_Vodkast #1: The Wasted Tapes

It is often said that behind every great man there’s a great woman.  John had Yoko, Adam had Eve, and Bill had Monica (insert joke about Bill having Monica).  Likewise, every great music blog needs its own mix series.

Introducing Vinyl & Vodka’s very own Vodkast, a collection of songs compiled by Willis and Dan McGrath that will surely leave you three sheets to the wind (let’s see how long I can run with this alcohol motif…) Every issue will have a different one with a different cover. By the next issue, we will have it up on iTunes so you can subscribe. Download it and plug it into your iTunes and iPod. Listen to it on your way to work, make it your workout song, etc.! This month’s issue features music by Dragonette, Plastiscines, The XX, School of Seven Bells, Total Babe, and more.

1. Freelance Whales – Generator ^ First Floor
2. Dragonette - Pick Up The Phone
3. Wolf Gang – The King And All Of His Men
4. Total Babe – Short Stories
5. Morningbell - Marching Off To War
6. The Basics - With This Ship (Peter Cobbin Mix)
7. Plastiscines – Barcelona
8. New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
9. Bell XI – Rocky Took A Love
10. Israel Darling – Samson The Mason
11. Robert Francis – Junebug
12. The xx – Stars
13. School Of Seven Bells – Half Asleep (Alternate Version)
14. M83 – Kim & Jessie
15. Erik Hassle - Hurtful (Penguin Prison Remix)
16. From – Fight for Your Right
17. Fyfe Dangerfield – When You Walk In The Room
18. Jason Mraz – If It Kills Me

Vodkast by vinylandvodka

Download: Vinyl and Vodka – Vodkast 1

Keep on reading for a song-by-song write up of the Vodkast: (more…)

_Total Babe Plays 7th Street Entry (Interview) – Part 2

V&V: I don’t know if you had a chance to check out the blog within the last couple of weeks. But I wrote a little preview about you guys and mentioned your style/genre. I referred to it as Dream pop with a stylized folk structure. Would you say this is accurate?

TB: I think we are all pretty bad at describing ourselves. But yeah that’s accurate.

V&V: what lead you all to start collaborating as a band?

TB: What lead us….Well…… We’d all been working on different projects that kind of fell apart. Then we all got together and tried again and it worked. And we knew Jordan who is really great at guitar. We started off by trying classical, acoustic Classical, and then finally settled on our current sound and got lucky. Our current drummer has been with us for about 5 months now the other one left the band. He is actually the longest we’ve had a drummer.

V&V: That’s surprising. Who would not be in a band that books shows regularly??

TB: I think he left our band to be in a Sublime cover band.

V&V: I bet he’s regretting that decision now.

TB: Well we felt bad, we talked to him last night and he asked if we were playing any shows. And we told him we just played in the First Avenue main room w/ Drinking with Ian. And he was just kind of like “oohh”. But he’s cool and congratulated us. (more…)

_Total Babe Plays 7th Street Entry – Part 1

With cold weather inching closer by the passing minute it’s nice to be able to cozy up to some warm and comfy music to sort of compensate for the cold climates. Bands like Total Babe, give off that warm sensation that is undeniably needed in the brutal winters of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We here at Vinyl and Vodka had a chance to see them perform live in Minneapolis at a venue called the 7th Street Entry, and also sit down and have a chat with them about their experiences as musicians.

Their set was only about 5 to 6 songs, but in my opinion was the perfect amount played. They don’t give away too much by playing everything on their list and they leave just a little up to the listener’s interpretation. Their stage presence seemed spot on they came out and played their music very efficiently. They didn’t interact with the crowd as much as desired but after all, they are musicians not comedians. By watching them play, their orchestration, vocals and all around presentation was straight forward without any buffer to fill gaps of sorts. Which proves they know what they are doing, they are being musicians and are coming out there on stage to put on a show for us the listeners. They understand that and execute it extremely well. (more…)

_Total Babe – Bearbones / Gary Coleman

Check out this great band from Minneapolis, Total Babe! Armed with a quirky name and an even quirkier attitude, this trio blends Dream pop music with a stylized folk structure. Each song off their new EP – Heatwave – is brimming with personality .

I have uploaded two songs from the EP, “BearBones” and “Gary Coleman“,  my two personal favorites from the album. Listen to these two songs and visit their Myspace for information on the band, tour dates, blog entries and some just plain old goofy photos done by the band members themselves. Check back with V&V after October 4th; We will be on the scene that day at their show in Minneapolis snapping photos, interviewing the band and writing a review of the show.

Total Babe – BearbonesStream

Total Babe – Gary ColemanStream