January 2000 Parasol Newsletter

Issue #27

Happy New Year. The shopping cart is up at www.parasol.com, but we haven't forgotten our roots. A new catalog is printing this week. Look for yours in the mail soon.

1999 WRAP UP

The first Parasol release of 1999 signaled heightened activity for 1997's in-house startup label Hidden Agenda. Following up the success of '97's Ken Stringfellow solo debut and '98's Elephant 6 East co-branded release of the Gerbils' Are You Sleepy, HA kicked into high gear with four full-length CDs and one 7" single. The 7" was Bikeride's "America's Favorite Omellettes" EP-length small-holer that included a lo-fi version of the Go Gos hit "Our Lips Are Sealed" on the B-Side. "America's Favorite Omellettes" was the only song to also appear on the 37 Secrets I Only Told America album that was issued three months later. Containing infectious Beach Boys-meets-Apples in Stereo hijinx, 37 Secrets was reviewed favorably in MOJO, Amplifier, and Bucketfull of Brains and was coveted for licensing purposes by no less than five Japanese record labels. Alternative format demand was so intense that HA pressed vinyl copies that sold out in a few months. Anticipation is high for the Bikeride Dogs EP 10-inch vinyl only release that was put into production in late 1999, but won't reach turntables until early 2000. Parasol's most pleasant surprise of the year was released less than two weeks after Bikeride's single. Local musician and all around quiet guy Todd Fletcher had a standing offer from Parasol ever since Todd's previous band Twiggy recorded two 7" singles in the mid-'90s. We were stunned by the masters Todd delivered. Often piano driven and soaked in Beach Boys-esque vocal arrangements it was clear that we had a desert island disc to offer the world. Even Todd's suggestions that the band be named June & the Exit Wounds and the album be titled a little more Haven Hamilton, please left us undeterred. Within eight months we pressed vinyl LPs (with an exclusive bonus 7") and Haven Hamilton became the biggest seller ever on the Parasol Records label. We're excited to report that songs from Haven Hamilton will be used on Japan Airlines' in-flight programming schedule and on a German Rolling Stone Magazine "new voices" sampler. The hot streak continued in March when the wildly popular Wolfie released their sophomore album on Parasol. Containing the same elements as the band's Awful Mess Mystery debut, but inspired by old pop masters The Zombies and Herman's Hermits, Where's Wolfie (also pressed on LP) vaulted into the CMJ college radio Top 50. Sliding in nearly unnoticed on Mud Records was the 36 CD quasi-private-pressing of Williwaw's 60 Minutes of -0.50 dB Normalized Noise. Get your amplified ukulele fix here. The first Hidden Agenda CD release of 1999, Vitesse's A Certain Hostility, came out in April and seemed the perfect seasonal transition album from the cold of Winter to the warmth of Spring. We loved its Magnetic Fields-like textures and approach, and Lexicon Magazine reviewed it as one of the top synth-pop releases of the year. Later in April, old friend (and promising boyfriend to you ladies), Australian Tim Best, became the first Parasol artist to release CDs under three different project names (the first two being Girl of the World and Hispana Tim). The month closed with the second Hidden Agenda CD of '99 and our first arrangement with Great Britain's Kitty Kitty Corp. Novak's self-titled debut received accolades from AP, Raygun, and CMJ, for its Stereolab-meets-Sonic Youth landscapes…and the rocking flute! Though the band broke up before the end of the year, Novak was one of Parasol Mail Order's top sellers of 1999. As Spring closed we finalized our digital distribution deal with eMusic.com. In addition to offering most of our current releases for sale in the mp3 format, eMusic.com is the only place that is selling out-of-print albums from Castor, Honcho Overload and Brian Leach. There's been a lot of press, good and bad, regarding mp3 and digital distribution. Call me and I'll tell you why we got on-board. May, June, and July featured releases from some stalwart Champaign-Urbana scenesters, and the rootsier '99 offerings. Signalmen, fronted by the songwriting duo of Mike Brosco and Steve Burton, introduced its twin guitar attack (a la Television) in May and was rewarded with a review comparing the band to Posies and Smithereens in Bob Guccione Jr's widely circulated Gear Magazine. Jack & the Beanstalk's Joe Algeri collected old and new songs (including a track recorded with Adam Schmitt) for his solo debut Joe Algeri Sings… while Chicago's Philo became the third band to release a CD on Spur Records. With roots in both country and punk The Trouble With Girls highlighted the styles' musical convergence. Bob Kimbell ventured back to Champaign to produce former Weird Summer band mate Nick Rudd's first album since his 1993 debut under the band name Blown. A lot of fans of Nick's intelligent pop songs must have been waiting because One Track Mind was among the top 25 Mail Order items for the year. Between Wilco gigs Jay Bennett found time to compile tracks from 1991 sessions that he participated in with Don Gerard, Steve Pride and a gaggle of drummers, to produce the Steve Pride & His Blood Kin album Pride on Pride. Jeff Tweedy weighed in with, "Before there was 'No Depression' or 'Alternative Country,' there was just fuckin' good bands like Steve Pride and His Blood Kin. I liked them so much I stole their guitar player." Boot Camp closed out the month of July with their star-studded release. No other 1999 Parasol CD featured Robin Zander, Bruce Kulick, Adam Schmitt and Brian Leach. Muscular power pop indeed. As the college radio season began we released two of our highest profile CDs of the year. Very Secretary followed up their wonderful contribution to the Post Marked Stamps compilation with the melancholy strains of Mud Records' Standing in the Shade. College radio responded with Top 100 chart numbers and word-of-mouth fever feeding nationwide. Another college radio fave, Quickspace's Precious Falling, closed out Hidden Agenda's year with critical plaudits, including a Top 20 Album of the Year listing by Magnet. Look for Quickspace's profile to rise considerably as the power of Matador gets behind this Kitty Kitty band's forthcoming release. Just prior to their second consecutive appearance at CMJ's Music Marathon, Toothpaste 2000 released their third, co-ed, good-time-pop-album, Bachelorette! This Seattle based duo survived the WTO riots to see their album featured among Beck and Bush releases on eMusic's highly traveled front page. Still in September, Brian Leach and boyhood buddy John Ross joined forces with Chicago drummer Tom Curless to produce diverse, orchestrated guitar driven pop under the band name Life On Mars, then (and now) Autoliner. Look for the newly named re-issue in early 2000. The fourth quarter of the year began with new music from Doleful Lions. A bit of a more "rock" affair than the band's 1998 debut, The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! mixed melody, Jonathan Scott's engaging voice, and love songs couched in mythology and classic horror themes. Mud Records next release came courtesy of three 15-year-old girls. Major labels are blamed for not doing enough artist development and Feaze is proof that Parasol is all about artist development. Morning Wood was produced by Poster Kids' Rick Valentin and displays the sweetness, vulnerability, and awkwardness of youth. It will be forgotten by graduation or collected for years to come. We expect the latter. On November 4th Parasol released the second 7" single of 1999 and the first notice that the new Starlet album will be one of our most popular items of 2000. "Diary & Herself" includes an exclusive B-Side, and enough Belle & Sebastian solitude to make the indie-pop kids quiver. The final Mud Records release was Beezus' farewell Dashboard EP CD. Recorded prior to the band's split in early 1999, these four songs are Beezus' best recordings. Joe & Amanda from Wolfie, recording as Busytoby, closed out our 1999 release schedule with the highly personal It's Good To Be Alive CD. The duo look-back from their prospective future as grandparents and realize it's all about love. Parasol finished off the year by shipping final parts for six CDs to Japan's Philter Records. Fans in Southeast Asia will be able to buy previously released Starlet, Wolfie, June & the Exit Wounds and Bikeride CDs with bonus tracks. We're looking forward to 2000. We hope you'll be there with us.

