I'm turning 35 today. For awhile, my benchmark was the Red House Painters' "24". When I passed 24, I remembered that Leonard Cohen cut his first record at 31. Now, I can remember when my parents were this age. It's weird and wonderful and I'm feeling reflective. I know it's hokey to announce my birthday and, sure, birthday wishes are swell, but it'd be really great if you could make a donation to my friend Dax Pierson's recovery fund here: http://daxpierson.com. For my birthday. Yes, I'm guilting you with my birthday. Shame on me. Dax is a prince and he could use your help.

I'm sorry we haven't sent you an update in so long...the label, the family, you understand, yeah? In any case, we've got some really exceptional records for you. Oh, if you haven't figured out what the heck this is, this is the long-awaited, brand spanking new ABSOLUTELY KOSHER RECORDS UPDATE.

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IN STORES NOW:

The Court and Spark - Hearts The fourth full length release from San Francisco's The Court and Spark is in stores and garnering rave critical reviews from many corners. The San Francisco Chronicle devoted an extensive feature to the band in their pink pages arts section a few weeks back and the feature's writer, j.poet, emailed to tell us they're his new favorite band. Prefix just gave it 4/5 starts and Lost At Sea said:
"In my opinion, Hearts is an album worthy of much critical acclaim. This is [Wilco's] Yankee Hotel Foxtrot without the arrogance. This is one of the best Southern rock albums ever made by a California band. This is a record so disarming that it will pass most people by if they aren’t paying attention. This is a record you should buy."
The Court and Spark are touring the nation now through August. Please don't miss out. Tour dates below.

Listen to "Your Mother Was The Lightning" from Hearts
Buy Hearts and other Court and Spark merchandise here
Visit The Court and Spark's My Space page
Visit The Court and Spark's home page

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Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming Speaking of acclaim and albums you should buy, we hope by now you've stumbled upon (or rather, been knocked over by) the onslaught of praise for Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up I Am Dreaming from the blogs, print media, record stores and fans alike. Our friends at Pitchfork gave it their coveted "Best New Music" tag and invited the band to play a special pre-festival show at the Metro in Chicago on July 28 to kick-off the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park on July 29th & 30th. NPR has also selected the album's second track "They Took A Vote and Said No" as one of their Songs of the Day.

If all this is new to you, Sunset Rubdown hail from Montreal, Quebec, the brainchild of one Spencer Krug, familiar to many as the keyboardist and one of two singers in the band Wolf Parade. Prior to Shut Up I Am Dreaming, the moniker was devoted to Krug's lo-fi missives, four track solo recordings, some of which later wound up as Wolf Parade songs. With the new album, he's joined by Mike Doerksen, Jordan Robson Cramer and Camilla Wynne Ingr to create a massive new band with a sound much rougher and denser than (though not altogether foriegn from) what he does in Wolf Parade. If Wolf Parade is like the fine Canadian Chardonnays garnering attention the world over, then Sunset Rubdown is blended Canadian whiskey, dense and rich and precious by the thimble-full, tasteful to the strong of heart.

Listen to "Stadiums and Shrines II" from Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Buy Shut Up I Am Dreaming and other Sunset Rubdown merchandise (including shirts!) here
Visit Sunset Rubdown's imeem page
Visit Sunset Rubdown's (fan run) My Space page

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Frog Eyes - The Bloody Hand CD reissue
Frog Eyes - The Golden River CD reissue - We've reissued Frog Eyes' first two albums with extra tracks. The band is wrapping up a national tour with Sunset Rubdown this week (much of it sold out) and recouperating at home to prepare for an August jaunt with Wolf Parade and the final round of recording for their forthcoming album Tears of the Valedictorian, due out through us in early 2007.

Frog Eyes' first album, The Bloody Hand, originally released in Canada on Global Symphonic and never widely available in the United States (or other countries), will have the entire second Blue Pine album (title: Seagull Is On The Rise) appended to it. Blue Pine was Carey Mercer and Michael Rak's band prior to Frog Eyes.

