Parasol
Label Group Publicity - Jim Kelly
phone: 217.344.8609
e-mail: promo@parasol.com
Parasol Publicity is the press/promotions arm
of Parasol Records & Distribution. In addition to handling
all of the Parasol Label Group's in-house releases on Parasol,
Hidden Agenda, Mud, Spur, and Reaction Recordings, Parasol
Publicity is currently working with labels like Bird Song,
Action Musik (Velvet Crush), and Gravitation (Sweden). Occasionally
I'll lend a hand to up-and-coming Scandinavian artists deserving
some Stateside exposure...
Please contact promo@parasol.com if you're a journalist/publication
and want more information on any of our projects. We are not
handling radio for all of the projects below so please contact
us for details.
You can download high-res album scans, photos, mp3s and pdf
bio for all of the artists below.
Jump to:
Doleful
Lions / 7 (Parasol)
Gazelle
/ Sunblown (Hidden Agenda)
Incredible Vickers Brothers / Gallimaufry (The Bus Stop Label)
Ric
Menck / Hey War Pigs (Action Musik)
Whiskey Priest / Hungry (Bric-A-Brac)
Richard
Lloyd / The Radiant Monkey (Parasol)
William
Kinderman-Beethoven / Diabelli Variations (Arietta)
The
1900s / Cold & Kind (Parasol)
Angie
Heaton & The Gentle Tamers / The Rumor Mill (Spur)
The
Green Pajamas / Box of Secrets... (Hidden Agenda)
Ryan
Groff / People In The Midwest (Parasol)
Moonbabies / Moonbabies At The Ballroom (Hidden Agenda)
The
Chrysler / Cold War Classic (Galaxy Gramophone)
New Ruins / The Sound They Make (Hidden Agenda)
Thirdimension
/ Before The End Begins (Hidden Agenda)
Richard Lloyd / Field of Fire: Deluxe (Reaction)
Mas
Rapido! / Pity Party (Parasol)
The
Green Pajamas / The Night Races Into Anna (Hidden Agenda)
Doleful
Lions / Song Cyclops Volume Two (Parasol)
Steve
Almaas & Ali Smith / You Showed Me (Parasol)
Elanors / Movements (Parasol)
The
1900s / Plume Delivery (Parasol)
Hidden
Agenda
Gazelle
“Sunblown" (AHA!090)
Release date: June 10, 2008
Debut album from new local scene super-duo parlaying
overcast electro-rock dreamscapes. Gazelle is mild-mannered
studio-warlock Jeff Dimpsey (Hum, National Skyline, Honcho
Overload, Poster Children, etc) and vocalist Adam Fein (Absinthe
Blind). Features a guest appearance from Adam's sister Erin
Fein, vocalist for Headlights (Polyvinyl).
Photo
credit:
Download
"The First Rays" mp3
More info, more
sound samples
Parasol
Doleful
Lions
"7"
Release date: June 10, 2008
Shows:
April 16th @ The Elbo Room in Chicago, Int'l Pop Overthrow
Festival
After clearing the vaults with their previous album, Song
Cyclops Volume Two, Doleful Lions return with a new lineup,
direction, and wisdom. 7 represents the next step
in the evolution of Doleful Lions, brothers Jonathan and Robert
Lee Scott, marrying their keen pop sensibilities with a new
adventurous sound... The usual folk guitar strummings of their
previous releases have been replaced with an eclectic mix
of electronically-informed, epic song structures and Jonathan's
focused lyrical intensity. They have used 7 to explore
other sonic horizons. 7 is a truly adventurous album
in all regards; an album that has ventured further beyond
any music created by the Doleful Lions in the past.
Click on image for hi-res. Photo
credit TBC.
