Parasol Label Group News

Songs Of The Pogo

Parasol Records — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:47:00 +0000

Our Reaction re-issue imprint's Songs of the Pogo CD by Walt Kelly and Norman Monath was featured on blog-center-of-the-universe BoingBoing today, and we couldn't be more pleaseed to have this labor-of-love release mentioned in their "Directory of Wonderful Things". Heck, they also hipped us to the fact that They Might Be Giants recently covered a Pogo song, "Whence That Wince", and even did a video...

REACTCD002

Richard Lloyd

Parasol Records — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:41:00 +0000

Print reviews confirmed in upcoming issues of Rolling Stone, SPIN, Magnet and Harp for Reaction Recordings deluxe DCD re-issue of Richard Lloyd's Field Of Fire....

On the worldwideweb the DCD has been featured this week in Tom Moon's 'Shadow Classics' column for NPR, and by esteemed rock scribe David Fricke for Rolling Stone's online Rock Daily column.

ROLLING STONE/ROCK DAILY: "A double-vision reissue of Television guitarist Richard Lloyd’s second solo album: a CD of the complete 1987 release; another CD of Lloyd freshening the rushed, dated production on the original tapes with new vocals and more guitars. They are both great albums. The first highlights the Keith Richards-style bite Lloyd brought to Television’s guitar poetry; the second peels back the reverb and emphasizes the slicing force Lloyd brings to every stage." (David Fricke)

NPR/SHADOW CLASSICS: "Lloyd deserves the chance to tweak his music and bring it closer to what he heard in his head all those years ago. And, at the same time, those who loved and have missed the original deserve to encounter it as they remember it. Give this veteran of the rock trenches who remains woefully under-appreciated as a guitarist credit for understanding that, and offering both the tried-and-true and the new-and-improved." (Tom Moon)

ALL MUSIC GUIDE, 4.5 STARS: "Absolutely essential for all Richard Lloyd fans." (Stewart Mason)

REACTCD005

Steve Almaas And Ali Smith

Parasol Records — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:34:00 +0000

Steve And Ali's latest, You Showed Me, spent the holidays raking in postive press:

FUFKIN: "Almaas (ex- Suicide Commandos and Beat Rodeo) and Smith (ex-Speedball Baby) sure sound like they enjoyed making this top notch roots-pop record... This is a real winner of an album, where strong material is done justice by superb performances."

ADVANCE COPY: "If the Raveonettes ever explored their country-western side more..."

Plus a Magnet Magazine review so sweet we've reproduced it in it's entirety here:

Magnet: "Erstwhile Beat Rodeo mainman Steve Almaas had to be smarting last spring. That's when Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs released their collection of sunshine pop, Under The Covers, Vol. 1. Meanwhile, Almaas had his own set of golden-hued duets planned for himself and Ali Smith (ex-Speedball Baby). No matter that theirs was to be mostly originals and the Sweet/Hoffs summit comprised '60s covers; given the respective projects' stylistic and sonic similarities, overshadowing comparisons were inevitable. Never fear, though. Almaas and Smith bring a refreshing panache to the table, luxuriating simultaneously in Revolver-esque psych (that's Mitch Easter's 12-string squaring off against Jon Graboff's pedal steel and Smith's dreamy vocal on "Absolutely Free") and Buddy Holly-meets-Everly Brothers twang pop ("The Winner"). The pair's choice of covers, both from the '60s, brings an uncommon emotional resonance, too: one obscurity (aching Brian Wilson ballad "The Lonely Sea", from the Beach Boys' Surfin' USA) and one classic ("You Showed Me", a Gene Clarke/Roger McGuinn composition turned into a hit by the Turtles). Harmonizing like they sprang from the same womb, these songbirds have an easygoing style that's irresistible. Sweet and Hoffs may have been the first horses out of the gate, but Almaas and Smith are the ones who deserve to occupy the winners' circle." (Fred Mills/Jan-Feb 2007)

PARCD102

Doleful Lions

Parasol Records — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:09:00 +0000

Even more gush for the Doleful Lions' latest, Song Cyclops Volume Two:

Popmatters: "The sequel is usually never as good as the original. But Jonathan Scott hasn't really done anything that seems usual. The result is a very good collection of "throwaway" songs few would consider anything less than great... Doleful Lions might continue to get back to their adventurous, dreamy and lush brand of rock. But for this album, they’ve returned to a timeless, surefire format that ages as well as a bottle of wine. And it’s an extremely expensive bottle, of course."

