Acute Records couldn’t be more proud than to announce the release of our 11th CD, and our 2nd by The Lines, Flood Bank. With our previous critically acclaimed compilation Memory Span, we introduced (and reminded) music fans of a truly fantastic band of the post-punk era. While Memory Span compiled their singles and EPs, Flood Bank contains the band’s two LPs, Therapy and Ultramarine.

Therapy released October 1981

Ultramarine released March, 1983

When listening to Memory Span, you can hear a progression as the band develops their songwriting and production. On these LPs, while the songwriting is as strong as anything on Memory Span, you hear the results of their further explorations in sound, production and process. One key change was, as singer/guitarist/trombonist Rico says in one of two vintage interviews included in the liner notes, “What’s happened is the focus has gone from me as song-writer and focal point. Now songs start as a rhythm and Joe and Nick, then me and Mick overdub melody and noise.” This results in music with an acute sense of atmosphere and rhythm, a sublime sense of space with a refined subtletly. However dig just below the surface and many of the qualities that made Memory Span such a hit remain; infectious melodies, angsty guitar, funky rhythms, and songs that will get into your brain and stay there.

The development from and comparison to the earlier material couldn’t be more clear then on the first song we’re sharing from Flood Bank, Airlift.

Airlift
[audio:http://acuterecords.com/sounds/ACU011/TheLines_Airlift.mp3]
control-click to download

I love so many things about this song, it’s pace, the sound, and note in the chorus they recycle a melody from False Alarm, one of the great tracks from the Cool Snap EP that appears on Memory Span. I guess it’s just so good that it deserved another life!

The Lines didn’t just experiment with the production of these LPs, but with the songwriting—angsty post-punk numbers, punk-funk grooves,  instrumental exercises in noise, and even a few beautiful ballads. I wanted to preview one of them here but it was hard to chose, they’re all favorites of mine.

The Landing
[audio:http://acuterecords.com/sounds/ACU011/TheLines_TheLanding.mp3]
control-click to download

And just so you don’t think Flood Bank is totally melancholy, there’s a few tracks that will put the angst in your pants as well as anything…

Have a Heart
[audio:http://acuterecords.com/sounds/ACU011/TheLines_HaveAHeart.mp3]
control-click to download

And that’s just 3 of 16 songs, an hour and 15 minutes of music. In compiling Flood Bank, we spliced the two LPs together to create what we think is a more listenable CD. Of course the original tracklisting was chosen to suit both sides of two LPs, but since this was going to be one very long CD, we felt it would flow better and create a different experience if we scrambled it up this way. In this day of iTunes and iPods and CD-rs, you can always change the tracklisting back to reflect the original LPs.

If you own both Memory Span and Flood Bank you will have the complete recorded output of the Lines except for 1 song. The original vinyl release of Ultramarine ended with a song called Respit, a backwards version of the first song on the album, Stripe. However, combining both LPs would’ve been to long to put on 1 CD, so we had to cut a song. Here it is.

Respite
[audio:http://acuterecords.com/sounds/ACU011/TheLines_Respit.mp3]
control-click to download

And there you have it. I’m really excited about this. When we released Memory Span last May, I talked a lot about how the music of The Lines takes a while to grab people’s attention, but when it does it never lets go. Sure enough, in addition to the small cult of fans who’d been waiting years for the CD, new fans have been taking to it like a long-lost family member. I don’t know if that metaphor really works, but you get the idea. And here we are now, presenting a follow up where the music is perhaps even more subtle and mysterious, and maybe more rewarding. Hope you dig it.

We’ll have a web-page for the release soon, in the meantime you can buy it the following ways:

iTunes (USA Customers only)
$11 + shipping in the USA: Add to Cart
$12 + shipping in Canada/Mexico: Add to Cart
$14 + shipping, rest of the world: Add to Cart

OMG, as the kids say. The fine folks of Part Time Punks who you may remember from their special tribute to a very special record label, are at it again and up to all good. They’ve managed to put together a crazy awesome line-up of “post-punk” (or punk, or rock, or whatever you want to call it) bands, both young and old but young at heart. And what bands! A Certain Ratio! Pylon! Medium Medium! Savage Republic! The Nightingales! Nervous Gender! The Urinals! Wild Stares! Some of these are classic west coast legends, while some have never played out there. You know who else has never played out there in LA? Yours truly, DJ Dan Selzer on the wheels of steel, stuck in freeway traffic. I’ll be joining the esteemed Chuck Warner from Hyped2Death as well as David freaking J from Bauhaus and Love and Rockets and Dave Newton from the Mighty Lemon Drops playing records between bands, during sound-checks and other inappropriate times. I’ll probably play only 7″s. On top of that, the night before there’s a little pre-party show with a live performance by Adult. and DJing by Hang the DJs, Part Time Punks and…yes…myself. A little late-night disco-punk/disco italo wave dance CD set.