Frog Eyes' second album, The Golden River, will have tracks from the Emboldened Navigator 7" and recordings from an earlier session for the album that were never released (save for two tracks that overlapped with The Bloody Hand sessions). This session included Spencer Krug (Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade) on keyboards rather than Grayson Miniely (who played on the sessions that became the album proper). Three of the songs from those sessions wound up on other releases, but have been preserved here for continuity.

This fall, our friends at Jagjaguwar will be releasing the collaboration between Frog Eyes' Mercer, Sunset Rubdown's Krug and Destroyer's Dan Bejar under the name Thunderclouds. Or Swan Lake, depending on who you ask. Though I'm pretty sure it's Thunderclouds.

Mercer and wife Melanie Campbell are also hard at work with combo Prancing Cat. We @%!$ing love Prancing Cat. More on them later.

Buy Frog Eyes merchandise here
Visit Frog Eyes' My Space page

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Ex-Boyfriends - Dear John CD - The debut album by these San Francisco pop wunderkinder. SPIN.com named them band of the month for February plus rave reviews from Out, the Advocate, the SF Bay Guardian and over a dozen blogs mark this the earliest summer pop smash ever to smack your ass on the dancefloor.

Listen to "Him For Me" from Dear John
Buy Ex-Boyfriends merchandise here
Visit Ex-Boyfriends' home page
Visit Ex-Boyfriends' My Space page

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Goblin Cock – Bagged and Boarded CD/limited picture disc LP * Lord Phallus, Bane Ass-Pounder, King Sith, Braindeath and Loki Sinjuggler unleash their mighty debut of Sabbath-metal upon the world. Nothing can stop it. Rumor has it Rob Crow of Pinback is in this band under an alias. I believe it. Spreading like Hellfire.

Listen to "Stumped"
Watch the video for "Stumped"
 Buy Goblin Cock merchandise here.
Visit Goblin Cock's My Space page

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The Dead Science – Frost Giant CD * Seattle trio showers you in honey and feathers with an incredible album of art-damaged rock-jazz. All those hyphens are frustrating, but what do you do if you're one of the most original bands currently in music? This band just keeps getting better and better and audiences are finally getting wise. On tour with Carla Bozulich (ex-Geraldine Fibbers, now with one hell of a record on Constellation) at the end of June through July.

Listen to "Drrrty Magneto"
Buy Dead Science merchandise here.
Visit The Dead Science's My Space page
Visit The Dead Science's home page

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NEW ARRIVALS AT THE WEB STORE

Sunset Rubdown shirt

Xiu Xiu / Paper Chase split 7" (Stickfigure) covering Nick Cave.

The Ladies - They Mean Us CD/LP (Temporary Residence) Rob Crow (Goblin Cock, Optiganally Yours, Other Men) and Zach Hill (Hella, Team Sleep)

Sunset Rubdown - Sunset Rubdown CDEP (Global Symphonic) A new EP of recordings by Montreal's mighty Sunset Rubdown, due to ship in January. Another step forward for this incredible talent.

Nothing Painted Blue - Taste the Flavor CD (Shrimper) The looooong-awaited final Nothing Painted Blue album courtesy of Franklin Bruno and his cohorts Peter Hughes and Kyle Brodie and the fine folk at Shrimper Records.

The Dead Science / Xiu Xiu split 7" (Deathbomb Arc) The Dead Science (with the assistance of the late, great Shooby Taylor, the Human Horn) and Xiu Xiu (fronted by Oxbow's Eugene Robinson) share a slab o' wax.

Wrens - Meadow green t-shirt (dark green and gold on olive green) You asked for it - a brand new Wrens shirt, this one designed by Jason Munn of Small Stakes.

Sunset Rubdown - Snake's Got A Leg CD (Global Symphonic) The first collection of recordings by Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes). Rough, ragged and gorgeous.

Wolf Parade - s/t CDEP & Apologies to the Queen Mary CD (Sub Pop) For those silly enough not to have picked them up already. Don't worry, it's never too late.

