Saturday, February 25, 2023

INDIE LABEL D.I.Y. CATOLOGUES (1988 - 1993)

 
I just unearthed another box of stuff I've had laying around here for a few decades, so here's a bunch of  catalogues from independent artists and labels.
This first one is from Russ Stedman. in 1993.

 
This was a catalogue from Michael J. Bowman aka MJB 90.
Michael J. Bowman did some incredible pop perfect work back in the 90's. 
He's an icon in my book!
 
Alternative Culture was a punk label out of the UK.

BBP Records and Tapes.

This was my buddy Dimitar's catalogue for his Bla-Bla Records label in Bulgaria. That's also Dimitar's artwork on the cover.

This was the back cover of Chris Phiney's Harsh Reality catalogue.

Michael Gonzales's Ooh Ooh Music catalogue from 1992.

I even found this really old Pumf catalogue.

This was the inside of the Pumf catalogue.

This was the 1989 catalogue from Guido Erfen's SHM label in Germany.

This Silent Records catalogue out of San Francisco in 1990 is one of the few that looks like it was professionally printed.

This was the Spilling Audio catalogue out of Seattle in 1992.
 
Little Fyodor's 1991 Catalogue.

Don Campau's Lonely Whistle catalogue from 1988.

This is the 1989 RRRecords catalogue based in Lowell, Ma.

 
And Last but not least, here's what was the 1992 catalogue by Screamin' Popeyes out of Hollister, Mo.

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

CHARLES RICE GOFF III - "Heartbreaking Randomness" (2023)

 
The world is a pretty crappy place these days, but there are still reasons to celebrate occasionally, like a new, and the first ever vinyl release by long time D.I.Y. artist Charles Rice Goff III would be a good place to start.
It was produced by artist Justin Jackley of Herby Records in Texas, primarily as an outlet for him to create the cover art. In this case, the cover art consists of several cut-and-paste bits – done in the style of mail art, and each cover, though similar, is a unique hand-made creation. Each copy also comes with a hand-painted lyric sheet. The album itself consists of twelve brand new CIII Goff recordings, which took over a year to produce.
 
Here's what you get for thirty bucks!!
This record is a limited edition pressing of 25, and there are only three left.
So what are you waiting for? You can get it all done right HERE at the Herby Records Bandcamp page.

Just in case you don't know who Charles Rice Goff III is, there are many ways to fix that problem!
To start with, you can go to the TAPED RUGS PRODUCTIONS website, or 
You can go to the INTERNET ARCHIVE, where you will find over 300 or his releases to listen to or download for free.
Here's just a sample off of the new album to pique your interest!

Friday, February 17, 2023

TUDOR NIGHTMARE VILLAGE - "EX.P." (1987)

 
Tudor Nightmare Village was just one of the many identities of Mark Hanley, who back in 1987 was rockin' out of Youngstown, Ohio.
 
 
Mark and I used to write quite a lot, and this was just one of the many projects of his he sent me. This is a 7" record, but playback speed is 33/13 and not 45 RPM, which allowed Mark to have longer pieces.
 Mark gets credits for all the instrumentation. The voice is that of Suzanne Strollo, and Mark, Suzanne, and Marysmith all get credit for the words.

Friday, February 10, 2023

GARY WRAY - "SURREALISTIC VIEWMASTER" (1992)

 
I've known Gary Wray since the 6th grade. He was an artist long before becoming a musician, but that's mostly because we didn't have any instruments. His Father did have a Dobro and a Mandolin and we would get those out occasionally, but we were so dumb, we tried to play the Dobro like a regular guitar!
 
 
During the course of our Guzanos years, Gary made a couple of solo tapes, and this one titled "Surrealistic Viewmaster is one he made in 1992.

 
There is one song on this tape that is probably the most uncharacteristic song Gary ever wrote, and that's because it was a song he made for his Dad. Gary's Dad was named Junior but when we were in high school, we had this running gag, where I called his Dad Mel, and he called me Mel. I don't exactly know why we thought that was so hilarious but we did, so here you go!
 
Gary Wray is also a comics artist who has just recently released a self-published book of his comic art on Amazon. If you're looking for something a little bit different for your coffee table, you might find it to be a worthwhile investment. Check out the samples inside to get a good idea of what it's all about!

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

GODSPUNK VOLUME TWENTY-FOUR - "Two Disc Various Artists Compilation" (2023) Part Two

 
Godspunk Volume 24 was a two CD release so it's only fair I let you hear something off of disc number two. There was another song off of the first disc I wanted to use, but I restrained myself because you just need to go find out for yourself, because it ain't that hard to do!
So, from the mastermind of the whole Godspunk series, here's a song that sounds like The Byrds meet pStan Batcow in a Soho aviary....
Everything new is old again!

Friday, February 3, 2023

RAY CARMEN - "Radio Friendly" (1990)

 
They called Michael Jackson the King of Pop, but people of knowledge know that the real King of Pop is Ray Carmen, and I couldn't disagree.
 
Ray sent me this four song, 7", 33 1/3 EP back in 1990, and it's got some great songs on it including a cool instrumental titled "Summer's Day."

That's right, just like Prince on his first album, Ray sings and plays all the instruments!

Mike Crooker was in charge on the engineering and production, and Pete Tokar digitally remixed the tracks.
Of course it's all good, but here's my favorite track of the four!