So did you get that? Saturday the 15th, Adult., Hang the DJs, Part Time Punks and Dance Selzer DJing. Sunday the 16th, a million awesome bands, as the flyer above says…it’s all day Sunday November 16th at the Echo in Los Angeles, city of night. Isn’t that how the song goes? LA post-punk festival, sunday afternoon, drive through your suburbs, into your blues.

Man, even the new bands are awesome. Vivian Girls are the hottest thing in Brooklyn, easily the second coolest borough in New York, Ariel Pink just so happens to be something of an Acute label-mate, the Muslims I have no idea about but I think they’re playing upstairs at Santos tomorrow where I plan to be for Greg Wilson’s DJ set downstairs, so maybe I’ll hear a bit in the hall. And the Softboiled Eggies? Awesome. Other bands? Probably awesome.

But can we talk about these oldies? The Urinals! The purity, the simplicity, the harmonies, as good as it gets, folks! And the Nightingales! I have a vested interest as they were the Prefects, but as a live band the Nightingales of today are probably better than the Prefects or Nightingales ever were. Probably better than the Fall, Captain Beefheart and Faust as well. Savage Republic? I saw them in Park Slope a few years ago on a cold winter day. They were setting oil drums on fire and taking their shirts off. A Certain Ratio??? I just got a copy of their “Live in America” CD on Melodic, which is just fantastic (thanks David). OK, it’s from 1985, but if they’re half that good I’m set. Pylon? Medium Medium? Nervous Gender? I have no idea, but seriously, even if you’re only into some of these bands, how can you miss this? That’s why I’m mentioning this in advance, so you can book your flights. I’ve already got my itinerary. Fly to LA. Go to Amoeba. DJ some. Sleep a little. DJ some more and see 1,000 amazing bands. Forget CMJ.

MR MOJO RISING!

oh yeah, there’s also gonna be all kinds of videos and stuff. Check out the Echo website and the Part Time Punks myspace page.

And soon this blog will be more then me promoting DJ appearances (though I’m always down for more of those). We’ve got a new CD coming out in a week or two, a bunch of Viva show to catch up on, and who knows what else.

Hello. Will have some actual Acute news soon (2nd Lines CD! Upcoming vinyl releases!) but have to mention some events. Our annual Halloween party will get the push in a few days, but first I have to spread the word about this last minute event. It’s the NYC release party for Morgan Geist’s new solo CD, Double Night Time, out now. The album is a subtle and sublime distillation of Detroit Techno and electronic pop influence, aimed less at the dancefloor and more at those late night drives through city streets. I’ll be joining Morgan, his Metro Area partner Darshan Jesrani, and Warp Record’s Jimmy Edgar. Not being a world-famous producer of electronic music like the aforementioned stars, I’ve got the opening spot, so show up early when the music will be extra good and the crowd relaxingly sparse, you’ll have room to dance and breathe, you know?

So in case you can’t see the above flyer:

Morgan Geist/Double Night Time release party
Wednesday October 15th, 2008
Santos Party House
100 Lafayette St. NYC
10PM/$5/21+

I suppose now’s also a good time for a quick re-cap of my last visit to Santos. After Wild Combination premiered, the downstairs of Santos filled up really quick. Steve from Audika brought a mix of music, ranging from some obscure and even unreleased Arthur Russell material to music from Arthur’s personal collection. We got to hear some Arthur faves like Terry Riley, Abba and Fleetwood Mac, as well as the version of Talking Head’s Psycho Killer that Arthur played cello on. Then the live show started, early because everyone was afraid the band would be drowned out by Black Dice who were performing upstairs. Jens Lekmann was joined by some of Arthur’s old friends and collaborators, Ernie Brooks, Steve Hall and Peter Zummo. Despite the usual loud crowd, it was quite touching and beautiful. After that, I got to play a solid 40 minute set of nothing but Arthur Russell disco and people started dancing right away. At midnight, JD from Le Tigre took over and played a fun and eclectic set, then I DJ’d from 2 till 4 and had a totally great time. I don’t know what DJing upstairs will be like this wednesday, but downstairs is a great room, great size, amazing sound. Hope I get the chance to play there again.

