Crocodiles, PENS, Grafitti Island Announce West Coast Tour

I'm super pumped, proud, jazzed and psyched to announce the dates of the Art Fag Recordings 7" tour with Crocodiles, PENS & Grafitti Island!! These dates are in celebration of the upcoming 4 way split 7" with all three bands and Dum Dum Girls. Look for a few more shows to be added and special surprise bands added including a few dates with Dum Dum Girls.


Aug 19 2009 RICKSHAW STOP w/ Crocodiles, PENS & Graffiti Island San Francisco, California
Aug 21 2009 DOUR FIR w/ Crcodiles, PENS & Graffiti Island Portland, Oregon
Aug 22 2009 CHOP SUEY w/ Crocodiles, PENS & Graffiti Island Seattle, Washington
Aug 26 2009 CREPE PLACE w/ Crocodiles, PENS & Graffiti Island Santa Cruz, California
Aug 27 2009 SPACELAND w/ Crocodiles, PENS & Graffiti Island Los Angeles, California

Poster Skills Or Lack Of Thereof

Oh, and here's the poster for this Friday's big night in San Diego, California.

Updates And Whatnot : If Yr In San Diego, California

SO here are the nights/shows that we're working on in the next few weeks. Feel free to attend all of them.

Friday 6/19

Hawnay Troof, BAADDD (Australia), Ale Mania, and DJs Mario Orduno & Jeff Graves @ Soda Bar / $5

Sunday 6/21

Religious Girls (East Bay, CA) and Our Brother The Native (Ann Arbor, Michigan) LIVE & DJ Mario Orduno @ Too Many Creeps @ The Whistle Stop / FREE

Friday 6/26

Woven Bones (Austin, TX), Sunday Times, The Anasazis, Heavy Hawaii and DJ Mario Orduno @ Soda Bar / $4


Aren't these SICK things?

Legendary NZ Artist / Producer Chris Knox Had A Stroke

Chris Knox, pioneer in recording all the early Flying Nun records and front man of The Enemy and Tall Dwarfs had a stroke this past Thursday. His family and friends have set up a blog (which I linked below) to learn updates and basically all things Chris Knox .

I blogged about CHris Knox back in October. There was a time recently, that I could not get enough of the New Zealand/ Flying Nun indie stuff from the late 70s and early 80s. Seriously, The Clean (which Mr. Knox recorded) played all night every night for a while. A lot of people don't know of this scene, and it's ok, but you gotta check it out if you don't! It will truly make you happy. The Chills, The Verlaines, The Clean, The Enemy, everything on Flying Nun. Below I posted a mini rock doc (I love rock docs) covering the early parts of Chris Knox' musical roots. Check it out, then check it ALL out.







Chris Knox Blog

Ye Olde Maids LP On Sale Now

It's time to peddle our beloved wares. What we have here, people, is a fine 140 gram hi quality black disc with ten soon to be classics. It's sheathed in a gorgeous silver colored jacket. Two inserts are also added for extra added bonus. SICK.

Go to Art Fag Recordings website to purchase.

Pumped!!

Big Thursdays

God, look at this crooked ass sloppy poster. Sheez, right? Whatever. Tomorrow night is the big launch to our new weekly. Expressway To Yr Skull. It's at Soda Bar. Remember I told you in the blog post down a few? Anyway, it should be bananas and super bonkers. We have our ol' friend Andrew Miller, from Angel City coming down to add his special magic. Punk / Records / Rap / Fun / Magic / Beer.

New Video For Mika Miko's "I Got A Lot (New New New)"

Mika Miko is the best punk band in California. Most fun, most cool, and for the sake of sounding dumb, MOST PUNK. Everything about them always means fun. Their records, their live shows, their videos. Always fun. The new video is for 'I Got A Lot (New New New)' and was directed by No Age's Randy Randall with Lana Kim. FUN. Peep it please.

The Others From A Brother Planet / 1989

Hey next time you fools, in yr bands, groops or whatever, are thinking you look cool with yr promotions or whatever...take a look at this. Of course this kinda push couldn't happen in this day and age, but you could try. Nothing's more exciting than new shit. And 20 years ago this was the new shit. Today this it's STILL the new shit. God I can't believe I saw these fools with PIL, New Order and Sugarcubes. 'Member tha Sugarcubes?