Download "White Lotus Day" mp3
More info, more sound
samples
Action
Musik
Menck
“Hey War Pigs"
On his new 45 rpm vinyl single Velvet Crush drummer and
very occasional solo singer-songsmith Ric Menck covers former
Soft Boys/Katrina & The Waves guitarist-songwriter Kimberly
Rew’s pissed-off protest anthem “Hey War Pigs”
(so very fitting) backed by his dry-hump version of “Teenage
Head” by The Flaming Groovies. Black wax in a plain
paper sleeve. In addition to founding Velvet Crush Menck is
and has been a member of The Drats, The Reverbs, The Springfields,
The Paint Set, The Big Maybe, The Stupid Cupids, Pop The Balloon,
Choo Choo Train, Duffy, The Tyde, Frausdots, Aimee Mann and
Matthew Sweet.
  
Menck
"Hey" photo hi-res.
Menck
"Stop" photo hi-res.
Click on other images for hi-res.
Download "Hey War Pigs" mp3
Parasol
Richard
Lloyd
“The Radiant Monkey"
Shows:
March 7th @ The Trash Bar in Brooklyn
March 14th @ The Delancey Bar in Manhattan
March 16th @ The Taphouse Grill in Norfolk VA
The
Radiant Monkey is the
new solo album from Richard Lloyd, esteemed
former guitarist for legendary and NYC punk act Television,
who have inspired several generations of post-punk acts and
artists. The
11 new songs set forth on The Radiant Monkey represent
Richard Lloyd’s first studio recordings in seven years,
and is his most audacious and transfixing work to date, all
the while totally rocking. Not surprising from an artist and
rock-n-roll character/mystic/guru of his stature.
Album
artwork by Punk Magazine's John
Holmstrom.
Photos
below by Godlis:
  
Click on image for hi-res.
Download "Monkey" mp3
More info, tour dates,
more sound samples
Arietta
Music
William
Kinderman/BEETHOVEN
“Diabelli Variations"
The Parasol Label Group's first foray into classical music
on our new imprint Arietta. A beautiful two disc collection
includes the full studio recording of the Diabelli Variations
(as heard in the play 33 Variations) performed by William
Kinderman and a 45 minute lecture about the variations by
Kinderman (with live excerpts from a performance of the Diabelli
Variations in Bakersfield, California, 2002). Two CDs housed
in a beautiful full-color gatefold digipak, includes a 24
page booklet with liner notes by William Kinderman, Moisés
Kaufman, and Arietta/Parasol boss Geoffrey Merritt.
Visit
the official Arietta website
More
info, tour dates, sound samples
Parasol
The
1900s
“Cold & Kind"
Press & Publicity:
Joan Hiller/Riot Act Media
p: 206.890.9906
joan <at> riotactmedia.com
Visit Riot
Act's 1900s page
New album of sultry psych-pop from Chicago
co-ed septet sensation The 1900s. Recorded mostly live to
tape, the record captures the energy of the band's remarkable
live show while also benefiting from the addition of large
string and horn sections. While clocking in at exactly 40:00
minutes (in honor of finishing the album on the 40th anniversary
of Sgt. Peppers), Cold & Kind keeps one foot in the past,
one in the future and another foot in your heart. If you dig:
Tommy James, Fleetwood Mac, Velvet Underground, Cat Power,
Supremes, Roy Harper, Arcade Fire, Dr. Dog, Midlake, Leon
Redbone, Bill Clinton on sax or Russell Crowe's band...
Shows:
Supporting British Sea Power!
Sat-Mar-22 Urbana, IL Canopy Club
Mon-Mar-24 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Tue-Mar-25 Detroit, MI Eagle Theatre
Wed-Mar-26 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Thu-Mar-27 Columbus, OH The Basement
Fri-Mar-28 Louisville, KY Phoenix Hill
Sat-Mar-29 St. Louis, MO Billiken Club
Click on image above for hi-res.