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COMING SOON:

The Hidden Cameras - The Arms of his "ill" CDEP Finally in stores on July 18!!!

Shearwater / The Court and Spark split CD/digital single Just two tracks and only available direct from us, at the band's shows or digitally. More news soon!

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LIVE ON BAGEL RADIO: CORY HOSTS A SHOW

Some of you might be familiar with BAGeL Radio, the award-winning internet radio station found at bagelradio.com. The station is run by the honorable and talented Ted Leibowitz in a secluded location in San Francisco's Richmond District. Ted does a fabulous live show every Friday from 9AM to 5PM Pacific Time and when he's not on the air, his favorite records in heavy rotation are.

Well, just two Tuesdays ago, Absolutely Kosher founder Cory (okay, yes, I'm writing this) made his radio debut and is now hosting a live show from 10AM to 2PM Pacific Time (pr 1PM to 5PM Eastern Time) every Tuesday. You can tune in to the show either directly from the website or (preferably)through iTunes Radio under Alternative/Modern Rock. Go here to check out the last couple of playlists along with Ted's Friday playlists. Ted and I share enough good taste to dine together and share some songs, and there's enough variety between us to keep it very interesting. I mean, c'mon. BAGeL Radio! How serendipitous is that? (Or maybe it's conspiracy.)

Those of you who've been enjoying our podcasts, this is a great way to get your regular fix and then some. I know it's been quite a while since the last podcast, but sit tight and we'll have a new one up for you in no time. In the meantime, please tune in and let me know how I'm doing!

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YOU REALLY LIKE US

Many thanks to the San Francisco Weekly for naming Absolutely Kosher "Best Indie Rock Label" in their annual Best of the Bay issue. Also special thanks to the NY Press for referring to us as "white hot." You should see me in chaps!

Feel free to hook up with us at our My Space page. Also, there's a brand new service we're just getting started with called imeem.com. It's like My Space meets Flickr meets You Tube meets Instant Messenger (it combines all of your IM accounts too!). Like I said, we're just getting started on it so we haven't explored all of its cool features or put up too much stuff yet, but please swing by. Stay tuned!

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ON TOUR NOW

 

DEAD SCIENCE

  • Fri, 9/15 - Berlin (D)@ Mangnet Club w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 9/16 - Dresden (D)@ Scheune w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sun, 9/17 -Schorndorf (D)@ Manufaktur w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Mon, 9/18 - Leipzig (D)@ UT Connewitz w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Tues, 9/19 - Darmstadt (D)@ Oetinger Villa w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Wed, 9/20 - Münster (D)@ Gleiss 22 w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Thurs, 9/21 - Lund (SE)@ Mejerijt w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Fri, 9/22 - Gothenburg (SE)@ Kulturhuset Underjorden w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 9/23 - Copenhagenn (SE)@ LAB w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Mon, 9/25 - Manchester (UK)@ The Phoenix w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Tues, 9/26 - Nottingham (UK)@ The Social (Liars Club) w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Wed, 9/27 - Glasgow (UK)@ King Tuts w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Thurs, 9/28 - Belfast (UK)@ The Bunker w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Fri, 9/29 - Dublin (IE)@ Whelans w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 9/30 - Bristonl (UK)@ The Cube Cinema w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sun, 10/1 - London (UK)@ The Luminaire w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Mon, 10/2 - Brighton (UK)@ The Hope w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Tues, 10/3 - Tourcoing (F)@ Le Grand Mix w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Wed, 10/4 - Paris (F)@ Le Divan Du Monde w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Thurs, 10/5 - Brussels (B)@ Botanique w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Fri, 10/6 - Amsterdam (NL)@ Paradiso w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 10/7 - Enschede (NL)@ Atak/The Overload w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sun, 10/8 - Rouen (F)@ Emporium Galorium w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Mon, 10/9 - Metz (F)@ Le Tunnel w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Tues, 10/10 - Trier (D)@ Exhaus w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Wed, 10/11 - Freiburg (D)@ Swamp w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Thurs, 10/12 - Lyon (F)@ Grnd Zero w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Fri, 10/13 - Barcelona (E)@ Apolo w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 10/14 - Madrid (E)@ Neu Club w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Mon, 10/16 - Düdingen (CH)@ Bad Bonn w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Tues, 10/17 - Torino (I)@ TBA w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Wed, 10/18 - Cento (I)@ 500 Rockclub w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Thurs, 10/19 - Roma (I)@ Circolo Degli Aristi w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Fri, 10/20 - Legnano (I)@ Jail w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 10/21 - Graz (A)@ Veilchen @ Forum Stadtpark w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sun, 10/22 - Wien (A)@ Chelsea w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Mon, 10/23 - Prague (CZ)@ Klub 007 Strahov w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Tues, 10/25 - Berlin (D)@ Ausland w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
  • Sat, 11/4 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and The Papercuts
  • Mon, 11/6 - San Luis Obispo, CA @Downtown Brewing w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and The Papercuts
  • Wed, 11/8 - Sacramento/Davis, CA @KDVS Show TBA w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and The Papercuts
  • Thurs, 11/9 - Portland, OR @Someday Lounge w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and The Papercuts
  • Fri, 11/10 - Seattle, WA @ The Paradox w/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and The Papercuts

