BEAUTIFUL FRIEND.

THIS IS THE END.

MY ONLY FRIEND, THE END.

Does it make it any better if I say I’m quoting the Nico version? I’m just kidding, I love the Doors. Overrated by teenagers everywhere, but underrated by music snobs.

I just looked at this page for the first time in a while and realized it’s been almost a year since the last post/update, and I’ve never officially said goodbye. The release of Hull Down by The Lines is, as was announced back then, our last release. We had a good time, we released a handful of CDs and records over a too long period of time, but now it’s time to move on. Not planning on releasing anything else or updating this blog, so figured I’d come up with an appropriate way to end it. I know most labels these day have more releases on a single record store day than we did in 15 years, but humor me my melodrama. Thanks to Todd Hyman and the Carpark Family (Jason, Steph, Reese, Katie, Alec) for getting this stuff out there, and thanks to all my friends who pitched in or helped out, especially unofficial Acute partner Michael Train and Rob Carmichael, D.V. Caputo and Max Clarke for web help.

If you want to keep in touch, I’m keeping the Acute Records facebook page going as a place to post updates and info about artists we’ve worked with or just generally cool stuff I think might be of interest to the type of people who’d care about the same musics.

Beyond that, please check out my tumblr Danecdotes, which I intended to use to publish all kinds of stuff but it’s mostly used for posting youtube music videos at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Various DJ mixes, of the dancing and or listening variety, can be found on my mixcloud page, and some of my own music is on soundcloud.

Do I have any other homes on the internet? You bet I do! I have a personal page at danselzer.com that was set up to promote DJing and may be updated one day. I have a site for my (mostly currently dormant) printing activities at Sheffield Product and an online design portfolio at Behance. Finally the personal site for my wife and I, most useful for our trip blogs, DAN + NICOLE. I’m probably missing something and I’m sure there will be more. Just find me on facebook.

Finally I thought it would be fun to end this with a list of a bunch of stuff I hoped to put out one day or wish other people will. Some of this stuff I started talking to people about but just never got it together. You can make it happen.

First some of the Acute stuff needs to come out on vinyl, especially The Prefects. That would be killer.

Age of Chance’s pre-club music tracks.

Amin Peck compilation

Club Tango EP of the two singles

The Fans three singles compiled

Flowers singles and Peel Session

The Girls, reunion

It’s Immaterial’s early singles and EPs.

The complete IQ Zero

A Metabolist compilation

Nocturnal Projections, everything

The Pits/Garage Class, pre Happy Refugees

Propeller records compilation

Restricted Code singles and BBC sessions

The Table two singles and demos

The Tea Set compilation of singles

Vogel two singles, ReR Sampler track and a bunch of demos, some of which ended up on a Mirafiori CD

Yung Wu’s Shore Leave and the Dave Weckerman 1980 single

and of course, The Desperate Bicycles

until then…

As of this past friday, “hull down” by The Lines is available to purchase on LP or via digital, stream digital and soon on CD as well in limited quantities. I don’t need to go on and on about how cool this record is, about how surprising a mix of post-punk, new wave, krautrock, dub, electronics, acoustics, songwriting, tape-editing it is. I do want to share some more info about it from others, and maybe say a thing or two about it.

First, make sure you check out Rico’s blog Rico’s Reel where the latest post is a track by track run down of the LP with insights into the history and production of the material. Especially good reading for the gear nerds our there.

Second, make sure you tune into dublab this Wednesday, May 18th at 10am when Rico will join Ale (Alejandro Cohen of Languis, Pharaos and Psychic Powers) on the air. Interview? DJ? Talk Radio? Not sure but looking forward to it!

Third, there’s been some kind words written online that are worth checking out, like this review from Loud and Quiet, Tim Gabriele’s short but sweet write-up here, this extensive article with contributions from Rico at Cold War Night Life, Red Bull Music Academy’s interview going deeper into Rico’s 80s productions, or Andy Kellman’s review on Allmusic comparing hull down to Cabaret Voltaire and On-U sound and giving me official commendation for my work with Acute, which I initially read as condemnation.

