Monday, October 19, 2009

Making Plans, The Kind That Go Awry

Hey fellas,

Had a bit of a craziness in terms of LR stuff today, but the short story is that there will be a bit more of a gap before the next release. I was planning on opening up orders for The Dead Baron album this week, but circumstances have changed. Preorders for The Dead Baron's first full-length LP, Pour le Merite, will not be up until sometime next week.

HOWEVER: This week, Obeast Tapes will be releasing DB's second EP, Rawhide Majestyk, to satiate your appetite for noise. The EP will be part of an awesome bundle combo with the Sea Lions/Handglops split, which you can be sure that any self-respecting cassette enthusiast will be picking up.

TDB and I are hoping to put together a CD release show of sorts here in LA sometime in November that will coincide with the delivery of the preorders. In the meantime, I'm working hard to make sure that the Discovery tape is done as soon as physically possible. Apologies for all the madness.

Now, some other stuff:

-Shhhh... Don't tell anybody, but Lazy Roar artists Healthy Animal, Spreaders, Kleptocephalus, and The Dead Baron are going to be invading this compilation tape experiment on Free Thinkers Union Records. Each artist gets one minute's worth of tape to make their mark, so that's a guaranteed four minutes of all-new LR material. We'll let you know of developments as they happen.

-Later this year, Lazy Roar is upping the punx with the distribution of releases from bands like Batalj, Jailhouse Fuck, and Love Pork. All these bands are totally rad, so get excited!

-Fanzines are awesome. Electric Annihilation is awesome. Niche Homo is awesome. The Raccoon Chronicles: awesome. If anyone knows of any other 'zines I should check out, let me know. If anyone wants their 'zine distributed through LR, let me know. DIY at its finest, people.

That's all for now,

--Rob

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Down Under Rays, Down There You Can't Be Saved

No time for a full post right now, but I just found out the worst news ever.

Local legends Mika Miko are breaking up.

At such a seemingly odd time, too: After almost six years of being together and after having only released their second full-length LP a few months ago.

At the same time though, it seems reasonable. The girls have grown up a lot since they started the band and are ready to to now start their lives. The news is unfortunate, but I think that Mika Miko will always be remembered as the band that sparked and spearheaded, not just the efforts of The Smell, but a new creativity and energy to the Los Angeles punk and DIY scene. They will be missed.

See you all in 30 years at the reunion show,

--Rob

Monday, October 5, 2009

All My Best Friends Are Droneheads

We've finished our first release! Triumph!

Thanks to all who have supported this label by buying the Healthy Animal tape. As is apparent from when you hold it in your hand, I worked very hard on the packaging for this tape and Healthy Animal worked equally as hard on the sounds on it. It is truly a special release and I am glad to have made it my first.

Some stuff:

-Eagle Rock Music Festival was positively awesome. I met so many great people and saw some awesome performances. It was a truly stellar night. Speaking of people I met...

-I ended up meeting and trading tapes with Doug and Justin from Psychedelicate Records who, as I found out, are very local to my area. Go browse their releases if you like lo-fi, psychedelic, black metal, or all of the above.

-Speaking of cool labels, Lazy Roar is enjoying the best Canada has to offer from the excellent label Scotch Tapes. Feel free to grab your maple syrup and hockey stick, but just be sure to grab some sick tapes while you're at it.

-Is anyone else addicted to No Age's Losing Feeling EP? I finally got by physical copy in the mail today and got-damn is it gorgeous. Gorgeous packaging, artwork, music, and price to boot. Go No Age and Sub Pop.

-I've got two releases planned for October. The first is The Dead Baron's Pour le Merite, the packaging of which is coming along well and looking quite classy. The second will be a compilation tape from the talented folks over at CA. I've passed the compiled tracks around to a few people and have received overwhelmingly good feedback, so I think I've stumbled upon something very special with this one. Also in October I expect to be distributing a CD from Asian Woman On The Telephone, the wait for which will be well worth it, I assure you. In November, Lazy Roar takes its first forays into vinyl with a Dead Baron/Spreaders 10" and the Al Qaeda/AC Way 7".

Let's get something straight, here. I started Lazy Roar to release noise and punk rock music. So far I've been doing fantastic on getting the noise out there, but have had hardly and punk rock on my queue. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I want to make it a point to find one more punk release to plan for December/January besides the Kleptocephalus EP. If you or someone you know someone interested, hit me up with the demos.

That's all for now, see you sometime within the next few weeks with the Dead Baron CD in hand.

--Rob