Hozac Gold Rush is ON!

You know the drill. Hozac does super cool limited-to-150 “gold” editions for their releases. My favourites thus far were the White Savage gold edition that came in a white-fur sleeve, or the Bold Ones magnetic cover from the last batch. I am crazy busy still, so I am just going to post the pre-order email that just came 5 minutes ago:

HZR-015  LOVER! – No More Reasons b/w All Alone 7″
Rich Crook has already blazed a frightfully righteous pop pathway through the better part of 2007 with two stellar LPs and two great singles showcasing the hidden songwriting talents he always kept to himself while occupying the drumstool for such notable bands as The Reatards, Lost Sounds, and Viva L’American Death Ray, so once his songs reached the surface in his project with Jack Oblivian, The Knaughty Knights, it was apparent that Crook needed his own rocking vehicle to spread his undeniable pop sense to the outer limits of the rock’n roll underworld. HoZac Records is proud to present his first domestic vinyl release with a two-song 7″ of back to back brilliance for your listening pleasure. First 150 Gold editions come wrapped in an alternate bubblegum sleeve!

HZR-016  CATATONIC YOUTH – Piss Scene 7″ EP
The once mysterious, always refreshing blast of Catatonic Youth has finally culminated in their debut 7″ EP, cranking out three static-charged tracks of simply sadistic and savagely seductive songs of utter despair and confusion in the most pleasant packaging you’ve seen in months. Each numbered edition (both Gold and Black) comes with a foldout poster and photo insert, and hand-stamped labels to round out the sickness that is the Catatonic Youth experience. This is the first of many great releases to come from this wonderfully unsettling Northwest enigma, and we’re proud to present their first EP right here, for your salacious consumption. First 150 Gold editions on clear vinyl with alternate sleeve & poster.

HZR-017  SMITH WESTERNS – Irukandji 7″ EP
Chicago’s teenage sensations, Smith Westerns’ debut 7″ EP is here to wash away your doubts as to what the next wave of kids will bring to the table in terms of raw rock’n roll, and the instantly classic three songs contained herein are creatively blasted through sickening waves of distortion that prove they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but just plain have fun and revel in their teenage fervor while it lasts. With the dyanamic slop aesthetic of primo early Red Cross sewn unofficially at their base, these kids bowl over their elders with unassuming ease and make their first appearance on vinyl one to remember for years to come. First 150 Gold editions come in an alternate metallic gold sleeve design.

all ordering information is listed below so please get your copies right away if you “need” the gold edition.
(NOTE: *need = plasma, oxygen  *want = records, fancy sunglasses)

Ordering Info:

Sorry, but we have to limit the Gold Editions to ONE copy PER release title, PER order. Please don’t beg! If you order more than one copy per record, you will get one Gold edition (if still available) and one Black Edition, or possibly even TWO black editions if the Gold are sold out. That’s just the way this shit works folks. Lucky for you, we don’t release dogshit, so it shouldn’t be a problem. You can always trade these things, ya know…

Canada and Euro orders ship airmail.
All prices are postage paid. We are offering a special low price for one of each single which is obviously the best deal.

PLEASE INCLUDE WHICH RECORDS YOU’D LIKE IN YOUR comment field.

PAYPAL account is : todd (at) horizontalaction.com

USA
one 7″ – $6.50 ppd
two 7″ – $11.75 ppd
three 7″ – $16.50 ppd
four 7″ – $21.25 ppd
five 7″ – $26.00 ppd
six 7″ – $30.75 ppd

CANADA/MEX/South America
one 7″ – $6.95 ppd
two 7″ – $13.25 ppd
three 7″ – $18.25ppd
four 7″ – $23.00 ppd
five 7″ – $27.75 ppd
six 7″ – $31.75 ppd

EUROPE/rest of WORLD
one 7″ – $9.95 ppd
two 7″ – $16.95 ppd
three 7″ – $21.95 ppd
four 7″ – $26.95 ppd
five 7″ – $31.95 ppd
six 7″ – $36.50 ppd

Electric Bunnies – Fantastic Metal Eye 7″ Preorder!!

