Nova News

This is Now Officially the OLD Nova Social Blog

2010-01-21T19:54:00.002-05:00

On the off chance you are one of the people who has found/read this post, you are currently on the former home of the Nova Social Blog.

The Nova Social Blog is here. See you there.

Thanks,
Nova Social

Style Over Substance

2009-09-07T14:23:00.008-04:00

The lyrics and basic melody for "Style Over Substance" date back to early 2002. A very rough demo was recorded in Logic maybe around six months after that.

It took us about five years to finally finish it, but when we returned to it in early 2007, Thom and I were surprised at how much we still liked it.

Nova Social Sounds Good in the Nude

2009-07-15T14:56:00.006-04:00

Musician, DJ and bearded expat Tim "Love" Lee posted "Now You're a Nun," the first song off of the forthcoming Nova Social EP, on his blog. You can listen to the track and even participate in some sort of mildly democratic voting experience.

And speaking of the new record -- this is it!

Side 1
Now You're a Nun (4:10)
(When She Was) The Other Woman (4:25)
Held (3:18)

Side 2
Diving (Remix) (3:38)
I Want You Bland (5:16)
Turn to Crime (4:39)

It is tentatively scheduled for release on Big Sleep Records in late-September on vinyl and digital download (in which case, it's all one-sided). Entertainment!!

Nova Social on East Village Radio's "Two for Tennis" Show

2009-05-13T11:59:00.002-04:00

I dropped by the East Village Radio station last night to hang out during Tim Love Lee & Coach MP's chaotically-minded "Two for Tennis" show. EVR is a dark little alcove on First Avenue right near the Second Avenue F stop, with a view out on to the street so the DJs can catcall passerby -- like construction workers who spin dense electro-pop records.

The lads were good enough to play "Now You're a Nun" and "I Want You Bland," both from the forthcoming Nova Social EP. Nice to be played in such musical company as Blancmange and Pizzy Yelliott.

A fine time -- enough to make you wish you were bearded.

The entire show is up for streaming on the "Two for Tennis" EVR page -- here is the direct link. Feel free to keep up with their weekly shenanigans at their Facebook page.

-David

a free-form solo piano exploration

2009-03-23T14:15:00.003-04:00

no, seriously -

roger powell, late of (the greatest band ever and why the hell aren't their last two records still in print - i'm looking at you, rhino...) utopia has a new, self-released(ish) cd of solo piano called "blue note ridge." it's lovely, and as i pretty much abandoned the beatles for utopia somewhere in the middle of my musical development, i feel strongly about pimping it to you, the assembled masses. i'm sure david and kris would agree if they were returning my calls.

cdbaby
myspace
awesome picture of a polar bear

ok, then.

-thom
(the new record is in mastering as we speak...)

I'm The Only One That I Love

2009-02-22T23:06:00.006-05:00

These lyrics date from around summer of 2000. I threw out the bridge about Say Anything at some point, but had to replace it with something equally ridiculous (the Tommy James/Tiffany homage).

This song can be downloaded here.

2009-01-08T20:54:00.008-05:00

NOVA SOCIAL BELIEVES IN MAGICAL DREAMS

It's a new year and two of our favorite music videos are up online, which is cause for celebration.

We love you too.

Harvey Leeds - "State of Shock"

Grace Slick - "Dreams"

Grace Slick - New Music - More Music Videos

2008-10-16T16:44:00.004-04:00

NOVA SOCIAL AND CURRENT EVENTS

Nova Social has been all over the press, at least tangentially.

The French actor Guillaume Depardieu, who starred in the movie Pola X and made a brief lyrical appearance in "The Jitney" from 2007's Other Words From Tomorrow's Dictionary:, passed away on Monday at the age of 37.

Nous sommes tristes.

And more recently, "One Table Over" from 2002's The Jefferson Fracture, which partially concerns a plumber whose license is revoked, is relevant once again in the wake of the surprise guest of the third presidential debate, "Joe the Plumber" (who is apparently neither a "Joe" nor a "plumber").

Download "One Table Over" here and ruminate.

2008-07-21T20:26:00.005-04:00

WELCOME (BACK) TO NOVASOCIAL.COM

Hello? Oh hey. Just woke up. What has it been -- two-and-a-half years? How about that.

