3-Way Singles Club, Volume Nine: It's Here.

Featuring brand-new (and we mean less than 48 hours old, in some cases) tracks from Steve Leaf, Seth Bernard, and CrookedSound.  You can download or stream it here:

http://music.itavrecords.com/album/3-way-singles-club-volume-nine-2

And, as always, your purchase benefits the Independent Musicians Fund.  It also makes us extremely grateful.  We're quite excited for the slate of songs we'll be releasing three-by-three this year!  Look for brand new songs from Sunil Sawani, Brooks Mosher, The Break-Ups, Calliope, White Pines, Tin Window, Benoit Pioulard and more!

3-Way Singles Club Volume 9 Peaks Over The Horizon!

ITAV will be finishing off January with the latest volume of our 3-Way Singles Club (#9) and some exciting announcements about upcoming artists in the series!


January can be, in many ways, the spillover month from the holidays.  I know this, I was born in early January and my birthday can often seem like an afterthought when you've had a string of powerhouse holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  But that is why they call it a new year, and that is why the holidays abate for a while -- so there can be a stock-taking, and a sober assessment of the months to come in the warm afterglow of gift-giving, feasting, and merriment.


Eh, excuses, excuses!

That ambling preamble precedes our proud announcement that we are going to slip in under the wire with the latest in our monthly series of 3-song/3-artist triple split singles, featuring Steve Leaf, Seth Bernard, and CrookedSound!  3WSC Volume 9 is due before the bell tolls at midnight, January 31st, and will feature brand new songs from CrookedSound and Steve Leaf, and an illuminating peak into Earthwork Music Collective co-ofounder Seth Bernard's 4-track songwriting notebook.  Recorded in attics and bedrooms across the northern midwest, Volume 9 is a sonic expression of the spirit of the series: that "singles" exist in many forms, at many speeds, and as children of the moment -- born when the spark of inspiration strikes.

ITAV's Independent Musicians Fund has also been created as the recipient of all proceeds from the 3-Way Singles Club.  It's a two part effort that consists of an aid fund for independent musicians as well as a source for information and consulting on recording, manufacturing, and distributing music for independent artists.  And the IMF grows by people listening to music!

My sincere thanks go out to the charter members of the 3-Way Singles Club Mega-Subscription, as well to each and every person who has listened, purchased songs, or contributed their music to the 3WSC this past year.  We have some great things lined up for the coming months!

Following volumes in the series will be new songs from Sunil Sawani, Small Houses with Pioneer, Benoit Pioulard, Brooks Mosher, Calliope, White Pines, The Sunset Club, Jake Simmons and the Little Ghosts, and many more -- check the schedule for a full line-up!

2012 is also to be the year of ITAV's first vinyl releases.  That's right, releases!  Plural!  More on that in upcoming posts.  Stay sweet, stay tuned, and stay off old man Witherspoon's yard.

Bandcamp Round-Up #2: Guilting The Lily

Bandcamp is the way that we promulgate our very own 3-Way Singles Club.  In addition, it provides a roof for the following six releases I've stumbled across while trawling its waters.  A good number of these artists have cropped up on ITAV-related projects, too.  With the exception of Photographers, my own solo project Stargrazer has also had the pleasure of performing with all of the below, and there's no better way to get to know someone's music than the live setting.  Photographers, hopefully we'll get our chance soon!

There are many great services out there for sharing independent music, so I don't mean to single out Bandcamp for endorsement, however I find it to be such a clean and appealing interface that it makes for a nice listening environment.  Their homepage could be tidied up a lot, but once you get to the artist you want to listen to nothing could be easier.  It's free to listen, you don't have to log in, and it's easy on the artists as well -- so there's lots and lots to hear, of all styles.

1.  FIELDS OF INDUSTRY - "Trouble House"

http://fieldsofindustry.bandcamp.com/album/trouble-house

Trouble House was one of my favorite local releases of 2010, and it continues to be one of my favorite recent releases.  From the Sterling Morrison-esque guitar chords of the opening mini-epic "I've Never Been To New York" (which has been stuck in my head for over a year) to the moving closing couplet of "I've Got A Feeling" and "Your Letters," it's an album that revs up the hushed feel of prior Fields Of Industry releases, referencing their live shows which are often punctuated by a great rendition of the 13th Floor Elevators "Reverberation (doubt)."  Casual comparisons to the Velvet Underground aside, FoI has produced a truly cohesive work of engaging indie rock here that transcends that facile comparison.

