Parasol Label Group Publicity - Jim Kelly
phone: 217.344.8609
e-mail: promo@parasol.com

Parasol Publicity is the press/promotions arm of Parasol Records & Distribution. In addition to handling all of the Parasol Label Group's in-house releases on Parasol, Hidden Agenda, Mud, Spur, and Reaction Recordings, Parasol Publicity is currently working with labels like Bird Song, Action Musik (Velvet Crush), and Gravitation (Sweden). Occasionally I'll lend a hand to up-and-coming Scandinavian artists deserving some Stateside exposure...

Please contact promo@parasol.com if you're a journalist/publication and want more information on any of our projects. We are not handling radio for all of the projects below so please contact us for details.

You can download high-res album scans, photos, mp3s and pdf bio for all of the artists below.

Jump to:

Doleful Lions / 7 (Parasol)
Gazelle / Sunblown (Hidden Agenda)
Incredible Vickers Brothers / Gallimaufry (The Bus Stop Label)
Ric Menck / Hey War Pigs (Action Musik)
Whiskey Priest / Hungry (Bric-A-Brac)
Richard Lloyd / The Radiant Monkey (Parasol)
William Kinderman-Beethoven / Diabelli Variations (Arietta)
The 1900s / Cold & Kind (Parasol)
Angie Heaton & The Gentle Tamers / The Rumor Mill (Spur)
The Green Pajamas / Box of Secrets... (Hidden Agenda)
Ryan Groff / People In The Midwest (Parasol)
Moonbabies / Moonbabies At The Ballroom (Hidden Agenda)
The Chrysler / Cold War Classic (Galaxy Gramophone)
New Ruins / The Sound They Make (Hidden Agenda)
Thirdimension / Before The End Begins (Hidden Agenda)
Richard Lloyd / Field of Fire: Deluxe (Reaction)
Mas Rapido! / Pity Party (Parasol)
The Green Pajamas / The Night Races Into Anna (Hidden Agenda)
Doleful Lions / Song Cyclops Volume Two (Parasol)
Steve Almaas & Ali Smith / You Showed Me (Parasol)
Elanors / Movements (Parasol)
The 1900s / Plume Delivery (Parasol)

Hidden Agenda

Gazelle “Sunblown" (AHA!090)

Release date: June 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).



Photo credit:

Download "The First Rays" mp3

More info, more sound samples

Parasol

Doleful Lions "7"

Release date: June 10, 2008

Shows:
April 16th @ The Elbo Room in Chicago, Int'l Pop Overthrow Festival

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.



Click on image for hi-res. Photo credit TBC.

Download "White Lotus Day" mp3

More info, more sound samples

Action Musik

Menck “Hey War Pigs"

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.


Menck "Hey" photo hi-res.
Menck "Stop" photo hi-res.
Click on other images for hi-res.

Download "Hey War Pigs" mp3

Parasol

Richard Lloyd “The Radiant Monkey"

Shows:
March 7th @ The Trash Bar in Brooklyn
March 14th @ The Delancey Bar in Manhattan
March 16th @ The Taphouse Grill in Norfolk VA

The Radiant Monkey is the new solo album from Richard Lloyd, esteemed former guitarist for legendary and NYC punk act Television, who have inspired several generations of post-punk acts and artists. The 11 new songs set forth on The Radiant Monkey represent Richard Lloyd’s first studio recordings in seven years, and is his most audacious and transfixing work to date, all the while totally rocking. Not surprising from an artist and rock-n-roll character/mystic/guru of his stature.

Album artwork by Punk Magazine's John Holmstrom.

Photos below by Godlis:


Click on image for hi-res.

Download "Monkey" mp3

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Arietta Music

William Kinderman/BEETHOVEN “Diabelli Variations"

The Parasol Label Group's first foray into classical music on our new imprint Arietta. A beautiful two disc collection includes the full studio recording of the Diabelli Variations (as heard in the play 33 Variations) performed by William Kinderman and a 45 minute lecture about the variations by Kinderman (with live excerpts from a performance of the Diabelli Variations in Bakersfield, California, 2002). Two CDs housed in a beautiful full-color gatefold digipak, includes a 24 page booklet with liner notes by William Kinderman, Moisés Kaufman, and Arietta/Parasol boss Geoffrey Merritt.

