Release Date - eagleowl

eagleowl's Christmas-ish single is the final release of wiaiwya-7777777 2014 - hope you've enjoyed all seven hits, and all the amazing artwork - if for any reason you don't have all the records, there's a link to get them just there on the right ==========> so, eagleowl:  

“a funereal shanty, bleakly captivating and rousing, and a reminder that the boys Yorkston and Roberts used to make records this good.” Did Not Chart
“glass-half-empty sensibility… lifted skywards by an unexpected melodic chorus and more lovely harmonies” SoundsXP
Formed in Edinburgh in 2005, eagleowl - all lower-case if you please - were initially a duo comprising Bartholomew Owl (guitar, vocals) and Malcolm Benzie (violin, guitar, vocals). With the addition of Clarissa Cheong (double bass, vocals), several years of activity as a trio followed. The band has since grown into a multi-instrumental six-piece also featuring Rob St. John (organ, harmonium, vocals), Hannah Shepherd (cello) and Owen Williams (drums). eagleowl’s sound - trembling strings, hushed harmonies and gauzy electric guitar, tracing a line somewhere between Low, Mogwai and the Dirty Three - has likewise expanded. But without sacrifice to a resolutely less-is-more song writing approach that eschews bombast in favour of restraint, promotes suspenseful builds over cathartic climaxes, and never rushes when it can take its own precious time. 
eagleowl’s debut long player (This Silent Year - released on Lost Map in June 2014) confirmed them as one of the gems and keystones of the Edinburgh and Scottish lo-fi independent music scene. Prior to that there were a string of critically-acclaimed, impossible to come by, limited-edition releases on Scottish micro labels Fife Kills and Kilter - 2008 EP ‘For The Thoughts You Never Had’ (“gorgeously quavering folk harmonies” -Word), 2010 EP ‘Into The Fold’ (“Wonderfully atmospheric” - Drowned In Sound) and 2009 7” single ‘Sleep The Winter’ (“monumentally affecting” - The Skinny).
When not performing together, all six members are highly active in other bands and collaborations, be it with Scottish alt-folk troubadour Withered Hand, Icelandic singer-songwriter Benni Hemm Hemm, their band mate Rob St. John (who also pursues a solo career), or Canadian indie-pop collective Woodpigeon.  The single will be launched in Edinburgh at Pilrig St Paul's Church Hall on Friday 12th December, as part of the inaugural Irregular Owl Movements Christmas Panto.
The picture disc is illustrated by Frances Castle

release date - the Human Hearts

Evoking the spirit of both el and Postcard records, American indie icons Franklin Bruno and Jenny Toomey return to recording with the classiest 7” you’ll hear all year.

 
Billed as the Human Hearts, Toomey and Bruno swing, crackle and POP through two instant classics – the reflective Loyal Opposition, and the Motown meets Orange Juice stomp Distracted.

Bruno is an American singer-songwriter, academic, writer, and blogger originally from Upland, California. He has been a member of Nothing Painted Blue since its inception in 1986, has worked on two Mountain Goats albums, written a book on Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces and is a professor of philosophy.

Alongside Kristin Thomson, Toomey booked the first Riot Grrrl shows in DC and co-founded the prolific indie label Simple Machines in 1990. She played and sang in Tsunami, Liquorice, Geek, So Low, Choke, Grenadine, My New Boyfriend, Slack and her own Jenny Toomey band (with members of Calexico). After Simple Machines shut down, Toomey co-founded the Future of Music Coalition while on sabbatical from a copywriting job at the Washington Post. Now she splits her time between New York and D.C., doing important-sounding work at the Ford Foundation—and for the last decade or more, it seemed like she had put music on the far-back burner. But now, Toomey is back at it again.

For the first time since 2002’s Tempting, Jenny Toomey’s voice appears on a new record via English label Where It’s At Is Where You Are. Not only is it a collaboration with songwriter Franklin Bruno (her long-time pal and off/on creative partner), but violinist and vocalist Jean Cook, who has played with Pulp, The Mekons’ Jon Langford and D.C.’s Beauty Pill, among others also adds strings and ahhhs.

The picture disc is illustrated by Sarah Lippett

a video for My Favorite's Second Empire

as previewed on Skatterbrain, and all ready for your own karaoke party

release date - My Favorite

yep - it's been 10 years coming, and it's out today - 7th October - Luke Haines', John Mellencamp's and Simon Cowell's birthday!

Second Empire and Dance With A Stranger are anthems for a bookish overachiever making the most of his best man's yacht for the after party… and then burning it down in the water. Each lyric is a slogan, tattooed in Helvetica, to the sounds of a dark disco Domino Dancing... if these tunes were the John Hughes soundtrack that Electronic and BEF never made Andie would have left with Duckie.