More 2007 hi-res: 1900sA
| 1900sB
| 1900sC
| 1900sD
Download "When I Say Go" mp3
More info, tour dates,
more sound samples
Spur
Angie Heaton & The Gentle Tamers
“The Rumor Mill" (SPURCD005)
The Rumor Mill is the new album by Illinois singer-songwriter
Angie Heaton, former member of Corndolly, Liquorette, and
The Tractor Kings. On The Rumor Mill, Angie’s 4th album.
she’s joined by a full-on country backing band, The
Gentle Tamers: two guys named Josh (Walden on bass and Quirk
on drums), and a former Nashville session player, Bob Watson,
on guitar, banjo and pedal steel. These gents help take Angie's
songs and sounds from the rock club to the barndance. Angie’s
phrasing falls comfortably behind the beat like Willie Nelson,
with a voice recalling Lucinda Williams, Kasey Chambers, and
Neko Case. Country enough that our label-hopping lass’s
latest found a home on Parasol‘s Americana imprint Spur
Records, after previous releases on both Mud and Parasol Records.
Shows:
September 6 in Champaign IL @ Cowboy Monkey:
Record Release Show!
September 13 in Champaign IL @ Aroma Cafe, acoustic set.
September 22 in Urbana IL @ Pygmalion Fest, Caffe Paradiso
Click on image above for 300 dpi version.
300
dpi photo #2
300 dpi photo #3
300
dpi photo #4
Photo credit: Stacey Gross
Download
"Lucky In Love" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
The
Green Pajamas
“Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic 2" (AHA!089)
New album of psychedelic pop from Seattle veterans The
Green Pajamas, mining childhood nostalgia on their new album.
Box Of Secrets is a conceptual album, a follow up
if you will to 'Northern Gothic' (Camera Obscura, 2002), with
three intertwining themes running through it: local legends,
characters, and personal mythology; along with small town
life in the Pacific Northwest, the vague setting for many
of the songs is the Washington coast. The mostly fictional
stories enclosed within this 'Box of Secrets' evoke a shared
memory or that spooky sweet nostalgia, whether lived or not.
Though the subject matter is dark, the music and songs themselves
are rocking and psychedelic, moreso than their last true studio
album 21st Century Séance, which explored more mellow
moods…
More
hi-res: Green
Pajamas b+w
Download
"Wild Pony" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
Moonbabies
“Moonbabies At The Ballroom" (AHA!088)
Moonbabies are a duo from Malmö, Sweden and over
the last 11 years have released four albums along with several
EPs and singles, enchanting fans around the world. Comprised
of multi-instrumentalists Ola Frick and Carina Johansson,
Moonbabies maneuver deftly through the lush pop landscape,
skillfully mixing psychedelic textures, moody electronics,
and expansive instrumental and studio expertise. Moonbabies
At The Ballroom is the duo’s fourth album and third
for Hidden Agenda Records.
Release date: May 29, 2007
 
Photo
credit: Andreas Larsson. More
photos soon.
Download
the onesheet (.pdf)
More
info, bio, sound samples
Parasol
Ryan Groff
“People In the Midwest" (PARCD105)
People In The Midwest is the debut solo album
from local scene leading man Ryan Groff, frontman for regionally-acclaimed
Americana-Folk-Rock act Elsinore. Joyful, transcendent songstories
with a spiritual vibe, some sporting a sweet seventies soft-rock
vibe, others exploring more ’00 experimental pop idealism.
Ryan’s songwriting runs a bit more expansive than your
normal human. He lets the instrumentation simmer somewhere
between restrained and minimalist and puts front and center
a voice (what a voice!) that recalls icons like Jeff Buckley,
Nick Drake and Elliott Smith (and Thom Yorke, Andrew Bird
and Morrissey).
Shows:
August 30 in Kansas City MO @ Avila University, morning quad
set
August 30 in Columbia
MO @ The Blue Fugue
September 1 in Urbana IL @ Canopy Club: Pygmalion Fest Pre-Party
September 2 in Highland IN @ Beancounters w/Cary Judd
September 4 in Chicago IL @ Uncommon Ground
September 19 in Cincinatti OH @ Borgart's
September 22 in Champaign IL @ Pygmalion Fest, Caffe Paradiso
You
really want to mess with this dude?