Visit the official Arietta website
More info, tour dates, sound samples

Parasol

The 1900s “Cold & Kind"

Press & Publicity:
Joan Hiller/Riot Act Media
p: 206.890.9906
joan <at> riotactmedia.com
Visit Riot Act's 1900s page

New album of sultry psych-pop from Chicago co-ed septet sensation The 1900s. Recorded mostly live to tape, the record captures the energy of the band's remarkable live show while also benefiting from the addition of large string and horn sections. While clocking in at exactly 40:00 minutes (in honor of finishing the album on the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Peppers), Cold & Kind keeps one foot in the past, one in the future and another foot in your heart. If you dig: Tommy James, Fleetwood Mac, Velvet Underground, Cat Power, Supremes, Roy Harper, Arcade Fire, Dr. Dog, Midlake, Leon Redbone, Bill Clinton on sax or Russell Crowe's band...



Click on image above for hi-res.
More 2007 hi-res: 1900sA | 1900sB | 1900sC | 1900sD


Download "When I Say Go" mp3

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Spur

Angie Heaton & The Gentle Tamers “The Rumor Mill" (SPURCD005)

The Rumor Mill is the new album by Illinois singer-songwriter Angie Heaton, former member of Corndolly, Liquorette, and The Tractor Kings. On The Rumor Mill, Angie’s 4th album. she’s joined by a full-on country backing band, The Gentle Tamers: two guys named Josh (Walden on bass and Quirk on drums), and a former Nashville session player, Bob Watson, on guitar, banjo and pedal steel. These gents help take Angie's songs and sounds from the rock club to the barndance. Angie’s phrasing falls comfortably behind the beat like Willie Nelson, with a voice recalling Lucinda Williams, Kasey Chambers, and Neko Case. Country enough that our label-hopping lass’s latest found a home on Parasol‘s Americana imprint Spur Records, after previous releases on both Mud and Parasol Records.

Shows:
September 6 in Champaign IL @ Cowboy Monkey: Record Release Show!
September 13 in Champaign IL @ Aroma Cafe, acoustic set.
September 22 in Urbana IL @ Pygmalion Fest, Caffe Paradiso



Click on image above for 300 dpi version.
300 dpi photo #2
300 dpi photo #3
300 dpi photo #4
Photo credit: Stacey Gross

Download "Lucky In Love" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

The Green Pajamas “Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic 2" (AHA!089)

New album of psychedelic pop from Seattle veterans The Green Pajamas, mining childhood nostalgia on their new album. Box Of Secrets is a conceptual album, a follow up if you will to 'Northern Gothic' (Camera Obscura, 2002), with three intertwining themes running through it: local legends, characters, and personal mythology; along with small town life in the Pacific Northwest, the vague setting for many of the songs is the Washington coast. The mostly fictional stories enclosed within this 'Box of Secrets' evoke a shared memory or that spooky sweet nostalgia, whether lived or not. Though the subject matter is dark, the music and songs themselves are rocking and psychedelic, moreso than their last true studio album 21st Century Séance, which explored more mellow moods…

More hi-res: Green Pajamas b+w

Download "Wild Pony" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

Moonbabies “Moonbabies At The Ballroom" (AHA!088)

Moonbabies are a duo from Malmö, Sweden and over the last 11 years have released four albums along with several EPs and singles, enchanting fans around the world. Comprised of multi-instrumentalists Ola Frick and Carina Johansson, Moonbabies maneuver deftly through the lush pop landscape, skillfully mixing psychedelic textures, moody electronics, and expansive instrumental and studio expertise. Moonbabies At The Ballroom is the duo’s fourth album and third for Hidden Agenda Records.

Release date: May 29, 2007


Photo credit: Andreas Larsson. More photos soon.