Finally, just wanted to give a tiny bit of background about this release from our perspective. One of the most fun things about doing a reissue label is when you begin discussing reissuing a favorite artists recordings and they tell you they’ve got some unreleased stuff and would you like to hear that as well? I’m really proud of the various bonus-tracks and previously unreleased material that has been strewn throughout the small Acute catalog and this is another fantastic example.

I first got in touch with Rico as far back as 2003, around the time of our first releases. It took 5 years to get our Lines CDs out (Memory Span compiling the singles and Flood Bank the LPs for those not keeping track). At some point during that Rico first mentioned these tracks, sometimes referred to as just “the 1983 album”. Of course I was beyond excited to get to hear this stuff and when I finally did…what can I say, it blew me away.

It was clearly the Lines, many of the trademarks that made the singles and LPs so great, but was a clear development from that material, which only made sense as they were always moving forward. And it isn’t just a single direction but represented exploration in several directions, some of their most experimental music and some of their catchiest songs. Some of it exciting in it’s rawness and immediacy, some of it shocking in it’s sublime beauty. It was a no-brainer, Acute definitely wanted to release this, perhaps not long after the initial 2 CDs, so sometime around 2010?

Well things don’t always work out as planned. Rico found the time to get back to it and put it shape, then Acute got a bit quiet and continued it’s uniquely deliberate and thoughtful pace (read: slow). By the time we jumped on the lucrative and forward-thinking vinyl bandwagon hull down was definitely gonna be. By then still only a few people had even heard the material. A few friends and special fans of the band had the chance to preview it and of course were blown away. But as before, life and laziness gets in the way and for various reasons I decided it was time to put Acute Records to rest. But not before at least one last release, something that we had long been hoping to do and promising to do. Being that it’s an extension of 2 CDs that were GREAT Acute CDs from back then and being a great collection of unheard stuff really made it seem like an ideal and appropriate way to go out. All this essentially being written to say….sorry it took so long!

Happy to announce the premier of hull down by The Lines, Acute’s latest release. I know it’s been a while, this site and the label have been pretty quiet, and this release has been long in the making. I know a new release from Acute is always super exciting news, but it’s even more exciting when you realize this isn’t your every-day reissue…in fact it’s not a reissue at all.

The Lines started recording the music on hull down after the release of their second and final LP but none of it was ever released. Tweaks were made over the years and perhaps the interested generated by Acute’s FANTASTIC archival releases of The Lines singles and EPs on Memory Span and LPs on Flood Bank helped inspire the band to dust off the old tapes, blend some bits together and come up with what technically is a new/first release of some cool music. It’s a really unique record that shows the band exploring sonically and structurally, from spliced krautrock post-punk to new wave funk to The Lines signature atmospheric ballads and surely has something for everyone. It even has a Tensai Rhythm Machine, as pictured above.

This release will be available soon on vinyl with a limited run of CDs. Check out the release page here which will be updated with further samples and ordering information when available and make sure you follow The Lines on Facebook for more information. In the meantime, check out the first “single”, Single Engine Duster:

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/257262248?secret_token=s-dU6Yv” params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

HAPPY REFUGEES – BEYOND MOTH AND RUST

I know this blog and the Acute label has been really quite for the last few months (years?), I’m sorry but attention has been elsewhere. Luckily there are many other folks and labels doing good works, one could almost say nobody needs Acute. I do think it’s important though to make sure people know about some good things happening especially related to good things Acute’s done. For instance, in 2011 we released what we referred to as “our most obscure release to date!”, the expanded reissue of Happy Refugees seminal DIY cult-classic Last Chance Saloon as Return to Last Chance Saloon. Upon the release of that well-received, well-reviewed and well-loved reissue, the band were inspired to get back together and even celebrate with a trip to New York City, home of spiritual forefathers Lou and the Velvets, and played packed shows with the likes of Crystal Stilts, Regal Degal, Sapphire Mansions as well as a visit to WFMU. You can read about the Acute release here and here and our take on the NY trip here and here.