Formed as teenagers in early 90s on Long Island, My Favorite were a critically acclaimed enigmatic indiepop group during the first era of their career, beginning with their debut single The Last New Wave Record 7” in 1994 through to 2003’s The Happiest Days Of Our Lives double LP. Aside from a cult of devoted fans in America, Sweden and Japan, My Favorite also had fans amongst the best of their peers, leading to invitations to open for Belle & Sebastian and The Magnetic Fields, as well as being chosen by Morrissey for his pre-concert mix in 2005. At the same time they were influencing the next wave of indie and alternative bands; members of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and The Drums are on the record as fans.

The group turned the haunted suburbs of Long Island into an array of heavenly pop hits, which in some tangent universe might have landed them on Top Of The Pops, or the cover of the NME. Monsters, misfits, and the ghosts of dead teenagers populated songwriter Michael Grace Jr’s atmospheric short stories about youth and love squandered in squalor. From synthpop to punk, to the echoes of reggae and goth, My Favorite were chameleons, pop artists who borrowed and deconstructed the marginalized music of the 80s to frame a kind of End Of The Century last stand against the coming constructs of the digital age.

And now, through chance, design and metaphysical obligation, My Favorite have returned.

The picture disc is illustrated by Jeff Mellin

Part 4: Designing the Sleeves

Let's face it, none of us have enough room, if I just wanted the music it would be far more practical to get it digitally, but i don't. I want the THING cos it's beautiful, the grooves, the labels, the 12" mailers on the doormat, the 7" bag in the pub... and the SLEEVES

I've lost track of the unlistenable records I have bought cos they look fantastic, and more importantly the hits I haven't cos they look dreadful.

A well designed sleeve in a shop or on a record stall makes me want a record I have never heard. 

Is it the same for you?

In which case (obviously) use your imagination to design a sleeve that will stand out on a shelf load of its peers - have a chat with your art college and photographer mates who, I assure you, are itching to design a record sleeve. Money is always going to be tight so think of alternatives to the regular card sleeves, talk to local printers, think about hand making, invite all your chums round when you have the parts and have a put-it-all-together party.

If you decide to hand over the sleeve with the record to the manufacturer, talk to them, make sure you have the right templates, resolution and bleeds.

Perhaps also think about coloured vinyl or picture discs, although they will put the unit cost up considerably.

If you're putting together a number of different releases, think about a standard label sleeve you can use for all of them (these can all be printed in one go, and so end up much cheaper per unit), or a theme (if I have part four of a seven-single set I'm going to find it hard to walk past the other six) but remember NEVER to trust a band with a logo (metal excluded).

While you’re working on the pictures think very carefully about the WORDS - have you credited everyone? Is the catalogue number correct? Is the tracklisting in the right order? have you thanked the guitarist’s previous boyfriend by mistake? Have you called the producer the engineer? is the band name spelt correctly? Have you included website and social media details? For you AND the band?

Are you including sleevenotes too?... perhaps a guide to releasing your own records?

Read, re-read, re-re-read and re-re-re-read, give it to a friend to read a few times too, and then leave the corrected copy for a weekend, and re-re-re-re-read it before sending it off to print.

A good cover will help, but won't guarantee, you sell your records - at the very least you will have a handsome pile of unsold pop sleeves to wallpaper your pad.

complete sets of wiaiwya-7777777 2014

there are just 49 complete sets of the seven wiaiwya-7777777 picture discs available for non-subscribers, and you can get yourself one (perhaps your chums would like one too?) here:

77 days is too long - eagleowl

the new, Chirstmas-ish, single from eagleowl is now available to pre order here:

My Favorite

yep, it's a big deal... yep, it's the first My Favorite single in a decade... yep, it's RAD... yep, you can get it here:

review on Bandwidth

Bandwidth have done a lovely piece on the Human Hearts single:

For the first time since 2002′s Tempting, Toomey’s voice appears on a new record—a 7-inch single by New York outfit Human Hearts, expected out in November via English label Where It’s At Is Where You Are. It’s another Toomey collaboration with songwriter Franklin Bruno, her longtime pal and off/on creative partner, and violinist and vocalist Jean Cook, who has played with Pulp, The Mekons’ Jon Langford and D.C.’s Beauty Pill, among others.

The record’s jumpy B-side, “Distracted” (stream it below), is a Motown-tinged pop song that Bruno wrote with Toomey’s hectic lifestyle in mind. ”She’s very connected, and she was one of the first people that I knew well who frequently had their Blackberry or what have you,” Bruno says. (“It wasn’t a Blackberry, it was a Treo,” Toomey points out.) “Usually when we’re getting together to do a session, her husband will call at least once, and there’s a lot of phones and screens and tablets in the room.”

thanks very much Bandwidth!

