So I was told that the official motto for 2009 is, "There's always room for one more." The Next Best Records resolution for the year is, "Put out at least one record." One would be more than 2008, right?
Hope 2009 is treats you fine.
(And if you're looking for 2008-year-end stuff from me, check my page on Agit Reader.)
Apologies for the recent quiet . . . these Cavs playoff games have been draining I guess. (LeBron James, if you're reading this, please win Game 5, I'm wearing pretty thin here.)
Anyway, just a quick note to let ya'll know that the first Knights of Infinite Resignation EP, Peace and Rest, is finally up on eMusic (I think this is a link). If you're on eMusic and you haven't heard it yet, download away . . . and if you're not on eMusic, I think they're always running the 25 or 40 or however many free downloads promos, so there ya go.
In other Knights news, recording is underway for the first plunge into vinyl -- a 7" EP tentatively titled Fourth Street Only (heard that one before, eh?). Shooting for a release sometime later this summer.
As part of the celebration for the eleven-month anniversary of the release of the Lee Wadlinger Twentieth Century Apprenticeship EP, I've put it up on eMusic. You can check it here.
And while you're there, check out the Dreadful Yawns Live at Schubas set from 2004. I like that one, and I think it's one of those eMusic-only deals.
As part of the eighth anniversary celebration for the Lee Wadlinger What's Wrong With Me album, I've put it up on the Amazon MP3 store. You can check it here.
Price is $0.89 per song, or $6.99 for the entire thing. If you're scoring at home, that's $0.10 and $3.00 (respectively) cheaper than iTunes, and Amazon gives you the snazzy 256 kps bit rate. I still think the difference between 128 kps and 256 kps is negligible for something recorded on a cassette 4-track machine, but either way now you only have to pay $0.89 to get all 37 seconds of "Heady Phone" (it's worth it).
I guess I should be more up on these things, but apparently the Knights of Infinite Resignation's entire catalogue is now available as iPhone ringtones on the iTunes store. Ever wanted your incoming calls to trigger the refrain from "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" or "Diesel Rules"? Well, now's your chance. Lee Wadlinger's What's Wrong With Me and Twentieth Century Apprenticeship are also available as ringtones.
Speaking of iTunes, the Knights' Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart single and Lee Wadlinger's Twentieth Century Apprenticeship are now available as iTunes Plus downloads (higher bit rate and DRM-free files) for the standard price.
You could ask me why only one record (rather than both) by each artist is available on iTunes Plus, but I wouldn't have an answer for you.
Oh yeah, as of Tuesday, a used copy of the Knights' PH & CB CD was available in the $3 used cd rack at Used Kids (that's $2 cheaper than what we're asking for it). I shouldn't have to remind you that you can only get a copy of the boss cover of Pere Ubu's "Ice Cream Truck" on the cd version.
Owl-eyed (is that hyphenated?) readers will note that it's been a little over a month since the nearly-venerable (pretty sure that's hyphenated) Ian W. wrote anything on here. That's 'cause he's gracefully bowed out of the micro-indie record biz. A few weeks ago he headed out west to engage in the hallowed study of semiotics. Because he "could not make up for distance" (to quote Malkmus) and because he wants to devote his full, undivided attention to Mr. Charles Peirce, et al., it will be necessary for him to completely wash his hands of NBR.
What all this means is that I'm now in the uncomfortable position of having to write stuff in the third person about myself. Maybe this is the right time to finally see about finding a NBR intern.
Anyway, I hope everyone joins me in wishing Mr. Wying a fond adieu and best of luck heading forward. Ian's specifically instructed me to leave you all with one last bit of prose:
Keep buying records, and don't bother Googling me, because "Ian Wying" isn't really my name, suckers.