CHRIS GARNEAU

  • Fri, 10/13 - NYC, NY @ Joe's Pub w/Gregory and the Hawk
  • Sat,10/21 - Alfred, NY @ Alfred College w/ Gregory and the Hawk
  • Thurs, 10/26 - Belleville, IL @ The Ground Floor w/ Gregory and the Hawk
  • Fri, 10/27 - Chicago, IL @ South Union Arts w/ Gregory and the Hawk
  • Sat, 10/28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Hotcakes Gallery w/ Gregory and the Hawk

PLUS/MINUS

  • Fri, 10/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church w/The Wrens
  • Sat, 10/28 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat w/The Wrens
  • Tue, Nov 7- Atlanta, GA @Earl w/Irving
  • Wed, Nov 8 - Birmingham, AL @Bottle Tree Cafe w/Irving
  • Fri, Nov 10 - Denton, TX @Hailey's w/Irving
  • Sat, Nov 11 - Austin, TX @Austin Music Hall w/Irving
  • Tue, Nov 14 -Phoenix, AZ @Modified w/Irving
  • Wed, Nov 15 -Tucson, AZ @Plush w/Irving
  • Fri, Nov 17 -San Francisco, CA @Bottom of the Hill w/Irving
  • Sat, Nov 18 - Chico, CA 1078 @Gallery w/Irving
  • Mon, Nov 20 - Portland, OR@Towne Lounge w/Irving
  • Tue, Nov 21 - Seattle, WA @Crocodile Cafe w/Irving
  • Sat, Nov 25 - Chicago, IL @Schubas Tavern w/Irving
  • Sun, Nov 26 - Grand Rapids, MI @The Intersection w/Irving
  • Wed, Nov 29 - Toronto @Sneaky Dee's w/Irving
  • Thu, Nov 30 - Montreal @Casa Del popolo w/Irving
  • Fri, Dec 1 - Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East

SUNSET RUBDOWN

  • Sat, 9/23 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East w/Beaver
  • Sun, 9/24 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/Beaver
  • Mon, 9/25 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroomw/Beaver
  • Tue, 9/26 - Philadelphia, PA @ The First Unitarian Church w/Beaver, the Teeth
  • Wed, 9/27 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat w/Beaver
  • Thu, 9/28 - Durham, NC @ Duke Coffeehouse w/Beaver
  • Fri, 9/29 - Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall w/Beaver
  • Sat, 9/30 - Atlanta, GA @ Lenny's w/Beaver
  • Mon, 10/2 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree Cafe w/Nowhere Sqaures, Beaver
  • Tues, 10/3 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House w/Beaver
  • Wed, 10/4 - Columbus, OH @ Little Brothers w/Beaver
  • Thurs, 10/5 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom w/Beaver
  • Fri, 10/6 - Chicago, IL @ Logan Square Auditorium w/Beaver