2.  SMALL HOUSES - "North"

http://smallhouses.bandcamp.com/album/north

North and it's companion piece, the Just Before The North E.P., represent an arrival of sorts for Small Houses and the tremulous-voiced Jeremy Quentin.  On North especially, he builds on the strength of his previous album Our Dusking Sound and hits the musical equivalent of a grand slam with songs like "Country Flowers" and "Late July."  The accompanying tour found his fleet-fingered live set the strongest I've ever seen it (and I've returned again and again to see this artist).  The openness of North belies its attentive, even meticulous construction -- check out the album credits for a fairly jaw-dropping list of Michigan talent that contributed.  Catch Small Houses when it comes through your town!

3.  VIKING MOSES - "Howling Dogs E.P."

http://vikingmoses.bandcamp.com/album/howling-dogs-ep


Howling Dogs compiles a number of demos and the immediate, propulsive title track from Viking Moses' forthcoming album The Conquest Night (May 31st).  By the evidence of these songs, the album promises to be every bit as amazing as his last full-length The Parts That Showed (which has been in heavy rotation at our house for at over a year).  Viking Moses is one of those artists whose demos and live performance can be an entirely different beast (BEAST!) than his finished recordings (as the demo of the title track makes abundantly clear), and this clutch of embryonic songs evades even my best time-tested superlatives.  Viking Moses is another live act I can heartily endorse, and he tours relentlessly.  Oh, also: brace yourself.

4.  PHOTOGRAPHERS - "Songs In Ursa Minor"

http://photographers.bandcamp.com/album/songs-in-ursa-minor

The form may have become familiar -- a duo or trio performing gentle indie-folk fleshed out with banjos and strings --but Photographers' music breathes in a natural way, like a polaroid developing on a nightstand.  Between the dew-soaked duets, spare arrangements, and nimble tempo changes, the recurring theme seems to be wonder (a sensation we can never, ever get enough of), and Photographers deliver up a verbal and musical record of wonders experienced and wonders hoped for.  It's difficult for pleasant, peaceful music to avoid a certain emptiness and lack of texture -- I'm happy to say that Photographers have circumnavigated that void with grace and a certain conceptual density that opens up in onion-skin layers.  It's a worthy pursuit to listen through their other releases, which are also truly captivating.

5.  JOHNNY UNICORN - "Thinking Hard To Overcome Nervousness"

http://johnnyunicorn.bandcamp.com/album/thinking-hard-to-overcome-nervousness

Johnny Unicorn's brand of archly humorous rock and pop is distinguished from that of most auteurs by its prog sensibilities and his confident multi-instrumental arranging abilities.  Synth-pop one second morphs into free jazz freakout, then drops into a driving fusion groove, then into accordion-driven klezmer -- all in one song, "Break Out," a song about acne.  What slowly simmers out of an roller-coaster ride like THTON is that JU's take on good-time music is essentially an outsider's take -- clever, with an ear for arrangement that would make many pop icon's swoon, and a dose of heady avant garde/psychedelic leanings, married to self-effacing lyrics that can be surprisingly humble amidst all the stylistic twists and turns.  While JU's lack of seriousness may provide a stumbling block for some listeners, the dizzying virtuosity in music-making and production on display leaves little doubt that if he applied himself to other forms of music-making, he would excel at it.  Having witnessed JU live, I can report with authority that he's a born entertainer.

6.  BENOÎT PIOULARD - "Lyon" 

http://pioulard.bandcamp.com/album/lyon


If the idea of Kranky Records recording artist Benoît Pioulard performing without his usual beds and washes of field recordings and lush reverb is appealing to you, this is your release!  A simple fingerpicked acoustic guitar and unadorned voice form the entire body of these four songs.  Two of them, "Tie" and "Ailleurs" appeared in sonically-embellished form on 2010's superb full-length Lasted.  Two others "Arrow Drawn" and "I Walked Into The Blackness And Built A Fire" (which apparently came out on a ltd. ed. lathe-cut picnic plate by People In A Position To Know) are new to these ears.  In my opinion, you can't go wrong with Benoît Pioulard, whether it's his blankety white-noise sound collages or the underwater acoustic folk pop that darts and filigrees throughout his albums.  In this subtractive state, however, it's Pioulard's songs that really shine through.  Fans of Midwestern indie folk in the vein of Chris Bathgate will find a lot to like here, established fans of Pioulard's work will find new footing for their appreciation of his literate, alluring songcraft.

Two Stargrazer Shows In Two Weeks, Part Deux!

