ARCHIVE RECORDINGS
Slimm:
It was an interesting year for the label effort Archive. Ending out 2004 after
releasing the Sunn 0))) "Live White" CD-R sets thinking about: A] Do I want to call it quits
and not bother doing anything else or B] See if I can turn this into a functioning
micro label.
Of course I choose B) since I had existing recordings to pick from and
came up with what I thought was a perfect follow-up on the tail end of the Sunn 0))) release -GROWING live, using
live recordings I had made for source material. It was my first effort doing an
actual CD. The pressing of 500 sold fairly quickly, something like 3 weeks or so.
Feedback was good and Joe [Denardo, from Growing] did awesome graphic work on the
project.
Next was sort of a big nothing phase for the label as I had some projects wash out and some
artist not even bother to get back in touch with my inquires which was really disappointing.
Archive finished up the year with some frantic releases, which basically established it as
an actual functioning label. We did a 3 CD set from Boris which was put together from start to finish
in about 4 weeks before the 1st US tour date in Sept. Tons of work, and absurd demand for
archival soundboard material from the first 5 years of their existence.
Next a John Dikeman micro CD run of 250 copies. Certainly a pet project of mine as I always
liked seeing John play while living in Philly. This CD serves really as his first release
which I was pretty proud of. Then I got word that I was finally able to hammer out a
deal with Keiji Haino to release a double CD of electronics and hurdy gurdy
work, and he liked our design concept. Wayyyyy thrilled to be able to release
this one as well, also the first time I ventured out to use different printing
techniques which was another learning experience for me.
After that was another last minute project Khanate "When Birds Fall From The Sky" an ultra subsonic
live tour CD for Khanate UK dates. My favorite cover and again very thrilled
to be able to release this one. Again absurd demand for this one, which is odd and
I guess very flattering that people cared enough to support the efforts.
All and all I was happy to have been able to work with so many talented
artists and folks with design insight. Hopefully next year will provide a bunch of
great projects as well.
- Om - "Variation on a Theme"
- Six Organs of Admittance - "School of Flower"
- Goslings - "Between the Dead"
Certainly the best debut from a band for the year.
ELEKTROHASCH RECORDS
Stefan:
2005 was really good for Elektrohasch Records. With Rotor, The Kings Of Frog Island, Sula Bassana
and Nixon Now, I added some great new bands to my roster. The new Ugh! turned out to be a masterpiece
and Colour Haze' S/T LP with fold out cover, pop-up and high quality, all analog cut was a
dream come true for us. It's a pitty though that several vinyl editions of other Elektrohasch
releases were delayed to reasons beyond my control. At least this way I have something to
look forward to in 2006.
RISE ABOVE RECORDS
Lee:
Rise Above was keeping me busy with some killer releases from Grand Magus, Witchcraft and Circulus.
Circulus in particular created something of a major stir in all the national press and magazines, it was quite
overwhelming. It was so great to sign that band, who show a different side to the ethics and tastes
of the label.
Also during the summer Debris Inc. [featuring Dave Chandler & Ron Holzner] came over for some Doom
Punk mayhem, which was a hoot! More recently came killer new releases from Taint, Capricorns and
sHeavy.
Also during these recent months, I have been doing a fair bit of research into the
history of a couple of bands whose records will be the first to appear on the forthcoming
Rise Above Relics label. These bands are Luv Machine [a band that moved and relocated from
Barbados to the UK in the late 60’s –they’re NOT from New Zealand!] and Possessed who formed
in the early 70’s and suffered a fatal accident several years later. They recorded an album in 1973
which has never been released until now. Quite excited by all of that.
SMALL STONE RECORDS
Scott:
2005 was a decent year for us... It was also kind of a strange year in
that we had more bands in the studio than actual records released during
the calendar year:
Albums released in 2005: Sons Of Otis, Bottom, Acid King, Novadriver,
Honky, Valis, Erik Larson, Greatdayforup, and Dozer [9].
Albums recorded in 2005 [for a 2006 release]: Five Horse Johnson, Dixie
Witch, Throttlerod, Antler, The Brought Low, A Thousand Knives Of Fire,
Sasquatch, Giant Brain, Slot, and of course the upcoming Sucking The 70's
II 2 x CD [10].
Well, enough of the stats. Here some of the Good and the Bad:
Acid King toured the Hell out of Europe [and got fucked by their booking
agent, like hard!]; Honky toured the hell out of the USA [and killed a whole
lot of whisky & weed]; FHJ recorded their new album With JP on the cans,
and then proceeded to hit Europe with Clutch [good times were had...].
When the band returned from Europe, myself and FHJ flew out to Boston to
finish the new album with the much needed assistance of Craig Riggs and
his Mad Oak Studios [the place rules, and so does Riggs]. Mad Oak was
so positive, that Sasquatch have just flown from LA to Boston to start
recording the 2nd full length for us right now as I am typing this...
And now a not so good one: Novadriver came off the bench with a new
album, 'Deeper High', they lost a good friend and their bass player
James B. Anders in April... In October they had put it all back together and
played their 1st show in years with Halfway To Gone at The Small Stone Ten Year
Anniversary Gig.
Halfway To Gone recorded and filmed said show for a future DVD... HTG played
flawlessly i might add. We did the usual SXSW & CMJ gigs... both went well, but
SXSW is always the really fun one. You can't beat Austin, TX in the middle of
March.
We are in the process of getting Mr. Anderson down to Argentina to record us a new Los Natas record, this
one will be kind of a follow up to Corsario Negro [back to the heavy and it sounds like Billy will be
getting down there in March of 2006]. I do apologize for not getting 'Sucking the 70's II' out to
the masses this year... a few of the bands got held up, so I decided to wait for them all. In
the end, it will be worth it.
- The Warriors - "Rockstar Games"
- VA - "Texas Funk 1968-1975"
- Adidas - "35 Anniversary Super Stars"
[Pricey but bad-ass!].
WANTAGE USA
Josh:
2005 was a good year. Wantage started by releasing The Last of the Juanitas 'In the Dirt' CD
and No-Fi Soul Rebellion's 'Lambs to the Slaughter' EP. The Last of the Juanitas record was a personal
highlight. I think it's on my list of the ten heaviest, greatest records of all time. It's got equal
parts Black Flag and Breadwinner, and their own unique atonal signing.
After that, we put out an EP by an L.A. band called the Pope. They came up and played at Total
Fest in June, and seriously plowed like few bands have in ten years time.
Total Fest was stellar, it happens every year in Missoula, Montana, generally the last weekend of June or second
weekend of July. Last year we had Big Business, the Fireballs of Freedom, Mountain High, the
Lights, Volumen, MOTO, Ass-End Offend, Last of the Juanitas, Nocturnal Emission, Humpy and about
30 others. Each band had 30 minutes to get their set done, and the event is a seemless
example of how good music can overtake the world.
After that, I boarded a plane for Poland with Ass-End Offend. We spent three weeks in a van crossing central
Europe, the Baltic states and Finland. It ruled and Ass-End Offend slayed as a band.
We then did the end of season barrage of vinyl with the Ass-End Offend 'Unchecked Aggression' 7" -heavy, intelligent
hardcore with good lyrics and recording values, Big Business 'Head for the Shallow' 12" -two-piece ex-Karp/Murder
City Devils, heaaaaavy, low, loud! Drunk Horse 'In Tongues' 12", and finally Federation X's 'Rally
Day' LP. It was a pretty wild year, and I'm really excited to have gotten to work with
as many bands as I did.
- Japanther - "Yer Living Grave"
- Tinarwien - "S/T"
- Usaisamonster - "Wohaw"
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