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Updated 1/11/02 Release dates [among other things] subject to change. Our mailorder pages feature all the titles below-- and more-- sorted by release date at the following links:
10/29/01,
11/5/01,
12/3/01,
and 1/14/02
Our January new release page can be found here.
 M. GIRA/D. MATZWhat We Did (YOUNG GOD YG17) CD Released the week of November 5th, 2001 order from Midheaven mailorder "Dan Matz (Windsor for the Derby, Birdwatcher) and I recorded these songs at his (various) house(s) over the course of two years. This was completely collaborative, in that one of us would present the other a simple, basic idea, and then we'd build on it together, sharing completely in the songwriting process. In general, we alternate lead vocals from song to song throughout the album. We used a variety of instruments, including our voices, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, various organs, piano, synthesizer, drums and percussion (as well as a simple drum machine), harmonica, banjo, a few samples here and there, various toy and miniature percussion instruments. In addition, James Plotkin contributed guitar and background voice on a few songs. Anna Neighbor contributed background voice on a few songs. "This album was a pleasure for us both to make, completely free of the stress usually associated with working on our other projects, and devoid of ego (for me, a big step!). Dan did all of the engineering on the record, to excellent effect, I believe. We both learned how to do this recording as it unfolded, and let the songs grow according to their own will - whatever seemed called for at the time. Nothing was really preconceived by either of us, in terms of arrangement. As I've said elsewhere regarding this project, we look at it as a "pop" record, our view of which, admittedly, might differ from the usual implied connotation."
-Michael Gira
 TOWER RECORDINGSFolk Scene (THE COMMUNION LABEL COMM58) CD Released the week of November 5th, 2001 order from Midheaven mailorder The Communion Label is pleased to present another special chapter from the ever-changing ensemble known as The Tower Recordings. Folk Scene presents the crew (for this recording inclusive of Matt Valentine, P.G. Six, Helen Rush, Erika Elder, Tim Barnes, S. Freyer Esq., Steve Gubler, Robert Henry Jones III, Samara Lubelski, Dean Roberts, Andre Vida and Barry Weisblat) in a rarified state, a folkische mood and sound hinted at in previous recordings (especially Siltbreeze's wondrous Furniture Music) but now developed in full blossom. Beauty and inspiration rain down like manna in these sessions, recordings both wonderfully focused and distilled, yet free. Those of us enamored of the English pagan folk rock of decades past (both electric and acoustic) will no doubt be pleased with this enhanced collection, previously released as a limited vinyl pressing of 300 copies. An extra 14 tracks are added to this CD version, along with completely new cover art and information.
 SOLARIZEDDriven (METEORCITY MCY18) CD Released the week of October 29th, 2001
order from Midheaven mailorder If Solarized was a comic book character, it would be Galactus! -Dave Wyndorf, Monster Magnet Solarized is back! Everyone geared up? Then pop the clutch and get ready to slam shift through Driven, the second effort from these New Jersey throttlerockers! Their Man's Ruin-released debut album, Neanderthal Speedway, blew the doors off everything else that came out during 1999. Can they keep it up? Hell, yeah, they can! In the band's own words, "We've got something to prove!" Formed by singer/guitarist James Hogan and drummer Reg Satana, Solarized injects the past thirty years' worth of riff-rock into a 454 big-block to create their own high-energy blend of mean-ass cosmic groove. Listen for them and of course you'll hear nods to COC, Sabbath, The Stooges, and Mountain, coupled with Hogan's satirically twisted, fire-and-brimstone lyrical take on life. Make no mistake, motorheads: Solarized's thick, unrecycled, low-end rock perfection is the real deal. Deploying truckloads of booming fuzz, Day-Glo guitar licks and big-time spaciness with a masterful touch, Solarized go down in the company of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, et al. 9 out of 10. -Metal Hammer This lumbering, hookah-smoking beast will test the performance limits of your stereo sub-woofer, not to mention your appetite for THC-powered boogie. -Magnet Hallucinogenic sci-fi lyricism and a superfuzz sound which combines Hendrix with Sabbath - as cosmic groove rock goes, New Jersey quartet Solarized have got it all. KKKKs out of 5. -Kerrang! Solarized is the best goddamn rock band I've heard in the last five years! Forget Korn and Bizkit. There is a new school emerging and these guys are at the forefront.-Negative Phase
VARIOUSIt Came From Memphis Vol. 2 (BIRDMAN BMR036) CD Released the week of November 5th, 2001
order from Midheaven mailorder The 1996 publication of Robert Gordon's It Came From Memphis book unleashed the untold story of the underground history of the rich music scene of a little town we like to call Memphisâ Tennessee. While the stories of Elvis, Sun Records, and Stax had been well documented already, the stories of Charlie Feathers, Furry Lewis, RL Burnside and Barbarian Records had yet to be told. Needless to say, owning this book, as well as the accompanying CD that featured loads of obscuro rock and blues artists, were mandatory for lovers of American music.