77 days is too long - the Human Hearts (feat Franklin Bruno and Jenny Toomey)

The penultimate single of wiaiwya-7777777 of 2014 (released November 7th) is by the Human Hearts - the latest band fronted by Franklin Bruno (the chap from Nothing Painted Blue, and author of the 33 1/3 book on Elvis Costello's Armed Forces) with guest vocals from Geek, Tsunami, Grenadine and Liquorice front woman Jenny Toomey. As you know Jenny also co-founded the Simple Machines label.

Not only were Simple Machines (along with Grand Royal and Sarah) one of the main reasons for starting a label, but their Working Holiday 1993 singles club (along with the Wedding Present's Hit Parade and OddBox's 100 club) was a huge inspiration for doing wiaiwya-7777777.

Releasing a record with both the incredible songwriting talents of Franklin Bruno, and Jenny Toomey's gorgeous vocals has been one of my ambitions for wiaiwya - thank you Franklin for making it happen!

so, without further ado - you can pre-order Franklin's first recordings since 2012's Flag Pin, and Jenny's first recordings since 2002's Tempting (an album of Franklin Bruno covers) here, and I URGE you to do so!:

getting promos ready for the first My Favorite single in a decade

release date - the School

the fourth element of this year's 7777777 singles club is out TODAY!

yes, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER

 THE SCHOOL are a pop band from Cardiff. Their debut album 'Loveless Unbeliever' was released in 2010 on legendary label Elefant Records, produced by Ian Catt (Saint Etienne, The Field Mice).

The album appeared in over 70 'Best of 2010' lists, 6Music's Album of the Day, Rough Trade's Album of the Week and Radio Nowhere's Album of the Year. Adam Walton declared it his "favourite Welsh pop album of all time". Molly Ringwald is also a fan. 

In 2011 the band were nominated for 'Best International Artist' at the Spanish Independent Music Awards, and they performed a live TV concert for 'Los Conciertos De Radio 3' (TVE).

Second album 'Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything' was released in May 2012, produced by David Wrench (Euros Childs, Everything Everything, Bat For Lashes). Dave Rowntree from Blur said he bought it. 

Everett True asked “could this be the best pop song of 2012?” of single ‘Never Thought I’d See The Day’ and declared ‘Reading Too Much..’ his 2nd favourite album of the year, only behind Dexys. 

The band will release their 3rd album on Elefant Records in 2014

" some of the Phil Spector lushness of Lucky Soul, the Belle & Sebastian-style modesty of Camera Obscura, and the airy, girl-group vocals of both" - Pitchfork

The picture disc is illustrated by Andy Hart

the masters have been sent!

the masters for the last 3 singles of wiaiwya-7777777 2014 were sent off this morning

that's three killer singles from My Favorite, the Human Hearts (with Franklin Bruno and Jenny Toomey) and eagleowl

and, of course, it's not too late to subscribe, and get all seven remarkable picture discs before they sell out:

to subscribe to wiaiwya-7777777 2014 (seven 7" picture discs)

incl UK p&p £35.00 GBP incl EUR p&p £42.00 GBP incl US & ROW p&p £49.00 GBP

add 2013 membership number

release date - the Leaf Library

YEAH!... today's the day the new Leaf library single is OUT!... if you're a fan of Gideon Coe (and you should be) you will have heard the hit pretty much nightly on his BBC 6 music show, and you can hear it again (and buy it) here:

The Greater Good is a song about tiny moments of connection in a busy city, a bright and busy drone-pop love song for people you’ve never met glimpsed on underground platforms and opposite escalators. Built around a humming Farfisa, stacked guitars and late-for-work drums it hurries along to its happy, one chord finish - an ideal song for the Friday evening commute or for not dancing to whilst thinking about what could have been. The b-side, Goodbye Four Walls, is a quiet/noisy song for unplanned and unrehearsed expeditions on sunny city streets, preferably flying solo having just bought a good book. Both songs are optimistic odes to city living and will enhance your enjoyment of whichever urban conurbation you happen to be in.

The Leaf Library make droney, two-chord, pop that’s stuck halfway between the garage and the bedroom, all topped with lyrical love songs to buildings, stationery and the weather. Originally from Reading (ish) but now settled in London they have released one album so far, 2011’s ‘Different Activities, Similar Diversions’ on Proper Songs and a 10” single – ‘Losing Places’ (backed with a fantastic Isan remix). They love Hood, Broadcast, Yo La Tengo, To Rococo Rot, Mice Parade, Talk Talk, Stereolab, Brian Eno and The American Analog Set among many many other things.

The picture disc is illustrated by Tanya Meditzky

77 days is too long - the School

yup, just 77 days til the new School picture disc is OUT, and you can pre order it here:

THE SCHOOL are a pop band from Cardiff. Their debut album 'Loveless Unbeliever' was released in 2010 on legendary label Elefant Records, produced by Ian Catt (Saint Etienne, The Field Mice).