Download the onesheet (.pdf)
More info, bio, sound samples

Parasol

Ryan Groff “People In the Midwest" (PARCD105)

People In The Midwest is the debut solo album from local scene leading man Ryan Groff, frontman for regionally-acclaimed Americana-Folk-Rock act Elsinore. Joyful, transcendent songstories with a spiritual vibe, some sporting a sweet seventies soft-rock vibe, others exploring more ’00 experimental pop idealism. Ryan’s songwriting runs a bit more expansive than your normal human. He lets the instrumentation simmer somewhere between restrained and minimalist and puts front and center a voice (what a voice!) that recalls icons like Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake and Elliott Smith (and Thom Yorke, Andrew Bird and Morrissey).

Shows:

August 30 in Kansas City MO @ Avila University, morning quad set
August 30 in Columbia MO @ The Blue Fugue
September 1 in Urbana IL @ Canopy Club: Pygmalion Fest Pre-Party
September 2 in Highland IN @ Beancounters w/Cary Judd
September 4 in Chicago IL @ Uncommon Ground
September 19 in Cincinatti OH @ Borgart's
September 22 in Champaign IL @ Pygmalion Fest, Caffe Paradiso



You really want to mess with this dude?

Download "Harrison St." mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file) SOON

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Reaction Recordings

Richard Lloyd “Field Of Fire: Deluxe" (REACTCD005)

Parasol's re-issues imprint, Reaction Recordings, offers a remastered, deluxe double-CD re-packaging of Television guitarist Richard Lloyd's 1987 release Fields Of Fire, available for the first time ever on compact disc. The first CD is the original album (recorded in Sweden in 1985) remastered by Adam Schmitt. The second CD is an alternate, augmented "revisited" version of the album...the way the LP would have been presented had Richard's vision not been undercut by the studio technology of the era and the limitations of vinyl pressing. Includes 16-page full-color booklet with lyrics and extensive liner notes by Richard Lloyd himself, Reaction co-founder Ric Menck (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet), and acclaimed music scribe Bill Flanagan (U2 biographer, VH1's Storytellers).

Richard Lloyd and his new band The Sufi Monkeys will be touring in May. While Lloyd will also play several shows (TBC) in Canada in early May Here are the official confirmed U.S. dates:
 
May 14 - Detroit, The Magic Stick (all ages)
May 15 - Chicago, Shubas (21+)
May 16 - Cleveland - Beachland Ballroom (21+)
May 17 - Philadelphia - Kyber Pass (21+)
May 18 - Boston/Cambridge - TT The Bears (18+)
May 19 - NYC - The Knitting Factory (16+)
 
These shows will be in support of the Deluxe Re-issue of Field Of Fire and also to preview Richard's new studio record out late summer/early fall called The Radiant Monkey. It will also contain a mini set of Jimi Hendrix covers, as a trio under the guise of Jaime Neverts (to be explained). Set lists will be provided to the audience, as souvenirs.

Photos below by Godlis:



Photos below from the Field Of Fire photo sessions by Anders Torgander:



Photo montage below by Anders Torgander.



Download "Field Of Fire" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Galaxy Gramophone

The Chrysler “Cold War Classic" (SKIV003)

The U.S. release for The Chrysler's latest album, with five bonus tracks. Cold War Classic is the second full-length release from mysterious Swedish folk-pop band The Chrysler, recorded in a little cabin outside Katrineholm, Sweden; an album filled with hope, agony, and clarinets. Their enigmatic, bonfire folk and baroque, jangling pop has been likened to The Byrds, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, Nick Drake, The Band, Belle & Sebastian, The Velvet Underground, Lambchop, and Norway’s Kings Of Convenience.



Download "First Blood" mp3
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More info, bio, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

New Ruins “The Sound They Make" (AHA!087)

The Sound They Make is the debut album from East Central Illinois duo New Ruins, file under: Small Town Midwestern Gothic. Droney acoustic/electric rock, songs rendered in sepia-tone, awash in rural melancholy. For the recording of TSTM the band consisted of J. Caleb Means and Elzie Sexton. Since then they have enlisted a rhythm section of Paul Chastain (Velvet Crush, Matthew Sweet) and Roy Ewing (Braid, Very Secretary).