Download
"Harrison St." mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file) SOON
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Reaction
Recordings
Richard
Lloyd
“Field Of Fire: Deluxe" (REACTCD005)
Parasol's re-issues imprint, Reaction Recordings, offers
a remastered, deluxe double-CD re-packaging of Television
guitarist Richard Lloyd's 1987 release Fields Of Fire,
available for the first time ever on compact disc. The first
CD is the original album (recorded in Sweden in 1985) remastered
by Adam Schmitt. The second CD is an alternate, augmented
"revisited" version of the album...the way the LP
would have been presented had Richard's vision not been undercut
by the studio technology of the era and the limitations of
vinyl pressing. Includes 16-page full-color booklet with lyrics
and extensive liner notes by Richard Lloyd himself, Reaction
co-founder Ric Menck (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet), and acclaimed
music scribe Bill Flanagan (U2 biographer, VH1's Storytellers).
Richard Lloyd and his new band The Sufi Monkeys will be touring
in May. While
Lloyd will also play several shows (TBC) in Canada in early
May Here are the official confirmed U.S. dates:
May 14 - Detroit, The Magic Stick (all ages)
May 15 - Chicago, Shubas (21+)
May 16 - Cleveland - Beachland Ballroom (21+)
May 17 - Philadelphia - Kyber Pass (21+)
May 18 - Boston/Cambridge - TT The Bears (18+)
May 19 - NYC - The Knitting Factory (16+)
These shows will be in support of the Deluxe Re-issue of Field
Of Fire and also to preview Richard's new studio record
out late summer/early fall called The Radiant Monkey.
It will also contain a mini set of Jimi Hendrix covers, as
a trio under the guise of Jaime Neverts (to be explained).
Set lists will be provided to the audience, as souvenirs.
Photos
below by Godlis:
Photos below from the Field Of Fire photo sessions
by Anders
Torgander:
   
Photo montage below by Anders
Torgander.
Download
"Field Of Fire" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Galaxy
Gramophone
The
Chrysler
“Cold War Classic" (SKIV003)
The U.S. release for The Chrysler's latest album, with
five bonus tracks. Cold War Classic is the second
full-length release from mysterious Swedish folk-pop band
The Chrysler, recorded in a little cabin outside Katrineholm,
Sweden; an album filled with hope, agony, and clarinets. Their
enigmatic, bonfire folk and baroque, jangling pop has been
likened to The Byrds, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, Nick
Drake, The Band, Belle & Sebastian, The Velvet Underground,
Lambchop, and Norway’s Kings Of Convenience.
Download
"First Blood" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More info, bio, more
sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
New
Ruins
“The Sound They Make" (AHA!087)
The Sound They Make is the debut album from
East Central Illinois duo New Ruins, file under: Small Town
Midwestern Gothic. Droney acoustic/electric rock, songs rendered
in sepia-tone, awash in rural melancholy. For the recording
of TSTM the band consisted of J. Caleb Means and
Elzie Sexton. Since then they have enlisted a rhythm section
of Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet) and Roy Ewing
(Braid, Very Secretary).
More
photos: A
| B
| C
| D
Download
"Ships" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, bio, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
Thirdimension
“Before The End Begins" (AHA!086)
Through the band’s first two albums, 2002’s
Protect Us From What We Want and 2005’s
Permanent Holiday Thirdimension’s epic
pop and bombastic garage rock were certainly electrified if
not at times electronic. With their new album, Before The
End Begins, Thirdimension unplugs (for the most part) and
offers enthralling acoustic versions of songs from their two
previous albums, a couple of new and previously unreleased
new songs, plus some interesting covers. Before
The End Begins was recorded in a spectacular old church
in the band's hometown, Malmo, Sweden, a candlelit setting
created for heavenly harmonies and hushed hymns.
Download
"The Only Healer" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, more sound samples
Parasol
Mas Rapido!
“Pity Party" (PARCD103)
‘Pity Party’ is the second album from the
artists formerly known as Toothpaste 2000, veteran guitar
pop trio from Seattle, and part of the Parasol family since
the days when Frank and Donna recorded under the Cowboy &
Spingirl moniker. The sound of Mas Rapido! manifests itself
like a handful of lost 60s and '70s radio -pop classics, driven
by the pervasive power of rock-n-roll.
