CLAIRECORDS NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2005 Welcome to the tenth edition of the Clairecords newsletter, brought to you by all things brown and fuzzy! ***ARTIST NEWS AND OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS IT WOULD BEHOOVE YOU TO KNOW **** AIR FORMATION In the recent past, Air Formation have a.) added a member and b.) begun recording a new EP, 57 Octaves Below, with legendary producer Pat Collier (Robyn Hitchcock/The Soft Boys, The House of Love, Primal Scream) at his Gravity Shack studio. As Matt Bartram enthusiastically reports,“These new songs have been described by the few who've heard them live as 'out there', 'brown and fuzzy' & 'dripping with atmosphere'.” (And we thought all that was illegal!) Anyway, if you’re going to be in London at the end of March, you really need to stop by the Betsey Trotwood, wave your lighter, down a pint and buy everything at the merch table—that is, if you were hasty enough to require a ticket before they sold out. http://www.airformation.com AIRIEL Everyone and their grandma are asking when Airiel plan to play their provenance, so them fabtabulous shoegazing Chicagoites have finally decided to do something about it. The group is planning a major tour that will rock you in ways you never dreamed imaginable, and it’s highly likely that one of their long-distance labelmates will join them! We’re not at liberty to say who yet—that just wouldn’t be kosher. In further developments, Airiel also plan to record their cover of “Blowin’ Cool” (Swervedriver) for Club AC-30’s next compilation. http://www.sonicbaby.com/airiel EAU CLAIRE In yet another step towards complete and total world domination, Rachel and Jessica are now mistresses of their own domain: http://www.eauclairemusic.com. In order to provide the listening community with the best auditory experience possible, The Eau Claire EP’s release date has been moved to May. If you’re remotely close to the Austin, TX metro area in mid-March, be sure to see Rachel perform with Experimental Aircraft, who will soon release a new album of their own as well. HIGHSPIRE Your favorite Pennsylvanians (aside from the Innocence Mission and Mister Rogers, of course) are featured on the new Auralgasms comp, Bliss of Life, alongside Monster Movie, Her Space Holiday, Blue States, Asobi Seksu and too many other important people to list in this modest e-bagatelle. In case you were wondering what Milwaukee sounds like, be sure to Tivo a Discovery Channel program called Urban Explorers (Episode 2: Milwaukee) and tune in to the wonderful sounds of “Portsmouth” and “Sub Par Life, Brilliant Death,” two out of the 13 songs on Your Everything. (The other 11 rock too, even though they sound like cities other than Milwaukee.) http://www.highspire.net PARK AVENUE MUSIC Wes ‘n’ Juju’s follow-up to For Your Home or Office is shaping up to be quite a homespun effort—literally! “I've been too busy knitting to write songs,” reports the latter. “It'll get done, no worries! To be released *hopefully* late spring, so we can do shows this summer.” Wes is also working on new material for his side project, LIFELINER+. http://www.parkavenuemusic.com SCIFLYER Bubble bubble toilet trouble! Strange things are happening in the depths of Sciflyer’s underground laboratory. For starters, their follow-up to Fair Weather Karma has officially been christened The Age of Lovely Intimate Things, and mixing and mastering commence in early March. We can’t wait, and we know you can’t either. If you are in or around the Pacific northwest (especially PDX or Sea-Tac), it’s highly likely that Sciflyer will be hurtling towards your provenance like a bat out of hell next month. Happy trails, kiddies, and watch out for the brown recluses. Them shits bite! http://www.sciflyer.net SILVER SCREEN Silver Screen is the nom de song of one Cris Miller, who makes the kind of music you’re already familiar with if you’re a fan of Blueboy, the Field Mice and/or Heavenly. His long-delayed debut, The Greatest Story Never Told, will be issued by your best friends in the whole wide world (us) later this spring. When he’s not working on Silver Screen material, he’s collaborating with ex-Love Spirals Downwards singer Suzanne Perry in Melody Guild or working on his old band Froxel’s archival recordings. Web site forthcoming. THEBROTHERKITE The Great White North beckons—and our Ocean State noiseniks courageously answer the call of duty. thebrotherkite will join the likes of Calla, Barzin, Mice Parade and many other highly-esteemed musical citizenry at the Under the Snow Festival in March. Stay tuned to http://www.underthesnow.ca for news and updates both meteorological and otherwise. After the thaw, the biggest little band in our country’s tiniest state will retreat to their newly-completed studio for noisemaking and mayhem and emerge what will very likely be a new EP. Patience, young Jedis… http://www.thebrotherkite.com ****CLAIRECORDS PRESS-O-RAMA! **** THE FLATMATES “Though initially coming off like yet another entry in England's seemingly endless encyclo-twee-dia, the Flatmates' most enduring singles prove the band a rare exception to the all too snore-worthy twee army.” - Zac Pennington, The Portland Mercury SCIFLYER “…an astonishing movement of space fuzz, indie pop and dreamy bliss.” - Zero Magazine **** CLAIRECORDS ROADTRIP-O-RAMA! **** AIRIEL 03/13/05 Chicago IL- Bottom Lounge w/ The Winter Pageant, Joiya 04/21/05 Chicago, IL- Dark Room w/ DJ's Brock and Tobias AIR FORMATION 03/29/05 London, UK- The Betsey Trotwood w/ Sleepless Heliconia PAIK 02/27/05 Hamtramck MI- Small's 03/04/05 Hamtramck MI- Attic Bar w/Blue Sunrays, The Trembling 03/15/05 Nashville,TN- Angle of View w/Harris Newman 03/17/05 Austin TX- The Ritz (SXSW) w/ Subarachnoid Space, Harris Newman 03/20/05 Chicago IL- Empty Bottle w/ Subarachnoid Space 03/21/05 Cleveland OH- Beachland Ballroom w/ Vernacular, Subaracnoid Space 03/27/05 Detroit MI-2500 Club w/ Light, Vernacular, Subarachnoid Space 04/08/05 Detroit MI- Lager House w/ DMBQ (Japan), Demolition Doll Rods SCIFLYER 03/26/05 Portland OR-Kelly’s Olympian w/ The Lawn, Crown Motel 03/27/05 Seattle WA- The Funhouse 03/29/05 Vancouver BC- The Railway Club w/ Parlour Steps 03/30/05 Olympia WA- Le Voyeur 03/31/05 Portland OR- C-Bar 04/02/05 Reno NV- The Zephyr THEBROTHERKITE 03/04/05 Montreal QC- Casa Del Popolo w/ The Besnard Lakes, Taiga, Panopticon Eyelids Please note that we very seldom (if ever) have information regarding shows, ticket prices or anything else of that nature. We strongly suggest that you contact the relevant venue directly. Questions? Comments? Want to book one of our bands? Need an advance copy of something? On-air and/or print interview requests? Or maybe just a hug? Email susan@clairecords.com or dan@tonevendor.com.