COMING SOON

Starlet-Stay On My Side CD due in January

Bikeride-Dogs EP 10" with 7 unreleased songs due in January

Great Crusades-Damaged Goods CD due in March

Matt Bruno-Punch and Beauty CD due in February

White Town-Peek & Poke CD due in February

George Usher-Days of Plenty CD due in March

Great Crusades-TBA CD due in March

St. Christopher-TBA CD due in early 2000

Vitesse-TBA CD due in 2000

SOME PARASOL RELATED ARTIST ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS

Philo's Jeff Cohen

1. Mixing session you wish you could have attended-"Anything that Rudy van Gelder engineered, the godfather of near-side mic-ing technique. We tried to pay homage on 'One Cheating Bride' and 'Cupid'".

2. Songs you think you probably shouldn't like but just can't help yourself-"Probably shouldn't like, or definitely shouldn't like? Definitely not 'Summer of '69', but hey, I got my first real six string...Another one is 'Katmandu'--wait a sec, I hate that song!"

3. Favorite record that you can't find on CD- "T-Bone Burnett's first EP, Trap Door. Another is Syd Straw's first record, Surprise. She puts all of these waif female singer songwriters to shame. These should be widely-available but I can't find 'em."

4. First Concert- "Mabels (Champaign, Illinois), 1982. Black Flag. Was it 1982? Hey, who went to the follow up gig at Eric Jakobson's house the next night?"

5. Favorite Bass Player-"This one is hard...on the one hand is Michael Anthony, Van Halen's bassist, arguably at the top of the money to talent ratio. You gotta admire a guy who is sooo bad, and still hung on to make millions and get the chicks. But seriously, Chris Linster, of the seminal Chicago punk band, the Fawns. Albini applied a lot of Linster's techniques to his own playing."

Chicago's New City once tabbed Cohen the "Midwest's Elvis Costello," which supports Philo's reputation as an outfit focusing on songwriting and lyrics. Though the band has country AND rock/punk origins, this dichotomy of styles has allowed Philo to play on diverse bills, including Flaco Jimenez, Freakwater, and Billy Joe Shaver on the one hand, and Matthew Sweet, Buffalo Tom, Afghan Whigs, and Jack Logan on the other.

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