Expressway To Yr Skull

When our night in San DIego, Skull Kontrol, at Live Wire ended due to license restrictions we were all super duper sad. These nights were MAGIC. Packed and loud, Thursdays were like New Year's Eve every week. Punk, rap, oldies, noisy ear hole cleaners and anything we wanted were spun shockingly to the enjoyment of all the fools that came through the doors.

Well I'm happy to announce a new night to give new life to our mangled up vision. This Thursday, we (Crocodiles' Sir Charles & Brandon and myself) start Expressway To Yr Skull at Soda Bar. There'll be new things to offer here including booking bands every now and then that we're proud to bring to our teeny, sunny and beloved San Diego. It will usually be free, or a tiny baby cover charge if we have a live groop. I hope if you are around you can make it out one of these messes. This week we have a special guest, Los Angeles' Andrew Miller.

You Don't Own Me (64/65?) By Leslie Gore

Sheez loo eez, this song and performance is badass. I love Leslie Gore. I used to own the 45 of 'You Don't Own Me' but I took it to one of our ol' dj nights and with the drinking I lost it to the god of suds. I ruined a lot of records that way actually. I once took out a Roy Orbison record from it's sleeve and it looked as if the cookie monster dunked it in beer and took a bite out of it the size of a 50 cent piece. Anyway, this particular performance...so good. She's such a badass. Hr VOICE. This is a feminist anthem!







Btw, don't cry for me in regards to that 45. I have a 60s copy and two 80s copies of her Golden ass Hits lp. You should go get it!

The State Of The World Today

Art Fag Recordings has a Twitter thing. Can u imagine? In this day and age? In a post 9/11 world?

Ye Olde Maids Press

Yoyo, below are some links to some badass press Ye Olde Maids got this week on The Fader and RCRDLBL. Peep it. There are hi quality downloads on the RCRDLBL write up.

Also, the lp will be available to buy next week. Check here for the heads up!!



The Fader


RCRDLBL

I Hate Art

I do hate art. Art like this I mean. Jim Jarmusch's new movie is a self loving, boring, snoozer of meaningless crap. It goes NOWHERE. As my friend, who accompanied me said, the script must have been ten pages because nobody says shit, except of course the shitty lines about nothing. And that being said, it's no great visual cinematic masterpiece either. Sure the main dude looks cool with his nice suits, but after 4 or 5 costume changes into the same dumb (and cool looking) yet different color suit it gets old. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Yawwwwwwwwwwn. I want my fucking two hours back.

I had a video guide back in the day, that rated the movies 5 stars, 4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, and a turkey. Happy Thanksgiving Jim Jarmusch.

June In San Diego

A couple changes and additions to the June calendar. Check 'em below if you will be in San Diego in June cuz that's where these are at.

June 13 - Love Is All, So Cow, Christmas Island, Beaters @ The Casbah. $$$$$

June 19 - Hawnay Troof, BAADD, Ale Mania @ Soda Bar. $$$$$

June 21 - Religous Girls, Our Brother The Native @ Too Many Creeps @ The Whistle Stop. FREE.

These should all be MAJOR ass fun.

The Girls At Dawn

Imagine taking parts of Rough Trade 1980, Black Tambourine, a darker Shangri-Las and smooshing it together with a bunch of addictive, haunting pop ditties. Oh and sprinkle some Shaggs on there too. What you get is the perfect shambles called The Girls At Dawn. Three Brooklynites freshly formed and about to stay in yr skull for a long time. They're releasing records on Hozac soon. It's starting to get ridiculous and my ears are becoming spoiled. Maybe 2010 is going to suck or something?




The Girls At Dawn Myspace

Best Coast / New California Tunes

I'm super excited about some new music I heard the other day and I'm super excited to share. Ladies and germs meet Best Coast. A real nice gal from the city of angels. Her name is Bethany and she writes and records what are in her words, "songs about summer and the sun and the ocean and being a lazy creep". Well she did a dang good job of doing so and you can peep that shit via that link below. They're just demos. but to me, they're borderline perfect as is. Actually fuck borderline, they're just perfect. Fuzzzzzy, bright melodies are always good though right? My fave is the song Bratty B. Or maybe Sleepy One.

Stay tuned for more songs, souped up recordings, shows and records by Best Coast SOOON.


Best Coast Myspace

Art Fag Recordings Update / Fun Summer Nights

Updates 'n' shit. So much to get to. Label stuff and the nights we're putting on. Oh and a magic tour. But let's start with Art Fag Recordings.