Download
"Feel So Young" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
Green
Pajamas “The
Night Races Into Anna" (AHA!085)
A compilation along the lines of past Green Pajamas releases
like 'Indian Winter' and 'Narcotic Kisses'; 20 tracks that,
for one reason or another, never made it onto albums or EPs
released over the last decade. Most of these songs likely didn't
fit the concept or 'sound' of whatever album was being created
at the time, and during sequencing, were left off. The result
is, ironically, a Pajamas album in what some might regard as
the "classic" sense: a rather psychedelic collection
of short, sweet pop songs. No theme or agenda.
More
hi-res: Green
Pajamas b+w
Download "Looking
For Heaven" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Parasol
Elanors
“Movements" (PARCD101)
Second album (first for Parasol) from Chicago quartet
Elanors will be released October 17, 2006.
‘Movements’ is the new album from Chicago’s
Elanors, vocalists Noah (piano) and Adriel Harris (guitar)
backed by the rhythm section of Daniel Johnson and Rodrigo
Palma (both members of Judah Johnson). This, their second
album, is a collection of piano-driven orchestral-pop and
disarming folkrock invention.
More
hi-res: Elanors_A | Elanors_B | Elanors_C
Download "She
Had A Dream" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Parasol
Steve
Almaas & Ali Smith “You
Showed Me" (PARCD102)
Second
album from NYC duo
will be released October 17, 2006.
The
songs of Steve Almaas (Beat Rodeo, Suicide Commandos), the
voice of Ali Smith (Speedball Baby), along with luminaries
such as producer Chris
Maxwell,
have
come together
to create
the second Steve Almaas & Ali Smith album,‘ You Showed
Me’. Voices blend in harmony, a steel guitar answers
a musical question, the slide guitar comments, while bass,
drums and rhythm guitar lock in tight. Devotion, but no surrender...
More
hi-res: Steve
& Ali color promo | Steve & Ali_bw
promo
Download "You
Showed Me" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Parasol
Doleful
Lions “Song
Cyclops Volume Two" (PARCD104)
New collection of lofi bliss, winsome melodies,
and trademark paranormal subject matter from Doleful
Lions' Jonathan Scott. 22 songs include handful of
covers: Beach Boys, Close Lobsters, The Crystals, Descendents,
and The Misfits.
More
hi-res: Jonthan_profile | Jonathan
mugshot
Download "The
Head of the Shade Antichrist" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Bus
Stop Label
Allen
Clapp "Something
Strange Happens" BUS1021
Compilation of singles and rare tracks by Orange
Peels leader Allen Clapp chronicles the '90s Indie-pop
bedroom-rock experience. For a decade Clapp poured
his heart and
soul into recording; making entire worlds occur within
the confines of two-minute pop songs. In the pre-Belle-and-Sebastian
pop landscape, Clapp's combination of classic melodies
and lyrics that were equally parts fey and clever struck
a chord. His delightfully economical first single, "A
Change in the Weather" (1991) introduced the world
to the breezy melodies and spry rhyming that would
become his hallmark.
Official
release date: September 19, 2006
Download "A
Change In the Weather" mp3
Bird
Song
The
Now People "The
Last Great 20th Century Love Affair" BSCD103
New
release from Ric Menck's (Velvet Crush/Matthew Sweet)
Bird Song imprint... After
three years in suspended animation, The Now People
have arrived with 12 diverse and meticulously
crafted gems from a baroque pop netherworld. Recorded
at the Wondermints’ Studio Thru Inner Space,
the debut album from The Now People challenges the
listener to draw comparisons. They are simply like
no other, now or since. To everything there is a season,
and the season of The Now People is upon us.
Official
release date: September 19, 2006
Download "The
Last Great 20th Century Love Affair" mp3
Hidden
Agenda
The
Coral Sea "Volcano
And Heart" AHA!083
Re-mixed and re-mastered re-release
of Santa Barbara atmospheric art-rock outfit The Coral
Sea's debut album "Volcano And Heart".
