Lorelai Records

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

2006-02-26T15:21:00.000-10:00

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

2006-01-09T11:49:00.000-10:00

*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...

2006-01-01T15:17:00.000-10:00

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!)

2005-12-22T22:38:00.000-10:00

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

2005-12-02T13:37:00.000-10:00

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

2005-12-02T09:53:00.000-10:00

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

2005-11-27T20:26:00.000-10:00

Check out the NEW and IMPROVED Lorelai Website!

I'm turning into sentimental man

2005-11-25T16:02:00.000-10:00

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”

that makes my heart flutter so

2005-11-24T11:22:00.000-10:00

Re-recorded Little Troubled Girl last night and I feel much, much better about this version. I'm re-burning all discs tonight and all orders are going out tomorrow!

I have lots to be thankful for today, but I must especially thank everyone who has purchased a copy of Souvenir.

And to everyone who's still thinking about it: show your support for independent music by putting your $6 where your mouth is! That didn't make any sense. Six bucks, I mean, c'mon, what's six bucks? For the price of one apple martini (appletini?) you can have a handmade, homemade individually numbered keepsake that proves that you are a supporter of independent music in general and Hey, Blue! and Lorelai Records in particular.

Go to www.lorelairecords.com and click the Buy Now! button to order, or send $6 through paypal to orders@lorelairecords.com.

Thanks everybody!

Yours truly,
Paul

so sorry, so stupid to behave like this

2005-11-23T08:32:00.000-10:00

It’s not very rock ‘n roll to admit that you might have recorded a really shitty song and you might feel really stupid about it. But I might’ve and I do. I’m sorry about “Little Troubled Girl.” To those of you who receive a copy of the cd with a really crappy, out of tune version of this song on it, I promise I will send you a new, better version of the song as soon as I record it. I thought I was ok with this song until I listened to it about 50 times and now I’m positive that I’m not ok with it. Not at all.

Awkward transition. About Fukn Podcast (or Paulcast) #1: Upon further review (while sober this time) I find that I ramble, I stutter, I’m self-conscious and I occasionally lack coherence in my speech. But…I’m excited and ambitious and I’ve got a great idea that I really believe in, and that comes across more than anything in the first installment of the fukn podcast currently posted up at www.lorelairecords.com. I’m glad that comes through. There is soooo much that I wanted to say that I wasn’t able to get into in the podcast.

Here’s some more self-loathing and doubt:

I really wanted to talk a little about the bands I love and the musicians and people who inspire me. I wanted to mention Asaurus (without the inspiration I’ve received from Matthew Barringer and his releases there would be no Lorelai Records), Hush, Keep Recordings, Happy Happy Birthday to Me, Humblebee, and the dozens of other great cd-r labels that are working to get wonderful music into the hands of people who love bedroom-pop goodness. I guess I touched on it, but I really wanted to talk about the DIY ethos and the handmade aesthetic that make cd-r releases unique and desirable for collectors and fans of indie music. I wanted to talk about Kurt Cobain’s list of favorite bands and why he would’ve loved Lorelai and so many of the other cd-r labels. I wanted to talk about the difference between mainstream “indie” music and truly independent music. I wanted to talk about why I named the label “Lorelai Records.” I wanted to talk about my experiences in some of my old bands like Septic Grill, Supercool and Clockwork. I wanted to explore the reasons why music in general and homemade indie music especially can be such a personal experience for listeners and how I want to help make it even more personal. I wanted to talk about Anne of Green Gables. I wanted to talk about Henderson the Rain King. I wanted to talk about Steven Malkmus and Ben Gibbard and Colin Clary and Hope Sandoval and the Vaselines and Pants Yell! and John Lennon and I have lots and lots to say about Kurt Cobain. I wanted to challenge Courtney Love to a fight.

I guess I’ll have to delve deeper into those topics here, or maybe in another Fukn Podcast or a Paulcast or somewhere else. I don’t know. All apologies.

Yours truly and in unwavering gratitude,
Paul

i wanna feel like i wanna feel, the way i used to do

2005-11-22T09:23:00.000-10:00

Here is a link to a very interesting article from Pitchfork that provides some history and highlights of the indiepop movement known as twee that Lorelai Records (though not necessarily Hey, Blue!) could be called a decendent of.