So, you probably saw the new site, right? Pretty neat, huh. Heard the new songs? Yeah, interesting stuff indeed. Funny -- about the time of our last post (January 2006) was when we started really working on all the music we'll be releasing over the next year and beyond. Umm, that's why we've been too busy to write.

We'll post more in the weeks and months to come about what we've been up to the last couple years, but for now, I'll just say this: welcome to the revamped novasocial.com. Please listen to and download the three new songs -- "Style Over Substance," "I'm The Only One That I Love" and "Heavenly" (all of which were actually written around 2002) -- and check out the thorough new discography page, which has a lot of free downloads on it as well.

Be seeing you.

2006-01-05T17:44:00.000-05:00

IS THIS THE SINGLE?

Happy new year everyone. Yes, you too.

New for the new year from Nova Social land is the FCC-friendly single version of "The History of Entertainment," from the never-pressed and now-deleted "Ham Sandwich EP," up for streaming on the Nova Social myspace page.

The uncensored version will appear on "Other Words From Tomorrow's Dictionary."

Enjoy.

2005-09-23T10:37:00.000-04:00

NOVA ALBUM NO. 2 SOUNDS LIKE MUSIC!

Loyal novasocial.com news readers, we admit that we've been giving a lot more attention to our more popular mistress. What can we say? We love you both very much.

However, now is as good a time as any to let everyone know that we are pretty much finished with our second full-length release. We've worked sporadically over the last six months at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, New York (with a few sessions closer to home at Headgear in Brooklyn) with our dear friend Daniel James Goodwin. The final mixes are done and the songs are:

Diving
The History of Entertainment
Natural Eye Shadow
I Saw Your Car
Laundry Chute
Shine
Fucking the Past
My Teenage Stride
The Jitney
New York's Glorious New Wave

Special guests include Therese Cox, Ginger Swiston, The HaveNots, and Rich Polatchek.

Title, final running order and label are TBD.

XO,
Nova Social

2005-03-04T17:10:00.000-05:00

If anyone's looking for an excrutiatingly cold February getaway for 2006, we highly recommend Rhinebeck, NY. We were up there for four-and-a-half days last week at The Clubhouse starting work on our as-yet-untitled second full-length CD -- 10 songs in under 40 minutes, our ADD increases with every release. It's a different studio than the one we recorded the bulk of The Jefferson Fracture at, but it still has the same charm, as well as the incredible Daniel Goodwin, one of our favorite people in the world. We got all the rhythm tracks done, most of the guitars, a lot of the keyboards and a handful of vocals. Recording is fun. We recommend it. More later.

2005-01-13T22:51:00.000-05:00

We know that it may be a bit trite, but happy new year. So far so good, we hope.

Next week could take everything up a notch, mainly because there is not one, but two NOVA SOCIAL appearances.

They are:

Wednesday, January 19 @ 9:30 p.m.
Maxwell's
1039 Washington Street
Hoboken, New Jersey
w/ Risk Relay at 8:30 and Skyline Rodeo at 10:30
$6

Saturday, January 22 @ midnight
The Charleston Bar & Grill
174 Bedford Ave (@ N. 7th St.)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
"Jersey Beat Presents: Nova Social, The Squeaky Fromme, Sinclare and Prankstar"
This is a free show. Jim Testa is a swell guy and The Squeaky Fromme is Styx to our REO (or vice versa).

Also, I'm doing a solo show on:

Thursday, January 20
Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I'm playing with Chris Mills, with whom I had the recent pleasure of assisting in the production of a highly ambitious and extraordinary album. The show is, again, free; I'll go on at 10 and Chris is at 11. All covers? Or something.

And in February, there will be another live show at Pianos on Friday, 2/18 (opening up for former Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria) and later that month, we'll begin recording our new album. No really.

