere and What's Weird? while The Wedge tries to stump Kevin on asking some of Montreal trivia. They also get into Susan Sarandon's pig spanking abilities. Check out the video by clicking the link below.
Check out the latest installment in the STRFKR mashup series, in which STRKFR frontman Josh Hodges takes a STRFKR beat and an a capella of your favorite rap jam, and creates a perfect blend. The most recent concoction, which you can hear above, features STRFKR's "Peachy" and Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop." Get ready for a new addition to your party playlist.
of Montreal front man Kevin Barnes and his wife Nina will be taking over Magnet Magazine this week with daily guest posts. So far, topics have included Julien Sorel (the protagonist in Stendhal's Le Rouge et le Noir), Charlie Chapman's "Modern Times," a Q&A with Kevin, and more. Follow the links below to check everything out!
Casiokids' Ketil Kinden Endresen sat down for an interview with Best New Bands to talk about the upcoming Casiokids album, Aabenbaringen over aaskammen. Check out the interview at the link below, and don't forget to pre-order your copy of Aabenbaringen over aaskammen on limited edition 180-gram blue vinyl.
During their recent stop in Norway, of Montreal stopped by Casiokids' studio to lay down some tracks on the new Casiokids album, Aabenbaringen over aaskammen, which comes out October 11th. Check out a few videos from the session above and below.
Ever wonder what Mike throws on when he's got the itch to play some air drums? Well today's your lucky day, because The AV Club Chicago has an amazing interview that touches on just that! Follow the link below to check out Mike's top 10 air drum anthems.
HOLY TOLEDO...2011 is almost over! I think it's safe to say, that this has been one of the busiest years in PV history. We celebrated our 15-year anniversary, put out a bunch of amazing records, and made a ton of new friends. Since today marks the last day we'll be in the office slangin' that wax, we're gonna post our best of 2011 list! So read on to learn all about the nerdy stuff we like...
Matt Lunsford - Co-owner
Top 5 favorite vinyl colors of 2011:
Darcie Lunsford - Co-owner
1. American Horror Story 2. The Hunger Games 3. The Muppets Movie 4. Starfucker - Reptilians 5. The Walking Dead
Seth Hubbard - Vice President / Label Manager
(In no particular order)
John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves Deerhoof – Deerhoof vs. Evil St. Vincent - Strange Mercy Unknown Mortal Orchestra - S/T Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Mark Jiggsaw - European Label Manager
1. Spending time with Sarah 2. Loney Dear 3. Family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells 4. Getting an iPhone and discovering iBooks. 5. Moving to New York
Chris Hassen - Production Manager
1. Mansions - Dig Up the Dead 2. I Am the Avalance - Avalanche United 3. Childish Gambino - Camp 4. The Wonder Years - Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing 5. Touche Amore - Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me
Misc: St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series; Community (last half of season 2, first half of season 3)
Andy DeSantis - Promotions Manager
Real Estate - Days Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic Julian Lynch - Terra Twin Sister - In Heaven Cloud Nothings - Cloud Nothings Upgrading to the iPhone 4s. Getting THIS RECORD Watching Japandroids at The Hemlock in SF. Watching Deerhoof at The MOMA in SF. Watching the Carpark SXSW showcase with Starfucker. Getting new brakes for my road bike. Building up THIS BIKE.
Val Veteto - Part Time Something-Or-Other
Seeing Explosions In The Sky at The Fox Theater Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost Loney Dear - Hall Music Grilled cheese + tomato sandwiches at Zeitgeist when drunk. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic
Michael Thies - Retail Manager
1. The CU Collective (http://www.CUcollective.com) 2. Midstress - Growing Up Is Getting Old 3. Easter - Demonstration 4. DRC Music - Kinshasa One Two 5. Discovering Joyce Manor and RVIVR
Honorable mentions - James Blake – S/T, seeing Arcade Fire, seeing Big Audio Dynamite, The Throne – Watch the Throne.
Sara Chabot - Mailorder Queen
These are my most listened to albums of 2011, but only two were released this year (and one of them is ours):
1. Charlatans at the Garden Gate – Tristen 2. Nothing is Okay – The Everybodyfields 3. Aabenbaringen over aaskammen – Casiokids 4. Plastic Beach – Gorillaz (thanks, Michael!) 5. Oracular Spectacular – MGMT (yes, still.)
Patricia Wysopal - In-House Publicist
Favorite Albums of 2011 (in a particular order)
Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation Wye Oak – Civilian Nick Waterhouse – Is That Clear EP Feist – Metals Psychic Twin – s/t EP
Instagram, Pinterest, adopting Beau (our puppy), Breaking Bad, being hired at PV, Youth Lagoon show @ Pygmalion, getting engaged in Prague.
