I figure it’s time to share what has been keeping us so busy and away from updating this blog regularly over the past year. Our new Tears Run Rings album “Distance” is finally finished! It’s out now in Japan on Quince Records and will be released for the rest of the world August 24th on Clairecords. A limited vinyl LP version will follow later in the year from Deep Space Recordings/Disaster Club.

Here’s the first single “Forgotten”. Download it for free below.

Tears Run Rings - Forgotten
http://www.tearsrunrings.com/mp3/TRR_Forgotten.mp3

Official video:

tearsrunrings.com
Tears Run Rings on Facebook

After London Popfest we shot a short session with a production company in Brixton called Blindeye Films. We think they did a nice job! Hope you enjoy!

I Can’t Decide ( The Brixton Session )

I’ve been super excited since I heard that Deep Space Recordings was planning to release The Fauns debut LP on vinyl. Well, today is the day! Their double LP version is now available in a lovely gatefold sleeve. I’ve loved this band ever since I heard their song “Lovestruck” (check out the video below), which has a very classic “Brittle Stars” type sound going on. Of course we picked up some copies for the Shelflife shop, so order one below.

The Fauns
The Fauns
BUY NOW - $17

www.myspace.com/thefauns
Deep Space Recordings

More info here: www.myspace.com/asaar

Fastcut Records in Japan have come to our rescue and reissued The Suede Crocodiles “Stop The Rain” 7″. For those who aren’t already fans of this obscure Glasgow band, you can catch up here on the NoStrings site. The original 7″ was released in 1983 and to say it’s rare is an understatement. The single typically sells in that $150-200 range when it does come up on eBay (I know I never could afford to thrown down for a copy) and it’s evaded me in my many, many record store hunts over the years.

The reissue is really high quality. The artwork is from what I can tell exactly the same as the original down to the NoStrings logo label artwork (with the addition of the Fastcut logo and cat number of course - see below).

I was lucky to get my hands on some copies for the Shelflife shop as the singles almost sold out on preorder in Japan way before it was even released. I do apologize for the $15 price tag here, but they’re quite expensive wholesale — I guess a good deal of licensing costs involved. If you’re like me, it’s well worth it to own a copy on 7″ vinyl, even if we all already have the comp LP on Accident. I only have a handful of these, so grab it before this version is also a rarity.

$15 - Order a copy here!

Listen to The Suede Crocodiles - Stop The Rain
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/stoptherain.mp3

www.fastcut.jp
www.nostringsrecords.com

I must say I’m super impressed with the Tim and Sam “Life Stream” deluxe edition. It features a wooden box (apparently handmade) that has a painted feather on it done up by the band and includes both the CD and LP versions of the album, a t-shirt, a Tim and Sam teabag, a poster, and a personal letter from the band. Makes me want to do more DIY type stuff with Shelflife. Now I just need to find a place to keep it as it doesn’t fit on our record shelves.

Sadly it looks like this version (not sure how many there were) is now sold out. You can still order the LP, CD and/or t-shirt here!

www.myspace.com/timandsamstimandthesambandwithtimandsam

Good news for those on the east coast. A Smile and a Ribbon are heading to the states to play their first US tour in May. See below for dates confirmed so far. In other news, their 1000 series release “The Boy I Wish I Never Met” is now officially sold out at shelflife.com. If you missed it, there’s a few shops that still have copies in stock (Jigsaw, Fraction, Hands and Arms, Fastcut, etc). We’ll likely be carrying their upcoming 7″ on Cloudberry when it’s out (we’re all excited about that!).

