'LOVE IS REAL' VINYL IS HERE!

23 Jun 2008

We are super happy to tell you that the vinyl version of John Maus' 'Love Is Real' finally made it back from the pressing plant! This one took an age to gestate in a womblike factory in the Czech Republic, but let us tell you it was worth the wait!

The LP is super deluxe - the sleeve is decked out in heavenly white with all the text in super high gloss on the back. The vinyl is also white and sounds terrific too. It's available in the shop right now.

WEBSITE UPDATE

15 Jun 2008

As you may have noticed, we've given our website a bit of a freshen up. We're about half way through and old features like the archive pages will be back very soon.

In the meantime, we have some all new artist pages designed to cope with the influx of imminent releases - new albums from Softboiled Eggies & Lucky Dragons, not to mention Future Islands, Chops, Helhesten & Death Sentence: Panda! coming very soon.

So, please have an explore. And if you come across any glitches, let us know!

CRYPTACIZE began across the street from a Sugar Factory in Crockett, California, where Nedelle (Kill Rocks Stars) and Chris (Cohen, formerly of Deerhoof & The Curtains) lived in a tilted apartment. Constant dizziness and the smell of burning sugar became a permanent part of their psyches, and this is their premier influence. One morning while brushing their teeth, toothpaste running sideways out of their mouths, Nedelle pronounced the word "Cryptacize" and the house appeared to incline in the opposite direction. Soon after this strange incident, they discovered something even stranger on YouTube - a percussionist named Michael Carreira. Having only seen his video, which was a closeup of his hands, they sought him out and miraculously convinced him to join their uncanny crusade. The result is Cryptacize, humbly inspired by the larger-than-life emotions of West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz's bittersweet escapism and the other-world sentimentality of Sun Ra's Spaceship Lullaby. Their first LP 'Dig That Treasure' is out now via Asthmatic Kitty.
www.myspace.com/cryptacize | www.asthmatickitty.com

HALF-HANDED CLOUD is an interesting phenomenon. John Ringhofer, the man behind the namesake, is as joyful and frugal as his music. An economical thinker, Ringhofer prefers the subway over a taxicab, is a recycler of plastic, a compulsive note-taker, and a habitual optimist. He doodles in the margins of National Geographic magazines, carries several different colored pens, and continues to use an antiquated CD Walkman. When not on tour solo or as the trombonist for Sufjan Stevens' Illinoisemakers, he lives rent-free in Berkeley, California, in exchange for his services as a custodian in a church. His music encapsulates his struggle to make sense of his life and his passions. In Half-handed Cloud, this is expressed as an all-consuming search for God. Like Brother Danielson, Half-handed Cloud is able to ensconce complicated theological concepts into playground song without condescending to his subject or to his listener.
www.halfhandedcloud.com | www.asthmatickitty.com

LAKE is Ashley Eriksson, Eli Moore and Lindsay Schief, who together make a wondrous joy noise. As with many bands from Olympia, Lake are an upbeat friendcore band with a heavy penchant for all things inspiring in our everyday life. They often collaborate with John Ringhofer and Karl Blau, and October 2008 sees their first album 'Oh The places We'll Go' released by K Records.
www.myspace.com/munchmunchband | www.tomlab.com