Remember how Dazzle Ships hosted the after-party for the premier of Matt Wolf’s amazing Arthur Russell documentary Wild Combination? Well now the movie is being released for real in theaters and on DVD thanks to Plexifilm. It’s playing this weekend at the IFC Center in NY and ICA in London and there’s gonna be another after-party, and I managed to get myself on the bill once again! It’s at Santos Party House, Saturday the 27th, downstairs.  JD from Le Tigre will be djing from 12-2, then I’ll be on from 2-4 for some late night disco action. Starts at midnight and costs $10. Friends, email me at dan at acuterecords.com for more information.

From Plexifilm:

Wild Combination

A Portrait of Arthur Russell

WILD COMBINATION begins in the bucolic landscape of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Chuck and Emily Russell remember their precocious son Arthur’s early inspirations. As a teenager in the 1960s, Arthur was obsessed with Timothy Leary, John Cage, and Beat poetry. Clashing with his parents’ Midwestern conventionalism and inspired by these figures’ counter-cultural imaginations, Arthur ran away from home. He joined a Buddhist commune in San Francisco, and he met his lifelong mentor and collaborator, Allen Ginsberg. Allen described Arthur as “delicate, exquisite-minded, youthful, and at the same time oddly reticent.” The two collaborated on a number of recordings. But when the commune tried to take away Arthur’s cello, forcing him to secretly play in a closet, he followed his greater musical ambition, and he joined Ginsberg in New York.

Arthur began working with Philip Glass and other composers in the avant-garde music world, specifically at The Kitchen, where he became musical director in 1974. He composed melodic orchestral music and absorbed the vanguard ideas of the new music scene. Simultaneously Arthur discovered the liberating social and aesthetic possibilities of underground discos. Under the guise of various monikers—Dinosaur L, Loose Joints, Indian Ocean—Arthur produced playful and eccentric disco records that became hits of the pre-Studio 54 era.

The rules and codes of established genre didn’t apply to Arthur. The serialized patterns of minimalist symphonies resonated with the repetitive rhythms in dance music. Likewise, the utopian social settings of the early discos were like the Buddhist commune Arthur had once known. With childlike innocence and fun, Arthur ambitiously explored all of these possibilities.

He fell in love with his boyfriend Tom Lee, and the two moved in together in the East Village, next door to Allen in a building populated by poets, musicians, and artists.

But despite Arthur’s musical talent and ambition, he was often tempered by self-defeating career choices and alienating perfectionism. It seemed that Arthur was creating a kind of utopia, where the absorbing process of making music was his life. Finishing his work was a secondary concern. Collaborators moved on to new projects, career opportunities passed, and Arthur began working alone in his apartment. What resulted was perhaps his most fully realized body of work, “World of Echo.” These transcendent solo cello-and-voice songs were like intimate diaries that fit somewhere between lullabies and art songs.

It seemed that popular success was within Arthur’s reach: He believed these diverse musical projects would reach a wider audience. But the devastation of AIDS cut Arthur’s career short. When Arthur died, he was puzzlingly lost in obscurity. His 1992 obituary in the Village Voice read, “Arthur’s songs were so personal that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music.”

But now fifteen years after Arthur’s death, his music is being rediscovered. In the past five years, Arthur has developed a significant, international following. A new generation has discovered Arthur.

With a visually experimental form, WILD COMBINATION brings to life Arthur’s descriptively rich and emotionally direct music. The film explores the compelling cultural history of New York in the 1970s and ‘80s, the experience of being gay and confronting AIDS, and the cathartic process of making art and pursuing popular success at a time when those goals were mutually attainable. Intimate interviews with Arthur’s family and collaborators, rare archival materials, and an engrossing visual language bring his music to life and give long overdue attention to this ground-breaking artist.

