Headed for the Ditch - A Michigan Tribute to Neil Young (LP)
Various Artists - LPR-001 - $15
LP Records' debut release features 11 superb Michiganian indie rock bands covering Neil Young at several different stages of his career. Pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl with a gatefold jacket and 16 page hand-sewn booklet with handwritten liner notes from the artists.
Not A Real Band (7" EP)
The Drinking Problem - LPR-002 - $5
Detroit supergroup 'The Drinking Problem' make their debut with this 7" EP. Proving dynamite comes in small packages, this diminutive disc contains five pithy pop songs and features members of Detroit area favorites The Hard Lessons, The Sights, The Pop Project, and Solitary States.
The Orion Songbook / Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer pt.1 (2LP)
Frontier Ruckus - LPR-003/QSR-010 - $20
A quick google search will yield many glowing reviews of this critically acclaimed debut from Michigan's Frontier Ruckus. Now fans of analog may purchase this masterpiece on two LPs in a gatefold jacket, featuring even more intimate artwork and an 11x17 poster. Perhaps most exciting of all, this vinyl release includes an exclusive new six-song EP, 'Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer pt. 1', delving even deeper into the Orion mythology. CD originally released on Quite Scientific Records.
A Choice of Catastrophes (cd-r) / The Dynamic State of Body Constituents (7" EP)
Syscrusher / The Casionauts - LPR-004/HC-005 - $7
Lansing's incontrovertible kings of synthesis, Syscrusher, burn out brightly with this first and last offering - A Choice of Catastrophes. A concept rock opera inspired by the Isaac Asimov novel of the same name, this epic pop/prog/metal masterpiece features many layers of dueling synthesizers, as well as guest performances by Michigan indie luminaries Chris Bathgate, Matt Milia and Zach Nichols of Frontier Ruckus, Will Yates of Zoos of Berlin, Ian Graham of Cheap Girls, Alfonso Civile of Know Lyfe, and more! We're bending our own rules to release this cd-r, because it kicks ass. Included in this package is The Casionauts' final recorded output, The Dynamic State of Body Constituents 7". This picture disc, originally released on Detroit's Hell City Records, contains all of the sass that made The Casionauts Lansing's favorite dance band, and hints at the more complex songwriting that founding members Ryan Balderas and John Krohn would eventually flesh out as members of Syscrusher.
DCLXVI (7" EP)
Good Teeth Gold Teeth - LPR-005 - $5
If this EP from Saginaw diasporans (yep, I just invented that word) Good Teeth Gold Teeth was half as brutal as their live show is, it would leap up and punch you in the fucking face. That being said, it's still pretty brutal. Recorded on a sunny afternoon in May of 2009 and fueled by grilled meats and asparagus, this frantic debut 7" from the Michigan trio crams punk, hardcore, screamo and metal into five tracks, clocking in at just under 8 minutes.
Silver/Gold (12" 45rpm maxi-single)
The Sights - LPR-006 - $10
Legendary Detroit rockers The Sights make their triumphant return after a two year hiatus with this 12" maxi-single, foreshadowing greater things to come. Eddie Baranek and a fresh new lineup deliver all the brash guitar-driven rock and roll that Sights fans have come to expect - with smarter, sharper songs and a more evolved lyrical perspective that one only develops by having lived a little on both sides of the tracks. Featuring four new originals on the A-side and a thematically colored, silkscreened B-side, this record comes dressed to impress. Recorded and pressed in Detroit at Ghetto Recorders and Archer Record Pressing, this piece of wax vibrates to the frequencies of a city and scene that will always exist - regardless of fleeting dalliances from the national media.
How Does It Know? (12" 45rpm EP)
Sunil Sawani - LPR-007 - $10
Sunil Sawani is likely the best songwriter you've never heard of. Mild-mannered computer programmer by day, by night he transforms into a melody making machine, crafting perfect pop songs by the dim glow of LCD screens. He has a penchant for penning clever lyrics, turning often mundane aspects of a domestic life we are all too familiar with into inspired verse that everyone seems to be able to relate to. His buzzy harmonies careen into and away from each other in this, his most harmonically and instrumentally rich offering to date.
Proud Flesh (LP)
Husband & Wife - LPR-008/XRA-030 - $10
Lower Peninsula Records makes its first foray outside of the great state of Michigan with this, a collaborative effort with Bloomington, Indiana based Crossroads of America Records. Husband & Wife have been making honest, tuneful music for over six years now. They're a hard working, blue collar band, making the kind of music that could only come from America's heartland. This latest full-length (their fourth) titled 'Proud Flesh', finds them once again crafting songs in their trademark style, complete with catchy melodies, earnest vocals, and personal lyrics. But 'Proud Flesh' showcases a band more comfortable than ever with stretching out and exploring their rock and roll roots. Churning, twangy guitars mesh with brash, balls-to-the-wall drumming all over this record, leading you to believe that you may have accidentally caught these fellows at a raucous soundcheck in a forgotten midwestern dive bar. In fact, maybe you have.
Deadmalls & Nightfalls / Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer pt.2 (2LP)
Frontier Ruckus - LPR-009 - $25
The highly anticipated follow up to 2008's 'The Orion Songbook' is now available on two long-playing phonograph records, a format durable enough to appropriately preserve the rich documentation of memory found within the album itself. Featuring a full 8 square feet of intimate artwork and liner notes, this deluxe version of Deadmalls & Nightfalls pulls the listener even deeper into the depths of songwriter Matthew Milia's nebulous nineties nostalgia with the inclusion of the Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer pt.2 EP. These five country-tinged tunes tell of wistful yearning for simpler times, innocence lost, and bitter regret. Deadmalls and Nightfalls CD originally released on Ramseur Records.
Deadmalls & Nightfalls - Combo Pack!
LPR-002, LPR-004, LPR-007, LPR-008, LPR-009 - $44
Here to buy Deadmalls & Nightfalls on vinyl? Sweet. You know, all of the bands I work with are great in their own way, though few of them get as much attention as Frontier Ruckus. Here's your chance to get to know more great independent artists at, let's say an 'introductory' price - less than five bucks a record. If you're buying Deadmalls & Nightfalls anyway, and want to add in some good stuff from Husband & Wife, Sunil Sawani, Syscrusher, The Casionauts and The Drinking Problem, give this combo a shot. You might be turned on to something new and good, and I might get some of the floorspace in my hallway back.
Jake Simmons and the Little Ghosts (LP)
Jake Simmons and the Little Ghosts - LPR-010 - $10
Jake Simmons, one of two songwriting talents behind the excellent (but now defunct) Dead Scene Radio, is back. With a hand picked supporting cast and unapologetic swagger, Jake is taking his blend of punk, rock, country, pop and folk out of a southwest Michigan garage and onto your turntable. With the Little Ghosts (essentially a complete motown-era rhythm machine) in lockstep, Jake's live show swings wildly from soulful acoustic ballads, to catchy doo-wop, to cascading sheets of caterwauling feedback. Always brash, always honest, usually with a middle fucking finger to convention, Jake is a true archetypical midwestern singer-songwriter who laces up his steel-toed work boots each day without a hint of irony.