jim – Page 12 – Notes n Letters

Car Seat Headrest in the news – April 2017

“Last night, ‘Conan’ welcomed musical guests Car Seat Headrest.”

–Evan Minsker on Pitchfork, April 19, 2017

“In between Coachella weekends, Car Seat Headrest stopped by Conan on Tuesday night (4/18) to perform a somewhat revamped version of ‘Unforgiving Girl (She’s Not An)’ from last year’s terrific Teens of Style.”

–Bill Pearis on Brooklyn Vegan, April 19, 2017

“Our 2016 Rookie of the Year performed a new version of ‘Unforgiving Girl” (She’s Not An),’ taken from last year’s excellent Teens of Denial.”

–Michelle Geslani on Consequence of Sound, April 19, 2017

“I don’t know if Will Toledo is satisfied, but I’m certainly happy that songs like ‘Faith In Anyone’ finally made their way into the world.”

–Alex Galbraith on Uproxx, April 17, 2017

“But although Radiohead played to a surprisingly small audience…middlebrow guitar bands such as Bastille, Car Seat Headrest and Local Natives pulled fans in numbers that suggested rock isn’t dead yet…”

–Mikael Wood in the Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2017

“Listen to his lovely, acoustic cover of ‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore’…”

–Janice Headley on KEXP-FM, April 12, 2017

“For his passionate and heartbreaking version of ‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore,’ Toledo swaps out all the electric guitars and drums for a single acoustic guitar.”

–Robin Hilton on NPR Music, April 12, 2017

“Truly haunting.”

—DIY Magazine, April 12, 2017

“…this acoustic version is pretty haunting and would definitely make Morrissey proud.”

—Pure Volume, April 12, 2017

“Toledo’s version is an aching acoustic rendition in the vein of his ‘Pyramid Song’ cover…”

–Peter Helman on Stereogum, April 11, 2017

“Car Seat Headrest have shared an acoustic cover of the Smiths’ song ‘That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore.'”

–Noah Yoo on Pitchfork, April 11, 2017

“Car Seat Headrest have a certain touch which makes them a shining beacon in the ocean of Indie bands competing for attention today.”

–Clare Kelly in Counterfeit Magazine, April 5, 2017

Purcellville Library observes 60th anniversary of desegregation

In the early 1950s, Reggie Simms mended damaged books so they could remain in circulation at the Purcellville Library. But he was not allowed to check them out for personal use.

For two decades after it opened in 1937, the library was open only to white patrons. Simms and other African Americans were excluded until the library was desegregated on April 9, 1957.

On Saturday, the library will mark the 60th anniversary of that milestone with “Cross the Line,” a day-long program focusing on the desegregation of public facilities in Loudoun County. Simms will join other African Americans from that era in sharing memories of the cultural shifts in Loudoun as segregation died a slow death in the 1950s and ’60s.

Full story

The Washington Post, April 2, 2017

Ceremony honors pilot who died in 1945 crash

Richard Ochoa, the last surviving brother of Capt. Fred Ochoa, is presented with an American flag honoring his brother.

On July 27, 1945, Marine Capt. Fred Ochoa, 26, set out from Patuxent River Naval Air Station on what was a test flight for a new twin-engine aircraft. He never returned. The weather was treacherous, and the plane crashed in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Bluemont. Among the items found with Ochoa’s body were a parachute and a rosary.

The prayer beads were a key link in a chain of events that culminated in a memorial ceremony and celebration of Ochoa’s life March 18, when 20 members of the Ochoa family gathered with a group of neighbors who live near the crash site. The reunion helped provide answers to questions that members of both groups had for decades.

The Washington Post, March 26, 2017

Mixed-arts celebration in Sterling

“Springtime in Winter” opening in Reston

Local painters, poets and musicians will celebrate the transition from winter to spring in a presentation of original works Saturday on the Sterling campus of Northern Virginia Community College.

The event is the culmination of a months-long collaborative process, in which eight pairs of poets and artists created poems and paintings around the theme “Springtime in Winter.”

The Washington Post, March 19, 2017

Car Seat Headrest in the news – March 2017

“Today, [Toledo] revealed some interesting details about the songwriting and publicly processes behind his two most ambitious albums.”