Twee as Fuck

If you aren't up on your history of indie rock this article is a good starting point. Quietly and cutely drop in a mention Talulah Gosh or K Records to any hipster and your coolness factor increases +4 Hit Points.

I've been recited

2005-11-19T23:41:00.000-10:00

Go to www.lorelairecords.com to download the first of our 5 part series of Fukn Podcasts with me, Paul Dylan of Hey, Blue! and Lorelai Records podcasting with my friend, the Chairman of the Fukn Bored, Mr. Chris Damitio. In part 1 we discuss and play "Hey Felipe," "Your Trip to the Moon" and "The Maybe Song."

The podcast is about 35 minutes long and the file is roughly 32MB, so if you don't have a broadband connection the download is going to take quite a bit of patience. But it's worth it!

We talk about all kinds of stuff in the podcast and Melissa says the only boring part is when I start my nerdtalk about my recording equipment, so I think you'll like it. In this first download we're only mildly drunk, though, so the real fun begins in the subsequent parts of the series which will be posted in the coming weeks. The whole record gets played, lots of whiskey is consumed and many, many laughs are had.

I hope you like it! Leave comments!

Yours truly,
Paul

i'm just the bullet that went through your head

2005-11-18T11:51:00.000-10:00

Spent last night drinking whiskey with the Chairman of the Fukn Bored and talking about everything from growing up as a white Mexican to masturbation to what it feels like to experience a riot in a series of Fukn Podcasts with my friend Chris Damitio and my lovely wife Mrs. Melissa Dylan. A great time was had by all and I look forward to posting the podcasts over the weekend. We played the entire Hey, Blue! record and drank and talked and you can share the experience by downloading the mp3 files as soon as I put them up. Look for the files here or at www.fukn.us or at www.lorelairecords.com.

If you can't wait to hear the podcasts, you can pre-order your copy of Hey, Blue!'s Souvenir today!
www.lorelairecords.com

Yours truly,
Paul

I love my friends

2005-11-17T14:28:00.000-10:00

How could I forget to mention this?!?

A huge Mahalo Nui Loa to my friends and fans Jeremy & Nina Weiss from Sherman Oaks, California for last week being the first to officially pre-order a copy of Hey, Blue!'s Souvenir by going to www.lorelairecords.com and clicking on the Buy Now! button. Orders can also be made by sending $6 through www.paypal.com to order@lorelairecords.com. The Weiss' actually bought two copies of the record, and for their support will be rewarded with one of those being copy #002/101.

Thank you, Jeremy!!! You are a gentleman and a scholar. And thank you, lovely Nina. Your support is deeply appreciated.

Yours truly,
Paul

Pre-order your copy of Souvenir today!
http://www.lorelairecords.com/

...and boy that kid was poor

2005-11-17T13:53:00.000-10:00

It's been a long and busy week, but as Navin Johnson's mama said, "the Lord loves a workin' man." His father said, "don't trust whitey" and his brother said "see a doctor and get rid of it." They was full of wisdom, those Johnsons.

Besides a short break to watch The Jerk I've been working full time every night this past week till close to midnight to get the Hey, Blue! cds ready. They are looking great, though, and I'm all a-giggle with the way the artwork has turned out. An extra special candy-coated thank you has to go out to the lovely and talented and highly kissable Mrs. Melissa Dylan who has spent each of the last few nights sewing little red stitches on white paper baseballs for me while I sit cross-legged on the green shag carpet o'love cutting and pasting and gluing. I know I promised to post a scan of the cover last week, and I'm sorry I haven't got around to it yet. I will soon, though. Hopefully tomorrow night. In the meantime, just know that we take a little longer because we care.

Tonight I'll be busy working on a podcast with my friend Chris Damitio of www.fukn.us. Chris is perhaps better known as the Chairman of the Fukn Bored. He's a great guy, a world traveller, a vagabond poet with a healthy, old-fashioned distrust of the establishment, he's a published and respected author, an entrepreneur, a podcaster and a musician. He smokes Marlboros and drinks heartily. We will podcast the entire Hey, Blue! album, discussing between songs whatever topics come to mind at the time. I'll post the podcast on www.lorelairecords.com when we're done and Chris will post it on his site, www.fukn.us, as well.

Speaking of which, "Here to Mexico", track 1 on Souvenir, is already up and ready for download at www.fukn.us. It's about a third of the way down the page, two entries below the cross dressing Indian cop.