Patrick Wood - Office Manager
My Top 2011 Albums
1. Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm 2. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming 3. The Dodos - No Color 4. The Antlers - Burst Apart 5. The Drums - Portamento
My Top 2011 Everything
1. Getting hired on at PV 2. Being indefinitely finished with college 3. ZERO car maintenance performed 4. Nutter Butter Blizzards 5. Tape guns
(Honorable mentions: Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, and Adam B's Glee video)Hide More
Vivian Girls have teamed up with award winning designer Kate Spade for a series of Pop Up Shows to highlight the company's new Florence Broadhurst line throughout the US. The first of these shows took place in NYC on Feb 10th in Gansevoort Plaza, housed inside a converted tour bus parked to the side of the stage. Check out the rest of the dates below, then read about the NYC pop-up on Paper Mag and Kate Spade's blog.
Vivian Girls / Kate Spade Pop Up Tour
02/22 - Seattle, WA @ Downtown Nordstrom 03/02 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Grove LA 03/16 - Austin, TX @ TBD
Our favorite holiday is almost here! RECORD STORE DAY 2012! The one (and probably only) day where you're expected to blow off all your other more important plans and head down to your local record shop to support independent music.
While you're flipping through all the amazing records you're sure to find this Saturday, be on the lookout for the 9 releases we have. They're goodies! Read on for details on each release.
1. of Montreal / Deerhoof split 7" - Stygian x} Bisection - Limited to 2000 copies on clear gold vinyl, this 7" is the latest in Deerhoof's collaborative single series. Side-A features of Montreal's Kevin Barnes singing alternate vocals to Deerhoof's "Secret Mobilization," while side-B features of Montreal's song "Feminine Effects."
2. Xiu Xiu / Dirty Beaches Split 7" - Side-A features Xiu Xiu's cover of "Always" by Erasure while side-B features Dirty Beaches' cover of "Tu Ne Dis Rien" by Francoise Hardy. Limited to 2000 on black vinyl.
3. STRFKR - Heaven's Youth (Reptilians Demos) - Limited to just 1000 copies on white vinyl, Heaven's Youth gives you a glimpse into how STRFKR's main songwriter, Josh Hodges, created the songs on the band's latest full-length, Reptilians. Many of these versions were recorded in the van during STRFKR tours or back in Hodges' home studio. It also features new artwork. This is a must for any STRFKR fan.
4. Saturday Looks Good To Me - All Your Summer Songs - Named one of Pitchfork's Top 50 albums of 2003, All Your Summer Songs has been out-of-print on vinyl for some time now. To celebrate the band's upcoming album & tour, we wanted to make it available for your turntable again. Limited to 1000 on white vinyl.
5. Hey Mercedes - Hey Mercedes - After the break-up of Braid in 1999, Bob Nanna, Todd Bell, and Damon Atkinson went on to form Hey Mercedes and release this self-titled debut. Limited to 700 copies on black vinyl.
6. Rainer Maria - Rainer Maria - Features each of the band's 3 EPs (Rainer Maria, Atlantic, and Ears Ring) comprised into one vinyl release. This is the first time any of the EPs have been available on vinyl. Limited to 300 on black vinyl.
7. matt pond PA - Several Arrows Later - Back in print and limited to 1000 copies on black vinyl!
8. matt pond PA - Measure - First time ever on vinyl! Limited to 1000 on black vinyl.
9. Mates of State - Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) - A complete covers album from Jason and Kori of Mates of State! This is the first time this release has been made available on vinyl. Features covers of songs by Girls, Belle and Sebastian, Death Cab For Cutie, Fleetwood Mac, and others. Limited to 1500 on clear vinyl. Hide More
Rolling Stone recently posted thier Top 10 Coolest Summer Albums of All Time list and Japandroids made the cut at #10 with their new album, Celebration Rock! Nedless to say, WE'RE PUMPED! Other bands/artist that appear on the list include The Beatles, Prince, Al Green and more! Follow the link below to check it out.
Attention all artists & designers: Japandroids need your help! The band is heading out for a US tour this fall and they're looking for a new T-shirt design. Here's where YOU come in!
The band is hosting a design contest for the new shirt. The winning design will be picked by the band and the winner will receive 2 tickets to any upcoming US show, a meet-and-greet with Brian and Dave, vinyl or CD copies of Post-Nothing & Celebration Rock, plus one of the new shirts!
