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Jim Kelly
phone: 217.344.8609
promo@parasol.com

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Parasol Publicity is the press and radio promotions arm of the Parasol Label Group (and Parasol Mail Order). If you're a journalist, blogger or radio personality and desire copies of and/or more information about any of our in-house label releases please send me an email with your details.
 
     
   
     
 
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  Common Loon
"The Long Dream of Birds"

Hidden Agenda Records

Release Date: April 6, 2010

PRESS SHEET


Common Loon is a psych-rock-pop duo, Matt Campbell and Robert Hirschfeld, who have known each other since Kindergarten (for real). They are from Illinois. They traffic in dream rock, blending classic West Coast harmonies with some cosmically-inclined guitar-gush lushness. Names dropped include Sparklehorse, Sebadoh, Spacemen 3's extended family, Apples In Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, Granddaddy...


 
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Another. / Credit: Lisa Janes
  Download "Dinosaur vs Early Man" mp3

Tour Dates


Myspace

 

 
 
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  Painted Hills
"Self-Titled"

Bird Song Recordings

Release Date: April 20, 2010


PRESS SHEET

Debut album on Ric Menck's Bird Song imprint. Painted Hills are a psych-pop/cosmic americana outfit from Sierra Madre, California, led by former Beachwood Sparks guitarist/singer/songwriter/dude Josh Schwartz who was also a member of Further and more recently The Tyde. Band also features members of The Whispering Pines.


 
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  Unbunny
"Moon Food"

Hidden Agenda Records

Release Date: May 2010


New album from Unbunny AKA Jarid del Deo.


 
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Another. And another.
Photo Credit: Celia Mailand

  Myspace

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  Mas Rapido
"Dumb Is King!"

Parasol Records
Release Date: May 2010



 
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Photos Credit: TBC
  Myspace

 

 
 
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  Cameron McGill & What Army
"Two Hits & A Miss"

Digital Download Single available from your fave DSPs.
Parasol Records

Release Date: September 15, 2009


New three-song digital-single from Cameron McGill & What Army, the follow-up to their recent full-length, Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders, released earlier this year by Parasol Records.

ALL MUSIC GUIDE:
"These ten songs spin a web that's compelling and engaging, weaving back and forth between high drama and subtle passion with a lyrical strength that rings emotionally true, and McGill's vocals, bobbing between a whisper and a plaintive, muted shout, are superb."


 
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New photos: 1 2 More: 1 2 3
Photos Credit: TBC

  Download "Madeline, Every Girl" mp3
Download "Low Ways" mp3 
"Lose Americans" VIDEO
"Minor Suite" VIDEO
More info, more sound samples...
Myspace
Website

Tour Dates HERE.

Download POSTER.

Download Warm Songs... NEW POSTER & LYRIC SHEET

 

 
 
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  You & Yourn
It Would Make Things Worse

Parasol Records

Release Date: October 27, 2009


Love, then music, then marriage, the story continues… Formerly known as Casados, You & Yourn’s self-engineered/recorded project, It Would Make Things Worse, is a culmination of a sonic evolution that has brought them out of the pedestrian indie-folk-singer-songwriter genre and into their current: lyrically-driven, atmospheric chamber-folk. Here you will find a gentler, more deliberate dynamic that alludes not only to the more gleeful aspects of life and love, but also the darker.


 
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Photo Credit: Cody Bralts
  Free/legal mp3: "Double Knots"
More info, sound samples, etc.

Tour Dates
Download POSTER.
You & Yourn Website
MySpace


 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  Beaujolais
Admirations

Parasol Records

Release Date: Sept 29, 2009


New album of garage-pop catharsis from former Wolfie/Like Young gent Joe Ziemba. The follow up to the harrowing Love At Thirty finds our protagonist Joe in the midst of... moving on.


 
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Photo Credit: Stephanie Kane
  Free/legal mp3 for
Bonus mp3 "Don't Believe What They Say" (Vashti Bunyan)

More info, more sound samples...

On Myspace

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  Richard Lloyd
The Jamie Neverts Story

Parasol Records

Release Date: Sept 1, 2009


Ex-Television guitarist (and current Rocket from the Tombs guitarist and frequent Matthew Sweet collaborator) Richard Lloyd’s long-promised collection of Jimi Hendrix covers. As much a homage to Jimi as it is to Lloyd's and Hendrix's mutual friend Velvert Turner (R.I.P.), the Story behind this release touches on punches thrown, tears shed and men whose guitar alchemy continues to shape rock music. This is Lloyd’s third release for Parasol and we’re astounded to be working with one of Punk’s true godfathers.