More photos: A | B | C | D

Download "Ships" mp3
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More info, bio, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

Thirdimension “Before The End Begins" (AHA!086)

Through the band’s first two albums, 2002’s Protect Us From What We Want and 2005’s Permanent Holiday Thirdimension’s epic pop and bombastic garage rock were certainly electrified if not at times electronic. With their new album, Before The End Begins, Thirdimension unplugs (for the most part) and offers enthralling acoustic versions of songs from their two previous albums, a couple of new and previously unreleased new songs, plus some interesting covers. Before The End Begins was recorded in a spectacular old church in the band's hometown, Malmo, Sweden, a candlelit setting created for heavenly harmonies and hushed hymns.

Download "The Only Healer" mp3
Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)
More info, more sound samples

Parasol

Mas Rapido! “Pity Party" (PARCD103)

‘Pity Party’ is the second album from the artists formerly known as Toothpaste 2000, veteran guitar pop trio from Seattle, and part of the Parasol family since the days when Frank and Donna recorded under the Cowboy & Spingirl moniker. The sound of Mas Rapido! manifests itself like a handful of lost 60s and '70s radio -pop classics, driven by the pervasive power of rock-n-roll.

Download "Feel So Young" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

Green Pajamas “The Night Races Into Anna" (AHA!085)

A compilation along the lines of past Green Pajamas releases like 'Indian Winter' and 'Narcotic Kisses'; 20 tracks that, for one reason or another, never made it onto albums or EPs released over the last decade. Most of these songs likely didn't fit the concept or 'sound' of whatever album was being created at the time, and during sequencing, were left off. The result is, ironically, a Pajamas album in what some might regard as the "classic" sense: a rather psychedelic collection of short, sweet pop songs. No theme or agenda.

More hi-res: Green Pajamas b+w

Download "Looking For Heaven" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Parasol

Elanors “Movements" (PARCD101)

Second album (first for Parasol) from Chicago quartet Elanors will be released October 17, 2006.

‘Movements’ is the new album from Chicago’s Elanors, vocalists Noah (piano) and Adriel Harris (guitar) backed by the rhythm section of Daniel Johnson and Rodrigo Palma (both members of Judah Johnson). This, their second album, is a collection of piano-driven orchestral-pop and disarming folkrock invention.

More hi-res: Elanors_A | Elanors_B | Elanors_C

Download "She Had A Dream" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Parasol

Steve Almaas & Ali Smith “You Showed Me" (PARCD102)

Second album from NYC duo will be released October 17, 2006.

The songs of Steve Almaas (Beat Rodeo, Suicide Commandos), the voice of Ali Smith (Speedball Baby), along with luminaries such as producer Chris Maxwell, have come together to create the second Steve Almaas & Ali Smith album,‘ You Showed Me’. Voices blend in harmony, a steel guitar answers a musical question, the slide guitar comments, while bass, drums and rhythm guitar lock in tight. Devotion, but no surrender...

More hi-res: Steve & Ali color promo | Steve & Ali_bw promo

Download "You Showed Me" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Parasol

Doleful Lions “Song Cyclops Volume Two" (PARCD104)

New collection of lofi bliss, winsome melodies, and trademark paranormal subject matter from Doleful Lions' Jonathan Scott. 22 songs include handful of covers: Beach Boys, Close Lobsters, The Crystals, Descendents, and The Misfits.

More hi-res: Jonthan_profile | Jonathan mugshot

Download "The Head of the Shade Antichrist" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Bus Stop Label

Allen Clapp "Something Strange Happens" BUS1021

Compilation of singles and rare tracks by Orange Peels leader Allen Clapp chronicles the '90s Indie-pop bedroom-rock experience. For a decade Clapp poured his heart and soul into recording; making entire worlds occur within the confines of two-minute pop songs. In the pre-Belle-and-Sebastian pop landscape, Clapp's combination of classic melodies and lyrics that were equally parts fey and clever struck a chord. His delightfully economical first single, "A Change in the Weather" (1991) introduced the world to the breezy melodies and spry rhyming that would become his hallmark.