Acute Records needs help…looking for a web-savvy intern. Somebody who can fix/update/help with the website. Anything from much-needed advice to some html and wordpress help.  In exchange you get free CDs, access to my large music-filled hard-drive, guest list spots to many 3rd tier parties and shows, my grandmother’s brownies, college credit, a college degree, pre-press and print-production help or training, the chance to meet the Village Voice’s “Best DJ’s DJ” (circa 2004) and other “perks”. Preferably somebody in the greater NYC metro area, but if not would be down with a telecommuting intern. If interested, please email a resume and/or some links to dan at acuterecords.com, also list 5 of your favorite bands and tell me what your favorite soft-drink is. Please forward this to anybody you think may be interested, like that computer programming whiz who just loves the No Wave and the Italo Disco, or just somebody who’s made some websites and wants to learn more about cool musics…thanks.

With full understanding that the only way to get anybody to read your blog is to post free music for people to download, I’ve been meaning to start doing that forever. However I am very busy. As you may have read, I recently did a whirlwind trip through the UK, which I hope to recap soon, but for a taster, it involved DJing in London, dancing at Optimo, going to a party in a cave, having a drink with some Fire Engines, etc. I’ve also been busy stateside, including finishing up the next Lines CD, “Flood Bank”, compiling both their LPs, doing a few Viva Radio shows I haven’t posted about here yet, and even DJing locally. For instance, tonight (Saturday, August 16th), I’m DJing at Rubulad, which will also feature a performance by the Homosexuals. For more info and the address, send me an email.

However, while I take a break from my hectic schedule, I’d like to post some mp3s, so I can join the exciting world of “mp3 blogs”, influence a new generation of music fans and maybe get hired by some dot-com 2.0 start-up funded by News Corp or Viacom or something. Actually, I’ve been excited to do this for ages now. There were a few years where I really wasn’t paying attention to new music. On one hand, I was too busy collected Desperate Bicycles records and reading the Phil Ochs biography. On the other hand, most new music was terrible. Things started to change though, mostly through the influence of people like myself teaching kids about the good musics of the past. All these amazing new bands have been popping up and now there is scene upon scene of awesomeness. Cool minimalist art-punk bands, cosmic disco rockers, psychedelic folk finger-pickers…you name it.

And wouldn’t you know, soon as I started the Acute Records myspace page, I got attacked by friend requests. A good portion of them are crap bands who are just looking for a label. But I listen to them all because some of them actually find us because they dig some of the same music we do, even some of the CDs we release. Or some find my personal page because I have such great taste. Eventually I started finding some on my own, just linking to people’s top friends and discovering the aforementioned scene upon scene of cool stuff I dig. So when I started this blog I mentioned my intention to highlight some of these bands/acts that I liked for whatever reason, and for no particular reason, I decided to start with these two recent myspace acquaintances.

Tony Underground – Mana Magic (album edit)
control-click to download
this has been removed because it’s coming out legit on Tirk! Congratulations! Awesome!

Tony Underground is a nu-disco (for lack of a better term) producer/DJ in England. His interests are pretty much the same of mine when it comes to dance music, italo, Chicago house etc. He’s got some pretty banging tracks on his myspace player, but the one that grabbed me was this one, Mana Magic. It’s a bit of a balearic groove with a bit in common with some early UK IDM, something Ultramarine or even AFX might’ve done. Beautiful piano tinkling and lush synthetic atmospherics, joined 1/3rd of the way through by some simple beats…really beautiful.

Rauschenberg – Sigue
[audio:sigue.mp3]
control-click to download

Rauschenberg is a duo located in Brooklyn, NY, easily the second coolest borough in the city. They pair an 80s electronic pop sound with a very digital/cut-n-paste aesthetic, especially to this song, with lo-fi casio style samples, vocal grunt samples and newscaster soundbytes that owes as much to Trevor Horn’s glossy Fairlight production as it does to the Severed Heads or Cabaret Voltaire at their most accessible, with female Japanese vocals. I think I was initially attracted to another song on their myspace player, Instrumental, and asked for this one by mistake. Instrumental starts with a digital piano and strings melody (I just love piano and piano-esque) before bringing in the italo-bassline and drum machines, though this has more to do with the way New Order would draw from italo and make more baroque pop songs then the type of post-electroclash italo revival we hear most often. Both songs have some great hooks and totally fascinating production.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed my foray into mp3 blogdom. I have a large backlog of new-ish bands I dig that I plan on asking if I can share (that’s right, I asked permission. It really wasn’t that hard.) I’ll try to do this as often as I can, but as I already said…I’m really busy. Better get back to work.