To coincide with Pocket Books' re-printing of It Came from Memphis(after being out of print for few years) Birdman Records is releasing a second volume of wild underground Memphis dementia, compiled by the author himself. This release is also mandatory.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: "Come on Down to My House" - Good Kid Robert Released the week of December 3rd, 2001
order from Midheaven mailorder This album - eighteen songs arranged by Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek, fourteen with lyrics by AC/DC singer Bon Scott - is a beautiful acoustic treasure from one of the greatest singer / songwriters of our generation. If You Want Blood unites Mark Kozelek's two solo albums (Rock'n'Roll Singer and What's Next to the Moon), adds live versions of "Rock'n'Roll Singer" and "Up To My Neck in You" and is pressed in a limited edition on high-quality double 12-inch vinyl in a gatefold jacket.
Numerous are the accolades already earned by Kozelek: Rolling Stone gave Mark Kozelek's debut solo album Rock'n'Roll Singer three-and-a-half stars; amazon.com awarded Rock'n'Roll Singer one of the "Best of 2000"; his follow-up CD What's Next to the Moon received four- and five-star reviews around the globe, including a San Francisco Chronicle review that rated it a "classic." Q Magazine said, "Kozelek's sparse, haunting delivery can render even the basest material achingly affecting, and coarse classics such as 'Love Hungry Man' and 'Bad Boy Boogie' are reinvented here as taut maudlin masterpieces. Kozelek's art is paramount."
Kozelek has toured the world extensively as a solo artist and with Red House Painters. His songs have appeared in numerous movie and television soundtracks, and the man himself acted in the Cameron Crowe films Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky. He also compiled, and contributed tracks to Take Me Home - A Tribute to John Denver.
Track listing
Find Me, Ruben Olivares | Rock 'n' Roll Singer |You Ain't Got a Hold On Me | Metropol 47 | Around and Around | Bad Boy Boogie | Ruth Marie | Up To My Neck In You | Love At First Feel | Love Hungry Man | Bad Boy Boogie | What's Next To The Moon | Walk All Over You | If You Want Blood | Riff Raff | Rock 'n' Roll Singer | Rock 'n' Roll Singer (live in Sweden) | Up To My Neck In You (live in Sweden)
Released the week of November 5th, 2001
order from Midheaven mailorder During your copious spare time, ask ten people to name a classic tune and you'll get ten different answers, all of them valid. Yet we recognize standards upon which most agree - The Beach Boys, The Byrds, early REM, The Zombies, The Kinks - and DC's The Saturday People know, understand and revere classic pop, a term that should conjure visions of jangling 12-string guitars, angelic harmonies and timeless arrangements.
Featuring an impeccable pedigree with members of Velocity Girl, The Ropers, Tree Fort Angst and The Castaway Stones, the 'People effortlessly combine '60s folk-pop and soft-rock with power-pop and '80s jangle. Fan of such groups as Biff Bang Pow, Orange Juice, The Grass Roots and The Weather Prophets should feel right at home with the 'People's sweet sounds. The guitars clang and strum, Dan Searing's drums pop along and the stellar tunes put you in orbit. The song-writing is a particular high-point, fuelled by the complementary styles of frontmen Greg Pavlovcak and Terry Banks. The arrangements are full and effective, supplementing the standard band line-up with added percussion and piano. Bassist Archie Moore's production talents are in full evidence - this record sounds magnificent.
The Saturday People have developed a solid following over the last few years, releasing two great seven-inches and gigging up and down the East Coast with groups like The Clientele, Ladybug Transistor, and Aden and the Lucksmiths. The recent release of a split seven-inch with The Clientele has locked the 'People firmly within the hearts of the record-buying pop public.
