that's just me dying for you to tumble after me

It's been an entire month since the last post here and a lot has happened.

The biggest Lorelai Records news, of course, is the addition of Left With Pictures to the Lorelai Records family. Left With Pictures was recently named to the 2005 list of top 20 unsigned bands in the UK (see #16). You can expect a Left With Pictures EP on Lorelai Records to be arriving in a mailbox near you, summer 2006. YAY!!!

Also, this week a bunch of Hey, Blue! cds finally went out to a few of the different online zines, blogs, and reviewers that I read regularly and whose opinions I respect. I'm nervous, I have to admit, but I'm hoping for the best. Keep your fingers crossed for us! I've never had my music reviewed before, so this is a bit of a nerve-wracking time to say the least. Exciting, too.

Some of you may be interested to know, also, that the latest Hey, Blue! cds to go out have a revised tracklist. I've decided to cut "I love my friends" and "Little Troubled Girl" from the original version and in their places add "Les Feuilles Mortes" and "Goodnight." "Les Feuilles Mortes" is the Hey, Blue! version of a French song originally written and recorded in the 1960's by the legendary Serge Gainesbourg (the same guy who sometime around 1986 told a young Whitney Houston - on live television - that he wanted to f**k her). The verses in the cover version were re-written in English by yours truly. "Goodnight" is my ode to monogamy. If you purchased Souvenir with the first tracklist, let me know if you want a new copy of the cd and I'll send you one. In the meantime, you can listen to the new tracks right here:

Les Feuilles Mortes

Goodnight

Or download them at www.lorelairecords.com, just click on the link called Downloads.

In other news, the Nirvana compilation has a beautiful list of bands who've said they were gonna be recording new and daring (and fun!) reinterpretations of Nirvana songs, but it's a short list of bands who've so far delivered their songs. Highlights so far include an awesome glitchy computerized version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Thee Moths and the slow painful dirge of "Something in the Way" by Ape Has Killed Ape. The rest of the record is going to be equally awesome, but the release date is still as yet to be determined. Send me a song if you wanna be on the cd!

Hooray for music!!!

yours truly,

Paul

www.lorelairecords.com

but I wrote the note

*EDITED*

The L HEARTS NIRVANA Compilation is shaping up nicely. Here are the songs that have been claimed so far:

1. Something In the Way
2. You Know You're Right
3. Lithium
4. Smells Like Teen Spirit
5. Pennyroyal Tea
6. Polly
7. Sliver
8. Rape Me
9. Blew
10. Milk It
11. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
12. About A Girl
13. Come As You Are
14. Dumb

If you are thinking of recording your interpretation of any Nirvana songs, please send me an email to let me know which one, so that we don't double up. The deadline is still March 31st, so get those recordings done! There are some really great bands you've certainly heard of gonna be on the record. Wouldn't it be nice to be included on a record alongside some of your indie-pop heroes?

because the hour is drawing near...

It's pouring rain outside, I've just polished off a bottle of champagne and I'm opening another. The cats are cuddly today and my wife more beautiful than ever. Welcome to 2006. Love it.

I hope things continue to go well. I'm doing my best and I don't know how better to be. The label is chugging along and the word, I hope, is getting around the community that we exist. We're on the links page at www.asaurus.org. How about that? I'm somebody!!! I really, really love being around music and being a part of the diy music community is wonderful. I love the people I've met so far and can't wait to meet more.
Send me an email, let's be friends.

The Nirvana compilation deadline is March 31st. Please email me at
Lheartsnirvana@lorelairecords.com if you would like to be included.

Look for The Little Book of Lorelai, our new zine, to be published soon. More details forthcoming.

Tell your friends about Hey, Blue!'s Souvenir! Also, download the full 5 part fukn podcast from the Downloads page at www.lorelairecords.com. It's fun!

What else? I don't know. You're pretty.

Happy Xmas!!! War is Over (If you want it!)

And so this is Christmas, and what have we done? Another year over, and a new one just begun.

The last few months of '05 have been unbelievable. '06 looks to be even better. Some big announcements coming up next week, including a new Lorelai Records release by our newest family members: Seamonster. Dang, I just made the announcement. Okay, well - WELCOME SEAMONSTER!!! Look for Seamonster's debut on Lorelai Records in early Spring '06, date to be finalized soon. Seamonster is a beautiful band of well-mannered and respectful young men from Virginia Beach, VA. Their music is catchy but their melodies dextrous. Their lyrics are intelligent and they tell uncommonly touching stories. You're gonna love Seamonster. I do.

I have lots and lots of work ahead of me. We have a goal of six new releases in '06 - totally achievable, but totally daunting as well. Fuck it. This is going to be a heck of a year.