For more downloadable tracks from the album, go to www.myspace.com/pauldylan.

What else is new? I've been working hard on a project that has potential to be a breakthrough for the label. I've been teasing for weeks about it, and I still can't say anything except that I am very excited and hope to have an announcement within a month or so. Keep checking back, please.

Preorder Hey, Blue!'s Souvenir today:
www.lorelairecords.com

Yours truly,
Paul

They won't break your heart again, I'll make sure of that

2005-11-10T10:42:00.000-10:00

All artwork prototypes are completed and I’ve made all the decisions I need to make. Tonight I finish the liner notes, lyric sheet and mastering and tomorrow I produce the actual Hey, Blue! record #001 of 101. That’s pretty darned exciting.

Recording the podcast very soon – look for details here.

I’ve given up on “Little Troubled Girl” for now. It might be available on later editions of the cd, or maybe just as a download on the website, or maybe it’ll never be available at all. I don’t know yet. It just wasn’t coming together well in the recording process, and the old version was way better. Maybe I’ll put the old version on the website.

To all my friends and family and people I don’t even know who’ve been so encouraging these past months – you’re the best friends and family and people I don’t even know I could have ever asked for. Thank you!

Preorder Souvenir today:
www.lorelairecords.com

Yours truly,
Paul

well, this party really sucked...

2005-11-08T11:41:00.000-10:00

Some nights are peaks, some nights are valleys. Some nights are deep dark canyons wherein monsters lie awaiting your tender warm flesh.

Last night was mildly hilly terrain, coyotes on the horizon.

I worked on “Little Troubled Girl” all night, trying to undo the horrible mess I’d made of it the night before. When I get self-conscious about a song (especially about my singing) I tend to drown it in guitar. Sometimes this works to the benefit of the song, sometimes I end up sounding like a talentless, wannabe-Thurston Moore. I don’t know how I went to bed Sunday night. Note to self: work sober. That mess I left Sunday night was despicable and I’m glad I was able to erase the whole thing from the universe. The new version is much more pleasant. It’s a good song, I’m just trying not to ruin it in the performance or recording.

Still left to do by Friday:
1. decide on fabric and sew the laces on the Hey, Blue! record
2. compress & eq the final mix for mastering
3. finish and publish the new www.lorelairecords.com homepage
4. finish cd label artwork for H,B! and {secret} project
5. write liner notes/lyric sheet
6. stickers

Thank goodness for Armistice Day and the extra non-dayjob hours it provides!

Pre-order Souvenir today:
www.lorelairecords.com

Yours truly,
Paul

amplitheater [sic]

2005-11-04T09:15:00.000-10:00

My lovely wife Melissa was kind enough to spend the evening at the theater with her friend Shilpa last night, leaving the house empty but for me and the cats. The cats hate it when Melissa leaves us alone, I think, because their discerning ears don’t appreciate the nuance and subtleties of indie rock.

So I pulled out the trusty Shure SM-58, hooked it up to the mixer and cranked up Ol’ Blue, my trusty ox, I mean, guitar. I recorded Hey Felipe! last night, which is probably top 5 on the list of “Favorite Songs I’ve Written.” I don’t know if it’s top 5 on the list of “Best Songs I’ve Written,” but I love it, nonetheless. It reminds me of college and my friends and all the times we sat and drank and laughed and drank and played guitar and laughed and drank. Hey Felipe is probably #1 on the list of “Songs I’ve Drunkenly Played on Acoustic Guitar While Singing to my Friends at House Parties.” I really wanted that spirit of fun to come through in the song – and, hopefully, it did! I am really, really stoked on the way it turned out. I used a recording of my friend Jeremy telling a story to the rest of us drunken morons at Greg’s bachelor party last year to give it the feeling that you’re hanging out with us while you’re listening to the song. It makes me miss my friends, too, but in a good way.

So all in all, a good night. I got a step closer to finishing the artwork last night, too. I just need to finalize the order of the songs so I can finish up the back cover. I was up till about 1:30, and then I slept right through the alarm at 6:10 and I missed my bus to work this morning, but I’m so happy right now...it feels pretty darn good, this.

Yours truly,
Paul

all my ducks lined up on the pavement

2005-11-03T10:53:00.000-10:00

Last night I had my first look at the Hey, Blue! artwork the way it’s actually going to look. Not a sketch, not a dream, not a what-if. Goshdarnit, if I do say so myself, it’s awesome. I love it. It really looks even better than I had imagined it would, better than my original prototypes and ideas. There will be a scan of the artwork up on the Lorelai Records site this weekend, so keep your eyes open for it.