Official release date: September 19, 2006

Download "A Change In the Weather" mp3

Bird Song

The Now People "The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair" BSCD103

New release from Ric Menck's (Velvet Crush/Matthew Sweet) Bird Song imprint... After three years in suspended animation, The Now People have arrived with 12 diverse and meticulously crafted gems from a baroque pop netherworld. Recorded at the Wondermints’ Studio Thru Inner Space, the debut album from The Now People challenges the listener to draw comparisons. They are simply like no other, now or since. To everything there is a season, and the season of The Now People is upon us.

Official release date: September 19, 2006

Download "The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair" mp3

Hidden Agenda

The Coral Sea "Volcano And Heart" AHA!083

Re-mixed and re-mastered re-release of Santa Barbara atmospheric art-rock outfit The Coral Sea's debut album "Volcano And Heart".

Offical release date: June 27, 2006

More hi-res: The Coral Sea A | The Coral Sea B | The Coral Sea C
Photo credit: Suzanne Brown (all photos)

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Parasol

The 1900s “Plume Delivery"

The debut mini-album from Chicago sextet The 1900s will be released May 30, 2006.

As old friends, lovers and ex-lovers, Chicago sextet The 1900s harness the resulting fury to create harmony-laden psychedelic pop music, most notably inspired by The Zombies, Fleetwood Mac, Belle & Sebastian, Donovan, Tommy James, and Velvet Underground. A problem with keeping secrets and a penchant for spreading rumors made for quite an arrival onto the Chicago pop scene, where The 1900s were immediately embraced and sought after by fans and critics, as well as the city's most cherished bands.

These recordings emerged out of an idle yet remarkable studio that, it was later learned, is funded by the Department of Homeland Security… How this transpired is a closely guarded secret.



Click on image above for hi-res. Photo credit: Rebecca Uhle

More hi-res: 1900s_A | 1900s_B | 1900s_C | 1900s_D | 1900s E | 1900s F | 1900s_Guys | 1900s_Gals
Photo credit: Douglas Bening

Download "Bring The Good Boys Home" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, tour dates, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

FRANK LENZ “Vilelenz And Thieves” (AHA!080)

Hidden Agenda Records will release the new album by West Coast rock journeyman Frank Lenz on March 21st. Frank has played and collaborated with and handled production chores for Starflyer 59, The Lassie Foundation, Pedro The Lion, Richard Swift, Charity Empressa, Cush, Kat Jones, The Dingees, Pony Express, and Fold Zandura, among others. With "Vilelenz And Thieves" our favorite renaissance man finds a comfy orbit within his home studio cosmos, creating a Technicolor cloudburst of homespun ballads channeling Neil Young and early Built To Spill, with a drizzling of folk, bombastic orchestral pop, and head-over-heels lyricism.



Download "Bullets In The Wall" mp3

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

JOSE GONZALEZ-“Stay In The Shade EP”

Hidden Agenda Records will release the Stay In The Shade EP by Swedish/Argentine songwriter José González on January 24th. It is the follow-up to José’s acclaimed debut album Veneer, released in the U.S. in September 2005 by Hidden Agenda. The EP features an extended version of "Stay In The Shade"; two amazing album-worthy b-sides, "Sensing Owls" and "Down The Hillside"; José's cover of the Kylie Minogue hit "Hand On Your Heart"; and an instrumental track (for all those John Fahey fans out there).


Download "Stay In the Shade"

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, more sound samples

JOSE GONZALEZ-“Veneer”

Born and raised in Gothenburg, Sweden, of Argentinean parents, 25-year-old José González is a top-ten chart artist and revered troubadour figure in Sweden, where he is cherished equally by the musical cognoscenti, seriously besotted critics and hordes of regular Nordic punters. Using just his own dexterously finger-picked classical guitar and a captivating voice - part João Gilberto, part Nick Drake– José’s music is as economical as it is seductive; stark but effortlessly melodious songwriting whose confessional, gently provocative lyrics (all sung in perfect English) are, by turns, poignant, intriguing and life-affirming.