May 23rd - NY, New York at the Littlefield
NYC Popfest w/ The Embassy (Sweden), The Secret History (NYC), Neverever (CA), Sea Lions (CA), Bunnygrunt (MO), Brown Recluse (PA), Apple Orchard (CA), The Young Friends (AZ), For Ex-Lovers Only (FL), Santa Monica Swim & Dive Club (MI)
(last.fm)

May 25th - Boston, Massachusetts at the Lizard Lounge
w/ The Smittens (VT), One Happy Island (MA), Allo Darlin’ (UK), Horowitz (UK), Hearts!Attack (UK)
(last.fm)

May 29th - Winooski/Burlington, Vermont at The Monkey House
w/ The Smittens (VT), Allo Darlin’ (UK) and Moustache Of Insanity (UK)
(last.fm)

May 30th - Montreal, Quebec Canada at Le Divan Orange
w/ The Smittens (VT), Allo Darlin’ (UK)
(last.fm)

Listen to A Smile and a Ribbon - Holding Hands
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/holdinghands.mp3

www.myspace.com/asaar

Well… it’s been of couple days, so I’m finally recovered, I think, after all of the plane flights and nights without sleep. Oh wait, this isn’t Ed, my name is Drew, you know, from Horse Shoes, and this is actually my first post on the Shelflife blog! Hopefully I will be doing more of these in the near future, but don’t get too excited, none of my deepest darkest secrets will be revealed on here.

I am just going to recap a little bit of my to London and what went on at London Popfest 2010 while I was there. Unfortunately I only was able to attend on the Saturday and Sunday event; There were other bands in the prior days I would have loved to see and meet. The trip went by like a blur, but there was never a wasted or dull moment.

So anyways, here is a little overview of my experience Saturday. Somehow I managed to escape New York to Detroit where I had to sit on a jet for an hour while the airport plowed some snow to make a cozy spot for our airplane. I then patiently waited out a six hour layover in Detroit; and of course another hour wait in the jet while it got de-iced. After all of that was said and done we managed to lift off and away we flew; fighting the perils of the Arctic Sea, from Canada, then over Greenland, Ireland and finally my destination, Heathrow international airport in London.

Now I did not get very good sleep on the plane. So basically I didn’t sleep for over twenty four hours. The jet lag kicked in around 7PM Saturday evening and everything was just a lethargic haze. I met a lot of great people in this haze, the members of Shrag ( WIAIWYA records ) were wonderful, Gorden of Ballboy ( Who also put on a very solid set ) and so many more. It was also great to finally put a face to the people whom I have had correspondence for so long with over the internet.

Sunday, February 28th was basically a Sarah Records reunion. A good majority of people involved came out.. Clare Wadd came out to Dj. Harvey Williams, Bobby Wratten and Beth Arzy were in the audience, and who could forget the headlining band the Wake joined by members of the Orchids?! The Wake put on a phenomenal set, they played a good mix of Factory era and Sarah era songs, a little something for everyone you could say. Everyone just seemed to be in a trance while they were playing. I for one was simply blown away. I for one never thought I would see them live in my lifetime let alone get to share an evening and a stage with them. In fact most of our day was spent talking with Caesar and the very lovely Carolyn of the Wake. They shared some deep secrets with us, but alas those are forever sealed.

All in all I received a lot of free records which I will hopefully get around to finishing and maybe do a post or two on here highlighting any favorites; I met some new faces and connected with ones I only thought to exist in the world of blogs, record labels and emails and got to entertain a lovely group of people.

Until next time,
-d

I just heard from Christoffer that he’s put up another free download. This time the debut release from his Cafe 2001 [a record company] label, a compilation called “This is the Cafe Superstar beat [volume 1]“. I remember loving this compilation when it first came out, so I highly recommend you grab this.

This comp features 14 tracks from Safariari, Micromars, Tøyen, Remington super 60, Påsan, Skistar, EPA, and Anothony Rochester. Compiled by Christer Jensen (Micromars) and Christoffer Schou (Remington Super 60/Cafe 2001).

Download here!

Listen to Micromars - Why Didn’t My Parents Buy Me A Casio
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/micromars.mp3

If you’re looking for a proper cd copy, it looks like Insound still has it listed here (although I have no idea if it’s actually in stock).

www.cafe2001.net/label

Katsen recently released a limited CDEP called “Basic Pleasure Unit” in the UK which sold out almost immemdiately. The EP features “It Hertz!” album track “Where Nobody Can Find Us,” a fantastic remix of “Florian,” and three brand new tracks. For those who missed it, we’re offering it digitally available now on Shelflife.com and iTunes in the US.