Offical
release date: June 27, 2006
More
hi-res: The
Coral Sea A | The
Coral Sea B | The
Coral Sea C
Photo credit:
Suzanne Brown (all photos)
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Parasol
The
1900s
“Plume Delivery"
The debut mini-album from Chicago sextet The 1900s will
be released May 30, 2006.
As old friends, lovers and ex-lovers, Chicago sextet The 1900s
harness the resulting fury to create harmony-laden psychedelic
pop music, most notably inspired by The Zombies, Fleetwood
Mac, Belle & Sebastian, Donovan, Tommy James, and Velvet
Underground. A problem with keeping secrets and a penchant
for spreading rumors made for quite an arrival onto the Chicago
pop scene, where The 1900s were immediately embraced and sought
after by fans and critics, as well as the city's most cherished
bands.
These recordings emerged out of an idle yet remarkable studio
that, it was later learned, is funded by the Department of
Homeland Security… How this transpired is a closely
guarded secret.
Click on image above for hi-res. Photo credit:
Rebecca Uhle
More
hi-res: 1900s_A
| 1900s_B
| 1900s_C
| 1900s_D
| 1900s
E | 1900s
F
|
1900s_Guys
| 1900s_Gals
Photo credit: Douglas Bening
Download "Bring The Good Boys Home" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, tour dates, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
FRANK
LENZ “Vilelenz
And Thieves” (AHA!080)
Hidden Agenda Records will release the new album
by West Coast rock journeyman Frank Lenz on March 21st.
Frank has played and collaborated with and handled
production chores for Starflyer 59, The Lassie Foundation,
Pedro The Lion, Richard Swift, Charity Empressa, Cush,
Kat Jones, The Dingees, Pony Express,
and Fold Zandura, among others. With "Vilelenz
And Thieves" our favorite renaissance man
finds a comfy
orbit within
his home
studio cosmos,
creating a Technicolor cloudburst of homespun ballads
channeling
Neil Young and early Built To Spill, with a drizzling
of folk, bombastic orchestral pop, and head-over-heels
lyricism.
Download "Bullets In The Wall" mp3
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
JOSE
GONZALEZ-“Stay
In The Shade EP”
Hidden Agenda Records will release the
Stay
In The Shade
EP by Swedish/Argentine songwriter José González
on January 24th. It is the follow-up to José’s
acclaimed debut album Veneer, released in the U.S. in September
2005
by Hidden
Agenda. The EP features an extended version of "Stay In
The Shade"; two amazing album-worthy b-sides, "Sensing
Owls" and "Down The Hillside"; José's
cover of the Kylie Minogue hit "Hand On Your Heart";
and an instrumental track (for all those John Fahey fans out
there).
Download "Stay In the Shade"
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda 
JOSE GONZALEZ-“Veneer”
Born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, of Argentinean parents,
25-year-old José González is a top-ten chart artist
and revered
troubadour figure in Sweden, where he is cherished equally
by the musical cognoscenti, seriously besotted critics
and hordes of regular Nordic punters. Using just his
own dexterously finger-picked classical guitar and a
captivating voice - part João Gilberto, part Nick Drake– José’s
music is as economical as it is seductive; stark but effortlessly
melodious songwriting
whose confessional, gently provocative lyrics
(all sung in perfect English) are, by turns,
poignant, intriguing and life-affirming.
Please note: Mute Records will re-releae "Veneer" in
April 2006.
Press/publicity contact at Mute Records:
Leslie Hermelin - leslie (at) mute (dot) com
Download "Stay
In the Shade"
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
Galaxy
Gramophone
THE
CHRYSLER - “Failures
And Sparks”
Considered a country act in their native Sweden, The Chrysler's
rootsy psychedelic reveries are shaded in eerie noir atmospheres.
A mesmerizing mix of winsome pop, bonfire folk, and otherworldly
hymnals, led by dual vocalists and guitarists Anders Rudström
and Pelle Lindroth, joined by Nya Sampan (melodica, piano,
organ) and Herman Arfwedson (acoustic & electric bass).