Hey! Don’t miss this one from the Electric Bunnies, one of my favourite bands around right now. Been looking forward to this single from Columbus Discount Recordings for months now.  How sweet is that sleeve?  Go listen to “Fantastic Metal Eye” if you need a push. First 100 across the line get a blue record instead of a black one.

Temporary Hiatus

Due to travel, Phd Candidacy exam, and getting Endangered Ape ready for the slew of shows we have coming up, SevenTenTwelve is going to be taking a brief hiatus, until June 10, 2008. I may still post sporadically in the interim (mostly pre-order news). I have run down my supply of records to talk about, so this will give me a chance to accumulate more (labels: don’t hesitate to send me records!).

Saw Devon Williams and Destroyer last night, and it was great. Devon put on a fantastic show, and I have been listening to the new full length Carefree all day (vinyl out on Olfactory Records). I’ll write more about it later, but for now I will say that it is fucking good. Destroyer made quite the racket, playing almost exclusively songs from This Night and Trouble in Dreams. All in all, I am fine with that – Destroyer really brought the rock.

Cheveu – S/T LP

Label: S-S
Buy: S-S
Listen: Myspace

Since Cheveu’s debut arrived here a few weeks ago, it has been in near constant play. In fact, I just re-shelved a shit-load of records on the weekend, leaving out two – Cheveu and The Hospitals “Hairdryer Peace”. Though, if I am being honest for a second, I think this one gets more play (I feel like I can put it on when I have people over, which when I try to do with The Hospitals, my less-musically adventurous friends give me the stink eye, whereas everyone gets behind Cheveu).

I think to myself, when I play this record, “why the fuck is this not the biggest record in America right now” (though I think that about everything I like) – and have come to the conclusion that there are two things holding it back from the get-go. 1: They are French, and people are scared off because they hate “World Music” 2: Pitchfork doesn’t write about them. Which is a real shame, because this is such a fine record. Most of the songs have a real privative, post-punk feel, though with the use of Casio-keyboard drum tracks give it kind of an electro vibe as well (though if “electro” scares you off,the canned drums are really blended in nicely, and rarely dominate).

A few songs are going to immediately jump out – “Happiness”, in which Cheveu turn down the volume, and the singer (?) has a real moment of self-hatred, singing about how boring he is, and even though you try to tell him otherwise, he can tell you are just saying it to make him feel better. Though it sticks out on the record, I dig the vibe. My other favourite song is “Herman choune” (which is on the myspace player) – I think it is the vocal delivery in the verses, the rhythmic quality really giving it an addictive quality.

Long story short – if you don’t have this record, now is the time (I don’t think S-S has many copies left, and who knows what the re-press situation will be like, and this one comes in beautiful white vinyl).

Jay Reatard – “Painted Shut” 7″ Pre-Order

a: Painted Shut
b: An Ugly Death

Label: Matador
Pre-Order: Matador

As with last months “See-Saw” 7″, Matador is taking pre-orders on the new Jay Reatard single that should be officially released next week or so. They keep talking about “extremely limited”, but no idea what that actually means (you can still get “See-Saw” from Matador). You want these for the awesome musics anyways mang, so don’t worry about your ability to flip these on ebay in a month, and get it because the music is good.

In other Jay Reatard news – In The Red is putting out a compilation of all the early (and impossible to afford) singles as a double LP, so look for that. I’ve been wanting a copy of the “Night of Broken Glass” 7″ for a long while, but am waiting for the Reatard-backlash so I can actually afford a copy, so this will do for now.

Girls of the Gravatron – “Manthusian Love Song” 7″ Pre-Order

Pre Order: Boom Chick Records

Listen: Myspace

BoomChick just announced that they have a pre-order for the new Girls of the Gravitron “Malthusian Love Song” +2 7″.

