Exciting things going on in Ike Yard land. Stuart has been very busy with a ton of projects. First, Ike Yard has been signed by Denmark’s Phisteria Records to release some of their new material. Since the release of our critically acclaimed Ike Yard compilation 1980-82 Collected, the band has begun playing and recording again, samples of which have shown up on their myspace page. Fans of the old stuff will definitely dig the new stuff, it is very similar while showing certain progressions, vocals are a little clearer, the sounds and mood, while still dark, are a bit more modern/futuristic then raw, while the aesthetic remains.

Before that however, we get to hear the results of Stuart’s new record label REC,  home for many cool projects. First up, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the seminal “The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight” single, they’ve produced 2 new Dominatrix tracks and grabbed one alternative mix from the vaults for a new digital only release. This was just released a few days ago on REC via our good friends at Virtual Label and is available for download, for more info, see below.

Also coming up on REC, releases by Stuart’s latest project, Outpost, which is a collaboration with Mark C, guitarist and vocalist for seminal NYC noise rockers Live Skull and Alice Cohen from vintage New Wavers the Vels and an old friend from the Brooklyn scene of the early 2000s. I’ve been a fan of all three for sometime and Outpost sounds like an interest mix of guitar noise and melody, synthesizer mood and a nice psyche-shoegazer atmosphere. Looking forward to that. In addition to the Dominatrix and Outpost releases, we can look forward to some Live Skull reissues. To me, Live Skull were part of the holy trinity of 90s nyc noise gtr that really had a big impact on me in high school, the other two bands being the more acclaimed Sonic Youth and the Swans. Live Skull were really underrated and it’ll be great to give them another chance at exposure.

Official cover and press release:

(cover removed because it was driving too much questionable traffic to the site)

After releasing albums over the years with Gigolo Records, Troubleman, Gomma and Acute / Car Park Records, Ike Yard founder, and downtown NYC post punk legend, Stuart Argabright, forms his own label, REC, in order to release new music as well as choice reissues.

The debut release on REC is a 3-track EP by Dominatrix in honor of the 25th anniversary of the original  “The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight“ 12”. REC has produced two new songs and taken one alternative mix from the vaults from 1984 for the occasion. The Dominatrix EP (Dominatrix Party / You Never Forget Your First Dominatrix / City That Never Sleeps V2 ) comes with special cover art by NYC artist David Levinthal and will serve as reintroduction to the global network of playful vibes, soft vocals, techno pop and ‘Drums !’ that is Dominatrix.

Track listing:
01. Dominatrix Party
02. You Never Forget Your First Dominatrix
03. City That Never Sleeps 2

This first EP will be followed by a second EP later this year with plans for the all new album in 2010.

Sample and purchase via iTunes here.

I wanted to post the original Dominatrix video but couldn’t find it on youtube. Instead, here’s 5D by Live Skull, one of my top 5 favorite videos of all time, and one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avyUH2-LNsA[/youtube]