More good news: Hey, Blue!'s Souvenir is selling steadily, despite no press yet. If you haven't got yours yet, please do so soon before the limited edition handmade, homemade numbered artwork sells out. The Lorelai website is well on its way to being an actual website, despite the fact that I'm an html virgin. I'm working on a zine (an old fashioned printed zine - we're all about the tactile experience here) and a really exciting idea called the [working title] "Guestbook." Wait till you hear about it. I hope you're prepared to have your socks rocked right off. Things are going well.

Four of the 5 parts of the Fukn Podcast are up on the Downloads page over at LorelaiRecords.com. Download and listen to me, lovely Melissa and the Chairman of the Fukn Bored (Mr. Chris Damitio) getting wasted and talking about whatever our little minds can come up with. Download and enjoy, please.

Thankyouthankyouthankyou to everyone who has supported me and the label so far in our young existence. This is all about community; it's all about connecting to each other with something tangible. From my mailbox to yours.

Love in '05, more in '06,
yours truly,

Paul

Check out the new and improved website (Lorelai.com v1.3):
www.lorelairecords.com


PS: The Nirvana Compilation deadline has been pushed back to March 31st. Please send me an email if you plan on contributing. There's plenty of space left for good versions of Nirvana songs. Hope to hear from you! - pd

tell me something I don't know

So here's the story of the name:

Melissa has a "friend" who is in love with Lorelai Gilmore, the main character of the WB's Gilmore Girls (played by the always yummy Lauren Graham). Melissa's "friend" fantasizes about a real life friendship with Lorelai, where they get together for coffee at Luke's Diner and talk really really fast, gossiping about the quirky Star's Hollow townfolk, all-the-while making clever quips about obscure pop-culture icons that somehow relate to the current situations in their lives.

So when I was coming up with ideas for the name of the label, I wanted something friendly, catchy, cute and that related to pop-culture. We were brainstorming ideas while watching disc 3 of Melissa's Gilmore Girls Season 2 DVD (again). The rest, as they say, is history.

At least I didn't name the label "Paul Anka." (Get it? Because last season Lorelai got a dog and named him "Paul Anka." Gee whiz.)

Amy Sherman-Palladino, the creator, writer and producer of Gilmore Girls, is a great fan of music, too. The show consistently champions some of the best independent music and has incontrovertibly become the best place on tv to hear music (though both the Trio network and IFC often feature some darn good indie music, too). I love you, Amy Sherman-Palladino! Thank you for your television show and your dedication to quality, and thank you for supporting independent music! Lorelai Records is, in no small way, a tribute to you and your work. And also, Lorelai Gilmore is yummy.

Here's an old interview with Amy.

From an E!online interview:

"Young kids are going to listen to what they're fed. We have to feed them something better, so the madness will stop," she says. "There's a lot of great music out there, but you've gotta dig. Go to the record store and talk to people who look like they don't bathe. They know."

Oh, Amy. You know me too well.

spread my arms out wide

THIS IS A LIST

1. I like lists.

2. Click on the link to download Part 2 of the Fukn Podcast . No music in this part, but our not un-funny conversation gets not un-funnier as Mrs. Melissa Dylan, The Chairman of the Fukn Bored and I get not un-drunker on whiskey, beer and wine. Nice discussion of skanky strippers and Melissa's aptitude for blow jobs. You must make your mama proud, lovely wife o' mine.

3. In case you missed it: Here is Part 1 of the Fukn Podcast

4. Go to www.fukn.us. Together we shall rule the world.

5. Thank you to everyone who has ordered a copy of Souvenir this week! Sales have been steady, which is greatly encouraging considering none of the promotional materials have even gone out yet. If you haven't bought your copy yet, get it soon, this is a limited edition and it won't last forever! You can buy a copy through Paypal at www.lorelairecords.com. Or by sending $6 through Paypal to order@lorelairecords.com, or by sending a check or money order to Paul Dylan, PO BOX 2369, Honolulu, HI 96804.

6. There are great things in the works for Lorelai Records. I'm anticipating releasing at least four records in our first year, possibly as many as six. The lineup is almost set, and I will hopefully be able to make the big announcement real soon.

7. I've been really lucky in the music I've purchased lately, as I think the last 5 or six records I've bought have all been outstanding. Two standouts are: Math and Physics Club (both of their EPs on Matinee Records are terrific) and Awesome (Delaware - self-released). You can be sure you'll enjoy both of these records.

8. Go to www.lorelairecords.com, please.

9. We are still accepting submissions for the Nirvana Compilationthat is scheduled for release in February. I've got a couple really great songs so far, but not enough to fill out the comp. Get those songs in soon! Send demos to Submissions c/o Lorelai Records, PO BOX 2369, Honolulu, HI 96804.

10. We are still accepting demos for bands/solo artists who wish to be a part of the Lorelai Records family. Just imagine how great it would be to have your own handmade, homemade super-limited, numbered edition of your record to release to 100-250 of your closest friends! Now imagine a bear on a bicycle. Now that's funny.