I hadn’t heard of this band before today, but apparently it features members of Barbaras who I wrote about the other day. The first 100 come in a different cover and are numbered to 100, but 75 are going to the band for their upcoming tour. Total pressing of of 400 on black vinyl.

Girls of the Gravatron are another awesome Memphis band recording in a garbage can, doing everything they can to hide their sweet, sweet melodies. Those sweet melodies are there, and will rot your fucking teeth out. “Malthusian Love Song,” which is on their Myspace page, will put you in a right proper mood. Can’t wait for this one.

Hospitals – Hairdryer Peace

Buy: From the Band

Listen: Myspace

Here’s the thing: you don’t know a lot about Hostpitals, or you do, and you thought their last albums sucked – this is the only reason I can come up with why one can still get a copy of this record (limited to 500 copies). Let me add another voice to the praise (500 self-released copies of this record will equal 500 people on the Internet saying how fucking great it is): this is easily the best LP I’ve heard this year (so far). There might be other great records, but this is just something else all together. It makes sense to be skeptical of such hype (I generally am), but if you like “this” type of music, Hairdryer Peace will knock your ass flat.

Hairdryer Peace is an achievement – everything you like about what is happening in the lo-fi music scene right now condensed into one album. Noisy as a record can get (I read somewhere that this was mastered by the guy who mastered Times New Viking’s “Rip it Off”, which makes sense) – with everything completely blown out, everything in the red in a wall to wall sonic noise fuck-fest. Yet, hidden throughout are gems of unexpected sweetness, little blasts of melody.

More than anything, Hairdryer Peace feels like one cohesive track, with the band returning to a few motifs and riffs, and with everything drenched in the same aesthetic, it is going to be a difficult task to convince a Belle and Sebastian fan that this is anything but noise. Yet, just spending one day with the record, there is much more than noise here. In the static emerge patterns, and from the patterns emerge songs. Good songs. Innovation is everywhere.

If you have ever read SevenTenTwelve, and bought something because I have been so enthusiastic about it, and you got that and went “shit, Paul was dead on here,” don’t even hesitate for a minute to order this record. Once these start arriving in mailboxes over the next week or two, and more posts like this pop up, more message board chatter emerges, you are going to be sad to have missed it. Your record collection is going to feel wanting.

Destroyer / Wye Oak Split 7″

a: Destroyer – Madame Butterfly
b: Wye Oak – Prodigy
Label: Merge Records
Buy: eBay
Listen: So Much Silence Blog

We all have our hangups, right? Those bands, artists and whatnot that we just can’t leave behind or live without. I have a couple, one being Destroyer (which should be painfully obvious to the punks reading this blog). For me, its all about his lyrics, which generally appeal to my elitist academic side with all the obscure literary references (when you get those, don’t you just feel like the smartest shit out there?). I dig the way that Dan fucks with people, making sure that everything he releases sounds different (the newest album is really confounding those who joined in with Rubies, simply because it isn’t Rubies II. When you read his list of influences, it is such a mixed bag that this makes perfect sense (from The Fall and Pere Ubu, to The Apartments), and I appreciate the innovation.

This split 7″ was free Record Store Day, and as these things work, none of the record stores I go to had them. Now the only way to get the single is from eBay, and thankfully because a lot of the record store owners did the same thing (“hey, instead of giving these away, I am just going to sell them on eBay!”), you can get it for around $5, which is fine.

The Destroyer side isn’t essential as far as his cataloge goes, but it is a pleasant enough “Trouble in Dreams” outtake, drawing from the same Syd Barrett style that you find all over that album. The Wye Oak side isn’t really my thing, with hushed folky guitars over some soulful female vocals. Nothing wrong with it, per say, there just isn’t really anything new here.

Wicked Awesomes!/O Voids Split 7″ ready to order

Lost in Space records just announced that their split with the Wicked Awesomes!/O Voids is ready for ordering (500 copies with the first 100 on clear wax). Uber excited about this single, as The Wicked Awesomes! are one of my favourite bands of the moment, and this is their first vinyl release (with another single coming from Almost Ready Records soon). Also: this single has “Fighting the Wolf Spirit” on it, which is worth the price of admission alone.

