CLAIRECORDS NEWSLETTER MAY 2005 Welcome to the 11th edition of the Clairecords newsletter, drafted especially for you in the pollen-heavy depths of California’s Central Valley. Pass the Kleenex! ** ARTIST NEWS, ET CETERA ET CETERA ** AIR FORMATION Matt Bartram has emerged from his clandestine locale with the following bulletin: “We have just recorded a cover of Moose's 'Suzanne' for the forthcoming Shoegaze covers album on CLUBAC30, have a track (Spirals) on the next Testones CD and are waiting for the release of our '57 Octaves Below' EP. A couple of the new EP tracks can be found at http://www.myspace.com/airformation.” If you’re going to be anywhere near London May 10, you can see Air Formation perform alongside Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Detwiije, Heliconia, Amusement Parks On Fire and a whole bunch of other bands you need to know about at Club AC30’s three-day Reverence Festival. http://www.airformation.com AIRIEL Airiel’s Web site has moved here, so update your bookmarks: http://www.airiel.com . KZSU-FM (Stanford Univ) is awfully swell for integrating Winks & Kisses tracks into their playlist, too. If you or someone you know is experiencing a dearth of ideas for new spring fashions, why not slip into one of Airiel’s hot new T-shirts? They’re available through tonevendor.com. You’ll also be very happy to know that a brand-new EP recently arrived at an undisclosed pressing plant and will be in your grubby mitts very, very soon. More details to come! SECRET SHINE We at Clairecords hate to be bearers of bad tidings, but we must report with deep sadness that Secret Shine drummer Tim Morris died Feb. 16 of injuries sustained in an accident. "Not only was Tim a great drummer but he was a brilliant person to be around,” his bandmates said in an official statement. “He had a great love of music and Secret Shine were in the process of recording some new stuff which will definitely be finished.” A concert will be held in Tim’s memory at The Louisiana in Bristol UK on May 25; proceeds will benefit Tim’s favorite charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (www.msf.org). SILVER SCREEN Whoever thought Liberace the hardest-working man in show business obviously never met Silver Screen mastermind Cris Miller: “Still recording more demos constantly. Currently reading ‘Beach Boys Pet Sounds, The Greatest Album of the 20th Century’ by Kingsley Abbot. I don't own the album, but reading about it is very inspiring.” Silver Screen’s official debut, The Greatest Story Never Told, will officially make its long-awaited arrival on May 24. Fans of Trembling Blue Stars, The Field Mice and Blueboy will no doubt find Miller’s buoyant, ethereal pop a perfect soundtrack for balmy spring days. http://www.clairecords.com/artists/silverscreen.html TEST TONES VI Our famed quarterly compilation series is back and better than ever with Tycho, Lights Out Asia, Angie Heaton, thebrotherkite, Air Formation, Astral, Scenic, Anton Barbeau w/ the Bevis Frond and tons more exciting artists contributing new and previously-released tunes. Test Tones IV is now available at the indie record emporium nearest you (that’d be Tonevendor, dig?) for the astoundingly-low price of $4.00 -- just in case your tax-refund check is burning a hole in your pocket. http://www.tonevendor.com THEBROTHERKITE Providence, RI’s most upstanding citizens have redesigned their Web site all nice and pretty-like. As Jon reports, “We're in the new studio, and everything is going wonderfully. We're not sure what the end result is going to be (EP, LP, etc), but we'll just going to plug away until we can't stomach recording anymore (which could be a while!)” An East Coast road trip is in the works for early August. http://www.thebrotherkite.com ** PRESS-Y GALORE! ** THE FLATMATES “Love & Death is a welcome reissue of a band who never got the respect or attention they deserved--until now.” -- Joseph Kyle, Mundane Sounds MONSTER MOVIE “Fronted by the songwriting duo of Christian Savill (ex-Slowdive) and Sean Hewson, Monster Movie provide a heady mix of pop, shoegaze, and electronic experimentation on their compelling second full-length effort To The Moon.” - Ben Vendetta, Skyscraper THEBROTHERKITE “While many bands that dabble in the gazing of the shoes forget to etch out a decent song to build upon, thebrotherkite could actually pull off a stunning acoustic set; strip these songs bare and you end up with tunes that can stand alone.” -Mike Breen, Cincinnati CityBeat ** CLAIRECORDS ROADTRIP-O-RAMA ** AIR FORMATION 05/10/05 London UK- Water Rats Theatre (Club AC30’s Reverence Festival) AIRIEL 05/26/05 Arlington Heights, IL- Boiler Room 06/11/ 05 Indianapolis, IN- Harrison Center for the Arts 07/09/ 05 Minneapolis, MN- The Hexagon w/ The Flavor Crystals PAIK 05/17/05 Cleveland, OH- Beachland Ballroom w/ YOB, DOVE PARK AVENUE MUSIC 05/15/05 Sacramento CA- Fool’s Foundation w/ Montag, Daedalus HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING? (A peek into the inner sanctums of your favorite Clairecords stars!) AIRIEL “My girlfriend is in town from Tokyo and we're in our pajamas making Japanese curry. Hahaha.” HIGHSPIRE “What you're working on: overcoming a hangover, this email, and avoiding my bosses in the maze of cubes. Where you're playing: acoustically to kids and dogs in a park by my house.” SILVER SCREEN “My hair has been dyed impossibly blonde, more than I asked for, but it's okay. Think Paul Weller while he was in Style Council and you'd be close.” 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. We here at Clairecords and Tonevendor want you to have all the best when it comes to your indie-rock needs. Want to unsubscribe? Hit “Reply” and we'll get you off.