...Announcing the second Stargrazer show of 2012 (following this Saturday's show at Gone Wired w/ Teag & PK and Delicious Bass -- see the previous post):   

Stargrazer, Concepticons, Hampshire, and Confusing Sarah will perform at The Loft (414 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933) Thursday, January 26!  Doors are at 8:00 PM, showtime is 9:00 PM.  This is an 18+ show, and there is a $5 cover.  The Loft is a large space and it sounds good when it's packed, hint hint.

Two Stargrazer Shows In Two Weeks!

...and this is the first of them:

...this is a FREE show at Gone Wired Cafe, 2021 E. Michigan Avenue  Lansing MI, Saturday January 14th.  Music starts at 7:30.  Also appearing will be Teag & PK and Delicious Bass.  The second Stargrazer gig will be at the Loft on the 26th.  More about that later...

3-Way Singles Club, Volume 8 is cleared for take-off!

Featuring an alternate, exclusive version of The People's Temple's sunburnt "Jim Jones," which originally appeared on the Make You Understand 7-inch EP on HoZac Records, 3-Way Singles Club Volume Nine is the blasting cap on the musical stick of dynamite that ITAV attempted to contain in 2011!  Click on the pretty picture or the link below it to immerse yourself in three breathtaking tracks from the aforementioned, Jackpine Snag, and Nocturnal Aviators In Action!

(by the way, we're offering this volume for free/pay-what-you-will until Christmas day!)

click http://music.itavrecords.com/album/3-way-singles-club-volume-eight for the bliss!

3-Way Singles Club, Volume Eight hits the streets in the waning hours of 2011, while people claw for the latest gadgets and gizmos at big-box stores across the country -- the annual Christmas frenzy.  Of all the 3-Way Singles released this year, this one takes me back to the simple, pleasurable experience of buying  Minneapolis-based record label Amphetamine Reptile's compilations at Traverse City's independent record shop (now a Coldstone Creamery), New Moon Records.  At that time (early 1990s), I lived at home, and I bought these noisy AmRep comps on CD -- partly because I wasn't hip enough to collect vinyl, and partly because I still lived at my parents' house and it was easier to smuggle something called "Dope, Guns, And F@#king In The Streets, Volumes 4-7" into the house in the lightweight, portable CD format.

In those days, I plied a schizophrenic musical groove that included Quicksilver Messenger Service, Bongwater, Robert Johnson, fIREHOSE, and The Jesus Lizard.  Those AmRep discs bristled with tracks by bands called "Lubricated Goat" and "Jonestown." They were menacing and musical -- songs often threatened to jump the rails, but the surprisingly melodic tracks by the likes of Hammerhead, Unsane, the Boredoms, Brainiac, and my beloved Superchunk were a gateway between the free-wheeling psychedelia that was opening my mind and the punk and metal that was harnessing my youthful disgust.

(If anyone sees "Dope, Guns, And F@#king In The Streets, Vol. 1-3" -- the pink one -- on CD, grab it -- I'll trade you something cool for it.)

Enough about that.  Something about the blistering psyche-rock and bedrock-shaking groovy riffs of the three songs laid out before you by The Jackpine Snag, The People's Temple, and Nocturnal Aviators... something about the melting pot of blues, garage rock, and punk that ties these three very different songs together... something about the dirty tones and layered guitars and propulsive rhythms... it all grabs and it won't let go.  It just digs under your skin and shakes you by the musculoskeletal structure.  And that's alright.

As an aside, what is it about Lansing Michigan that produces so many vocalists that can channel Gary Floyd (of The Dicks)?  Must be something in the water up there.  Something I would drink by the gallon.

Nostalgia is an important element in music.  Music exists out of time.  It has a way of triggering our senses: hearing (obviously), taste, touch, and smell.  It accesses our memories and our wishes and our animal natures too.  Can we have nostalgia for the future?  That's not an oxymoron, for music.  I credit these songs for having a cellular familiarity, a sense memory that makes me feel like they've been pounding around in my head for years after just a couple listens.

2011 has been a banner year for It Takes A Village To Make Records: we've released more songs this year than any other year so far!  We're in talks with a couple artists about our first-ever vinyl releases next year, and we've established the Independent Musicians Fund.  The IMF is the recipient of every cent you spend on the 3-Way Singles Club (after the fees that Bandcamp and PayPal collect), and it feeds right back into the underground scene.  We're growing the fund right now, and hope to start distributing funds to qualified applicants by next May -- about one year after we launched this monthly series of digital 3-artist singles!  That's exciting, and we thank everyone who has listened, linked a song to a blog or Facebook page, or purchased a single.  We hope you've had a great year too, and we look forward to bringing more great independent music to you in 2012!