The album appeared in over 70 'Best of 2010' lists, 6Music's Album of the Day, Rough Trade's Album of the Week and Radio Nowhere's Album of the Year. Adam Walton declared it his "favourite Welsh pop album of all time". Molly Ringwald is also a fan. 

In 2011 the band were nominated for 'Best International Artist' at the Spanish Independent Music Awards, and they performed a live TV concert for 'Los Conciertos De Radio 3' (TVE).

Second album 'Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything' was released in May 2012, produced by David Wrench (Euros Childs, Everything Everything, Bat For Lashes). Dave Rowntree from Blur said he bought it. 

Everett True asked “could this be the best pop song of 2012?” of single ‘Never Thought I’d See The Day’ and declared ‘Reading Too Much..’ his 2nd favourite album of the year, only behind Dexys. 

The band will release their 3rd album on Elefant Records in 2014

" some of the Phil Spector lushness of Lucky Soul, the Belle & Sebastian-style modesty of Camera Obscura, and the airy, girl-group vocals of both" - Pitchfork

The picture disc is illustrated by Andy Hart

release date - Trick Mammoth

7th May sees the release of the second installment of 2014's wiaiwya-7777777 7" picture disc singles club - Doll/Candy Darling by Trick Mammoth

Formed in early 2013, Trick Mammoth are a flower cult pop band from Dunedin, New Zealand. Fragile, lucid, but rough around the edges, their songs are sincere and bashfully honest, performed with open arms and a soft indifference. Drawing mostly on film, literature and poetry, their music has a shy pretension buried under layers of simplicity. With comparisons ranging from Black Tambourine to The Carpenters, this youthful trio of Adrian, Millie & Sam luxuriate in melancholy sweetness - gorgeous dream-pop from the margins. Recorded with Tex Houston (the Clean, the 3Ds), Adrian Ng and Millie Lovelock play guitars and sing, Sam Valentine plays drums, they all too turns to play bass.
 The picture disc is illustrated by Daniel Novakovic

release date - Freschard (with the Wave Pictures)

Fresh from the success of her latest album (Boom Biddy Boom, out now on wiaiwya) Freschard releases her first picture disc!

Recorded in an afternoon at Soup Studios with the Wave Pictures, it features a re-recording of one of the album’s many highlights – And The Rain

Freschard grew up in a farm in French Burgundy. She started organizing shows in the barn when she was about 12 years old. Aged 18 she moved to the big city, Paris, where she baked pies and cakes in a cafe. There, a local musician and regular customer called Andre Herman Dune wrote a few songs for her to sing. She called her first E.P. “Neon Orange”. Homeless in Paris, she saved up just enough money to get herself a ticket to New York. There she found an old electric guitar and started writing her own songs. She recorded her second e.p., "Shower Gel", with Mike Gomez on lapsteel guitar. In 2004 she moved to Berlin, where she recorded her first LP, "Alien Duck". Her second album, "Click Click", recorded in 2006, features a drummer (Leo Bear Creek), and electric guitar by Stanley Brinks. On her third album, “Moonstone”, she plays the drums herself. On her fourth “Shh...” she also plays the flute.

77 days is too long - The Leaf Library

oh, yes... in just 77 days time the new Leaf Library single is OUT

The Leaf Library make droney, two-chord, pop that’s stuck halfway between the garage and the bedroom, all topped with lyrical love songs to buildings, stationery and the weather. Originally from Reading (ish) but now settled in London they have released one album so far, 2011’s ‘Different Activities, Similar Diversions’ on Proper Songs and a 10” single – ‘Losing Places’ (backed with a fantastic Isan remix). They love Hood, Broadcast, Yo La Tengo, To Rococo Rot, Mice Parade, Talk Talk, Stereolab, Brian Eno and The American Analog Set among many many other things.

release dates

the first 3 records should be shipping out this week and next, so if you have subscribed keep an eye on your postbox - just to clarify the release dates this year will be

7th April - Freschard and the Wave Pictures

7th May - Trick Mammoth

7th June - the Leaf Library

7th August - the School

7th October - My Favourite

7th November - the Human Hearts

7th December - Eagleowl

and if you haven't subscribed yet, you still can, HERE:

to subscribe to wiaiwya-7777777 2014 (seven 7" picture discs)

incl UK p&p £35.00 GBP incl EUR p&p £42.00 GBP incl US & ROW p&p £49.00 GBP

add 2013 membership number

77 days is too long - Trick Mammoth

yup... just 77 days until the second single of wiaiwya-7777777 2014 is released!...

and you can pre order these two new (and exclusive) tracks from New Zealand's finest - Trick Mammoth - here... remember there are just 77 copies available individually (the rest go to subscribers)!