That however is not where the story ends! Maybe it’s where part 2 of Happy Refugees story begins, or perhaps it’s just somewhere in the middle. After returning to the UK, despite living in different parts of that tiny land, they managed to continue writing, both picking up where things left off and finishing the unfinished as well as starting anew with fresh material, the results of which is a NEW album, Beyond Moth and Rust. This was preceded by the creation of a new website, happyrefugees.com, which tells their story in more depth than I can or will here. It also has some media including a wonderful painted tribute to the NY trip from guitarist Paul Harvey and a section called The Gymnasium, a “carefully curated gallery” of stuff that hopefully they’ll continue to update.

Most importantly and relevantly it has information, samples and ordering info for the new album, so I should probably talk about that. These songs are rock-n-roll that recall Lou, John Cale and Iggy in the 70s with lyrics that tear into the pains of relationships and politics with equal parts tension and introspection. Is this the chaotic and shambolic noisy sound of a young DIY band? No, these guys are older now, more mature, better at their instruments. It’s worth noting that despite the raw nature of the 80s material, underneath and beyond that was the real appeal, the timeless appeal of songs and lyrics and they’re only stronger with age. Don’t get me wrong, an edge is still there and some of the bitterness has aged like a fine whiskey…a bit smoother perhaps, but twice as strong and valuable. Feel free to submit that last analogy to your favorite Best Music Writing on the Web year end lists come December. I’m no writer, just a lapsed label guy (at the moment) so it’d probably be better to quote our good friend Rick Taylor from the DC record nerd gathering We Fought the Big One who wrote “When I first heard Happy Refugees, I was immediately struck by their restless creativity and sense of adventure, the wonderfully odd way they married the shambolic with the elegant, the unexpected left turns, the often cinematic scope of their reach, and just the sheer quality of everything I was hearing…Beyond Moth and Rust has all the qualities that captivated me in the first place–the band’s vigor, knack for sharp hooks and capacity to surprise remain undiminished by time.” I couldn’t have said it better myself (and didn’t.)

Hit their website and check out the samples on the vinyl ordering or downloads page.

Hello again. As part of their “Singles Going Steady” silent fundraiser week, I will be appearing on the WFMU program Burn It Down! with Nate K this upcoming Sunday, October 26th, from 6am to 9am, but forgive me if I don’t get there exactly at 6 and may start taking part closer to 7 or maybe even 8 or maybe I’ll just sleep in. I’ll let Nate describe the event:

To help work our way through three hours of nothing but seven-inch singles, Burn It Down! with Nate K welcomes Acute Records founder and newly minted recording artist Dan Selzer to the program. Since launching Acute in 2002, Dan has been rediscovering and reissuing various underground, post-punk, D.I.Y., and experimental treasures, including the Lines, Theoretical Girls, Ike Yard, the Trypes, and Happy Refugees, among others. In 2014, Selzer released his first album of his own music, under the name New York Endless, with Strategies, via the Golf Channel imprint. We asked Dan to join us and he said he was easy, he was cheap, and he would come and do it.

for more information, Nate wrote:

Hi folks,

Apologies for the mass email, but it’s time for WFMU’s fall silent fundraiser. “Silent” meaning we won’t talk about it on the air, and “fundraiser” meaning “fundraiser.” I’ve got some great stuff planned for this month, including live performances and a special guest DJ appearance by Dan Selzer for WFMU’s vinyl-only Singles Going Steady Week.

If you have some spare change hanging around please kindly consider pledging to my show, Burn It Down!, via the following link:

https://www.wfmu.org/marathon/pledge.php?pr=NK

My show airs Sunday mornings from 6:00 to 9:00 AM, but you can pledge at any time. And, hey, who cares about my show, a pledge to the station is all that matters in the end!

This fundraiser is largely geared toward improving and equipping the already amazing WFMU performance space, Monty Hall, which came to be in the first place because of the generous and gracious support of our listeners.

Some fun stuff to keep in mind: 

Anyone who pledges can enter their pet into our Mascot Contest, and we’ll choose a winner at the end of the month. Here is a link (also posted on our homepage) for you to check out the current pool of mascot candidates:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wfmu/sets/72157648250932042/

For a pledge of $50, listeners can choose either our Illuminati Cat T-shirt or our Under(water) Dog T-shirt. For $100, you can get both tees, plus a DJ Premium.

