Tucson summer is in full swing, which means you can find my ass somewhere else until it cools down. In the next eight weeks I will not be home for more than 3-4 days at a time in between trips to Portugal/Spain (to take my 13 year old daughter to see Olivia Rodrigo in Lisbon (in a transparently desperate bid for her to continue to think i'm "cool" as far into her teens as possible), Anchorage/Valdez Alaska, NYC for 4th f July to consult on a TV show with Natasha Lyonne and Giancarlo Esposito, Toronto to install a lathe, Buenos Aires to install a lathe, Colorado to see Dr Dog at Red Rocks (obvs a business trip), and a 3 night run to see The Dead at the Sphere in Vegas (again.... highly recommended... come roll with my crew Aug 1-3 if you are so inclined) etc.
|BUT, the new Floating Action LP "Cheey" just arrived, which means it is time to finally launch the other cadre of releases I've been sitting on for a while, and my tireless team of shipping professionals is waiting to serve you.
Table of Contents
Dr. Dog - Here Comes the Hotstepper / Great Work Everybody "Dub Plate" 7" PATREON EXCLUSIVE
Brainiac - We'll Eat Anything stenciled/screenprinted 10" of never before released demos
Floating Action - Cheey LP
Spaceface - BIttersweet symphony MIRROR 7" singles
Nathan Sabatino Reworks M Nau, Dream Sitch, Begale, and Floating Action. 
Dr. Dog - Here Comes the Hotstepper / Great Work Everybody "Dub Plate" 7"
This is the first of the Patreon Exclusive Freebies. They are only available to Patreon subscribers of the $6 and $10/month level that were subscribed before 6/14/24. But I plan to keep on crankin' out the hits on a quarterly/biannual basis to future subscribers, so if you don't want to miss out, go to https://www.patreon.com/PIAPTK and sign up!
ALMOST every PIAPTK release from here on out will have some sort of special component for Patreon subscribers. Unique vinyl color, bonus disc or track, handmade component. etc
Dr Dog: Here Comes the Hotstepper / Great Work Everyone
Welcome to the first installment of the PIAPTK Patreon exclusive series, available only to PIAPTK’s Patrons (plus some copies for the band to distribute as they wish).
Handwritten labels on round black vinyl, dub plate style with yellow dusty!
It is an homage to the predecessor of the modern lathe cut record, the dub plate. Dub plates were used heavily in Jamaican reggae and Disco / House dance music in the 70s and 80s. They were one-off copies of a song cut in real time on a lacquer acetate blank record. In reggae, dubs were used to provide sound system DJs with a one-off copy of a song, sometimes with “toasting” where a DJ would sing or talk over an instrumental, identifying the sound system and proclaiming their superiority over other sound systems. This recording would be exclusive to that sound system and would be a way of setting them apart. In Jamaica, King Tubby and Arrows Studio were instrumental in providing dubs to sound systems. I used to own the Presto 8DGV cutting lathe from Arrows, but it now resides in the Living Computer Museum in Seattle. However, the Grampian cutter head from Arrows is still the daily runner in my cutting studio. In House music of the late 70s and 80s, dubs were used to extend 3 minute pop songs and to add musical elements such as drum machines and effects to really heighten then dance floor experience in clubs like Studio 54 and Paradise Garage. DJs would get dub plates made at dub factories like Sunshine Sound, Angel Sound, or Melting Pot sound. Rich Flores, who ran Melting Pot sound actually still makes my cutting styli to this day. DJs would also use dub plates to “field test” their remixes to see how the dance floor responded to the mix before they pressed the record in a larger quantity. Much like the Jamaicans, the house DJs wanted to bring songs and remixes to their club nights that no other DJs had.
The packaging of this record pays homage to both of these scenes. The yellow dust jacket and generic “studio label” is similar to the labels used by King Tubby and Arrows, and the poorly written chicken scratch shorthand (each hand written by me) is an homage to some of the NYC dub plates that were labeled this way to prevent other DJs from finding the track for themselves.
DO A GOOD DEED AND SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Brainiac - We'll Eat Anything stenciled/screenprinted 10" of never before released demos
One sided 10" with four songs, all previously unreleased early home recorded demos. It is silkscreened and stencilled in a whole candy store selection of color combos. Limited to 200 hand numbered copies (the band got 100 freebies that they sold on their last tour).
About it:
Whoa boy, another bucket list band that I fell into just by asking nicely and being in the right place at the right time. I found Brainiac in the late 90s during my spazzy math rock phase and BOY did I wear out Hissing Prigs in Static Couture and Electroshock for President, and I must have seen John Schmersal's later project, Enon live 30+ times. I was really excited a couple years ago when the Brainiac documentary came out (if you haven't seen it, it's great!), and it really brought me back.