This is exciting. I’ve been a trans-continental DJ, but never an inter-continental DJ. This will be my first time DJing in London, and my first time there since I was 13. I’m going on an epic trip, London, St. Albans, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, but this will be my only DJ appearance. So I don’t care if you’re in Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol or Brighton, take the lorry down to London for some real Queens New York style dance music. I don’t know what that means but I’m bringing disco, italo-disco, french disco, canadian disco, french-canadian disco, new wave, old wave, techno, house, but no tech-house. Some real summertime Fire Island/Paradise Garage/Music Box/Danceteria/Hacienda sounds.

I’m totally honored to be playing with Rory and Nadia, old LiveJournal folks from the early Web 2.0 days. I don’t even remember how or when I met Rory, but he was in NY as much as I was back then, and I lived in Brooklyn at the time. All I knew was that he cue’d his records through a red telephone, like that guy used to at Bang the Party at Frank’s Lounge. He played at Transmission with me once, that may have been the first time we actually met, Lauren or the Rapture were probably like “oh Dan, you have to let our friend DJ”! A few years later our paths crossed again at the afterparty for Franz Ferdinand after Making Time in Philly, in some giant warehouse with nothing but a Sparks van (the drink, not the band) and a shaky balcony from which Rory played I Want More by Can and He’s Frank by the Monochrome Set. And once again the next time Franz came to town, they were much bigger but I got booked to play the after party at the Tribecca Grand with Melody Nelson and Sons and Daughters. Rory introduced me to Paul from the band, apparently a big Acute Records fan.

So please tell your London friends and if you are in London please come and say hello and dance some.

More details at the Facebook event page, of course.

That’s right…we’re getting the “band” back together. Ye olde DJ duo, Crazy Rhythms, featuring Mike Simonetti of Troubleman Unlimited and Italians Do It Better and myself, of Acute Records, Dazzle Ships and this blog, is back for the first time in many years, to play a classic williamsburg loft party. Just like the good old days of 2003 or so. We go on after 2 crazy bands. Quick details:

DATE: Saturday june 21st

TIME: Doors 9pm- music, 10 really!

LOCATION: 210 kent ave @corner of Metropolitan

Another self-indulgent, excessively long promotional email here…

Dazzle ships is back, after last months amazing Arthur Russell movie after-party. This time we’re doing a little CD release party for Memory Span by The Lines, which I’m sure you know all about, because you’ve been reading this blog. Jeremy and I will be joined by dj Ray Velasquez and we’ll be playing some post-punk funk, new wave dub, and all kinds of sounds from the era. The Lines stood on their own and were defiantly not part of any specific scene, but we’ll play some likeminded sounds, some influences and followers, some peers and bands they shared the bill with, and mostly, some more music by The Lines. For more information, see the flyer below and check out the event page on Facebook.

Start Time: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 9:00pm
End Time: Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 1:00am
Location: Heather’s Bar
Street: 506 East 13th St.
City/Town: New York, NY

So Memory Span has been out for a total of 2 weeks now and response has been fantastic. We’re selling millions and the press has been great. The Lines have also seen a great increase in the number of MySpace friend requests, which is the true test of a band’s popularity these days.

Anyway, just wanted to take this chance to say thanks and point interested people to some of the online activity, starting with this extensive interview/feature by our friend Rick from the We Fought the Big One night in DC. It’s over at BrightestYoungThings.com, definitely check it out.

Here’s a few other highlights, if you’re still thinking of buying the CD and don’t trust my judgement alone.

Kris Needs 4 star review in Record Collector.

8/10, staff pick in XLR8R.

Eye Weekly.

8 rating from Prefix Mag.

8 and interview at PaperThinWalls.

Post at Last Days of Man on Earth blog.

Review at Brainwashed.

I don’t have a link but there’s also a great 4 star review by Jon Savage in the July issue of Mojo, featuring the Sex Pistols on the cover. If that wasn’t enough, that issue features a CD of vintage 77 punk including a song from our Prefects CD. World domination, here we come!