Please note: Mute Records will re-releae "Veneer" in April 2006.
Press/publicity contact at Mute Records:
Leslie Hermelin - leslie (at) mute (dot) com




Download "Stay In the Shade"

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Galaxy Gramophone

THE CHRYSLER - “Failures And Sparks”

Considered a country act in their native Sweden, The Chrysler's rootsy psychedelic reveries are shaded in eerie noir atmospheres. A mesmerizing mix of winsome pop, bonfire folk, and otherworldly hymnals, led by dual vocalists and guitarists Anders Rudström and Pelle Lindroth, joined by Nya Sampan (melodica, piano, organ) and Herman Arfwedson (acoustic & electric bass). With their debut album Failures And Sparks The Chrysler have assembled a shrine to their influences: The Everly Brothers, The Band, Simon & Garfunkel, The Velvets, and Neil Young. "Sweet music, with a touch of evil" explains The Chrysler, out of the quiet into the quieter…




Download "What I Must Keep With Mine"

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

THE GREEN PAJAMAS - “21st Century Seance”

21st Century Séance is the long-awaited new studio album from veteran Seattle psych-pop combo The Green Pajamas finds mainman Jeff Kelly and his stalwart crew (including songwriters Eric Lichter and Laura Weller) re-exploring the stunning psychedelic territories last charted on their classic 1997 album "Strung Behind the Sun"...

Past praise for the work of The Green Pajamas:

“Seattle's Green Pajamas can be seen as a more serious equivalent to XTC side project the Dukes Of Stratosphear; both bands deal in subtle twists of '60s psychedelia…the Green Pajamas have a more earnest, folksy sound…” - ALL MUSIC GUIDE

“When are the highly literate and melody-savvy Mr. Kelly and the retro psychedelic pop band he leads, The Green Pajamas, going to get, at the very least, a decent cult following?” - NEW YORK TIMES

“A recommended pursuit for fans of the Go-Betweens, Elf Power or the Soft Boys” - MAGNET MAGAZINE

“Coy, clever psychedelic pop.” - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

Download "All The Lost Kisses"

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, more sound samples

Hidden Agenda

PETER BJORN AND JOHN - “Falling Out"

Falling Out is a assemblage of ingenious pop songs, cleverly recorded and masterfully arranged, sounds drawn from the simple (the Speak & Spell talking toy that opens the album) to the symphonic (tidy string arrangements). Think early Squeeze and The Jam and several decades worth of British Invasion, Canadian popsmiths A.C. Newman and Joel Plaskett, and the euphoric rush of The Shins. 10 songs about falling in and unavoidably Falling Out of love with people, places, and ideas. Includes the Swedish singles “It Beats Me Every Time” and “Teen Love” (a Concretes cover) and the standout album opener “Far Away, By My Side”. Falling Out features special guest appearances from vocalist Ellekari Larsson (Vega, The Tiny), and handclapper/producer Calle Olsson (The Bear Quartet).




Download MP3: "Far Away, By My Side"

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

More info, more sound samples

Parasol

Kevin Tihista - "Home Demons Volume 1"

Following up the critical rave "Wake Up Captain" (UNCUT-"5 STARS. Songs of alienation and madness from reclusive Chicago genius." CHICAGO READER-"#1 Chicago album of 2004.") Kevin Tihista opened up his demo vaults to the Parasol and Broken Horse (UK) label camps for a sequencing free-for-all. Parasol chose thirteen songs recorded in various studios and member permutations, featuring 12 songs that have never appeared on CD, and the track "Do You Know What We Should Do Now?" that will not appear on the UK version. An engaging view into Kevin's hi-fi & bedroom-fi worlds.


Photo by: Jim Newberry

Photo by: Jim Newberry

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "I Don't Blame You"

Hidden Agenda

Moonbabies - "War On Sound"

This 8-song, 40 minute mini-album ahead of the upcoming full-length, includes five new songs plus Pink Floyd and Midnight Oil covers. "This creative duo can go from 70s-inspired folk-rock to stellar, dreamy creations that could easily dub them the godchildren of ABBA."-Resonance


Photo by: Martin Olson

Photo by: Martin Olson

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "War On Sound (Edit)"

Hidden Agenda

The Jan Martens Frustration - "The Jan Martens Frustration"

Debut album of sweltering garage psychrock from Gothenburg combo. Features guest appearances by members of The Hellacopters and The Soundtrack of Our Lives. The fifteen songs include their import album, debut EP, and a b-side bonus track.


Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "Convolutions"

Parasol

Doleful Lions - "Shaded Lodge and Mausoleum"

Equal parts bedroom melancholy and comic book bravado the Doleful Lions’ fifth album “Shaded Lodge And Mausoleum” is yet another lo-fi masterpiece haunted by tape-hiss poltergeists and sundry historical demons. Not quite as sunshiny as previous efforts, with harmonies and occult whimsies replaced by stark folk atmospheres (think Incredible String Band, John Martyn) and songs about satanic rites, cults, and suicide, the album’s themes were influenced by late-‘80s bay area black metal band Von, who released a demo called “Satanic Blood,” which Doleful Lions’ leader Jonathan Scott worships (figuratively, we think…).




Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "The Ghost That Haunts Your World Will Disappear"

Rainbow Quartz

Frontier Index - "Frontier Index"

The product of long winter nights in the studio, the self-titled album from this Canadian quartet runs the gamut from bone rattling to tender hearted, complete with summer sweet harmonies, and all captured straight off the creaky wood floors of producer Andy Magoffin’s humble abode.





Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "Someday"

Rainbow Quartz

The Get Quick - "How the Story Goes"

Melodies discovered in the soft underbelly of consciousness from Philadelphia trio...

Oct. 7-Baltimore, MD-
Oct. 8-Philadelphia, PA-The Fire




Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Bird Song Recordings

The Quarter After - "The Quarter After" (Bird Song)

Debut long player from Los Angeles psychedelic pop mavens, The Quarter After. Similar in style and content to the Brian Jonestown Massacre if and when they remember to take their prescription meds. Soaring vocal harmonies confronted head on by a searing, full-frontal guitar assault. Produced by Rob Campanella (Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Tyde, Mia Doi Todd).

“It's time to dig out your love beads, flower child, because L.A.'s The Quarter After are heralding the return of The Summer of Love…”-Rhino.com

“…The Quarter After is all shimmers, jangles and melodies.”-Aversion.com

Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "Your Side Is Mine"

Bird Song Recordings


Snow & Voices - "Snow & Voices" (Bird Song)

First album by Los Angeles chanteuse Lauri Kranz and her new musical collective, Snow & Voices. A shimmering, keyboard-drenched, patch quilt of songs written about love, loss, longing and regret by someone who knows. Sounds best at night. Produced by Darrell Thorp (ya know, Nigel Goodrich's engineer) & Jebin Bruni (Aimee Mann, Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair).





Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "Goodnight New York"

Parasol

Orange Peels - "Circling the Sun"

The Orange Peels have written the next chapter in the California Sound. If the band's first two albums, Square (Minty Fresh) and So Far (SpinArt), were the groundwork for their newest effort, the foundations were well laid. Taking cues from the terrestrial and the celestial, the band's third album is both more earthy and spacey than its past works. A few more orbits around the solar system's big star have granted the band a new perspective. It's the sound of a band transformed.



Photo by Oed Ronne


Photo by Oed Ronne


Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "Something In You"
Download Part 1 of the audio documentary of the making of "Circling the Sun"
Download Part 2 of the audio documentary of the making of "Circling the Sun"

Hidden Agenda

David Fridlund - "Amaterasu"


"Amaterasu" is the debut album from David Fridlund, namesake and frontman for revered Swedish guitar-and-piano pop powerhouse David & The Citizens, and one of the most prolific and respected songwriters in Scandinavia.

"I never planned a solo record, everything I wanted we already did with the Citizens." David says, "But the more people mentioned the solo idea, the more it grew, so when our Swedish booker Jesper Kumberg asked: 'isn't it time for that solo record' it all sort of fell into place." Kumberg has worked with David since early 1999, helping his band to over 200 shows and taken some praise for propelling David and the Citizens to dizzy heights and a Grammy nomination. "But we had run Citizens aground," Says David, "Admittedly, We were close to splitting, and probably would have if the work on this record had not got going."





Download the One-sheet (.pdf file)

Download "April & May"