Also, you can pre-order your copy of Hey, Blue!’s Souvenir today simply by clicking on the Buy Now! button at www.lorelairecords.com. Or you can send six dollars through paypal to order@lorelairecords.com. If you don’t want to use paypal (btw: anyone with a credit card or checking account can send money through paypal. you don’t have to have a paypal account to use it!) I’ll also accept checks, money orders or well-concealed cash. Make checks out to Paul Dylan and send to: Paul Dylan, 1292 Maleko Street, Kailua, HI 96734. If you don’t have six dollars, and you send me a nice letter in the old fashioned mail (not email) or maybe if you send me your cd as a trade, I’ll probably send you a cd. Sometimes I don’t have six dollars, too. I know the feeling.

Since I spent last night working on the album artwork, I didn’t get anything done with the recordings. Tonight I have the house to myself, so I’m cranking up the amps and singing my scarred & tarred lungs out. I did make arrangements with the chairman of the fukn board (www.fukn.us) last night to get together and sample some whiskey and talk about the record on a fukn podcast next week, too. So that is exciting. Things are coming together nicely. I hope you like it!

Yours truly,
Paul

The consequence of regret

2005-10-31T21:10:00.000-10:00

I decided to keep a blog of the Lorelai Records experience because I always say I wear my heart on my sleeve, but with this all coming together these last couple of months my heart and my brain have been thrown all a-tumble and I've kept it to myself. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to start a record label specializing in handmade, homemade limited edition cd-rs of indie noise, hopefully you'll get a sense of it from reading up on my progress, frustrations and adventures on this blog. I hope you like it.

The very first lyrics to the very first verse of the very first song on the very first album to be released on the Lorelai label:

She said, "this is the consequence of regret."
I said, "tell me something I don't know."
She said, "you might have come a long way but you haven't got there yet."
I said, "you're sure one to talk, you fucking whore."

The song is called "Here to Mexico", by the band Hey, Blue!, on their debut album, Souvenir.

I say "their debut album", but that's disingenuous, because it implies that there is more than one person in the band, Hey, Blue!. But that's not true, because there isn't. There's just me, Paul Dylan. I write, perform and record everything on the album.

(Well, maybe not everything. There is a distinct possibility that I might include a recording of my grandpa singing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" as a bonus track on the record. I'm really tempted to, because it's a great recording. He sounds drunk. But I digress.)

It's frightening to be the guy who writes, performs, records, draws silly pictures for, and, hopefully, ultimately cajoles his friends into dropping $6 on a stinking amateur cd-r. Who do I think I am, fer crissakes?! What balls it takes. I'm really having a hard time getting over the nightmare thought of putting this music out there and quite possibly wasting everyone's time and money on a white elephant they then have to pretend to like because they're my friends and want to avoid hurting my feelings. Man, that's an awful, awful thing to think about.

But I'm doing it, and it's exciting, enthralling, invigorating, and really titillating in the all the best senses of the word.

And terrifying. And exhausting.

So, I'm not done with the record. I'd hoped to be done and ready to ship by now, but the recordings aren't finished and the website still isn't up. I still don't have a satisfying version of "I love my friends" to include and I don't have a finished version of "Little Troubled Girl". I know it feels like sacrilege to re-record that song when there is such an awesome acoustic version with me on guitar and Greg Olson singing it on the Clockwork record, but I have new ideas for the song and want to share them. Those new ideas haven't panned out so well, yet, though. Whether or not I include this song on the record depends on if I can record a suitable version of it, in a reasonable amount of time, too. Again, I digress. The point is that the record isn't finished.

Oh yeah: I have plans to release a free podcast of the whole record as soon as it's done. More on that later.