 
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Credit: TBC
  Free/legal mp3 coming soon.
More info, more sound samples...
Booking Agent
Tour Dates
Website

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  George Usher
Yours & Not Yours

Parasol Records

Release Date: Sept 1, 2009


Moving between guitar and piano, NYC songsmith George Usher (Beat Rodeo, Bongos, Decoys, Schramms) has delivered his new album, Yours And Not Yours, his first solo recordings in over ten years and his fourth release for Parasol Records.
Utilizing a more acoustic, folk-rock sound, highlighted by strings, brass and pedal steel guitars, Usher covers a lot of his usual “melodic pop” ground. All 12 of the album’s songs are lyrically-rooted in the dynamics of romantic relationships, creating a song cycle that stays with the listener long after playing.


 
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Credit: Metin Oner
  Free/legal mp3 coming soon.
More info, more sound samples...

Tour Dates
Website

Myspace

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  The Bats
"The Guilty Office"

Hidden Agenda Records

Release Date: June 23, 2009


For their seventh studio album The Bats continue to refine and develop their own idiosyncratic path, whilst also adding fresh sparkle and new ideas. The strings and additional instruments come to the fore, such as on the first single “Castle Lights”, and Robert Scott’s songwriting has become particularly strong on tracks such as “Countersign” and “Crimson Enemy”. The band have come up with an album that shines among their best.


 
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And another. / Credit: Rod Tip
  Download "Countersign" mp3
Download "Castle Lights" [single version]
mp3
View the "Like Water"
video

More info, more sound samples, video...
Myspace

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  Horse's Ha
"Of the Cathmawr Yards"

Hidden Agenda Records

Release Date: June 9, 2009


Publicity Contact: Jessica Linker @ Pitch Perfect PR

Pitch Perfect PR's Horse's Ha page.

In June Hidden Agenda Records will release On the Cathmawr Yards, the debut album from Chicago slowburn-folk troupe The Horse’s Ha, led by Janet Bean (Eleventh Dream Day, Freakwater) and Jim Elkington (The Zincs) backed by stalwart Chicago indie-rock vets. Think Fairport Convention, Pentangle and a little Astral Weeks, if you catch their drift.


 
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Photos Credit: James Elkington
  Download "The Piss Choir" MP3

More info, streaming sound samples

Myspace

Tour Dates HERE.
Download POSTER.

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  Cameron McGill & What Army
"Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders"

Parasol Records

Release Date: April 28, 2009


This is exactly the kind of record we hoped Cameron McGill would make for his Parasol debut; songs stripped down and stories laid bare. The songs show a similar vulnerability evident in many of McGill's recordings, though here he returns to the thoughtful folk musings he has made his signature. There is always enough pop to make the songs memorable, but this album deals a weightier hand than his last, the self-released Hold On Beauty. Cameron is aided & abetted by members of Those Transatlantics, Elanors, Wandering Sons, Judah Johnson and Andreas Kapsalis Trio.


 
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New photos: 1 2 More: 1 2 3
Photos Credit: TBC

  Download "Low Ways" mp3
"Lose Americans" VIDEO
"Minor Suite" VIDEO
More info, more sound samples...
Myspace
Website

Tour Dates HERE.
Touring Midwest, Plains and Rockies in April. Download POSTER. Record release show April 29th at Schubas in Chicago.

Download NEW POSTER & LYRIC SHEET

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  New Ruins
"We Make Our Own Bad Luck"

A Hidden Agenda Record

Release Date: April 28, 2009

Second album from local heroes New Ruins, the follow-up to The Sound They Make. Droning acoustic/electric rock haunted by rural spectres, songs rendered in sepia-tone, but clarified with a dash of DIY studio alchemy. Since their debut the original duo of songwriters J. Caleb Means and Elzie Sexton has expanded into a quintet, featuring bassist/multi-instrumentalist Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet), drummer Roy Ewing (Braid, Very Secretary), and Andrew Davidson (Blackouts, Tractor Kings, Chemicals) on bass and auxiliary percussion.


 
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Photo Credit: Cody Bralts
More hi-res: Box

  Download "Lake" mp3
Download "Symptoms" mp3
More info, more sound samples, etc.
Myspace

Tour Dates HERE. Download POSTER.
Record release show at Schubas in Chicago on April 29. Regional touring commences in May.