–Rob Arcand in Spin Magazine, March 30, 2017

“Car Seat Headrest Surprise Highlight of BBC 6 Music Festival Day 2”

–Suzanne Oswald and Robert Blair on Gigwise, March 27, 2017

“…half way through the night a newly married couple, still fully dressed up, arrive in the crowd, bouquets in hand. More remarkably, they are not even obviously happier than the folks surrounding them.”

–Max Pilley on Too Many Blogs, March 27, 2017

“This week, Car Seat Headrest – the indie rock anti-heroes behind 2016’s brilliant Teens Of Denial – curate 19 tracks spanning Tom Waits, Nirvana, Pixies, Leonard Cohen and Guided By Voices.”

—Crack Magazine, March 27, 2017

“The rollicking guitar and drums pulse through the song, showing off the simplicity and beauty of Toledo’s songwriting.”

–Javi Fedrick on The Arts Desk, March 27, 2017

“People around me jump, sweat, sing along, feeling emotionally connected to the stage, where a 25 years old man from Virginia moves fast through his setlist.”

–Marco on Indie + Tonic, March 24, 2017

[Will Toledo’s] “awkward take on issues that impact most teens and young adults such as drugs, sex, and insecurity make him extremely relatable. ”

–Aliyah Webs in Affinity Magazine, March 12, 2017

“Coming off his fantastic album, Teens of Denial, our 2016 Rookie of the Year is scheduled to play practically every music festival there is, from Quebec’s Osheaga to Tennessee’s Bonnaroo to Norway’s Oya.”

–Ben Kaye on Consequence of Sound, March 6, 2017

“Will Toledo will be taking his band out on the road for an extensive run of headlining dates…”

—PureVolume, March 6, 2017

“Car Seat Headrest have announced a slew of new tour dates for 2017.”

–Noah Yoo on Pitchfork, March 6, 2017

B. Doughnut is drawing crowds

Pin and Brian Chanthapanya, co-owners of B. Doughnut in downtown Leesburg

The line outside B. Doughnut is already starting to form at eight o’clock Saturday morning, even though it won’t open for another hour. Some of the customers sit in chairs outside the shop on Loudoun Street in downtown Leesburg, reading a book or swiping at their phones to pass the time.

By 9 a.m., when the door opens, the line has grown to more than 40 people. Greeted by the mingled aromas of roasted coffee and fried dough, the customers begin placing orders for doughnuts with their favorite fillings and toppings — vanilla bean, lemon curd, cinnamon sugar.

Full story

The Washington Post, March 5, 2017

Records document a century of segregation

Carolyn Nicholson and her grandson, Adonis Taylor, 10, of Ashburn, look at some of the records displayed at the open house.

An open house at the Loudoun County Courthouse on Feb. 11 highlighted the century of segregation in Virginia that followed the Civil War and the abolishing of slavery.

The Clerk of the Circuit Court’s Office displayed records that document the separate and unequal treatment of African Americans in the county during that time. Documents reveal how segregation pervaded all areas of life, including the education, public services and land transactions.

The Washington Post, Feb. 26, 2017

Loudoun proposes $2.5 billion budget

Loudoun County Administrator Tim Hemstreet kicked off the county’s annual budget review process Wednesday by presenting a proposed spending plan for fiscal 2018 that funds almost all of the school system’s request and provides staffing for several new facilities while holding property tax bills steady.

The $2.5 billion budget complies with the Board of Supervisors’ demand for a plan that avoids increasing the average homeowners’ tax bills. It would boost local funding by $61 million for the school system and $27.7 million for the general county government.

The Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2017

Loudoun woman’s memoir tells how a violent crime shook her faith in God

When Ruth Everhart was a senior at a small Christian college, she and four of her roommates were held captive and brutally raped at gunpoint by two masked intruders.

Although she survived the ordeal, she was filled with shame and worried that she had been “ruined” — in the eyes of God, her family and the man she might one day marry. Her devastating experience shook her faith in God, and eventually led her to break with the conservative Protestant denomination in which she had been raised.

Last year, Everhart, 59, of Sterling, published her memoir, “Ruined,” in which she recounts the crime in detail and traces the twists and turns her life took in the months and years that followed. She tells how that journey took her through dark places — a breakup with her boyfriend, an affair with a married man, and conflicts with friends and family.

Full story

The Washington Post, Feb. 12, 2017