Holy cow! Paste just named Japandroids' "The House That Heaven Built" the #1 song of 2012! AMAZING!!! If you haven't heard the track, check it out above. It appears on the band's album Celebration Rock (which also landed the #8 spot on Paste's Top 50 Albums of 2012 list). Check out both lists at the links below.
We know, we know...the last thing you want to do right now is read another year-end list. But hey, we want to participate too! Here's our Best of 2012 lists, curated by the entire Polyvinyl staff. Stay tuned for our artist's lists.
Matt Lunsford (Co-Owner) Matt's top 8 things that start with 'P' in chronological order!
- Picnics in March. - Pitchfork Music Fest Japandroids Set. - Panhandle of Florida family beach trip in August. - Pygmalion Music Fest 2012 - my favorite one yet. - Pyg roast post-Pygmalion. - PV West office visit. - PV HQ office face-lift. - Past is a Grotesque Animal performed by of Montreal at Dec Metro show.
Darcie (Co-Owner)
1. Simon and Miles 2. Matt 3. Dexter 4. STRFKR 5. of Montreal Live show @ The Metro. 6. Our summer trip to Destin Fl 7. Japandroids 8. The Walking Dead 9. Wreck It Ralph 10. Matt & Kim
Seth (Label Manager) In no particular order
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan Tame Impala - Lonerism exitmusic - Passage Melody's Echo Chamber - S/T Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes Beach House - Bloom Matthew E White - Big Inner Diiv - Oshin Chris Cohen - Overgrown Path Chromatics - Kill For Love
Mark (Retail Manager) Best one-liners of 2012.
1. Japandroids sing "You're not mine to die for anymore, so I must live." (The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids) 2. This drunk guy in the back of a police car sings "Gallileo, Gallileo" (Bohemian Rhapsody - Robert Wilkinson) 3. Jesse from Breaking Bad says "I'm a blowfish!" (Blowfish scene - Breaking Bad) 4. Iggy Pop somehow appears on the Ke$ha album just long enough to sing "Cockroaches do it in garbage cans." (Dirty Love - Ke$ha) 5. The white guy running for president says he has "binders full of women" (Debate Fail - Mitt Romney) 6. Nicki Minaj makes fun of B.o.B.'s song "Airplanes" during a verse in a different B.o.B. song (Out Of My Mind - B.o.B.) 7. Kimbra sings "Used to know-ow-ow" during the crescendo in that Goyte song (Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye) 8. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros drop the line "Yeah, that's what's up" even though they're a folk band (That's What's Up - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros) 9. Frank Ocean says "Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho." (Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean) 10. The short kid with braids does a verse in this song. I'm not sure what he's saying but something about his delivery seems like he's dropping golden nuggets of truth.
Chris (Production Manager) Top 10 Non-PV Records
1. Cloud Nothings / Attack on Memory 2. White Lung / Sorry 3. The Menzingers / On the Impossible Past 4. Make Do and Mend / Everything You Ever Loved 5. My Chemical Romance / Conventional Weapons: Number One 6. Swearin' / Swearin' 7. Passion Pit / Gossamer 8. Adventures / Adventures 9. Yellowcard / Southern Air 10. (tie) METZ / METZ and PAWS / PAWS
Sara (Mailorder Manager) Favorite Albums (in a loose order)
Beach House - Bloom Frankie Rose - Interstellar Passion Pit - Gossamer Sharon Van Etten - Tramp Damien Jurado - Maraqopa Stars - The North That Ghost - Rosalind EP
Patricia (Label Publicist) Top 2012 Albums (in no particular order)
1. Woods - Bend Beyond 2. M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion 3. Andrew Bird - Break
It Yourself 4. DIIV - Oshin 5. Damien Jurado - Maraqopa 6. Lord Huron - Lonesome Dreams 7. Allah-las - (self-titled) 8. Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now 9. Benjamin Gibbard - Former Lives 10. The Last Names - Wildnerness
Top 2012 Moments
1. Getting hitched. 2. Announcing the upcoming birth of our baby girl.
Andy (Promotions Manager) RECORDS (non PV titles)
1. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magelian 2. Chris Cohen - Overgrown Path 3. Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti - Mature Themes 4. Foxygen - Take The Kids Off Broadway 5. The Babies - Our House on the HIll
OTHER STUFF
1. Growing a mustache w/ Devin, Mike, and Nick, then going to Mexico. 2. Watching Trish randomly jump into a hotel pool, then eat 8 Doritos locos tacos in under 30 mins at SXSW. Seth lost $20. 3. Watching of Montreal on The Jimmy Fallon show in NYC / getting free drinks on the plane w/ Frank and Seth. 4. Watching The Dirty Projectors at Pygmalion Music Festival. 5. Trish and Matt's wedding.
