Our last April release is Plane Ticket‘s debut EP Under the Quiet Sky. Four straight-to-the-point adult-oriented indie rock songs in the vein of The National or The Twilight Sad, available for free streaming on our Bandcamp page, where you can also buy one of the 50 cassettes available, which include 2 bonus live tracks not available anywhere else. Also, head to the band’s own page to download the EP for free.
For those who don’t receive our newsletter, here’s a copy of it. We have two new releases up for free streaming on our Bandcamp. Read more and take a listen below!
THE BRILLIANT BEAST, NEIGHBORS (power-pop, folk-rock | USA)
From under the Northern Lights of St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, comes the Brilliant Beast, a quartet of twenty-somethings smashing together elements of power-pop, alt-country, punk rock, and lo-fi into a holler all their own. Led by siblings Jordan (vocals, guitar) and Hannah (fiddle, guitar, vocals), the Brilliant Beast crafts catchy pop tunes that have been dragged through the dirt, spit on, and left to die in a roadside ditch.
HORRIBLE PRESENT, 54, I LOVE YOU BUT IT’S TIME TO GET OFF (psychedelic, pop | ITA/UK) – free download
Horrible Present is the solo project of the London-based Italian musician Nicola Donà, whose love for the classics from the good old 50s is channeled through short, psychedelic pop songs.
Horrible Present “The Girl Who Found The World” from Nicola Donà on Vimeo.
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Following this release, we’re excited to be putting out the first EP from our Portuguese friends Plane Ticket next Sunday 23rd March. You’re going to have to wait until next week to listen to Under the Quiet Sky in its entirety, but if you’re curious check the video for the title track below.
We’re also happy to inform that we’re accepting orders for the a Jigsaw cassette I Have Been Away for So Long who sold out last month. One last batch of 50 tapes is available on our Bandcamp, now on light blue color. Be sure to grab one of these while they’re available: they tour Europe a lot, which means they sell heaps of tapes. Be quick!
To get Brooklyn band POINT REYES off the ground, Asa Horvitz suggested that percussionist Kyle Farrell and cellist Daniel Bindschedler join him in Warsaw, Poland (where he was working supported by a Fulbright grant) to spend four months writing, rehearsing, and giving concerts in a completely foreign environment. Farrell and Bindschedler jumped at the opportunity and in May 2011 the trio moved into a sunny attic loft across from the Vistula river. Throughout the summer of 2011, POINT REYES immersed themselves in Poland: they performed in towns where no Americans had performed before, rehearsed ten hours a day in the basement of the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music, studied Polish, swam in flooded meadows, became obsessed with Communist architecture, played festivals in Krakow and Berlin, collaborated with Polish musicians and theater artists, and wrote and recorded their debut full length album. The project was funded in part by the Fulbright grant awarded to Horvitz. POINT REYES’ debut album – the culmination of their time in Poland – will be released on CAKES AND TAPES (Portugal) in January 2012.
A Jigsaw‘s new EP is our 18th release in a bit over a year. It’s been a beautiful thing to see Cakes and Tapes coming of age; to celebrate, have a listen to the title track of this EP by the best Americana band in Europe right now. They’ve been my favorite Portuguese band for quite a while now and it’s a pleasure to get to work with them again, after they played at our birthday party at Mercado Negro last September. There are 50 limited edition cassettes (well, it came out today and now there are only 30 pieces left) for sale on our Bandcamp. It contains this track and five beautiful renditions of songs by other Portuguese acts, including fellow Coimbra bands Bunnyranch and Tiguana Bibles. A “how to” on doing cover songs – like they say, now they “carry the heart of those songs” with them. And they surely deserve it.
Pics by Miguel Estima
No, we didn’t quit being a label, but suddently we’re also promoting some shows by artists not on the label. After A Jigsaw last month, antifolk star Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard is the next in line, playing at Mercado Negro, Aveiro (Portugal) next Tuesday 18th October. Tickets are €4 (either by writing an email to mercadonegro.correio at gmail dot com or buying them on the venue, starting tomorrow) or €6 at the door. Jeffrey has a new album, A Turn in the Dream-Songs out today; listen to it on the widget below (courtesy of Rough Trade/Beggars Group). BBC, The Guardian, NME, Drowning in Sound and FRUK are all delighted. Your turn now.
Jarvis Cocker has said that Lewis is the best lyricist working in the US today. Widen the boundaries, Jarv, and you’re closer to the mark. – BBC
The release of the debut EP from the Portuguese Where Love Meets the Sea, Sunset Pleasures was postponed until next month. First single will be out in a couple of weeks though. Sorry for the inconvenience; meanwhile, there’s plenty of new stuff for you to listen…
Enter Point Reyes. We’re pleased to announce the debut LP of this wonderful Brooklyn band, due next January. Meanwhile, check their artist page for more info and their selftitled debut EP, available for just $2 on their Bandcamp page. Stream it below, buy it for just two bucks or, if your mom doesn’t allow you to buy stuff online, ask for one of the 20 free download codes we have for you at cakestapes -at- gmail -dot- com. First come, first served.
Like many of the best folk albums of the last decade, From the Mouths is an insular affair with a distinct sense of place. Berube and Beaupre self-recorded and self-produced it in their shared apartment over the course of the last winter, writing their songs separately then fleshing them out together with banjo, accordion, glockenspiel and flute and other instruments they had taught themselves to play - Express Milwaukee
In short, it’s the kind of album that when put on you stop whatever you’re doing and reflect and prepare. It’s the perfect soundtrack for the transition from the excitement of summer to the somberness and beauty of fall. The sway created by the accordion and the tender hold of the gentle plunking banjo will take you on one of the more relaxing listening experiences of recent memory - Hot Lunch Collective
The album’s also available on vinyl and pay-what-you-want download through Listening Party Records and on CD-r through the band itself; there are links to other Bandcamp pages where you can buy both versions of it on our own Bandcamp page for the album. If you’re not convinced this is reeeeeally good, even AOL Music is streaming it on their website along with albums by Pearl Jam, WATERS, Megafaun, Jonathan Wilson (you should REALLY listen to this one, he’s amazing and currently on the road with Wilco), the new Jens Lekman EP, etc etc etccc.