-d

2004-11-10T10:54:00.000-05:00

CHERRY BLOSSOMS BLOOMING LOCO

hi kids.

we've begun the pre-production process for nova social album #2, which sounds exciting* but is in reality lots of vague math and recording 8 seconds of music at a clip (then listening on david's grade-school-graduation-gift headphones). kris brought pastry, i brought the moet, and next time we shall make our famous absinthe & kool-aid spritzers. rock and roll is serious biznezz. i believe in woman, my oh my.

david is working feverishly on arranging the horns & strings for the next chris mills lp (on which he will also tickle ivories, i believe), and the kendal mintcake (read: i) just completed a nigh unlistenable remix for our friends at kabukikore. studio whizkid jay has been involved with a "chicago style ballad" (deep dish, cheese and tomato) in a studio down in the swamps of jersey, as well. more news on these as it becomes apparent.

we're making our next show (pianos, 12/18) our last for the year so we can concentrate on the record. as such, it should be a swell time, brimming with blood and swash. we will keep you in "the loop," as "they" "say."

enough "kilroy was here" bashing. accept the brilliance, people.

kinky love,

-t. nova

* (it's pretty cool, actually)

2004-09-28T23:55:00.000-04:00

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO NOVA

We are hitting the road for a few days. The road. Road. See the main page of the site for details. Maine! Connecticut! New Jersey! All hail the exotic, erotic road.

NOTICE ANYTHING DIFFERENT?
The updated site is up and we love it. So much, in fact, that we're giving away free music until you love it like ice cream. September's free mp3s are a mixed bag of ultimate freaking rocking. Go to the MUSIC page and download away, bub.

BEER TIE-IN COMES; GOES
We were the "Pabst Blue Ribbon Band Of The Week" in The Onion (which we love) on September 9th. On the 13th we played a very, very intimate show to support this media onslaught at the beloved NYC Knitting Factory. Schlock & roll over.

Wuv,
-NS

2004-07-16T22:17:00.000-04:00

2004-06-15T03:28:00.000-04:00

Now we got country and western on the bus, R & B
We got disco on eight tracks and cassettes in stereo

As promised, here are photos from our interesting little tour. Thanks again, especially to the Bryk for his hospitality, Kenyatta for the initial invite, and everyone who came to see us. It was just great to meet you. Look for pretty major site upgrades soon, and at least some sort of report from the front lines of Kris Nova's impending nuptials.

Rock,

-Capt. Thom Nova

outside Warehouse Next Door in DC

our new hero Dan Deacon, master of song titles

Jay Dodds channels Jimmy Buffett somewhere in VA Beach.

A typical VA family kicks back, perhaps waiting for a sandwich.

another potential Nova day job

We just wanted to give him a Watchtower.
ladies & gentlemen: Mr. Dan Bryk

Nova Social enters from the rear.

seconds before decimating Ace's Basement with the rock

Jay & Dan exchange post-gig snoochies.

Jay with the record that destroyed his soul...

...then demanded to go for a drive. In traffic.

Finally, WEFest.
Bryk psyches up for his solo set...

...then systematically kicks the crowd's ass.
He opened with "Night Fever." Damn.

Mare Mare & friends
Kitty Doe stayed home, apparently.

Thom & Jay relax post-gig...

...while David makes karaoke history downstairs.
("Life On Mars." Thanks for asking.)

The end.

2004-06-02T22:57:00.000-04:00

Suddenly last summer

Back from tour... We'll post many, many photos as soon as we computify them.

We're at The Fire in Philadelphia tonight with Solace 23, Birdie, and The New Motels.

We're at Lit in NYC (oh, home again, home home) on Tuesday, June 8th with our very good friends The Nerve Meter and Pistolero. It will be fun.

Dammit.

Thanks to everyone who came to the shows on tour, bought CDs and provided us with alcohol last week. What a fine time.

This guy is wrong. So, so wrong.

-tHn

2004-05-27T12:15:00.000-04:00

Discussing the past

Yo.
Ace's was fun. We faced a small, enthusiastic crowd who said "we love you" with merch dollar$. The van thanks you, kids. The club was kind enough to film the performance (and relieve us of $50 or so), leaving us with a potential live DVD for y'all. Let's see. The Bryk was kind enough to work that merch table. Again, a great room with extremely nice people running the show. We're the luckiest band in puppetland.

I think we're going to walk around Chapel Hill like a rock band for a while before descending upon WEFest like Frontpage's Left Nut. Come and see the show! IT'S A DYNAMO!!! COME AND SEEEEEEE THE SHOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

It's rock and roll.

love,

tHn.

2004-05-26T00:03:00.000-04:00

What does a rock band (/professional carpet installers) do on a day off?

We have no idea. We went to the beach.