With their debut album Failures And Sparks The Chrysler have
assembled a shrine to their influences: The Everly Brothers,
The Band, Simon & Garfunkel, The Velvets, and Neil Young. "Sweet
music, with a touch of evil" explains The Chrysler, out
of the quiet into the quieter…
Download "What I Must Keep With Mine"
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
THE
GREEN PAJAMAS - “21st
Century Seance”
21st Century Séance is the
long-awaited new studio album from veteran Seattle
psych-pop combo
The Green Pajamas finds mainman Jeff Kelly and his
stalwart crew (including songwriters Eric Lichter and
Laura Weller) re-exploring the stunning psychedelic
territories last charted on their classic 1997 album
"Strung Behind the Sun"...
Past
praise for the work of The Green Pajamas:
“Seattle's Green Pajamas can be seen as a more serious
equivalent to XTC side project the Dukes Of Stratosphear; both
bands deal in subtle twists of '60s psychedelia…the Green
Pajamas have a more earnest, folksy sound…” - ALL
MUSIC GUIDE
“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?” -
NEW YORK TIMES
“A recommended pursuit for fans of the Go-Betweens,
Elf Power or the Soft Boys” - MAGNET MAGAZINE
“Coy, clever psychedelic pop.” -
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Download "All The Lost Kisses"
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, more sound samples
Hidden
Agenda
PETER
BJORN AND JOHN - “Falling
Out"
Falling Out is a assemblage of ingenious pop songs,
cleverly recorded and masterfully arranged, sounds
drawn from the simple (the Speak & Spell talking
toy that opens the album) to the symphonic (tidy string
arrangements). Think early Squeeze and The Jam and
several decades worth of British Invasion, Canadian
popsmiths A.C. Newman and Joel Plaskett, and the euphoric
rush of The Shins. 10 songs about falling in and unavoidably
Falling Out of love with people, places, and ideas.
Includes the Swedish singles “It Beats Me Every
Time” and “Teen Love” (a Concretes
cover) and the standout album opener “Far Away,
By My Side”. Falling Out features special guest
appearances from vocalist Ellekari Larsson (Vega, The
Tiny), and handclapper/producer Calle Olsson (The Bear
Quartet).
Download MP3: "Far Away, By My Side"
Download
the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More
info, more sound samples
Parasol
Kevin Tihista - "Home Demons Volume 1"
Following up the critical rave "Wake Up Captain" (UNCUT-"5 STARS.
Songs of alienation and madness from reclusive Chicago genius." CHICAGO
READER-"#1 Chicago album of 2004.") Kevin Tihista opened up his demo
vaults to the Parasol and Broken Horse (UK) label camps for a sequencing free-for-all.
Parasol chose thirteen songs recorded in various studios and member permutations,
featuring 12 songs that have never appeared on CD, and the track "Do You
Know What We Should Do Now?" that will not appear on the UK version. An
engaging view into Kevin's hi-fi & bedroom-fi worlds.
Photo by: Jim Newberry
Photo by: Jim Newberry
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
Download "I
Don't Blame You"
Hidden Agenda
Moonbabies - "War On Sound"
This 8-song, 40 minute mini-album ahead of the upcoming full-length, includes
five new songs plus Pink Floyd and Midnight Oil covers. "This creative
duo can go from 70s-inspired folk-rock to stellar, dreamy creations that could
easily dub them the godchildren of ABBA."-Resonance
Photo by: Martin Olson
Photo by: Martin Olson
Download the One-sheet
(.pdf file) Download "War
On Sound (Edit)"
Hidden
Agenda
The Jan Martens Frustration - "The Jan Martens Frustration"
Debut album of sweltering garage psychrock from Gothenburg combo. Features
guest appearances by members of The Hellacopters and The Soundtrack of Our
Lives. The fifteen songs include their import album, debut EP, and a b-side
bonus track.
