Sweet Sixteens 7″

a1: Sixteens Theme
a2: She Said Alright
b: When the Sun Comes Up
Label: Spin The Bottle Records (purchase here)
Listen: Myspace

Lafayette’s Sweet Sixteens have just released their debut 7″ on Toronto’s Spin the Bottle Records. Nobunny-esq ragers on the a-side (you know – Ramones riffs + drum machines + trashcan production) and a slow jam on the b-side. The party songs are awesome – “Sixteens Theme” featuring party-blowers, “She Said Alright” works on getting the blood going, though it is the lament – “When the Sun Comes Up” – which features the prominent use of the “March” rhythm on a Casio-SK1, is the highlight here. If you love Nobunny, Romanc Novels, Eric and the Happy Thoughts and Hunx, there is no reason why you wouldn’t love this too.

Death – …For the Whole World To See LP

Previously on Seven Ten Twelve…

Label: Drag City
Listen: Myspace or Chunklet (for mp3s)

Today, February 17th, marks the release date of Drag City’s newest reissue, Death’s …For the Whole World To See.

The backstory of this record is admittedly less fascinating than Drag City’s other recent reissue icon, J.T. IV. For the sake of not telling a story again word for word, let’s make it short. Basically, three guys from Detroit formed a band. In 1974, they recorded a full-length for Columbia Records. Said label wanted them to change their band name to something more marketable. They said no and instead, self-released the Politicians In My Eyes 7″ in 1976. Since then, that 7″ has become a highly sought-after collector’s item.

However, like J.T. IV, the story has resulted in a fantastic record. The seven tracks on …For the Whole World To See have been called a literal predecessor to the Bad Brains. While I can hear it, Death sound a lot more like a traditional rock’n’roll band than the Bad Brains’ punk style. Not that I’m complaining, I just think Thin Lizzy would be a more suitable comparison to make, if you’re into that kind of thing (and the recording date of this predates the release of Jailbreak by two years!). I really want to single out tracks to highlight on here but hell, with only seven tracks, all of them are worthy of classic rock anthem status. These should be played on classic rock radio, and it would be, if said radio stations had a farther reach.

As far as I know, Drag City has sold out of the LPs on pre-orders but check the distros listed at the side. Soon enough, they should have some in. Better yet, check your local record store if they have it in. Copies of this, I hear, are not as scarce as the J.T. IV LP (which has just been repressed, as a matter of fact).

Sacred Bones New Release Fest

My favourite record label Sacred Bones has FIVE new releases that you can order from their site right now, which is pretty damn exciting. What a treat! All of these still have the “Special Editions” available still.

Zola Jesus New Amsterdam CDR

It has taken me a while to get into Zola Jesus – basically because I haven’t really given it a lot of time. I got that Die Stasi XXperiments compilation which features a bunch of “Crimson Wave” artists like US Girls, Cro Magnon and the Zola Jesus song on that blows everything else out of the water.

Gary War – Zontag 7″

This might be too easy, but Gary War totally reminds me of Blank Dogs, but sounds like he exists in his own world at the same time.

Spirit Photography – Time is Wasting 7″

Featuring members of Christmas Island (whom I like a great deal), this one is the one I might be most looking forward to out of this whole batch – broody, kind of reminds me of early Bauhaus with drum machines. Stoked for their upcoming 4-way split with Sharp Ends and The O’Voids!!

Max Elliott: The Nature O’ Nature 7″

For my $$$, the Jerkwave cassette from Max Elliott was my favourite (aka: most listened to) cassette release from 2k8, so of course I am excited to hear more! Had no idea that he was a member of the UBER (too?) prolific Absinthe Minds, but I guess that makes sense.

Pink Noise – Gold Light 7″

More Pink Noise is always a good thing. If you missed out on the Sacred Bones LP from last year, you need to get on that asap – Ebay Save Search that shit!

____________________

I’ve been “composing” this post for like an hour now, and I’ve had CNN on in the background. Top news story : a fireball of some sort over Texas! They are saying “space junk”, but I think we all know that is an obvious cover-up. When is the American government going to come clean about UFOs?

Apollo Ghosts – Hastings Sunrise LP

Label: Self – Released

Listen: Myspace

My friend Jarrett Evan Samson (who I’ve “known” for a long time on various Guided By Voices message boards, but who is a member of such awesome bands as Collapsing Opposites / Role Mach / Shipyards; he is also going to be part of the Endangered Ape vinyl debut soon-ish! This is a lot of information for a bracket. Perhaps it should have been a footnote? Too late now…) sent me this record from The Apollo Ghosts in the mail because he just thought I should hear it. Which, in my opinion, is a pretty nice thing to do. I’m trying to figure out something to send back. Maybe a copy of the NoBunny record? Turns out that I had been hearing about this record from another online “acquaintance” Ryan Catbird (who I “know” from the Destroyer message board, and who runs the only indie-centric music blog that I still read), and I am embarassed to admit that I was going to order a copy for myself, even though Jarret said he was sending me a copy. I was waiting for Payday actually, and then “MAGIC” here is

This might be the nerdiest opening paragraph in 7/10/12 history.  Internet friends!

