Lovers Without Borders - “Gentle Reminder” from their self-titled cassette

This is a freckled, summery song, written for all of your next mixtapes.  Lovers Without Borders (Karl Blau, Allen Peril, and Jessica Bonin) will be putting out a single in our International Pop Underground series of 7” singles soon!  Keep your eyes peeled.

Angelo Spencer did a remix of “The Hunch,” a song by the wondrous Maxines.  He sent it over this morning, and it sounds otherwordly—transmitted from some martian station, intercepted by earth as a wonderfully stuttering mess.  This is a true alien jammer.

We’re giving away a free copy of the new Tara Jane ONeil 7″ (“Sirena” b/w “Rainbow Connection” [IPU136])!  To enter to win, answer this question correctly:

What was the name of the 20 minute film by Vanessa Renwick that TJO most recently scored?

The answer to this question can be found on our weblog, and submissions have to be in by Monday, May 21st.  To enter, send your name and your answer to the trivia question to eric@krecs.com. (Be sure to send it from an email address we can contact you at in case you win.)  We’ll be posting a video next Tuesday to announce the winner!  Good luck!

From the vault, KARP EP “DD Fantasy” (1997)

Have you seen the KARP documentary yet?

Jeremy Jay and his band have been practicing down in Dub Narcotic Studio all this week, from early in the morning until late at night.  They’ve got an amazing work ethic.  It’s been great listening to them for the past few days, but now they’re heading out to tour the United States.  Tonight they’re playing in Portland, OR, and then tomorrow they’ll be back here in Olympia to play at Midnight Sun.  If they’re coming to your city, check them out!

1/26/2012 (TONIGHT!):

- Angelo Spencer @ The Tractor Tavern in Seattle w/ GRAVELROAD

- Arrington de Dionyso @ Crossroads in San Luis Obispo

- Jeremy Jay @ Holoscene in Portland w/ Seapony & Ghost Animal

1/27/2012:

- Arrington de Dionyso @ Biko Garage in Isla Vista

- Jeremy Jay, Nucular Aminals, & The Curious Mystery @ Midnight Sun in Olympia

1/28/2012:

- Arrington de Dionyso @ UCI Cross Cultural Center in Irvine

- Jeremy Jay & Nucular Aminals @ The Waldorf in Vancouver, BC

- The Pine Hill Haints @ Fred’s Feed & Seed in Dauphin Island, AL

1/29/2012:

- Arrington de Dionyso @ The Smell in Los Angeles

- Jeremy Jay, Nucular Aminals, & The Curious Mystery @ The Comet Tavern in Seattle

See you out there!

Kendl Winter’s new LP, The Mechanics of Hovering Flight, and The Maxines’ Drugstore 7” officially release today!  Behold our celebration piece, delicious vegan Monkey Bread. (The Monkey Bread was made by our intern (and highly talented vegan baker) Katy Hampton).  Three cheers to delicious folk & rock and roll!

This is incredible. Phil Elverum (of The Microphones and Mount Eerie) is doing karaoke to a Li’l Wayne song.  He busts some killer moves, and his rapping skills are impressive to say the least.  This was presumably shot by Arrington de Dionyso.

Mount Eerie’s new Dub Narcotic Disco Plate, Distorted Cymbals, will be released on February 7th.

Here’s a video of Angelo Spencer et Les Hauts Sommets playing a couple of songs on a boat, part of a new web-series called Fishing With Clyde.  After the song, there’s a discussion of bees and peanuts, as well as George Washington Carver—or just “Carve” to his friends.  There’s even a puppet show, featuring the voice of Karl Blau!

This is Emily Beanblossom. She plays in the band Christmas, but is coming out with a new LP on K this spring under the name Ruby Fray.  The new record is called Pith, was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studio, and sounds fantastic.

The Maxines playing live at the Timberland Library here in Olympia (our library is the coolest, in case you couldn’t already tell).  Playing the drum set along side Kelly is Matt’s six-year-old nephew, Charlie, who, I’ve gotta say, is pretty awesome.  Check it out!

This is a photo from our Christmas party that we had a few weeks ago.  Chain & The Gang was in the studio at the time, and we all had a ton of fun.  Notice that everyone  is wearing seasonally appropriate K mittens and scarves!

This is the Softies’ song “You And Only You,” off of Holiday in Rhode Island, circa 2000.  One of my favorite tracks off of one of my favorite albums.  When I hear this song, for whatever reason, I always think of listening to it in the car leaving my high school at the end of many unsatisfying days during my senior year.  The Softies are a very autumnal band, good company for these colder evenings.

Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center) is in the Dub Narcotic Studio this week, helping put some finishing touches on a mysterious project with Calvin Johnson. Who knows what magic they are brewing down there? Who are all these talented musicans coming in and out of the studio? Who and what are these Hive Dwellers? We’ll find out sometime in 2012. 

Speaking of City Center, the band (Thomas and collaborator Ryan Howard) put out the soundtrack to the summer, Redeemer (KLP231), this past May. Here’s “Modern Love,” one feisty rock jam.

Tender Forever performing “Believe” by Cher on the 2nd-ever Take-Away Show. A classic.

Want another? Here she plays Justin Timberlake’s “My Love”.