The Latest: Album will be available on CD and limited LP vinyl. Promos CDs sent to press in early February.

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  The Green Pajamas
"Poison In The Russian Room"

A Hidden Agenda Record

Release Date: April 28, 2009


Veteran Seattle combo The Green Pajamas’ new album is a conceptual piece split into two distinct parts. While The Green Pajamas’ trademark psychedelia has gone through many moon phases on the last 25 years, here in 2009 the band might rock harder than ever (they’re from Seattle after all, grunge finds a way), but also invert all expectations with a Pentangle/Zeppelin-styled acid-folkiness that will charm and enchant. This is their seventh release for Hidden Agenda Records, seven among several dozen official releases since the mid 80s.


 
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Photos: Camden Hackworth

  Download "Any Way the Wind Blows" mp3
Any Way the Wind Blows VIDEO
More info, more sound samples, soon
Myspace
Website

Tour Dates:


The Latest: CD sent to press first week of March.

 

 
 

   

 

   
 
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  Mazes
"Mazes"

Parasol Records

Release Date: March 17, 2009


While The 1900s make noises about recording the follow-up to their full-length 2007 album, Cold & Kind, front man Edward Anderson has readied a "solo" album for Parasol Records, under the moniker Mazes. In cahoots with fellow 1900s vocalist (and significant other) Caroline Donovan and their comrade Charles D’Autremont, Mazes is not so much departure from Edward's hitherto verdant psych-pop meadow as a vehicle for Edward and friends to explore further musical flora and fauna.


 
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Band Photos: Mazen Kheirbek

  Download "Cat State Comity" mp3
Download "I Have Laid In the Darkness of Doubt" mp3

More info, more sound samples

Mazes on Myspace

Tour Dates HERE.
Download POSTER.



 

 
 

   

 

 
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  The 1900s
"Medium High"

Parasol Records

Release Date: January 20, 2009


Medium High
, the 28-minute mini-album from Chicago psych-pop troupe The 1900s, is a collection of outtakes, b-sides and radical re-imaginings. The majority of these songs were written long before their debut EP, Plume Delivery, was released. The songs deal with characters who find themselves in uncertain, in-between moments in their lives. "When I Say Cohen" (a Leonard-inspired live recording of "When I Say Go"), "Will" and "Face I Know" (a psyched-out version of Cold & Kind's dreamy "Supernatural"), all tell of epic physical journeys, while "Collections", "Age Of Metals" and "Making Love" explore emotional conflicts.

 
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click for hi-res versionPhoto Credit:
  Download "Age of Metals" mp3
More info, more sound samples
The 1900s on Myspace
Artist's PLG Discography

Tour Dates:

3/12 Chicago IL @ Schubas w/Mazes

 

 
     
 
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  Mr. Stephens
"With Ms. Harmon's Kindergarten Class"

Choo Choo Train Records


Debut release for Parasol's new children's music label, Choo Choo Train Records. We lead off with former Lonely Trailer frontman Tim Stephens. Mr. Stephens strums his acoustic guitar and leads Ms. Harmon's kindergarten class (at Urbana, IL's Thomas Paine Elementary School) through a rollicking set of feel-good sing-a-longs and goodnatured kid-centric tomfoolery. Includes guest apperances by former Trailer mate Brian Reedy on drums and vibraphone, along with Emily Reedy on accordian.

 
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Photo Credit:

  More info, sound samples


 

 
     
 
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  Unbunny
"Sensory Underload: Uncertain Trks 1996-2008"

Hidden Agenda

Released: 10/28/2008

While Jarid del Deo gets the next Unbunny record imaginated we're thrilled to have this truly cohesive and near-comprehensive new collection of Unbunny EPs, singles, rarities and previously unreleased recordings spanning the last dozen years, including the out-of-print Typist EP, originally released on Important Records. Many tracks here appear on handy compact disc for the very first time. Popmatters says: "In Unbunnys nimble hands, indie rock becomes a bit more majestic."

 

 
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click for hi-res versionPhoto Credit:
  Download "Water and the Spanish Tongue" mp3
More info, more sound samples
Unbunny on Myspace


Unbunny Tour Dates:
No dates scheduled.

The Latest: Portsmouth, NH --> Seattle, WA --> Urbana, IL --> Portsmouth, NH (honorable mention to Oakland, CA) --> Seattle, WA

 

 
     
 
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  Tractor Kings
"Homesick"

Spur Records

Released: 10/14/2008

Homesick
is the long-awaited third album from local (Champaign-Urbana, IL) space cowboys Tractor Kings, led by Illinois alt.country icon Jacob Fleischli and his assembled hombres. Eleven songs that inhabit a flickering psychedelic underworld of reverbs, delays, strings and an evangelical pedal steel. We don't call it 'rural cathedral' for nothing.