Our hotel, sadly, invited us back "the next time you're on tour." Nothing was destroyed, linens were neatly replaced, and Starwood points were accrued. We must learn to debauch properly. Perhaps we'll save it for a European tour or something. We've dubbed this jaunt the "Cookie's House Of D" Tour 2K4 until something better pops up.

Bryk says hi. We're completely raiding his (abbreviated!) record collection.

Greensboro tomorrow, WEFest Thursday. Come party with us like Gene Defcon.

-tHn

2004-05-24T09:47:00.000-04:00

Warehouse Next Door was fun. You must explore the gunk inside Dan Deacon's head immediately. Sooner than immediately. Ask him to play you the one with the dirty title!
Onward to NC.

2004-05-23T10:51:00.000-04:00

(lining up wagons, clutching teddy bears, waving bye-bye)

Tour!

Here's the rundown, so you can all crowd into the VW bus and hit the parking lots early for hacky sack & radiator grilled cheese:

SUNDAY 5/23
The Warehouse Next Door
1021 7th Street (NW)
Washington, DC
202-783-3933

with Dan Deacon & Nuclear Powered Plants

not sure what time we're on...

WEDNESDAY 5/26
Ace's Basement
2428 High Point Road
Greensboro, NC

with Frontpage & DMW Acoustics

i have a hunch we're on first. this show is ALL AGES and starts at 8:30. $5.

THURSDAY 5/27
WE FESTIVAL 2004
Wilmington, NC's annual indie music festival (NOT the "3 day festival of country music and camping" that goes by the same name... be careful, or you may end up in a singalong of "The Angry American" or something)
Times are still TBA, and $1 gets you into the show for the WHOLE NIGHT. Great deal.
with Brian Grissom, The Feebles, Glass City Colonels, Majestic Twelve, and (drumroll) Dan Bryk. Holy cow.

Something's cooking for Tuesday night, as well. If it happens you'll hear it here FIRST.

love,

Thom, David, Kris & Jay

2004-02-25T23:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks for coming out to the shows. The new lineup sounds pretty disco fresh, we think.

We're working on a cover version of one (two, sorta) of our very favorite Joe Meek productions for a compilation due out in late March or April. More info to follow. Dance, robots, dance.

I heard "My Ever Changing Moods" in the grocery store today. Excellent.

-T(h)N

2004-02-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

I fear we have awakened Andre The Giant.

Hi. Really, hi. You have no idea how hello we are right now.

First: THANK YOU for your patience, kind words, demos (yes, we kept on checking the Big Sleep PO box), cards, letters, brickbats, panties, etc. while we were sleeping. There is much to report.

*We have a new, thrilling, saucy lineup with which to thrill you. David and Thom are now David, Thom, Chris, Jay and J.P.
*We're playing live all over the damn place over the next few months, have a ton of new material, and sound pretty fucking good right about now. Specifics? Here:

Sin-e - Tuesday, February 10 @ 8:00 p.m. (150 Attorney Street (@ Stanton), NYC)

Pianos - Sunday, February 22 @ 11:00 p.m. (158 Ludlow (@ Stanton), NYC)
w/ Mr. Friend (acoustic "My Robot Friend!!!") @ 9:00 p.m.
and Pale Horse & Rider (with Nova alum Mike Pride!!!) @ 10:00 p.m.

Uncle Joe's - Friday, March 5 (154 First Avenue (off Marin Street), Jersey City, NJ)
w/ our good friends Pistolero

Lit - Monday, March 15 (93 2nd Ave (between 5th & 6th St), NYC)
w/ fab popsters My Teenage Stride

...and more on the way, including potential swings up & down the northeast coast in the spring. Rocking is fun!

Yes, you can still get our debut full-length "The Jefferson Fracture" from Not Lame, Amazon, or Bigsleeprecords.com. Do it. It's a mindscramble. Hurts so good.

Check this shit out.

Thanks. Your ice cream is ready.

-Thom Nova (married-ass motherfucker)

2003-07-30T03:05:00.000-04:00

Tick tick, boom boom

We're at Pianos on Ludlow Street in NYC on 8/18. More details to follow.
The cabaret set will go poof for a while as we experiment with rock band-ness again.
David Nova (8pm) will be at Makor with Chris Mills (9pm) for a solo acoustic show on 8/12. Hear what our songs would sound like without my endless wankery.
The Tubes' "Love Bomb" is a very, very, very good record.