Don't say we never gave you anything for free. Today Next Best Records has posted a new Lee Wadlinger EP for free download on the NBR site. The record is called The ECB Years: 1996-1997. It's a sampler-type compilation of songs Lee recorded during those two years, a period in which he was between bands and trying to find his way as a teenage Ohio musician (for those scoring at home, the way he found was the GBV lo-fi way). If you've ever wondered what kind of stuff Lee recorded around the time he so famously (ha ha) opened for Elliot Smith (we're going to ride that story into the ground I guess, at least until he opens for Dylan), this is your big opportunity.
The material is a bit uneven, though I bear a particular affection for "SAM" (which is an obvious tribute to Swearing at Motorists) and "CB RNH" (which I suppose is a subtle tribute to Swearing at Motorists). Either way, it's worth a listen or two. After all, it is free. MP3's, as well as a more formal description/liner note-type deal, are here.
There's a nice mention of the Knights' "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" record today on World of Wumme. I really dig seeing someone who gets it, . . . well . . . , get it. I'd quote my favorite pieces, but the whole thing's really worth reading, so do it. Most GBV fans (especially those of us who have pulled a muscle or two trying to keep pace with Robert Pollard's recorded output) will appreciate the discussion of the decline of the "GBV Geek."
The WoW piece got me thinking about the GBV t-shirt mentioned in "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" (as well as in the liner notes). I'm happy to report that it's alive and well:
Today's Knights of Infinite Resignation fun fact: A performance of GBV's "Hey Aardvark" was perhaps the musical highlight of the Knights' first public appearance (in Dayton, of all places). It was a throw-in to fill time while lead guitarist T.J. Redds tried to figure out why his guitar sounded out of tune (The answer? He was playing a guitar tuned down a half-step . . . did I mention that this also represented the first time 75% of the band had ever played music on stage before?). The brilliance of the GBV cover was outdone only by the fog machine that the sound guy made the mistake of telling the band they could use if they wanted. Perhaps predictably, the fog machine got the most praise in the review in UD's Flyer News. Perhaps also predictably, I think that review was in volume 49, which is the last volume of the paper not to be included on the online archives, so we're deprived of those precious column inches. Anyway, I'll stop rambling.
The Knights of Infinite Resignation were pleased to find out that their "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" single was the subject of an entry today on the blog at The Captain Beefheart Radar Station. Ever since the days of the Electric Eels, Captain Beefheart has always been a favorite of Ohio's rock expeditionaries, and so it should almost go without saying that the Knights were totally psyched that they warranted mention on beefheart.com.
Well, today is the day. The Knights of Infinite Resignation's "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" single is released upon the world at large. The CD version (which contains a cover of Pere Ubu's "Ice Cream Truck" -- gotta love the Cloudland action) can most easily be obtained through the NBR Online Store. Prefer digital downloads? We've got you covered. Here's a sampling:
That should be a good sampling. There's some other ones too, so if you use another service just rust an artist search.
In honor of the release of the Knights of Infinite Resignation's "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" single, the Next Best Records Store has been updated and completely redesigned. (That's right, it's now free of the rigid constraints of one big table.)
What does this mean for you? Well, first the PH&CB single is available for mail-order through the store. The abbreviated version (i.e., without the Pere Ubu cover that's exclusive to the CD version) should be available online via pretty much all of the digital retailers tomorrow. We're not 100% sure on that, though, so we're not offering any guarantees. In any event, we'll let you know when PH&CB is up on the sites.
Also, as an added bonus, we've discounted the Knights t-shirts from $15.00 to $12.50 in celebration of the new single. So yeah, check out the store (www.nextbestrecords.com/store.html).
I posted a news update on the Knights of Infinite Resignation MySpace site tonight. I also posted a rough mix of a new Knights song, "Her Bangs," which will be on the Knights' debut album, White Rose Exile Rock. That's right, I said album. More information is found in the news update post.
Also, in case you forgot, the "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart" single comes out July 24.