The Independent Musicians Fund

For a long time, I've been having conversations with musicians and promoters around mid-Michigan about nurturing and incubating talent.  As we've watched many local venues struggle (and in some cases, shutter) and seen our friends pour their hearts into recordings, live gigs, and tours only to find that their expenses are outrunning their gains; as we've been supported by a dedicated core of friends but weathered general community indifference; and as we've worked to build awareness, provide opportunities for new musical voices, and just create something fun, exciting, and creative to do for anyone who cares to show up -- well, a void has gradually become more evident.

It's hard to see things that are not there.  It often takes a while to delineate their edges and truly identify where need exists.  What's right in front of us often claims our attention; things like broken mic cables, postage expenses to mail out tour fliers, or finding the time to remind our friends (again) that we have a show on Friday and that we'd really love it if they could... hey, wait a minute!  That's it!  That's the void!

It's the little nickle-and-dime expenses like mailing out fliers and demos and repairing cords that have been stepped on one too many times that hold us back.  The bigger the obstacle, the easier it is to avoid -- but the little things, the irritants and inconveniences -- are what often hold us back from finishing that album, booking that gig, or planning that tour.  They can come too fast and too furious for anything as graceful as side-stepping.  Instead, we meet them head on, which often means a stoppage of the creative workflow.

The Independent Musicians Fund (I.M.F.) is ITAV's answer to that scenario of minor interferences slowing the flow of creativity -- our way of removing minor obstacles from the lives of working musicians.  Because many of us play music despite our low position on the economic totem pole.  It enriches an otherwise simple, often blue collar existence.  We often elect to live "bohemian" so that our art can take the front burner, but the generally low wage service-sector jobs we land to keep our free time available for musical pursuits don't allow a lot of budgetary wiggle-room when something breaks or a drum seat comes up missing in the middle of tour.

The I.M.F. is a repository for 100% of the proceeds from the 3-Way Singles Club: it's a way that musicians taking part in the series can support the greater musical community in a visible way.  By contributing exclusive songs in clusters of 3 at an approachable 3 bucks, the series is available to all -- and there are occasional freebies and promotions to further sweeten the deal.

Like us on facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/imfund.  We'd be much obliged.


Starting today, the 3-Way Singles Club is available for a one-time, $30 subscription fee.  (See the PayPal button at the top right of the page) You can have it all!  At the same time, you can feel good about your support of the greater creative community.  As the fund grows, I.M.F. will begin taking applications for 0% loans and outright grants.  As of writing, I.M.F. is not a non-profit, because the application fee to become a 501(c)3 is about $500, but that is an eventual goal.  Funds collected so far from the 3-Way Singles Club (an impressive $26.10) are set safely aside as the humble beginnings of our big vision.  We'd like to have a comfy $100 in the fund by next May and begin the applicant process. 

In addition to raising funds by putting out exclusive digital triple singles, I.M.F. is building a lending library of books about music production, live sound, music business, publishing, and other aids to help leverage the energy of writing and playing music into something bigger and more sustainable.  We also offer consultation on artwork, graphic design, and printing.  I.M.F. wants to help your band rise above the clamor of the internet, get seen and heard at the street level, get songs placed in movies and television, and make inroads into independent radio -- and we don't want anything in return!

Also, this is not restricted to the Midwest, though that's where we hang our own particular hat -- we're casting our net wider, and applications from all over the world will be considered by an independent board of reviewers.  ITAV and I.M.F. would love to consider your band's musical input for future inclusion in the 3-Way Singles Club.  Contact us at the e-mail address listed in our "Submissions" tab at the top of this page!  All styles may apply.

Our next single (Volume 8) is due out in about a week!  It features The Jackpine Snag, Nocturnal Aviators In Action, and The Peoples Temple!

In the coming months, we'll have brand new tracks from Small Houses, Teag & PK, Brooks Mosher, Sunil Sawani, Tin Window, CrookedSound, Steve Leaf, Drum Kit, Seth Bernard, and more! 

I'd like to take this opportunity to extend warm holiday wishes to all, especially those of you plucking strings and bashing drums.  You've been more motivating than many of you know, and it's been a great year!  We're going out with a BANG! and I can't wait for more.  2012 has some great things already scheduled, including ITAV's first (and possibly second) vinyl release(s) and some great follow-up noise from the Nanobots (finally).  Have a great time with friends and/or family, and stay tuned in RIGHT HERE for the link to that hot single.


Sincerely,


Peter and the ITAV crew