Like a Destroyer record, Apollo Ghost’s Hastings Sunrise is all about unique vocal delivery delivering clever lyrics. In this case, Adrian Teacher employs a variation of the classic baroque-pop style that evokes the romantic-pop of the mid 80’s. Even with the emphasis on that voice, delivering those lyrics, there is lots to grab onto here – from the great production (JC/DC studios, just like a Destroyer record!), to the two minute pop-songs floating around this album. Most of these songs hover around the two minute mark, which gives the album a sense of urgency from start to finish even when the songs slow down and Teacher takes on the role of plaintive crooner (“Ghost, Get Out of My Apartment” reminds me of that awesome Devon Williams album from last year).  Album highlight comes in the form of the jittery second track, “Land of the Morning Calm” which, at two-minutes is one of those songs that advocates finish/restart/finish/restart behavour – one of the best pop-songs I’ve heard in a long time. At 300 copies on vinyl (available through their myspace page), Hastings Sunrise is a debut that marks the start of a brilliant career.

The Spooks – Death From Beyond the Grave – LP

Label: Die Slaughterhaus
Buy: From the Label
Listen: Myspace

The Spooks is a “Ghost-rock” band featuring Cole, Jared and Joe of the Black lips, as well as some people from Deerhunter and The Kiwis (though I don’t know who).  According to the Die Slaughterhaus website, “the seven year wait is over!”, though I’m not sure exactly who was waiting for this for seven years.

Look, I’m not wanting to jump on any Black Lips backlash bandwagon – I think the new single is pretty good, I honestly think that “Good Bad Not Evil” is a great record with some great songs. Though I haven’t listened to the new album (which has apparently leaked), I’m kind of excited to hear it, and I’ll give it an honest chance because Black Lips are one of my favourite bands.

But this Spooks LP is something else entirely – dreadful might be the word I am looking for. Sounds like The Black Lips featuring “spooky” (re: annoying) keys with lots of background “woooooooooohhhhooohhhhh” vocals (you know, the “scary” ghost sound). The whole thing is mired in the worst lo-fi production that makes the whole thing sound like garbage.  This is the worst record I have spent money on in at least a year.

On the plus side:  the LP comes with 3D glasses, and the cover is 3D, so that is cool.

For fans only.

Transmit Vinyl

And now for something entirely different…

Last December, I put out the cassette only Alberta Boom! compilation on my label Mammoth Cave (featuring The Wicked Awesomes, The Ostrich, Pine Tarts, Los Cremators, Menehune and my own band Endangered Ape). Given that this was a cassette, and there are a lot of people without cassette-players, I wanted to include a a digital download code.

Looking around for this service, I found a few companies that were doing it, but at a cost that nearly doubled my budget (lowest price for a similar was $120, highest is around $250). In talking to my friend and computer coding genius Jeff King about my predicament, he told me that he could work up some code to do just this, and here Transmit Vinyl was born.

The idea isn’t new, but the pricing is – we are aimed at the numerous small-labels doing micro-releases on tiny budgets. We are currently offering an introductory rate of $25 for 500 unique codes for 192K Mp3s (though we can be flexible on this).

For $25 we offer:

– Hosting that is guaranteed for min 5 years (likely much longer than that)

– Each code gets 4 downloads in a 24 hour time-frame to minimize code-sharing.

– Customizable download code-ticket that can include the album art or your label’s logo

– Quick Turnaround time – In one business day from the time we get everything. from you, you will get a .pdf that you can print out, and insert into your vinyl or cassette release (this saves on shipping and printing – just do it yourself).

– Every label will get their own web url (for example, like the one for Mammoth Cave – http://mammothcave.transmitvinyl.com/) that we can set up for you.

Labels, get in touch! Email me: paul@transmitvinyl.com

The Marked Men – Ghosts LP

Label: Dirtnap
Listen: Punknews (Stream the whole record! Even in super-low quality!)
Buy: Goner

One of the reasons I love the Marked Men is that they are succinct. They come in, make their point, and leave as quickly as they came. Leaves you wanting more, which I guess is ultimately what every good band should achieve. On their new record, Ghosts, their songs are shorter than ever, and yet, their musical ideas are still fully formed. In honor of their succinctness, I would like to sum up the Marked Men’s new record in haiku form:

As great as ever
Killer, rock-out choruses
Atrocious cover

Auction for Anna!

Today is the last day you can put your bids in for the Auction for Anna over at the Goner Records site. Anna is the daughter of Goner Records owner Zac Ives, and has been battling cancer for two years now. Ives’ partner at Goner, Eric Friedl, has organized a benefit project to help ease some of the family’s financial strain.

Bidding ends tonight at 6pm EST, and there are lots of amazing things available. If you don’t win anything, think about making a direct donation anyways!