Recording is complete, mixing is nearly finished, and artwork is underway for the new Knights of Infinite Resignation single, "Paris Hilton & Captain Beefheart." The cover:
It wasn't enough for the Knights of Infinite Resignation to go on iTunes this week, but Lee Wadlinger's got two records up on Apple's service now. That's right, the 2000 classic What's Wrong With Me album and the brand-new Twentieth Century Apprenticeship EP are now live on iTunes. Links to the albums? You got 'em:
The version of Twentieth Century Apprenticeship is the same as the CD release from earlier this month. What's Wrong With Me, however is completely remixed and remastered (it's actually in stereo now -- how's that for getting with the times?), and so even though the songs are the same, it's a slightly different version than the CD that came out in 2000 on Irving Avenue Records.
Needless to say, it's been a big week for us, and we're totally psyched. Stay tuned . . . .
I did some more searching, and found Lee Wadlinger music on two more online music services:
I don't know much at all about either of these. It looks like Sony Connect's prices are comparable to iTunes ($0.99/song, or $9.99 for a full album with more than 11 songs). For Yahoo! Music Unlimited, if you pay the monthly subscription fee you can download songs for $0.79/song. The problem with both of these services (and, I believe, Napster) that jumps out at me is that you can't put music you've downloaded from them onto your iPod (but you can put it on other portable music devices).
Alright, as Wads noted yesterday, we've got exciting things going on here at NBR.
Don't you ever say "Next Best Records is always late." Previous projections had the new Knights of Infinite Resignation EP, Peace and Rest, hitting iTunes on May 22. Well, we proved 'em wrong.
That's right, Peace and Rest is available now! I can't remember if Ian mentioned this ever, but we're only going to do this one on iTunes. The good news is that it only costs $4.95 to download the whole thing. The bad news is that technophobes and Apple-haters won't be able to get hard copies in their hands (maybe one day, but don't hold your breath). But really, though, if I have an iPod, isn't it time you got with the times? The way I see it, if it's too expensive to press to vinyl, we might as well just move on to the 21st century and pretend CD's and tapes never existed.
Anyways, all you gotta do is go on iTunes and search for the Knights of Infinite Resignation. I tried just typing in "knights" but we don't come up that way. You can, however, type in "infinite knights" or "knights infinite" or "infinite resignation." I tried all three of those and they worked. (Side note: If you type in Kierkegaard, you get something different. I don't know what it has to do with Kierkegaard, but maybe it's still cool.) I haven't figured out how to post a link to iTunes here yet. I leave it for techno-genius Ian to do that.
Oh yeah, the label was prescient enough to put up a Peace and Rest page and my online liner notes. They're available here and here, respectively.
By my unofficial count, we're available now in 21 countries. You have no excuse, especially if you live in Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, the U.K., or the U.S.
One last thing: Belgians really don't think "peace" is dirty. It's just that the Belgian iTunes actually censored the word "peace" in the EP title. I don't understand why they needed to call it P***e and Rest. Maybe "peace" means something obscene in Flemish. Either way, a few years ago I spent a month in Belgium and really had a nice time.
It's not because the Polish Sausage didn't win the Sausage Race during the Cleveland Indians home game in Milwaukee tonight. (By the way--how awesome is it that the Tribe was able to draw roughly 20,000 fans to a game between them and the Brewers in Milwaukee? Keep in mind, that's 6,000 more people than were present at the Reds home game in Cincinnati Sunday. Citizens of Milwaukee, you rule.)
Seriously, folks, it's because his Twentieth Century Apprenticeship and Guide To Dating CD's (pictured, with Lee, above) were released today, and you haven't bought a copy of either yet! How do I know that, you ask? Well, I run this record label. It's my job to know these things.
They're really swell. You should check them out. They're available right now at the convenient online store. Lee will also have an ample supply available at the Fourth Street Only show Thursday night (see below for more details).
I'm slowly, but surely, updating the Final Four diary. Rest assured, even though the championship game didn't go Ohio State's way, I will post the entire diary. So, for those of you who keep checking back to see if I've added to it . . . well, um . . . keep checking back.