So, after the doc, I thought to myself "What is Schmersal up to now? Can I find him? Well, I did, introduced myself and talked to him about maybe doing something for his current solo project "Crooks on Tape". But, he's been on tour with Caribou for the last few years, so nothing has really materialized. He currently lives in Joshua Tree, CA, where I spend a fair amount of time, so whenever we are both there at the same time, we meet up for lunch or breakfast. Last time I was there, we had breakfast, and I casually, no presh-style, threw in my usual schmooze "not tryna be the too much business-guy, but just reminding you I'd love to collaborate on a project if the opportunity arises...." Amazingly, and totally unexpectedly (never in a million years did I expect to do a Brainiac release), he told me he had some rare, early Brainiac demos that they were looking for a cool way to release on a physical format to sell during their May tour. Since he was leaving to rehearse and record with Caribou in London, he put me in touch with the rest of the band and we hammered out some art together.
Pick One Up Here!
Floating Action - Cheey LP
The newest LAST Final Floating Action album is here! CHEEY!
And, continuing with our long running tradition of including some sort of small, flat, and stupid freebie swag item with each new Floating Action album, it was a no-brainer to include "Cheey Candy" with industrial product design art by my 13 year old daughter, Ryer.
Limited to 250 copies. On Translucent red and Patreon exclusive white with Red Splatter.
WHILE YOU ARE AT IT: Add on the only two Floating Action LPs still in print: JInx Protecting (colored vinyl with Floating Action Incense and custom incense burner) and TING! (with Ting scented AIr Freshner)
Seth's Cheey Blurb
It feels like all songs are just rushing through space, kind of parallel to us. Who knows how many we’ve missed, failed to connect with. I feel like I’ve created enough albums in my life, I should probably stop. But then keep getting these darn ideas…so why not record them? Since the pandemic, I’ve been double-jobbin’ in, music & handyman for a vacation cabin rental place (Greybeard Rentals). No days off, ever - hard to find time to work on music.
I had been to this one small cabin to fix things a couple times, right in Black Mountain where I live. It had all these cool zones that struck me as cool places to sit and write - the cabin is on old stone stilts, and had a bamboo forest on a creek in the back.I was able to rent it with a discount from Greybeard, and had it for 2.5 days, in January, 2024.I packed up an extremely minimal batch of recording gear, and set it up in the cabin. Brought my espresso machine too of course.
This is the first Floating Action album where I’ve ever been totally alone, and able to focus 100% on what I was doing. Not much time either, 2.5 days, I entered this deep vigilant focused world, and just wrote and recorded like my life depended on it. I would go to sleep around 1am and get up at 7am, immediatetly keep working. It was cold (highs around freezing), I often wrote out by that creek, bundled up and freezing. I wrote and recorded so fast and focused, I got all of CHEEY made in those 2.5 days.
Relatively stripped down album, my self imposed rule for this one was, upright and electric bass on every song, at least two drumkits on every song, and no keys. (I put a little piano on ‘Stay Glued’ later).
No guests on this one, just me. (except for my daughter singing on the chorus of ‘Ants They Follow Fat’). I mixed it as I recorded, then Kyle McEvoy mastered it…nothing was ever analyzed or thought about..
It’s my favorite Floating Action I’ve ever done!
-SETH KAUFFMAN
Pick One Up Here!
Nathan Sabatino Reworks M Nau, Dream Sitch, Begale, and Floating Action.
Hand stencilled discs for the one sided 12" of Nathan Sabatino Reworks from the Dream Sitch Family.
Remixes from Michael Nau, Dream Sitch, Floating Action and Begale (Mike's wife Whitney).
Track Listing:
Dream Sitch - Sideways (DJXII Pool Party Mix)
Floating Action - Give It Time (Egyptian Laser Mix)
Michael Nau - I Root (Kawai 151PS Mix)
Begale - Now and Then (K.0! Stretch Mix)
Spaceface - Bittersweet symphony MIRROR 7" singles
For the first time in well over a decade, I decided to make MIRROR VINYL SINGLES. These have a little more surface noise than our standard lathe cuts, and are slightly lower-fi, but they fit very well with the vibe of this tune.
A sneak peek of the still-in-progress new Spaceface album! Spaceface covers a song that us old folks couldn't escape on the radio while they were still in day care. And listening to this 100 times in a tow, I am reminded of what a banger it actually it was. Everything old is new again, and Spaceface crush this version.
Pick One Up Here!