7.50 ppd US and Canada
9.50 ppd International
(US, or Can funds)
Paypal: lostinspacerecords @ hotmail.com

The Barbaras – Summertime Road 7″

a: Summertime Road
b1: Day at the Shrine
b2: Flow

Label: Goner Records
Buy: Goner Records
Listen: Myspace

I like it when my musical choices coincide with what kind of day it is outside. No one wants to listen to The Beach Boys in November.

This little single perfectly represents the kind of day it is here right now. Busted out the shorts for the first time this year, feeling uninspired to do little but sit outside and soak up the sun (Sheryl Crow just had that so right). Felt like the perfect day to put on this Barbara’s record (look at that cover – it even has a fucking Sun on it), drink a case of non-ironic beer and just let the music wash over me.

The Barbaras are a sunshine-pop band from Memphis, and feature two members of Jay Reatard’s band. They specialize in sunny pop-music, but leave in the grime that comes from their lo-fi recording techniques, and which ultimately allows them to pull off what people wanted that (weak) Panda Bear album from last year to be – psychedelic without being boring and overly repetitive. This one is good natured, like the happy drunk who just wants to be your friend, man. Highly reccomended.

_____________

Programming note:

Going to be recording an episode of Jason (Seven Inches)’s podcast tomorrow. We are recording via Skype, and I’m pulling out all my favourite Guided by Voices singles. If you haven’t read Jason’s blog yet, you should because it is awesome; if you haven’t listened to his podcast, you should, because that too is awesome.

Sled Island Festival

Calgary, Alberta (Canada – the world!) is hosting the second annual Sled Island festival between June 25-28. The lineup this year is absolutely insane (Wire!!), and I am writing about this here because my band Endangered Ape is playing, as well as other SevenTenTwelve favourites such as NO AGE, The Ostrich, The Cryptomanics, DD/MM/YYYY, Japandroids and Azeda Booth. Plus, lots of other big-name acts to get excited about – Deerhunter, Mogwai, Of Montreal, Yo La Tengo, Drive By Truckers, Okkerville River, Scout Niblett…

Here’s the full lineup:

Aaron Booth
The Absent Sound
Apostle of Hustle
Axis of Conversation
Azeda Booth
Basketball
BBQ
Beija Flor
Bend Sinister
Bil Hetherington and the Asian Tigers
Bison
The Blakes
The Blind Shake
Blind Tiger, Tiger
Blitzen Trapper
The Blood Lines
Boats
The Brenda Vaqueros
Broken Social Scene
Broken West
Capital RRR’s
Carolyn Mark
Chad VanGaalen
Chixdiggit
Chris Gheran
Christian Hansen and the Autistics
Christmas
The City Streets
Clinton St. John
The Clips
The Coast
The Consonant C
The Cops
Cripple Creek Fairies
Crookers
The Cryptomaniacs
Curtis Santiago
Dan Deacon
Darren Frank
DD/MM/YYYY
Deerhunter
The Details
The Dirty Dirty North
The Dodos
Dojo Workhorse
Dragon Fli Empire
Drive By Truckers
Elizabeth
Elliott Brood
Enablers
Endangered Ape
Extra Golden
Fake Shark Real Zombie!
The Fast Romantics
The Faunts
Forest Tate Fraser
Francis Cheer
Fucked Up
The Funfuns
Ghost Bees
Grizzly Bear
Ground Up
Gutterawl
The Gutter Twins
Hawaiian Bibles
Headlights
Heat Ray
The Hermit
Hilotrons
Honeybear
Hot Little Rocket
Hunter Gatherer
Jane Vain & the Dark Matter
Japandroids
Jesse Dangerously
Jon McKiel
Jose Gonzalez
Junior Pantherz
Kara Keith and Your Dignity
Katie Stelmanis
Key to The City
Knots
Kris Ellestad
Langhorne Slim
Leeroy Stagger
Library Voices
Life Like Cobra
lint
lonely hunters
Luther Wright
The Madcowboys
Mantrakid
The Martyr Index
Matt Masters
Mogwai
The Mohawk Lodge
Morgan Greenwood
Mother Mother
Mt.Royal
Nathan Godfrey
The Neckers
The Neighborhood Council
Nina Nastasia
No Age
Novillero
Octoberman
Of Montreal
Okkervil River
Ole
The Ostrich
Painted Birds
The Paperbacks
Paul James Coutts & Chains
PiNE TARTS
Portastatic
Portico
Qui
Raccoon
Ramblin’ Ambassadors
Random Task Collective
Raphaelle Standell-Preston
Ricca Razor Sharp & DJ Jetleg
Rich Aucoin
Rio Bent
Rock Plaza Central
Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees
RZA as Bobby Digital featuring Stone Mecca
The Secret Machines
The Secret Twins
Scott MacLeod
Scout Niblett
7 and 7 is
Seven Story Redhead
Shuyler Jansen
SIDS
snic
Still Flyin’
The Stolen Organ Family Band
Stonehocker
Sub Linguals
The Suicide Wrists
Sunparlour Players
Sweater Contest
The Teenage Popes
Tegan and Sara
These Hands
The Tetraktys
Tren Brothers
The Uncas
The Unwanted
The Vicious Crystals
The Von Zippers
The Warbrides
The Wet Secrets
The Whitsundays
Wire
Wizards
Womb Baby
Women
Woodpigeon
Yo La Tengo
Young and Sexy