In other news, the CD's for Twentieth Century Apprenticeship and the Guide To Dating are finally in and ready to ship. Accordingly, they're now up in the Online Store. Tonight we also posted "online liner notes" for both CD's. I wanted to keep the packaging minimal for both releases, which meant that there wasn't really any room for any sort of extended liner notes. So, thanks to the magic of the internet, we've got extended liner notes online (for whatever they're worth). Liner notes for Twentieth Century Apprenticeship are available here, and liner notes for the Guide To Dating are available here.
It's been five years in the making! The Knights of Infinite Resignation will finally release their debut EP on May 22. The record, called Peace and Rest (another Kierkegaard reference--would you expect anything less?) will feature five songs:
The tracks have been culled from the Knights' various recording sessions over the years (in Hudson and Columbus, Ohio). Not only do you get the Knights in all of their spazzed-out fuzzy glory ("Diesel Rules" is epic), but you also get them doing their "We're Ohio's Yo La Tengo" act with "Next To You."
An interesting note: "Without You" was written by Lee as a tribute to Carl Wilson just after his passing in 1998. Accordingly, the original 1998 version features Beach Boys-style backup vocals. The version here--which was recorded a few weeks ago--has no backup vocals, but the "Don't Worry Baby"-esque guitar solo was kept in the arrangment.
Anyway, the record sounds great, and it's a fitting beginning for the Knights' recording career. This release will also be the first by Next Best Records to be available worldwide on iTunes. More information on iTunes, as well as traditional CD availability will follow soon. In the meantime, "Look, It's Rubber Boy!" and "Cold Shoulder" can be heard on the Knights' MySpace page (albeit in initial mono mixes).
I'm sorry. I lied. There's another delay with the Lee Wadlinger CD's. Apparently there's was a bit of a snafu with the artwork, and so we won't be getting the CD's for a while yet, and blah blah blah.
Anyways, we've pushed the release date for Twentieth Century Apprenticeship and Lee Wadlinger's Guide To Dating back to April 10. There's a chance we'll get them in sooner. If we do, I'll be sure to let you know here so that you can get your orders in. Lee is optimistic that he'll have some copies available for Fourth Street Only's appearance at Ugly Tuna Saloona in Columbus on March 30 (see the Concert Dates page for more info).
In other news, stay tuned for an exciting announcment in the next few days involving further NBR releases.
Lee Wadlinger's first video is complete. It's an ultra lo-fi production, created entirely using a cell phone's video camera function. The video is for the song "Throwing Bottles," essentially because, well, it's the shortest song off of the upcoming Twentieth Century Apprenticeship EP (coming March 27!). The video has been posted on Lee's MySpace page and YouTube.
Also, if you click on my YouTube profile (nextbestrecords), you can check out an expanding list of Next Best Records approved YouTube videos. Lee highly recommends the video of Prisonshake playing "Act Like Nothing's Wrong" (if only there were a video of them doing "Fairfield Avenue Serenade").
Anyways, your comments on the L.W. video are much appreciated. If enough people dig it (read: get a hearty chuckle out of it), maybe we'll make more. And maybe we'll even upgrade from the cell phone video camera.
Alright, there's good news and bad news. First, the bad news: We're once again pushing back the release date for the new Lee Wadlinger EP, Twentieth Century Apprenticeship.
Now, the good news: We're only pushing it back by a week. So, for those of you keeping score at home, it's now going to be released on March 27. We're really serious about it this time. And--as if that wasn't good news enough--we're also MOVING UP the release date for the rerelease of Lee's Guide To Dating CD. Both will be available on the online store (prices to be determined). In the next 10 days or so, I'll be putting together some form of online liner notes for each release and putting them up on the respective pages on the main site.
In Knights of Infinite Resignation news, the t-shirts are flying off the shelves. Astute visitors to the online store have noted that the medium shirt with the red ringed collar/sleeves has already sold out. The long-awaited Knights EP will likely be the next thing we release.
