CLAIRECORDS NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2004 Welcome to the fifth edition of the Clairecords newsletter. Tours and visuals and flying underwear, oh my! *** ARTIST NEWS **** AIRIEL Airiel tore shit up at their inaugural performance at Chicago’s famed Double Door. Check out the visuals here: http://www.ambrel.net/airiel . Nauseatingly- sickening public displays of affection for KDVS-FM (Univ. of CA, Davis) and WHPK-FM (Univ. of Chicago) for adding “Crackled” to rotation! Airiel will be laying down more material and, if all goes according to plans, touring the northeast this fall. http://www.sonicbaby.com/airiel AIR FORMATION Air Formation’s third album (and their first for Clairecords), Stay Inside, Feel Everything arrives October 12. We just got the advances in and they’re amazing, and we’ll have many, many more gory details to share with you when the release date approaches. In the meantime, if you’re going to be in Brighton anytime soon, look the band up and hoist a pint at the Free Butt, the Pull & Pump and/or The Dyke Tavern. Cheers! http://www.airformation.com THE FLATMATES Clairecords is gearing up to reissue The Flatmates' CD "Love and Death", the legendary collection of Flatmates singles and material that was recorded for a planned LP on London Records, but never happened. We’ve observed a massive resurgence of interest lately in The Flatmates: "I Could Be In Heaven" will be one of 46 tracks featured on a double CD compilation 'Rough Trade Shops: Indiepop 1' to be released by Mute on August 23rd 2004; www.indie-mp3.co.uk have agreed to host a collection of lo-fi MP3s of The Flatmates back catalogue beginning in September; also in September we'll be promoting "Love and Death" by including the brilliant track "Don't Say If" on Volume 3 of our Test Tones series; and our reissue of "Love and Death" should be out in October. Phew! http://www.theflatmates.co.uk THE FRENCHMEN The Frenchmen just flew back from Europe and boy, are their arms tired! Seriously, folks, WNYU-FM (NYC) and KVCU-FM (Univ. of Colorado-Boulder) both rock for giving Sorry We Ruined Your Party such generous rotation. Pictures from the tour are here, and, yes, that’s who you think it is in photo 4: http://www.underexposed.org.uk/frenchmen/frenchmen1.htm http://lovethefrenchmen.com HIGHSPIRE KEXP-FM’s John in the Morning (that’s John Richards to you) listed Your Everything as one of his 10 favoritest records of 2004, right alongside LPs by Loretta Lynn, Franz Ferdinand, Sufjan Stevens and Elbow. How cool is that?! Check it: http://www.maisonneuve.org/blog/index.php?itemid=244 http://www.highspire.net MONSTER MOVIE Breaking news from Christian Savill! “Our next release will be available on sheet music only as the use of modern recording techniques has hurt our feelings.” For those among you who can’t decipher all them notes, Monster Movie’s second outing, “To the Moon,” will be available on trusty CDs as of August 24. The duo’s “brilliant mini-album of pagan love songs” will likely have arrived by that date as well. http://www.monster-movie.com PAIK Pitchfork pisses pants for Paik! (Hey, try saying that five times fast!) Yes, the venerable indie webzine graced Satin Black with an astonishing 7.5 rating. Kisses, ‘Forkers! As you well know, turntablists can acquire a copy of the beauteous double-LP edition of Satin Black Clairecords issued not too long ago. (The CD, remember, arrived on the Strange Attractors imprint.) The group are also planning a two-week jaunt around and about the east coast and south in October. http://www.beyonderrecords.com SCIFLYER During their recent rampage across the great American southwest, Alameda’s finest were kidnapped by aliens and probed in places they didn’t know existed. Ha ha, kidding! If you reside in the right West Coast locales, you can catch Steve Kennedy drumming for Hope Chest. Dates below! Sciflyer will begin working on their follow-up to Fair Weather Karma, which will hopefully arrive early next year. http://www.sciflyer.net TEST TONES Finally - yes, we swear it's true - Test Tones Volume 3 will be available in September 2004! Can you believe it?! Neither can we. A year overdue, the third CD in the limited cheapo series will feature exclusive tracks from Citizens Here and Abroad, la Pieta, Rock Stone, Gary Young's Hospital, My Education, Timonium, Rock the Light, We are Childhood Equals, and Waterline Drift. It will also feature previously released or forthcoming tracks from The Frenchmen, The Workhouse, Detwiije, Coming right on its heels is Volume 4, which is already finished. You can buy the whole seat but you’ll only need he edge! http://www.clairecords.com THEBROTHERKITE thebrotherkite are heading out on their first major tour this month, so show up at one (or, preferably, all) gigs and throw your underwear at them. Scroll down for dates, yo. Their eponymous debut has been accumulating some bodacious press from places like The Portland Mercury along the way, too. Rock ‘n’ roll, baby, yeah! http://www.thebrotherkite.com **** PRESS-O-RAMA! **** AIR FORMATION “Air Formation works its subtle magic via dynamic, distorted guitars and dreamy vocals. They should be welcomed quite easily into the field of bands who charm with both noise and melody.” -- Tim DiGravina, Splendid E-Zine AIRIEL “This is a strong conclusion to their Winks and Kisses series. Start from the beginning and buy all four. You will not be disappointed.” - Somewherecold.com THE FRENCHMEN “The Frenchmen doet het wel. The Frenchmen zijn goe-hoed!” -Martijn Grooten, Think Small (The Netherlands) HIGHSPIRE “If Sofia Coppola is looking for a soundtrack to her next film, she need look no further.” - George Parsons, Dream Magazine PAIK “Paik make the kind of slow, drop-D guitar sludge that alienated suburban kids have been getting stoned to since Black Sabbath entered the fray. Nighttime is about dreams and endless possibility and daytime is for making things happen; Satin Black is about disengaging from the cycle altogether.” –Mark Richardson, Pitchfork THEBROTHERKITE “The entire album is like a roaring flame that calms to a slow burn and then, like a driftwood fire smoldering in the cold night sand, finds a burl then pops, hisses, and ignites again.” -Kathleen Wilson, The Portland Mercury **** TOUR DATES **** AIRIEL 08/20/04- Chicago IL, The Bottom Lounge w/Zelienople THEBROTHERKITE 08/11/04- Fitchburg, MA- The Compound 08/16/04- NYC, NY- Lit Lounge 08/17/04- Philadelphia, PA-The Millcreek Tavern 08/18/04- Long Branch, NJ- Brighton Bar 08/19/04- Washington DC- Velvet Lounge 09/01/04- Providence, RI- Safari Lounge SCIFLYER (Steve Kennedy drums with Hope Chest on these dates) 08/07/04 - Davis, CA, Delta of Venus 08/20/04 - San Francisco, CA, Hotel Utah 09/11/04 - Portland, OR, Red & Black Cafe Please note that we don’t always have information regarding shows, ticket prices or anything else of that nature. We strongly suggest that you contact the venue directly. So get off your ass! HEY, WHAT’S JAY LISTENING TO? Neil Young- After the Gold Rush (Reprise) Neil Young- Harvest (Reprise) Morrissey- Greatest Hits Pelican- S/T CDEP (Hydra Head) Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young- pretty much everything Questions? Comments? Interview requests? Slow, wet kisses that last for three days? Email susan@clairecords.com or dan@clairecords.com.