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
Download "Convolutions"
Parasol
Doleful Lions - "Shaded Lodge and Mausoleum"
Equal parts bedroom melancholy and comic book bravado the Doleful Lions’ fifth
album “Shaded Lodge And Mausoleum” is yet another lo-fi masterpiece
haunted by tape-hiss poltergeists and sundry historical demons. Not quite as
sunshiny as previous efforts, with harmonies and occult whimsies replaced by
stark folk atmospheres (think Incredible String Band, John Martyn) and songs
about satanic rites, cults, and suicide, the album’s themes were influenced
by late-‘80s bay area black metal band Von, who released a demo called “Satanic
Blood,” which Doleful Lions’ leader Jonathan Scott worships (figuratively,
we think…).
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
Download "The
Ghost That Haunts Your World Will Disappear"
Rainbow
Quartz
Frontier Index - "Frontier Index"
The product of long winter nights in the studio, the
self-titled album from this Canadian quartet runs the gamut from bone rattling
to tender hearted, complete with summer sweet harmonies, and all captured straight
off
the creaky
wood
floors
of producer Andy Magoffin’s humble abode.
Download the One-sheet
(.pdf file)
Download "Someday"
Rainbow
Quartz
The Get Quick - "How the Story Goes"
Melodies discovered in the soft underbelly of consciousness from Philadelphia
trio...
Oct. 7-Baltimore, MD-
Oct. 8-Philadelphia, PA-The Fire
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
Bird
Song Recordings
The Quarter After - "The Quarter After" (Bird Song)
Debut
long player from Los Angeles psychedelic pop mavens, The Quarter
After. Similar in style and content to the Brian Jonestown
Massacre if and when they remember to take their prescription
meds. Soaring vocal harmonies confronted head on by a searing,
full-frontal guitar assault. Produced by Rob Campanella (Brian
Jonestown Massacre, the Tyde, Mia Doi Todd).
“It's time to dig out your love beads, flower
child, because L.A.'s The Quarter After are heralding the return
of The Summer of Love…”-Rhino.com
“…The Quarter After
is all shimmers, jangles and melodies.”-Aversion.com
Download the One-sheet
(.pdf file)
Download "Your
Side Is Mine"
Bird
Song Recordings
Snow & Voices - "Snow & Voices" (Bird Song)
First
album by Los Angeles chanteuse Lauri Kranz and her new musical
collective, Snow & Voices. A shimmering, keyboard-drenched,
patch quilt of songs written about love, loss, longing and
regret by someone who knows. Sounds best at night. Produced
by Darrell Thorp (ya know, Nigel Goodrich's engineer) & Jebin
Bruni (Aimee Mann, Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair).
Download the One-sheet
(.pdf file)
Download "Goodnight
New York"
Parasol
Orange Peels - "Circling the Sun"
The Orange
Peels have written the next chapter in the California Sound. If the band's first
two albums, Square (Minty Fresh) and So
Far (SpinArt), were the groundwork for their newest effort, the foundations were
well laid. Taking cues from the terrestrial and the celestial, the
band's third album is both more earthy and spacey than its past works. A few
more orbits around the solar system's big star have granted the band a new perspective.
It's the sound of
a band transformed.
Photo by Oed Ronne
Photo by Oed Ronne
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
Download "Something
In You"
Download Part
1 of the
audio
documentary
of the making of "Circling the Sun"
Download
Part 2 of
the
audio
documentary
of the making of "Circling the Sun"
Hidden Agenda
David Fridlund - "Amaterasu"
"Amaterasu" is the debut album from David Fridlund, namesake and frontman for
revered Swedish guitar-and-piano pop powerhouse David & The Citizens,
and one of the most prolific and respected songwriters in Scandinavia.
"I
never planned a solo record, everything I wanted we already did with the Citizens." David
says, "But the more people mentioned the solo idea, the more it grew,
so when our Swedish booker Jesper Kumberg asked: 'isn't it time for that solo
record' it all sort of fell into place." Kumberg has worked with David
since early 1999, helping his band to over 200 shows and taken some praise
for propelling David and the Citizens to dizzy heights and a Grammy nomination. "But
we had run Citizens aground," Says David, "Admittedly, We were
close to splitting, and probably would have if the work on this record
had not got
going."
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