Thanks friends,

Nate K

For those of you who don’t know, Nate and I were in a band together in college in Ohio. The band was called Jaguar Ride.

There will actually be some Acute related posts coming up, as we are working on another release finally, which I will announce shortly. In the meantime I need to write a few other things. In light of next week’s Philip Glass/Steve Reich reunion concerts at BAM, which I’m giddy as a schoolgirl to attend, and Aphex Twin’s upcoming record release, a sure sign of the late 2014 IDM revival, and the release next week of my very first EP, on the fantastic Golf Channel label, which I will plug here, there and everywhere starting in a few days, plus my visit to my college radio alma-mater WOBC, 91.5, Oberlin, Ohio, topped off by my cleaning out the studio and discovering some old papers, I felt it timely to post my first application for said radio station. I will not subject you to the first 6 questions and answers. Number 7 stated Use the back of this page to design a sample playlist. Most programs are 2-3 hours in length, so be sure to include enough material. This is the most heavily weighted part of the application, so think hard!!! Application due Sept 8th, 9PM. For what it’s worth, Todd Hutlock and/or Jim Haynes marked this a “High Maybe”. I did get a show after all, because of and/or despite the following. Keep in mind, this was 1993 and I was an 18 year old college freshman, so that should excuse some selections and otherwise make me seem cool. After the fold, if you dare.

(more…)

Sorry it’s been so many months since a post. Acute’s been quiet since we knocked out three awesome vinyl releases right out of the park around the turn of 2013. We still exist and have a few releases we may get out there but have been been busy elsewhere. In the meantime just wanted to do a quick update to let you know about some news related to artists that have been or are of the Acute family. Where to start?

THE METHOD ACTORS
I should probably start here since I’m a few days late. Vic Varney from The Method Actors told me about Art Rocks Athens, a special exhibition running from May 1st through Dec 31 of artifacts related to the Athens music scene of the late 70s and early 80s. There will be displays, screenings, performances etc. Check out the website linked above and the facebook page here.

THE TRYPES
No Trypes news but plenty of action with Speed the Plough, the band the Trypes evolved into.  Late last year, Bar None released a beautiful retrospective, The Plough and the Stars, featuring a “best of” CD, a 12″ with 6 new songs and a live set, a large booklet and a digital download card with even more goodies. A great intro to the band or a great way to catch up with old favorites. Since then, they’ve been recording more new material and have a bunch of shows lined up, at the In the Pines festival in Beacon NY next Saturday the 10th, a gig at Tierney’s in Montclair NJ the following saturday the 17th, and a show in Brooklyn at the Fifth Estate on May 23rd.

IKE YARD
Ike Yard are working on a new album, “Rejoy” and also make an appearance on a fantastic new compilation from Factory Benelux called Of Factory New York, a benefit to assist Michael Shamberg, who ran Factory US. Lots of Factory favorites devoted tracks to this compilation, with iconic Lawrence Weiner artwork, including Ike Yard’s Kino. Do I have most of these songs already? Of course. Do I have them all in one place with killer artwork and for a good cause? Not yet. Vinyl has, along with Kino, such Dan Selzer dancefloor staples like ACR’s Do the Du, Quando Quango’s Love Tempo, 52nd Street’s Cool as Ice, Cabaret Voltaire’s Yashar (John Robie remix) a live version of New Order’s Your Silent Face, Konk’s Baby Dee, Section 25’s Looking From a Hilltop, Streetlife’s Act on Instinct, Marcel King’s Reach for Love, Thick Pigeon’s Subway, Arthur Baker’s Come On and Anna Domino’s Summer.

THE PREFECTS/THE LINES/THEORETICAL GIRLS
What a gig that would’ve been. Nothing that exciting! Following the release of the awesome book Punk 45: Original Punk Rock Singles Cover Art, edited by Jon Savage and Stuart Baker, Soul Jazz has started a series of punk 7″ compilations, organized by location/period/etc. Not unlike say, a Chuck Warner CD. The first volume is called Punk 45: Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys its Young. Underground Punk in the United States of America, Vol 1. 1973-1980 and features U.S. Millie by Theoretical Girls, from the very first Acute release (and the Roir New York Singes Scene compilation before that). The second volume is Punk 45: There is No Such Thing as Society. Get a Job, Get a Car, Get a Bed, Get Drunk! Underground Punk in the UK 1977-81, Vol 2. and features no less (or more) than TWO Acute related tracks. The first LP ends with the cult-classic White Night by The Lines and the second LP (and whole shebang) ends with Going Through the Motions by The Prefects.