 

 
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Photo Credit: David J. Cubberly
  Download "Drop the Fight" mp3
More info, more sound samples
On Myspace
Artist's PLG Discography

Tractor Kings Tour Dates:
No dates scheduled.

 

 
     
 
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  Beaujolais
"Love At Thirty"

Parasol Records

Released: 9/30/2008

Beaujolais is Joe Ziemba, former frontman for Wolfie, Busytoby and The Like Young. Love At Thirty is the debut album from Beaujolais. Love At Thirty is a garage rock opera. Conceptual. Personal. Monumental.

All Music Guide: "Love at Thirty is a harrowing and unflinching look at what happened, and its honesty and sheer emotional power put it on a level with Richard & Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights, Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear, and Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks as an impressively honest and emotional album about divorce."

 

 
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More hi-res: 1 2 3 4  
Photo Credit: J. Ziemba
  Download "Friday the Thirteenth" mp3
More info, more sound samples
On M
yspace
Tour Dates:
No dates scheduled.

The Latest: Album #2 is more than half finished. Look for it in September 2009.

 

 
     
 
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  Gazelle
"Sunblown"

A Hidden Agenda Record

Released: 6/10/2008

Debut album from new local scene super-duo parlaying overcast electro-rock dreamscapes. Gazelle is mild-mannered studio-warlock Jeff Dimpsey (Hum, National Skyline, Honcho Overload, Poster Children, etc) and vocalist Adam Fein (Absinthe Blind). Features a guest appearance from Adam's sister Erin Fein, vocalist for Headlights (Polyvinyl).

Donnybrook Writing Academy: "A drugged-out take on the shoegaze sound, the snare-happy drum fills having been replaced with meditative drum machines and free-form atmospherics. It’s Ulrich Schnauss and Spacemen 3 joining hands in freefall, the world whizzing by in slow motion."

 

 
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Photo Credit:
  Download "The First Rays" mp3
More info, more sound samples
On Myspace

Tour Dates:
No dates scheduled.

The Latest: Jeff's former band Hum reunites for a New Year's Eve and New Year's Day reunion shows in Chicago. It will be loud. There will be drunks.

 

 
     
 
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  Doleful Lions
"7"

Parasol Records

Released: 6/10/2008

After clearing the vaults with their previous album, Song Cyclops Volume Two, Doleful Lions return with a new lineup, direction, and wisdom. 7 represents the next step in the evolution of Doleful Lions, brothers Jonathan and Robert Lee Scott, marrying their keen pop sensibilities with a new adventurous sound... The usual folk guitar strummings of their previous releases have been replaced with an eclectic mix of electronically-informed, epic song structures and Jonathan's focused lyrical intensity. They have used 7 to explore other sonic horizons. 7 is a truly adventurous album in all regards; an album that has ventured further beyond any music created by the Doleful Lions in the past. 



 
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Photo Credit:
  Download "White Lotus Day" mp3
More info, more sound samples
On Myspace
Artist's PLG Discography

Tour Dates:
No dates scheduled.

The Latest: Jonathan is a one-man-band, yet again.

 

 
     
 
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  Ric Menck
"Hey War Pigs"

Action Musik

Released: 2/22/2008

On his new 45 rpm vinyl single Velvet Crush drummer and very occasional solo singer-songsmith Ric Menck covers former Soft Boys/Katrina & The Waves guitarist-songwriter Kimberly Rew’s pissed-off protest anthem “Hey War Pigs” (so very fitting) backed by his dry-hump version of “Teenage Head” by The Flaming Groovies. Black wax in a plain paper sleeve. In addition to founding Velvet Crush Menck is and has been a member of The Drats, The Reverbs, The Springfields, The Paint Set, The Big Maybe, The Stupid Cupids, Pop The Balloon, Choo Choo Train, Duffy, The Tyde, Frausdots, Aimee Mann and Matthew Sweet. 



 
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Hi-res: Hey Stop Fight Peace
Photo Credit: Laura Menck
  Download "Hey War Pigs" mp3
On Myspace

Tour Dates:
No solo dates scheduled.

The Latest: Menck's been on the road with Matthew Sweet, lots.

 

 

 
     
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