The bloggers continue to chime in as well...

Advance Copy: "Like '60s bubbleyum pop filtered though psychedelic bedroom recordings."

But it's not all dancing sugarplums...there are two sides to every story, and The Illinois Entertainer's Andy Argyrakis perhaps misunderstands the demo/bedroom/lo-fi premise behind the Song Cyclops series...

Illinois Entertainer: "The intentions behind Doleful Lions‘ Song Cyclops Volume Two are admirable, but the execution is a serious let down. The group’s power pop hooks could thrill fans of the Beach Boys or Cheap Trick, but the production is so terrible it sounds like the songs were recorded on a boom box without any editing whatsoever."

Alas, them's the breaks.

PARCD104

Doleful Lions

Parasol Records — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 17:08:00 +0000

More positivity for the Doleful Lions' latest, Song Cyclops Volume Two:

Stylus Magazine: "A lo-fi labor of love, the Doleful Lions’ music is a melodic mess of perfect pop and maudlin introspection, full of disparate styles and quirky lyrical traits. A quick look at the bands covered on this album (Beach Boys, Phil Spector, The Misfits, The Close Lobsters, and The Descendants) gives some idea of Jonathan Scott’s influences, for it is he alone (with help from a revolving cast of collaborators) who is Doleful Lions."

And the erstwhile blogger:

Pop Zeus: "Scott can definitely be described as a pop disciple, but with more "out there" songs like "Gimghoul Numerologist" its fairly obvious that he's a music fan of the whole spectrum, from the Beach Boys to Stockhausen."

PARCD104

Coming soon...

Parasol Records — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:00:00 +0000

Let's start this off by mentioning what's on the horizon at PLG...

Today we received the first batch of demo recordings from Sweden's David Fridlund, frontman for David & The Citizens, as he prepares his second solo album (the follow-up to Amaterasu), which Hidden Agenda will release whenever it's ready, likely early 2007-ish.

We're waiting on artwork and master from Thirdimension, who have recorded a luminous live acoustic album in an old church in their hometown of Malmo, Sweden. They've reworked tracks from their two albums, Protect Us From What We Want and Permanent Holiday, while adding a few beautiful covers. Let's just say their music translates well in this setting! We're hoping to have these heavenly harmonies and heady hymns ready by Xmas for our loyal mailorder customers and early next year for the rest of the planet.

Chicago "genius/recluse" Kevin Tihista will begin recording his next album for Parasol this Fall, looking at a release by Summer 2007. It will be his fifth album for Parasol.

Other upcomings include a new Moonbabies album, a full-on new studio album from The Green Pajamas, the second album from The Chrysler, the debut album from local heroes The New Ruins, and a collection of desirable debris from Unbunny.

Elanors

Parasol Records — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 13:18:00 +0000

Chicago quartet Elanors has a handful of live dates coming up in early November, coinciding with the release of their new album Movements on Parasol Records.

Nov 9th @ The House Cafe / Dekalb, IL
Nov 10th @ The Note / Chicago
Nov 11th @ Café Montmarte / Madison, WI
Nov 12th @ The Busted Lift / Dubuque, IA

ALL MUSIC GUIDE: "The eight electronic nocturnes here are soothing, soaring, and ultimately unsettling; mood music for the paranoid and disaffected."

Elanors' latest has also been the recent recipient of column inches at MTV.com, Treblezine, and Chill Mag, plus piquing the interest of bloggers all over the blog-o-sphere.