Here’s the tracklisting:
1. Where Nobody Can Find Us
2. Accidents In The Home
3. A Soulless Party
4. A Pulse
5. Florian (Luminous Vinyl Mix)

Order it here for $3.00!

Listen to Katsen - A Pulse
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/katsen_apulse.mp3

www.myspace.com/katsenbeeps

“I Lost My Color Vision”, recorded at Insikten, Jönköping, December 19, 2009:

“I Lost My Color Vision”, recorded at Silber, Hamburg, February 26, 2010:

“We Walked Among The Trees”, recorded at Silber, Hamburg, February 26, 2010:

www.myspace.com/burninghearts
www.shelflife.com/burninghearts

Here’s the brand new video from Champagne Riot for their song “Ingrid Bergman” (featuring Northern Portrait frontman Stefan Larsen on vocals). Enjoy!

www.champagneriot.com
myspace.com/champagneriot

Good news from the Norwegian label Cafe2001 [a record company]. They’re offering up a free 5 track download from Remington super 60 entitled the “Winter EP.” I still love their first album “Pling2001″ and it’s nice to see they’re back doing what they do best.

Listen to Remington super 60 - Sweet Winter
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/sweetwinter.mp3

Download the EP

Wow! Horse Shoes are now playing the London Popfest with newly added headliners The Wake. White Town and Leaving Mornington Crescent too! What an incredible line-up and I so wish I could attend! Those going, please take a lot of pictures.

Listen to The Wake - Something Outside (Live at Ayr Pavilion - April 15, 1983)
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/somethingoutside.mp3

www.londonpopfest.com

The Parcels & Pecan Sandies’ TV appearance on Haikai (Japan):

The Parcels’ set at Kindercore Expo 2000 Athens:

www.lightrotation.com/parcels

I must admit I have a pretty decent obsession going on with the Edition 59 Creation reissues. I have most (if not all) of these tracks on cd already (not to mention all the other formats), but there’s something special about seeing them as 3″ cds that I can’t resist. The Vollwert-Records digipak reissue of “Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel” is absolutely gorgeous (and I don’t actually own it on cd). Only 99 copies of that one. Looking forward to the Revolving Paint Dream stuff coming down the pike!

www.vollwert-records.de

Thieves Like Us debut a new song and video from their upcoming album “Again and Again”.

Fire wins out over my self doubt. Her blue sea was seeking me. Broken dreams were breaking me. Swam into the deep blue sea. Days were heavy with despair. Broken dreams were breaking me. Cherubs pushed for more and more. Painted hearts on my front door. Burnt my file and I was free. Swam into the deep blue sea. Never went back home again. Yesterday it fades away. Fire wins out over my self doubt. Her blue sea was seeking me. Fire wins out over my self doubt. Still I’ve never ever known love.

Download Thieves Like Us - Never Known Love
http://thieves-like-us.com/neverknownlove/Thieves%20Like%20Us%20-%20Never%20Known%20Love.mp3

www.thieves-like-us.com

Thieves Like us by //SLANG from //SLANG on Vimeo.

www.slangmag.com

Good news! Burning Hearts are heading to Germany in February! They’ll be joining The Ruling Class in Berlin. What a show that will be!

February 24 - Berlin at Bang Bang Club
Let’s Kiss and Make Up!
w/ The Ruling Class and Der Elegante Rest

February 26 - Hamburg at Silber
Hit The North
w/ Bye Bye Bicycle

www.myspace.com/burningheartsmusic

I’ve been listening to The Bridal Shop’s “From Seas” EP a lot again and I’m still so sad the band is no longer together. They were always one I had hoped to work with on Shelflife at some point. Luckily they did leave us with three fantastic releases. Their first EP “From Seas” is still my favorite. I’m carrying a few copies of the US CD version (released on Magic Marker Records) in the Shelflife shop for those interested. “Whale In Da Pain,” which you can listen to below, is them at their best!

Buy the EP ($7 plus shipping)

Listen to The Bridal Shop - Whale In Da Pain
http://www.shelflife.com/mp3-bin/b_bridalshop.mp3

www.myspace.com/thebridalshop