Tim (Designer)
1. Masked Intruder - S/T 2. The Dopamines - Vices 3. Single Mothers - S/T 7" 4. The Thing That Ate Larry Livermore Compilation
5. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music 6. King Tuff - S/T 7. Passion Pit - Gossamer 8. Joyce Manor - Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired 9. Grimes - Visions 10. THIS
Patrick (Retail Shipping Manager)
1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock 2. Purity Ring - Shrines 3. Death Grips - The Money Store 4. Beach House - Bloom 5. The Menzingers - On the Impossible Past
Family and loved ones. Less hangovers, more regulated sleep schedule. All of Pitchfork Music Fest, including a perfectly executed book punt, the haunted Congress Hotel, and a pair of ruined Chucks. Putting mileage on this and this. Getting some quality time with the PV West Coast and NY offices.
Val (Publicity Assistant)
alt-j : Awesome Wave King Tuff : King Tuff Japandroids : Celebration Rock Spotting Woody Allen while he was directing his new film Obama's victory speech Being old enough to watch the Giants win the World Series from a bar in the Haight this time around The Raveonettes : Observator Emily Wells : Mama Hospitality : Hospitality Seeing The Raveonettes live at Bimbo's
365
Aaron (Mailorder Assistant)
1. [Spot reserved for the new My Bloody Valentine album due out by the end of the month] 2. Salvation - House of the Beating Hell 3. Horrible Things - Dumb Days 4. Lump and the Dumpers - s//t DEMO 5. Traveling - End of Days EP 6. Grimes - Visions 7. Crazy Spirit - s//t LP 8. Sweet Tooth - Blister Music 9. Anna Karenina/Anna Karina - Autobiographies 10. Hoax/Swn Leather - split flexi 11. Fumes - s//t EP
In addition to our staff's "Best of 2012" lists, a few of our bands whipped together lists of their own. Read on to see what Braid, Japandroids, Xiu Xiu, and Dusted were rocking last year.
Braid
Bob Nanna's Top 10 songs from 2012:
10. "The Birthday Song" - Fly Moon Royalty 09. "Beg For The Night" - Twin Shadow 08. "Impregnable Question" - Dirty Projectors 07. "Ruin" - Cat Power 06. "Elephant" - Tame Impala 05. "I'm Not Immune" - forgetters 04. "Montauk" - Rufus Wainwright 03. "Breezeblocks" - Alt-J 02. "Museum of Flight" - Damien Jurado 01. "Old & Gray" - Maps & Atlases
DUSTED (Brian Borcherdt)
Beak- >> Cooooool record. Daphni- Jaio Long- Dan Snaith is always good. Metz- my friends finally released this great record, recorded by my Holy F bandmate Graham Walsh. Woods- Bend Beyond- Another predictably good annual instalment from these guys. Soupcans- Good Feelings - More Toronto punk. "Negative Genes" is one of the best songs of the year. Bishop Morocco- Old Boys EP- Just as good or better than their debut. Codeine- When I See the Sun (Box Set)- One of favourite 90s bands reissued. So it doesn't count, right? Can- Lost Tapes- Same as above? Does it count? I reserve the last two spots for two of my favourite bands that I got to tour with, A Place to Bury Strangers and Perfume Genius. Thanks for the memories.
JAPANDROIDS
Dave's list:
1. Titus Andronicus - Still Life with Hot Deuce on Silver Platter 2. Swearin - Here to Hear 3. PAWS - Bloodline 4. King Tuff - Bad Thing 5. Apollo Ghosts - Weekend Fantasy
Brian's list:
1. A$AP Rocky - Goldie 2. Paul Westerberg - My Road Now 3. Thee Oh Sees - Flood's New Light 4. Ladyhawk - You Read My Mind 5. Dirty Three - Sometimes I've Forget You've Gone
XIU XIU
Jamie Stewart
10 favorite kraftwerk songs i listened to like an obsessive maniac in 2012.
hall of mirrors pocket calculator neon lights radioactivity metal on metal europe endless it's more fun to compute the man machine ohm sweet ohm the robotsHide More
Our favorite holiday, Record Store Day, is quickly approaching! It's going down tomorrow (Sat 4/20) and we've got 6 releases for the special occasion. Each album will only be available at your local record store, so get out there tomorrow and support the locals! Take a look at our releases by CLICKING HERE.
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