PARCD101

The Green Pajamas

Parasol Records — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:07:00 +0000

The Green Pajamas' new release, The Night Races Into Anna, is a collection of unreleased and rarities going back 10 years, 10 albums, and a handful of EPs. It is the band's 6th release for Hidden Agenda Records. I've sent out a modest stack of free CDs to press and radio folks, but we'll be concentrating our efforts and resources on the upcoming full-on new studio album, to be named later, due in early 2007.

A while back the New York Times posed this question: “When are the highly literate and melody-savvy Mr. Kelly and the retro psychedelic pop band he leads, The Green Pajamas, going to get, at the very least, a decent cult following?”

I'm looking for an answer.

Check out the austere but informative new Green PJs/Jeff Kelly/Goblin Market website, loads slowly but worth the wait.

AHA!085

Doleful Lions

Parasol Records — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:31:00 +0000

Parasol artist Jonathan Scott (Doleful Lions) is happy to see reviews of the new DL collection Song Cyclops Volume Two popping up here and there, but his life was made much more complete by this mention on Pro-Wrestling Insider: "Tech[n]o-pop band The Doleful Lions's latest CD "Song Cyclops Volume 2" features a tribute song to the late Fabulous Freebird Terry Gordy, appropriately titled "Oriental Spike"." And gets mentioned again at Wrestling Epicenter site.

Dude's life is now complete, his dream's come true!

Quotes from non-wrestling venues...

The Tripwire: "Song Cyclops, Volume 2 is one of the best albums of this year so far. No questions asked. It's songwriting at it's best. It's singing at it's best. It's f***ing different. THANK GOD!!!!!!!!"

Aversion: "No matter which section of his record collection (which, if Song Cyclops, Volume Two is any measure, is pretty sweet) provides grist for the Doleful Lions mill, Scott runs everything through a maze of cross-influences and bizarre pop-cultural references that make this album more than the mere sum of a voracious listener: It's another gem from the amazingly consistent Doleful Lions."

Check out this Aversion interview with Jonathan.

High Bias: "Scott also indulges in revealing covers of some of his influences, including the Beach Boys (“She’s Got Rhythm”), the Close Lobsters (“From This Day On”), the Descendants (“Silly Girl”), the Misfits (“Astro Zombies”) and the Crystals (“There’s No One”). All of them are consumed by Scott’s four-track psychedelic sound, as if he’s not aware he didn’t write them himself."

All Music Guide: "A proudly lo-fi, intensely melodic album recorded at home in 1999 by main Lion Jonathan Scott... Every song sounds AM radio ready with instantly hummable melodies, sharp and insistent hooks and Scott's angelic vocal delivery."

With some digging you'll find mention here at MTV.com

PARCD104

Steve Almaas & Ali Smith

Parasol Records — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 17:51:00 +0000

Reviews are starting to roll in for the latest album by NYC duo Steve Almaas & Ali Smith, their second release for Parasol (in addition to Steve's solo album), entitled You Showed Me... Steve was a founding member of Minneapolis punk-Godfathers The Suicide Commandos and 8os NYC roots-rockers Beat Rodeo. Ali is a world renown photographer and vocalist for garage-rockers Speedball Baby. Interesting pedigrees make for compelling offspring, as witnessed here!

All Music Guide: "This is timeless pop music that could have emanated from 1966 or 2006, and it will most likely sound just as good a decade from now. It makes you wonder what Almaas is going to do in his fifties."

High Bias: "The duo and their backing musos sound great on Almaas’ “Thy Will Be Done,” “I Don’t Like to Be Alone” and “#7,” as well as the Byrds’ opening title track. Smith steals the show, however, on an absolutely gorgeous take on Brian Wilson’s “The Lonely Sea”—her vocal performance transforms the melancholy beauty from an obscure Beach Boys track to a future torch standard. You Showed Me is as clean and sweet as it comes."

More reviews soon...

PARCD102