Melt-Banana, Cannanes in Art-Swapping Singles Club

Love singles clubs but plumb out of cash? Fancy creating and checking out DIY art? Well sniff a few quarters out from under the couch cushions and get ready for the 3" series designed especially for you!

The Dark Beloved Cloud singles club, helmed by Pitchfork contributor Douglas Wolk, has returned with another round of 3" CD goodness. Yes, all releases in this club come on 3" compact discs. Not only do they play in most CD players, but they're also just like cute little baby versions of regular CDs. Awww!

Two installments in the latest wave of Dark Beloved Cloud 3"s have surfaced thus far: a split between Japanese freakout artistes Melt-Banana and Boston noisemakers Fat Day (both covering Devo) called Q./A., and a four-song EP from unsung Aussie indie-pop heroes the Cannanes known as Grassy Flat. Future contributors include Atlanta folkie Grace Braun ("The Soldier & the Lady"/"The Fox"), psych mainstays Fly Ashtray (Doodnat Mahadeo), and Study Partners (self-titled), a project from out-there L.A. music-maker Azalia Snail. Other surprises are promised as well.

Subscribers get six 3"s at absolutely no cost, save for the price of postage and the time it takes to craft a half dozen 3" x 3" pieces of art. That art will wind up atop some other club member's 3"s, while your own 3"s will bear the unique designs of yet another singles-happy art-maker. The 3"s come in batches of two, with the second batch's arrival expected in June or so. Read all about it here, see some art samples here, and then go here to sign up.

No Age, Sunset Rubdown, Casiotone in 7" Series
Plus: Miko Miko, Abe Vigoda, Parenthetical Girls

David Horvitz knows him some bands. And the dude behind the Xiu Xiu and Sunset Rubdown Polaroid projects has assembled a smattering of these music-makers for a new parade of subscription-based seven-inches.

No Age, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Mika Miko, Abe Vigoda (the band, not the actor), Parenthetical Girls, and the aforementioned Sunset Rubdown will partake of the "David Horvitz 7" Picture Disc Series", which has its home on Brooklyn's Aagoo Records.

In addition to music (check out the tracklists for the first two singles below), each picture disc, being a picture disc, will feature, yes, a picture. The photos in question were taken by Horvitz himself, and indeed that's a Horvitz portrait of Casiotone's Owen Ashworth up there, looking all painfully alone on his celly.

"Now wait a minute!" you say. "A Casiotone picture disc with a David Horvitz photo? That sounds awfully familiar..." And you'd be right. This particular Casiotone release was originally discussed in these pages a few months ago. Good eye, my friend.

Each 7" in the bi-monthly series is limited to 500 copies, with a portion of that number allotted for subscribers, and the rest available in select stores and at merch tables. The Casiotone offering is out now, with Parenthetical Girls following in May, Abe Vigoda in July, Mika Miko in September, Sunset Rubdown in November, and No Age in January 2009. Viva la 7"! [MORE...]

Jesu/Fog Members, Marnie Stern, Tunng Do Singles Club

Singles clubs: great for music, bad for hygiene. Why? Well, when you can make one easy online payment and be set for sevens or twelves for a whole damn year, there's really no need to go out in public to buy the things. And, hence, no reason to bathe. Need we connect the dots between bathing and hygiene?

While you ponder that one, let's extend a warm welcome to the new club on the block: Hidden Hive Recordings' Kissing Kin 7" series.

The newly inaugurated series will launch later this month with the release of the first of six split singles, which pairs adventurous London act Tunng with Brooklyn's own Stars Like Fleas. Future installments will see the likes of Marnie Stern, Le Loup, Essie Jain, Slowblow, Cap Pas Cap, Silvarco, and more. Plus we can look forward to a special collaboration between members of 2007 tourmates Jesu and Fog. Now there's something to raise a stink about!

Singles are limited to 300 copies apiece and Hidden Hive intends to ship a new one every six to eight weeks. The tracklists for the first four singles are available below.

What's more, the Kissing Kin series will feature unique, limited edition artwork in print-form from visual renderers of note. Artists confirmed thus far include Iker Spozio, Chris Summerlin, Jeremiah Maddock, Aaron Horkey & Wes Winship, and Alison Dexter. [MORE...]

Electrelane's Murray, Octopus Project Cut Too Pure 7"s

UK label Too Pure-- home to Stereolab, Electrelane, Future of the Left, and Scout Niblett, among others-- has inducted a few new members into its monthly 7" singles club.

The January face of the Too Pure Singles Club is chamber popper Anni Rossi, while February brings a split offering between French-born Frànçois (a sometime member of Camera Obscura's live band) and Ray Rumours, aka Electrelane's Ros Murray. (If the Rossi and Rumours singles sound familiar, they were previously mentioned here.) Finally, for now at least, March heralds the arrival of an entry from Austin's the Octopus Project, the crew's first release outside of North America.

As usual, these singles contain two exclusive, previously unreleased tracks and are limited to an international run of 500 copies. Apart from a few select record stores, the only way to get your hands on one of them is through an annual subscription obtained here. Scope the tracklists below. [MORE...]

Forrest, Lucky Dragons Do Deathbomb Arc Tape Club
Forrest crafts Birthday Party Berlin mix as DJ Donna Summer

It may be hard to imagine, but there was a time when iPhones, satellite radio, and even good old CDs were all just twinkles in Al Gore's eyes. It was the era of the cassette tape, a magical time full of experimentation, spiritual awakening, and killing music.

But the folks at Deathbomb Arc Tape Club (who also run cassette culture webzine Cassette Gods) aren't content to leave the tape in the past. So they founded the Club, which gives subscribers access to 24 bands each recording a single 9-to-10-minute-long track for a single side of one of 12 tapes.

DBAT Tape Club turns four next year, and the first 2008 tapes (subscribers get one a month) will ship in February. The list of contributors this time around includes Jason Forrest, Lucky Dragons, XBXRX member Hawnay Troof, 16 Bitch Pile-Up, and tons more (all listed after the jump). New to subscribers to the 2008 Club is a large vinyl case to hold all 12 tapes, with art by Andreas Barsleth of Tape Club contributors the White Tiger Prepade.

For more info on the 2008 Deathbomb Arc Tape Club, including how to subscribe, click here.

And speaking of Jason Forrest, the mix-up maestro's own Cock Rock Disco imprint will link with Deathbomb Arc to present a SXSW showcase in March and release some records in 2008. Forrest has also been rolling of late with the Birthday Party Berlin crew, for whom he adopted his DJ Donna Summer moniker and crafted the crew's first mix; check that here. [MORE...]

Deerhoof, Lightning Bolt Guy Do Cassette Club Songs

Digital music certainly has its benefits, but sometimes, we just feel that nostalgic pang for some old fashioned cassettes. And where there's nostalgia pangs, there's the Deathbomb Arc Tape Club, which will enter its third year in 2007.

Subscribers to the program will receive one tape per month (latecomers get a bunch at once, then one per month), each featuring lengthy exclusive tracks from two artists.

Acts for next year include Deerhoof, Fat Worm of Error, Black Pus (featuring Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale), Can't, and tons more.

In addition to the 12 cassettes available through the regular subscription program, members can earn a big bonus for a slightly higher price-- six extra tapes curated by Jessica Rylan of Can't. Her list of musicians, currently incomplete, includes Captains of English, Julia Holter, Timeheater, and more at this point in time. For a full roster, click here.

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)