Well, hopefully you've come out of your alcoholic stupor due to whatever your reaction to the outcome of this totally miserable clusterfuck of an election and need a little retail therapy and art in your life.
In this episode:
1) New Business Model
a) Foxx Bodies - ST 2x10"
b) Lee (Baggett) Gull and The Graves 2x10"
2) Nothing else... weird, huh?
1) New Business Model Overhaul for PIAPTK:
I know I whine a lot about how hard it is run this weirdo money pit of a label. It’s a ton of work and it sometimes feels like I’m casting this amazing shit out into a void to a world that couldn’t possibly care less. But, if you are reading this, you obviously care (at least a little), so I’m preaching to the choir. I catch a lot of shit from people because some of my releases sell out way too fast, but on the flip side of that, I also make too many of some releases that nobody has heard of/won’t bother listening to sound samples of/or just don’t like, and they end up sitting on my shelf forever. So, to try to strike a balance, I’m going to try something new. Well, not totally new, we toyed with it a few years ago with the RSTVMO Saturday Singles Series. We are now going to be a lot of records in this new “Made to Order” format.
Made To Order Production on select releases:
To give everyone at least a week to order, and to prevent having a ton of money tied up in records that don’t sell, we will now start doing one-week preorders on some items before we make them. So, here is the formula for copies produced: Number of Preorders + 10 (to sell after the preorder) + 33% free to the artist copies + 5 PIAPTK Archives copies. And that will be it. Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mam/Man. Then it will take a couple weeks to get them together and shipped out (but I guess that’s nothing new around the PIAPTKsphere, unfortunately (but always remember, we never slack… delays are almost never within our control. PIAPTK is a label that’s never sleepin’ run by a dude who’s always creepin’)).
Not all releases will fit into this model, but the plan is to try to use it for any release that fits. For right now, we will have two series’ that will be done this way:
2x10” Album Series: This will be a series of albums that I love that will be issued/reissued on double 10” lathe cuts, made to order after a one week preorder. Some will be new albums, some will be older albums that have been important to me, but they will all be (in my eyes) total classics.
The first two in the series are:
1a) FOXX BODIES – ST Album 2x10"
Foxx Bodies are a Tucson Riot Grrl/Boyy band. They rule and are taking Tucson and the West Coast of the US of A by storm. They are coming to a town near you very soon, and if you like angry womyn and dudes with facial hair/facial glasses playing surf influenced garage punk, you would be foolish to miss them. But just as a primer, pick up their ST Debut album on Double 10” in gatefold chipboard sleeves with tip-on style full color foldover.
Listen to some audio here: https://soundcloud.com/piaptkshop
1b) Lee Baggett & Graves – ST 2x10"
Lee Baggett is a weirdo, a shredder, a chiller, a gardener, and an all around incredible sweetheart of a surf/skate/hang dude. He’s got a weird Neil Young Meets Daniel Johnston type of hippie outsider vibe that always makes for some challenging, but rewarding, listening. It exists in between the realms of what you understand about music and that which is beyond you, but it glides back and forth between these zones quickly and fluently, creating a feeling that never quite lets you drop your guard, but permeates your psyche and massages your soul. It sometimes feels like he is channeling an AM Radio station from an alternate reality. Years ago PIAPTK released a 3 EP set called Summer Grass on three 10”s. Since then, Lee has been busy going back to school, playing with Little Wings and occasionally recording some things here and there. (Check out his excellent split with Bob Thayer on Curly Cassette). But, in honor of the oncoming fall and retreating summer, Lee teamed up with Greg Olin and The Graves to record Lee Gull and The Graves, an ode to the disappearing warmth of another year. Greg adds his silky smooth, sexy chill stoner lounge production and musicianship to Lee’s Gram Parsons on Acid songwriting style resulting in a beautiful new masterwork to usher in the winter.
Listen to some audio here: https://soundcloud.com/piaptkshop