Very excited about the Ye Olde Maids (AF004) record. There's been a LOT of waiting on certain details, but I'm PUMPED to be able to say that the record and sleeves are being made right NOW, as we speak. So we're talking only weeks away from it being out and in yr loving hands. I mean if you love pefect records.

Moving along swiftly on the 7" split (AF005). PENS, Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles and Graffiti Island. All the music is in and art is done. Actually art is pretty sick and was done by Amelia of PENS. Check it out:





This should be out soon after the Ye Olde Maids record and will be pressed in an edition of 1000.

Internet Forever 7" single and Dum Dum Girls full length cassette will be AF006 & AF007. PUMPED. A lot more in the works and I plan on keeping busy and putting these out faster and faster throughout the year and beyond. Release dates to be posted very soon.

Lastly there's a major fun announcement to make. Dates are being finalized as we speak for a tour to promote/celebrate the 4 way split 7". Crocodiles, PENS and Graffiti Island are touring the west coast from roughly August 17 to September 2. The exact dates should be announced soon. How exciting is that?? I can't WAIT.

Looks to be a sick ass summer for shows/nights if you live in San Diego/Southern California too. Here are some dates we're doing.

May 9 - Mika Miko, The Soft Pack, Protect Me and I'm playing records! @ The Smell. Not Free.
May 22 - Thin Man @ The Whistle Stop. FREE.
June 13 - So Cow (Ireland), Christmas Island, Beaters @ Soda Bar. Not Free.
June 19 - Hawnay Troof, BAADD (Australia) @ Soda Bar. Costs Money.
June 21 - Religous Girls, Our Brother The Native @ Too Many Creeps @ Whistle Stop. FREE.
June 21 - Crocodiles @ Soda Bar. FREE.
July 6 - Strange Boys, Coathangers, The Anasazis, Heavy Hawaii @ The Casbah. Bring Cash.
July 15 - Mika Miko @ Citizen Video. ALL AGES AND FREE. 3pm.
July 15 - Mika Miko, The Audacity, Beaters, Shannon & The Clams @ The Casbah. Get A Job.

Working on a LOT more so details will come as soon as they're sorted out.

That's it for now. Peace.

Video Rewind : Fairytale In The Supermarket By The Raincoats

I'd be hard pressed to think of a record I like better than The Raincoats' self titled debutt. It's one of my favorites of all time. And this single "Fairytale In The Supermarket"? Perfect. Did you know they've reformed and Vice Cooler/Hawnay Troof is their new drummer? Real talk.

Do It Yourself : The Story Of Rough Trade

If you've read this god forsaken thing a few times over the past couple years, you've probably gathered that I LOVE Rough Trade. And if not. listen, I LOVE ROUGH TRADE. It's beginnings as a label are an inspiration to me. It's original roster from 1977 to 1986 is the kind of eclectic and forward thinking group of artists that I aspire to have on my label. From Metal Urbain and Stiff Little Fingers to The Smiths. And the The Raincoats, The Fall and Television Personalities in between. PERFECT.

You know what else I love? A good rock doc. (Rerember when VH1 offered "Rock Docs"?) I just saw the amazing Arthur Russell 'Wild Combination' and it ruled. Shield Around The K, The Filth And The Fury, Joy Division, that Daniel Johnston one, all those movies. Love 'em.

Well BBC made a Rogh Trade one called Do It Yourself: The Story Of Rough Trade. It is good. Watch it. Link below.


Rough Trade Rock Doc


And if that's not enough, you should read this book below. It's kinda my bible. You can look into it here

Chandra - Transportation 1980

In 1980, Chandra Oppenheim was 12 years old and in New York City. Her father was artist/sculptor Dennis Oppenheim. Members of post punk/ no wave band, The Dance, were friends of his. She began to write songs to instrumental songs The Dance had recorded. Magic happened and was released on a 4 song 12" ep called Teansportation on Go Go Records. Chandra went on to record another ep with some fellow teens as The Chandra Dimension in 1982. The songs were never released and she soon ended that phase of her life. Cantor Records reissued the 4 song ep and the 5 unreleased songs last year as a 12" w/ 32 page booklet and download. Those are the facts. My opinion is that I love these songs and I've ordered my record.

Here's 'Kate', one of the songs from the original 4 song Transprtation 12" ep.


Chandra 'Kate'