30-second RealAudio excerpts: No Matter Where You Are Released the week of November 5th, 2001
order from Midheaven mailorder Composed of lush, dark harmonies coupled with lyrical content that can be elegiac or brutally stark, the brooding debut album from Boston-based Clairvoyants is both haunting and haunted. Your New Boundaries' songs resonate with both sentiment and aggression. The band's trademark minimalism and hushed dynamics have invoked comparisons to Low and The Dirty Three, while lead singer Brian Dunn's high tenor conjures thoughts of Grant Lee Phillips and Sister Lovers-era Alex Chilton.
Your New Boundaries was written and performed by Brian Dunn with Colin Rhinesmith recording, engineering, and playing keyboard instruments, Joe McMahon on double bass, and Steve Scully on drums. The quartet has shared the stage with Wheat, Damon and Naomi, Orso, and Shannon Wright, and will also be featured on Amos House 2 - a collection of exclusive songs by Bright Eyes, Isobel Campbell of Belle and Sebastian, Elliot Smith and others - to be released this winter. They will tour the US winter 2001-2002, opening for Arab Strap and Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters).
30-second RealAudio excerpts: To Reassure Released the week of November 19th, 2001
order from Midheaven mailorder In the early 1990s the birth of seminal sludgelords Noothgrush laid to waste to the SF Bay Area. This trio spewed forth their molten musical magma over a span of eight years and carved a path of influence that resounds in the quagmire of modern day slowcore. For the first time ever, their earliest molasses-paced epics have been assembled on one disc. The collection compiles material from their debut Slap A Ham seven-inch, as well as split releases with Dead Bodies Everywhere, Agents Of Satan, and Black Army Jacket, plus countless compilation tracks and their legendary Kashyyyk demo! If you dig the cranium-crushing sounds of Grief, the Melvins, or Eyehategod, then you're prepared for only a fraction of the heaviness that Noothgrush is prepared to deliver!
Noothgrush do more than play sludge. They are sludge. Everything about this band oozes and crawls. Their music is as punishing and it is precise as it is plodding. Lyrically they take concepts and ideas that in the hands of lesser artists may seem silly (Star Wars) or overused (hate and loathing) and they discover existential sociological and philosophical insight. From one point of view in the extreme underground Noothgrush are hideously deformed if for no other reason than they travel a route far less taken; but from another perspective, and certainly one that I share, their deformity is actually uniqueness and allows for the breeding of distinction. Y'see there are only a handful of really stellar sludge bands around and Noothgrush are among the best. -Jeb Branin, The Crass Menagerie
Socially-conscious sludge-doom-grind that probably likes to smother babies in its spare time. Screech and roar, pummeled instruments and a general hatred for mankind: people are not people but carrion, and more than a little disgust is evident.
-Alex Deller, Collective Zine
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Click the titles below for details on specific new releases.
November - December 2001
CLAIRVOYANTS
M GIRA/D. MATZ
MARK KOZELEK
NOOTHGRUSH
SATURDAY PEOPLE
SOLARIZED
THE TOWER RECORDINGS
VARIOUS
January 2002 new releases (this page)
(all dates subject to change)
BROTHER JT
CONSUMERS
LARSEN
HERSCHEL GORDON LEWIS
SWANS
ORNETTE COLEMAN
ALICE COLTRANE
BEN KUNIN
NOVEX
DON HOWLAND
INFINITE X's
L. STINKBUG
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE
VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA
SIMON WICKHAM-SMITH
AWOL ONE
<
ETERNAL ELYSIUM
TONY JOE WHITE
The releases above and on the left (as well as over 15,000 other
independent-label and import titles) can be purchased online at Midheaven Mailorder.
Revolver USA Distribution's umbrella shelters an extended and charmingly
dysfunctional family of manufactured / distributed labels. Most of these companies
handle their own publicity and promotion, some have their own websites,
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Our exclusive label roster appears below in the form of links to our Midheaven mailorder database. We carry many, many other labels on a non-exclusive basis.
REVOLVER USA EXCLUSIVE LABELS and their merchandise can be browsed by clicking the links below: AMMP
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Bananafish 14
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MARK KOZELEK
SATURDAY PEOPLE
CLAIRVOYANTS
NOOTHGRUSH
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