*Snif* *Snif*--my little label is growing up! That's right, I've finally gotten things in gear. The Next Best Records Online Store is now up and running. You can now be the first kid on your block to own a Knights of Infinite Resignation t-shirt! But wait, there's more! You can also be the third kid in your state to own a copy of the Magic Ball Hunt EP, or the eleventh person in your town to own a copy of the Pesotum/Lee Wadlinger split-7" single!
In case you couldn't tell from the above links, since we don't have any official music releases actually out yet (set-in-stone release date for the new Lee Wadlinger EP is March 20), the store consists mostly of stuff we found in the boxes sitting in the old Eclectic Citrus Bowls bunker (located 80 feet below Stow Road and Streetsboro Street in Hudson, Ohio). We're currently only accepting orders via credit card through Pay Pal, which Mr. Wadlinger assures us is much easier for you and for us than the old "send a check or cash to my P.O. Box" indie-rock model.
I also spent some time today updating the main Next Best Records website, so those of you who are interested in purchasing stuff can actually get some information on what we have for sale.
Big news afoot at NBR. Not only will we soon have Lee Wadlinger's Twentieth Century Apprenticeship CDEP available, but we're also going to have Knights of Infinite Resignation t-shirts for sale! The shirts will feature the band name on the front, and a cryptic, currently super-secret phrase encapsulating all that the Knights are about on the back. In other words, they'll be similar to the one from last year (the one that Mr. Wadlinger kindly modeled for this Blog), other than having different text on the back. Unfortunately, they won't be black (I know, white T-shirts aren't very knightly), but they will feature uber-stylish ringed collars and sleves (available in black and limited-edition red). More news to come when they're ready to be shipped....
Just added two new shows to our concerts page. Two bands Lee's in--the Backup Plan and Fourth Street Only--will be playing in the next week or so. First, the Backup Plan will be playing at Lodge Bar in Columbus on Friday, February 23 as part of an OSU Law School event that's open to the public. Second, Fourth Street Only will be playing Little Brother's in Columbus on Wednesday, February 28th. More info at the above link (the one with the words "concerts page").
I've had a productive weekend working on the new EP. For now, I think I have the song lineup set, though there's one song I'm thinking about cutting and replacing with something new. Regardless, we're seriously very close to the first release on Next Best Records. I need to touch up the recordings on one or two songs, then mix everything and finalize the artwork. Perhaps we'll have CD's by the end of February, but the first week of March is probably a better estimate.
To whet your collective appetite, I've had a demo for "Nightlight"--the song that will close the EP--posted on my MySpace page (complete with lyrics!). "Nightlight" is a semi-humorous take on a number of topics, including the media, Ohio, songwriting, and post-post-modern existentialism. The demo version actually is pretty close to the final version. Let me know if you think the vocals should be louder in the mix (seriously).
The front cover (a preliminary version of it, anyway) of Lee Wadlinger's upcoming EP is finished. Take a look at a lo-fi version:
Obviously, the EP is going to be titled Twentieth Century Apprenticeship. I know we say it's going to be a four-song EP on the news page, but now it might be a five-song EP. One of those four or five songs will be "Please Be Careful," which may or may not chronicle a certain night when Mr. Wadlinger took a date to Steak 'n Shake (how's that for some inside info?), and which currently plays on his MySpace page, if you'd like to get a sneak preview. If we get our collective behind in gear, we may even be able to move up the release date. (Is February 20 too optimistic? Probably.)
Here's the deal: Our blog-based resolution for the year is to write more frequently. Our record label-based resolution is to actually really start putting out records (it's hard to do when you only have two people really "working" for the label, but you don't want to hear me whining).
In other news, Lee Wadlinger has made his YouTube debut. Professor Lee of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law used "Picture of Me," a song from Wadlinger's 2000 LP, What's Wrong With Me, as the soundtrack for a video of a Halloween party. There is a short version and a long version. This marks only the second time that a Wadlinger has appeared on YouTube.
Speaking of Professor Lee, he has an interesting blog all about YouTube, and he was recently quoted in a story on YouTube in the Washington Post.