Here is a fraction of the list of things to do for the label and for the record in the next week:

1. finish prototype for {Secret Project} packaging
2. finish prototype for Souvenir packaging
3. finish recordings of: "I love my friends", "Little Troubled Girl", "Blew", "Hey, Felipe", "I Wanna Do Right"
4. follow up with Hawaii Chamber of Commere re: Trade Name Registration
5. find someone to build the website or start frickin' really working on the damn thing
6. Order more cd sleeves and get more popsicle sticks and possibly more red thread.
7. speak in person to the two top secret bands whose next albums may or may not be Lorelai releases number 2 and 3, respectively
8. keep your headsize in check.
9. talk to the chairman of the fukn board about doing a Lorelai/Fuknpodcast

I plan to update the blog as I get through this stuff. These are exciting times for me and the label. I may have some very exciting official news soon, so consider yourself sufficiently cliffhanged. I hope you like the blog and the music and everything. You, dear readers are my best friends. You are the best BFFs anyone ever had. My goal here is to keep you all on the journey with me as I get Lorelai Records off the ground. I really welcome your comments and questions on this site, or you could email me personally at paul(at)Lorelairecords.com.

Summary:

So the record isn't finished, but I hope to have it finished soon. The website is way behind schedule, but at the very least I'll have somewhere for you to listen to the podcast and buy the record as soon as it is finished. I'm nervous about releasing this record. I'm going write about it all on this blog. Please leave lots of comments.

Yours Truly,
Paul

Welcome to Lorelai Records!

2005-10-12T12:17:00.000-10:00

I'm just a guy who loves – I mean, really, really loves – music. There's lots and lots of people like me out there. You may be one of them. I hope you are, in fact, because if not then you probably won’t know what it’s like when the first three notes of a song scrape your spine and tingle your teeth and make you go “Yessssss…” and it’s instantaneous love, and there’s an actual swelling inside you, like the Grinch must’ve felt, and you laugh it’s so good! God-dammit there’s nothing else in the world like that feeling. I’m a junkie for that feeling and, like all functioning junkies, eventually you have to start dealing to support your habit.

That’s one reason why I’ve started Lorelai Records. I love music sooooo much, I want to be around it all the time. I want to hear every musician in the world, and I want to pass on every heartfelt rendition of every song ever written by every heartbroken teenager and every lonely sad man or woman and I want everybody else to hear every song in the world, too. I need to be a part of the music that is so much a part of my every day life. I feel like I have a responsibility to support music in the best ways I know how. For me, Lorelai Records seemed like the best thing I could possibly do in the whole entire world.

My favorite music is usually made by “amateur” musicians. It’s music with bruises and rough edges, often sung off-key and recorded on sub-standard equipment. Not always, of course, sometimes it’s polished and professional and shimmers like a nugget of gold in a northern California stream. But it’s gotta have heart. I need to hear the artist’s whole self come through the music, I need to hear genuine conviction, authentic emotion. There’s never anything amateur about authentic emotion.

I also look for creativity and originality in the music I listen to. Commercial radio generally bores the hell out of me and, frankly, pisses me off. Why do we allow our entire generation to be placated by formulaic, mass-produced vanilla-rock when there is so much great music being played in bedrooms and garages and coffee shops and warehouses all over the world? We have a responsibility to seek out that great music, and nourish it and support it. It’s that sense of responsibility that prompted me to start Lorelai Records. The Franz Ferdinands of the world will sell plenty of records without my help. But what about all the slightly off-center talent in the world that doesn’t have a major label backing? I want to personally bring these recordings to you.

The packaging of Lorelai’s releases is a big part of their charm. All of our releases will be homemade, handmade cd-rs. I know iTunes is convenient when you want Kanye’s hit single, but the iTunes style of business is the exact opposite of what I want to bring to you. I want to bring back the tactile sensation of holding a record in your hands. I want to make your heart flutter when you go to the mailbox. I remember when I first heard Mazzy Star’s So Tonight that I Might See I held the liner notes in my hand and I just wanted to hug the paper and to somehow get closer to the music, I loved it so much. Lorelai Records wants to make cd-rs that you know were made especially – literally – for you. You can feel a personal connection to that music knowing that you are one of a very, very small group of people in the world who owns that particular Lorelai release and that your copy specifically is absolutely unique.

So this is my mission statement, I guess. I hope you like Lorelai Records. Our first release is an album called Souvenir by a band called Hey, Blue! and it should be ready for purchase in November. We also have a compilation record coming out in February full of people like you doing creative and original interpretations of Nirvana songs. If you’d like to contribute and actually be on that cd, please email: lheartsnirvana@lorelairecords.com. We have a couple of hugely exciting secret projects in the works right now, too. More info on those later.

Thank you for your support. Let’s stick together, you and me.

Paul Dylan
founder, Lorelai Records