 

THE WRENS

  • Sat, 9/16 - Boston, MA @ the Middle East
  • Sat, 9/23 - Atlanta GA @ Variety Playhouse
  • Sun, 9/24 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree
  • Fri, 10/13 - Columbus, OH @ Little Brothers
  • Sat, 10/14 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House
  • Fri, 10/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church w/Plus/Minus
  • Sat, 10/28 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat w/Plus/Minus
  • Fri, 11/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
  • Sat, 11/11 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Center

XIU XIU

  • Fri, 9/22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 9/23 - Denver, CO @ Climax Lounge w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sun, 9/24 - Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck w/ Cong for Brums
  • Mon, 9/25 - St. Louis, MO @ Lemp Neigborhood Arts Center w/ Cong for Brums
  • Tues, 9/26 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory w/ Cong for Brums
  • Wed, 9/27 - Denton, TX @ Hailey's w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 9/29 - Austin, TX @ Emo's w/ Inside: Cong for Brums, BARR; Outside: Serena Maneesh, Magnolia Electric Co, etc
  • Sat, 9/30 - Houston, TX @ Walter's On Washington w/ Cong for Brums
  • Mon, 10/2 - Tallahassee, FL @ Club Down Under w/ Cong for Brums
  • Tues, 10/3 - Ybor City, FL @ Orpheum w/ Cong for Brums
  • Wed, 10/4 - Sarasota, FL @ New College- Sudakoff w/ Cong for Brums
  • Thurs,10/5 - Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 10/6 - Atlanta, GA @ Eyedrum w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 10/7 - Charleston, SC @ Map Room w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sun, 10/8 - Charlotte, NC @ Milestone w/ Cong for Brums
  • Tues, 10/10 - Philadelphia, PA @ The First Unitarian Church w/ Cong for Brums
  • Thurs, 10/12 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 10/13 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 10/14 - Cambridge, MA @ Middle East w/ Cong for Brums
  • Mon, 10/1- Buffalo, NY @ Soundlab w/ Cong for Brums
  • Tues, 10/17 - Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar w/ Cong for Brums
  • Thurs,10/19 - Montreal, QC @ La Salsa Rossa w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 10/20 - Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 10/21 - Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick w/ Cong for Brums
  • Mon, 10/23 - Columbus, OH @ Little Brothers w/ Cong for Brums
  • Tues, 10/24 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House w/ Cong for Brums
  • Wed, 10/25 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland w/ Cong for Brums
  • Thurs,10/26 - Gambier, OH @ Horn Gallery w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 10/27 - Chicago, IL @ Logan Square Auditorium w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 10/28 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock w/ Cong for Brums
  • Thurs,11/2 - Vancouver @ The Anza Club w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 11/3 - Seattle, WA @ Paradox w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 11/4 - Portland, OR @ Disjecta w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sun, 11/5 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall w/ Cong for Brums
  • Tues, 11/7 - Visalia, CA @ Howie and Sons w/ Cong for Brums
  • Wed, 11/8 - Goleta, CA @ Hard to Find Showspace w/ Cong for Brums
  • Thurs,11/9 - Los Angeles @ The Echo w/ Cong for Brums
  • Fri, 11/10 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall w/ Cong for Brums
  • Sat, 11/11 - San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Center w/ Cong for Brums

 

____________

Reminders:

The podcast: http://www.absolutelykosher.com/podcasts/dircaster.php

(If you want to read up on our podcast or manually download the large mp3 files yourself, visit us at http://absolutelykosher.blogspot.com/)

The sampler: any new folks who sign up to our email list (just e-mail your address to macher@absolutelykosher.com) receive a CD sampler with 23 tracks from the label's catalogue (one per person, please. If you're already on our list, you can get one by placing an order on our site). We're catching up in getting quite a few of these out, so bear with us.

Sooner than later next time. Stay gold.

Best
Cory Brown and all of us at
Absolutely Kosher Records
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