11. I still like lists.

and it was still not too late

Check out the NEW and IMPROVED Lorelai Website!

I'm turning into sentimental man

So, it's officially Christmakkuh time, and maybe you've already bought a copy of Souvenir for your loved one and you're looking for something else to stick in a stocking, or under a candle or wherever you leave your presents.

These are the Top Five best independent records I bought this year:

#1 Tim Bluhm – California Way (Fog City Records 2005): You could criticize Tim Bluhm for being overly sentimental, but that would be like criticizing a sunset for being overly colorful. This record is the best of the solo catalog of the lead singer of Chico, California’s own The Mother Hips. Tim’s melodies elicit a yearning for cool candlelit evenings with fireplaces and wool blankets, hot coffee, old friends and a couple of acoustic guitars. His harmonies are somewhere between Brian Wilson’s sweetest and Jeff Tweedy’s most earnest. Truly a beautiful paean to a California that may or may not have existed in our lifetime, but that Tim connects us to in a very real way. Standout track: Angry Waters

#2 Colin Clary – Sweater Weather or Not, These are the Songs I’ve Got (Asaurus 2005): I feel confident that this record is the best handmade, homemade cd-r ever released, and I’m proud to own it and to show it to everyone who ever asks about cd-r labels as a shining example of what our little sub-genre of indie music can produce. Every review of this album has to mention the handmade cover art. The cd-r comes packaged in a little felt sweater wrapped around a hard card shirt which has a little page of liner notes folded neatly in its little front pocket. There’s also a little button pinned to the front of the sweater. Yow! What I hope doesn’t get lost in the excitement over the truly inspired cover art is the exciting and truly inspired music contained on the cd-r within. I love the art, but I don’t have the art on my (3G) iPod. I have the music, each song a 1 minute forty five second gobstopper of hard candy goodness. This may be the best five bucks (only $5!!!) I’ve ever spent. Colin is on a mission to prove that being nice is a political statement and that comes across in every aspect of this record. Standout track: The Engine Light’s Always On

#3 Smoosh – She Like Electric (Pattern 25 2004): Though they’re now on the verge of getting way too gigantic for their own pre-pubescent good, Aysa (age 13) and Chloe (age 11) recorded an album that rocks like nobody’s business. The legend has it that after a year or so of lessons from Death Cab for Cutie’s drummer Jason McGerr, Chloe was told she was good enough to be in a band, so she enlisted the help of her older sister, a piano lesson dropout, and Smoosh was formed. Two years later the band has appeared on NPR, the Today Show and KROQ, toured with Sleater-Kinney (who they tend to sound like), Pearl Jam, Death Cab and Cat Power, all on the strength of an album they recorded at home with dad engineering. Aysa’s melodies are highly clever, reminiscent of a young Corrie Brownstein or a drunken Tori Amos. The lyrics can be silly (Now you’re snapping your feet to the beat/I think that’s great/if you’re trying to play/go play/maybe football maybe soccer/you should get on a soccer team/you could help them), but they’re endearing as hell. This is the band you hope your indie kids someday form. Standout track: La Pump

#4 Pants Yell! – Songs for Siblings (Asaurus 2005): Though Twee is an over-used and often inappropriate moniker, there are still plenty of true indie-pop bands out there that are descendants of the Vaselines, Heavenly, Tullycraft and the K Records anti-rock star aesthetic that may be appropriately called something approximating Twee. I love a lot of these bands, and Pants Yell! might be the best of them. Songs for Siblings is consistently good – every song tickles your ears and makes you feel so, so good. Their guitars are twingly (not a word, I know, but I’ll bet you know what I mean) and Andrew’s vocals are like a phone call from a particularly melodic friend you’ve missed for quite some time. This record seems to get a spin in my iPod pretty much every day. Highly recommended. Standout track: My Boyfriend Writes Plays

#5 Shelley Short – Oh’ Say Little Dogies, Why? (Keep Recordings 2004): A old-timey country influence wafts through this record like the smell of a Christmas tree wafts through a warm, happy house in December. Her melodies are sweet, her voice is gentle and the musicians loose and laid-back just like those best jam sessions you ever had, where everyone was listening to each other and you all rambled together happily and the embellishments were tasteful and the songs were beautiful though occasionally wistful or just plain sad. I recommend this record for tea-drinking, newspaper-reading Sunday mornings when you and your cutie have got nothing to do and all your best friends are a million miles away. Shelley’s voice is like a cuddle. Standout track: Sugar Falls

Honorable Mentions: Bright Eyes “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” (okay, this one probably should be in the top 5, but I’m guessing most indie music fans have heard Bright Eyes and it’s not like Conor Oberst is hurting for listeners); the Mathletes “Jest and Earnest”; and finally, The Robot Ate Me “On Vacation”