And speaking of the Prefects…lets talk about The Nightingales, the band the Prefects evolved into. They’ve got a new album out called For Fuck’s Sake, recorded at Faust Studio in Germany. Self-released, or as they say “No interference or outside opinions, no label, no distributor, no catalogue number, no bar code or logo shit, blah blah.” The record is killer and it’s getting great reviews and buzz. Once again and continuously they prove they’re not just some nostalgia act reunited to cash-in on those lucrative post-punk revival riches, but a living-breathing and evolving hard-working band just getting better and better. Killing it on tour and hopefully hitting the states soon. They’ve even got a proper video:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwQjkaeQhAw[/youtube]

But if you want a blast from the past…check out this old documentary on John Peel that’s been making the rounds, featuring a discussion with a younger Nightingales and a searing performance from them at the end of part 3.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bRi7nZBN9c[/youtube]

THE FIRE ENGINES
And talking about vintage footage…Innes Reekie, who contributed his Fire Engines notes to our Hungry Beat compilation, has posted “coming soon…” regarding the long spoken of documentary, The Sound of Young Scotland. So even though this teaser is from 2007,  let’s watch it again and cross our fingers that we’ll get to see it soon.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK8hdl02H2o[/youtube]

I think that’s enough for now. I have to go update one of my other blogs then maybe try to get some actual work done.

Viva show. Pyjamarama. Archives. New.

Minds a Magnet
1. Dean Warehan – Emancipated Hearts
2. Alessi Brothers – Seabird
3. Stereolab – U.H.F. – MFP
4. Distant Correspondent – Merge
5. Electrelane – At Sea
6. Arp – Judy Nylon
7. The Clean – Thumbs Off
8. Able Tasmans – Dileen
9. Laughing Clowns – Eternally Yours
10. His Name is Alive – The Phoenix, a Pool of Ice
11. Ultra Vivid Scene – Lightning (72 B.P.M. – 4 A.M.)
12. MGMT – Introspection
13. Lansing-Dreiden – Metal On a Gun
14. Bizarros – Mind’s a Magnet
15. Lou Reed – City Lights

Viva show. Pyjamarama. Archives. Up and About.

Scattered
1. Disclocation Dance – Rosemary
2. Grow Up – Joanne
3. The Farmer’s Boys – More Than a Dream
4. Subject – Be Carefull
5. Recipe – Upriver
6. Alex Fergusson – Stay With Me Tonight
7. Peter Gabriel – Moribund the Burgermeister
8. Noah Wall – Red Station
9. Lou Reed and John Cale – Work
10. Michael Nyman Band – Bird Anthem
11. Talking Heads – Found a Job
12. Prinzhorn Dance School – Your Fire Has Gone Out
13. The Knife – I Just Had to Die
14. The Gist – This Is Love
15. Steve Miro – Up and About
16. A.T.R.O.X. – Against the Odds
17. Van Der Graaf Generator – Afterwords Afterwards

Viva show. Pyjamarama. Archives. Scattered.

Scattered
1. Fleetwood Mac – Albatross
2. Neu! – Neuschnee
3. Stereolab – John Cage Bubblegum
4. Electrelane – On Parade
5. Sensational Creed – Nocturnal Operations
6. Blanche Blanche Blanche – Mercantile Rugs
7. David Bowie – So She
8. Tom Verlaine – Kingdom Come
9. Total Control – Love Performance
10. Wet Hair – Color and Shape
11. The Offset – The Loop Swing
12. Wire – Culture Vulture (Joakim Edit)
13. Roy Montgomery – Above All
14. Nocturnal Projections – Difficult Days
15. Regal Degal – Winning and Breaking
16. Tirez Tirez – Scattered