Joy Division – 7″ reissues (bootlegs?)

Transmission 7″
a: Transmission
b: Novelty

Factory Records Sampler 2×7″
a1: Digital – Joy Division
a2: Glass – Joy Division
b1: No Communication – The Durutti Column
b2: Thin Ice (Detail) – The Durutti Column
c1: Acne – John Dowie
c2: Idiot – John Dowie
c3: Hitler’s Liver – John Dowie
d1: Bader Meinhof – Cabaret Voltaire
d2: Sex In Secret – Cabaret Voltaire

I got this email the other day from the eBay seller that I bought my Sordide Sentimental 7″ reissue telling me that they had these in stock (both singles combined for $25+shipping). I am a little skeptical that they are bootlegs (for no other reason than the fact that I can’t find any other mention of them anywhere), though I will admit that these do look very nice. The Transmission 7″ comes in red vinyl, and the Factory 2×7 sampler being done up on “silver rice paper” and it comes with the same stickers that the original issue had. The eBay seller is apparently importing these from the UK, which should explain the price.

Of all the Joy Division standards, “Transmission” was one that I only came to appreciate later on in my twenties. When I used to rock Joy Division in my walkman as a lad, I always thought that compared to their other songs, “Transmission” was lyrically uncompelling (“DANCE DANCE DANCE TO THE RADIO!”). I finally “got it” when I was in California taking a tour of a relative’s bronze-sculpture foundry. I heard it come over the radio, set against these two dudes wearing hazmat suits (or something) standing over this molten-fire-pit-thingy, with “Transmission” blasting over them.

For Christmas this year, my lovely girlfriend got me that artsy/pricey Joy Division vinyl box set that Rhino put out last year. Comes in this beautiful cloth-covered box designed by Peter Saville (the original Factory records artist – she got me the Saville art book for my birthday last year as well). This thing is really expensive ($200?), I would hold off on rushing into this unless you can get a good deal on it. Inside the box is a copy of Closer, Unknown Pleasures and Still, but they come in “original art” (designed by Saville), which is essentially a plain white, black and grey cover (for each of the records respectively); none of the albums are labeled or have any writing on them, and there is no other information inside the box aside from a small piece of paper with a list of songs. When I opened it, I thought it was a mistake, and actually emailed Rhino that the “original” art was missing; they told me that it was “original” as in “new” and not original as in “the same”.