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Index of Labels
Browse by Label: MEXICAN SUMMER
Artist:
VILE, KURT
Title:
God Is Saying This To You...
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 012LP
2011 repress, originally released in 2009. "More than a mere odds-n-ends collection, Kurt Vile's latest LP is a compilation of tracks from Overnite KV, a tour-only CDR, along with a handful of extra tracks recorded specifically for this release. Here we find Kurt solo, four-trackin' as usual, and blowing minds with his mix of bluegrass guitar, blazed singer-songwriterisms, and the knowledge of how to balance these contexts out with laidback precision. Psychedelic to its core, these twelve tracks speak to the will of the casual perfectionist, honing his craft with effortless aplomb. You'll be hearing plenty more from this Philadelphian wizard in the months to follow, and we're happy to keep the ball rolling with
God Is Saying This to You...
" Hand-numbered limited edition of 1000.
Artist:
WASHED OUT
Title:
Life of Leisure
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 023LP
2011 repress, originally released in 2009. "Debut 12″ from Ernest Greene aka Washed Out. Bent synth-pop gems that are equal parts psychedelia and anthemic club banger. All recorded in his parent's home in the rural Georgia town where he grew up. Essential and addictive." Numbered, limited edition of 1000.
Artist:
LUCKY LUKE
Title:
Travelling For A Living
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 025LP
2009 release. "Scottish folk beauty! Overlooked catalog piece tip-on sleeve, hand numbered. Reminiscent of Nico, Sandy Denny, Fleetwood Mac." Hand-numbered edition of 500 with download code.
Artist:
FRACTION
Title:
Moon Blood
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP + 10"
Price:
$36.00
Catalog #:
MEX 026LP
"At long last, the first fully authorized reissue of the psychedelic hard rock private press to end them all --
Moonblood
. There are very few albums in the psych/punk/hard rock/private presses strata that garner the sort of universal awe and accolades that Fraction's almighty
Moonblood
does, and even fewer records in the world that could be dubbed 'Christian Rock' incur such fierce devotion. The band and LP as a whole equals something indescribably intense from start to finish--comparisons to the Detroit late 60s high-energy bands like The Stooges and MC5 abound, as well as the sort of late 60s damaged spirit lurking in biker clubs and disgruntled Vietnam vets. The song cycle on side 1 of the LP in particular cuts to the emotional core, with severely charged dark lyrics like 'Extend your thumbs and burn the darkness out of her.'" Housed in a gatefold sleeve with cellophane cover. The bonus 10" was "record in late '71 in a storage unit at an industrial complex in North Hollywood" and features tracks ("Prisms," "Dawning Light," "Intercessor's Blues") never before released on vinyl.
Artist:
AMAZING, THE
Title:
Code II
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
10"
Price:
$20.00
Catalog #:
MEX 028EP
"The Amazing make up two existing members of the well known Swedish band, Dungen. Like their label mates, they continue to make far out psych grooves, but this time around the singer sings in English making the song a bit more transferable across the sea. The b-side is an exclusive song only available on this 10" release." Numbered edition of 500 copies with download code.
Artist:
PEARL HARBOR
Title:
Something About The Chaparrals
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 029LP
"Ethereal melodies a la Cocteau Twins, lush with the doomed worldview of today's California, fallen into the sea." Second pressing of this 2009 release; hand-numbered limited edition of 2000. Includes download code.
Artist:
WOODSMAN
Title:
Collages
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$20.00
Catalog #:
MEX 031LP
"This is the seven song debut EP from the green forests of Denver, an instrumental quartet with roots in nature, post-rock of the mid-'90s Tortoise/Cerberus Shoal/A Minor Forest variety, and a sense of epic grandeur that ties the whole thing together. Killer from nose to nuts, with 19-minute monster 'Mothershift' taking top honors; it reminds us that one ton of feathers is just as crushing as one ton of lead, if properly positioned." Limited, numbered edition of 500 copies.
Artist:
CAMPFIRES
Title:
Stormy Late Fall
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$4.50
Catalog #:
MEX 033EP
"Campfires plays rugged, outdoorsy lo-fi pop anthems, tailor-made for sunny autumn days. Their songs are short to the point, sweet-bitter postcards from bored teenage boys at Summer Camp. These are the songs that were conjured up from somewhere in middle America, where you spend your nights loitering in your cabin smoking weed with a peeling Jim Morrison poster and faded Who banner, while your buddies try and banter out some tunes on home-made instruments." Limited, numbered edition of 500 copies.
Artist:
REAL ESTATE
Title:
Reality
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 035LP
2011 repress, originally released in 2010. "New Jersey's Real Estate has successfully captured the sound of a late Sunday afternoon, in the dreaded hours before work or school claims your life again. The band's sweet, loose pop ballads recall a modern-day Everly Brothers, drifting and dreamlike, as their tales of suburban indifference and insecurity mask your own fears. Six new songs, and not a moment too soon." Hand-numbered limited edition of 1000.
Artist:
BLACK RYDER, THE
Title:
Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
2LP
Price:
$24.00
Catalog #:
MEX 044LP
Deluxe full-color gatefold double LP, hand-numbered edition of 2000. "With auspicious sensual textured layers of melody and guitars, both Scott Von Ryper and chanteuse Miss Aimee Nash weave a densely rich tapestry of love, sex and death, mountains, oceans and astral travel. They indicate the way to the heart of life the centre of our humanity in ritual space, in crafted chords, in veiled waves of sonic tone and drone. Rich dangerous opiated swirling attacks on the third eye lysergic and lupine in equal measure. Once drawn in by this perfume its essence stays." -- Ian Astbury (The Cult)
Artist:
WEBB, TK
Title:
TK Webb
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$16.50
Catalog #:
MEX 047LP
"Back to the solo stance, T.K. Webb trades in the power moves of his last album
Ancestor
for the sad-eyed folk foundations that propped them up, bringing back the power of the rock trio and transposing it into a more personal, confessional offering. Honest music by a guy who's been killing it for years." Hand-numbered limited edition of 750 copies. Includes a download code.
Artist:
BEST COAST
Title:
Crazy for You
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 053LP
2010 release. "Hazy, dreamy, and genre-defining pop from breakout band Best Coast. A 12-track, twenty-nine minute collection of genuinely romantic sandy jams." Includes download code.
Artist:
TAMARYN
Title:
The Waves
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$22.00
Catalog #:
MEX 057LP
"Following a spate of EPs and singles comes the debut album by Tamaryn, entitled
The Waves
. After collaborating with producer Rex John Shelverton (ex-Vue/The Audience/Portraits of Past), Tamaryn left New York and settled in Rex's hometown of San Francisco to record their first full-length. Whereas Tamaryn's earlier material was rooted in traditional goth-psych overtones,
The Waves
represents an incredible step forward in terms of her approach. These nine songs combine driving pop and lush balladry with layered, guitar-driven ethereal atmospheres, against which Tamaryn's voice, languid and restrained, melts against its surface.
The Waves
is a masterful collision of hypnotic psychedelia and bittersweet dream pop." Hand-numbered, limited edition of 2000.
Artist:
DUNGEN
Title:
Skit I Altt
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$22.00
Catalog #:
MEX 061LP
Domestic vinyl version on pink vinyl with full-color printed inner sleeve. Hand-numbered edition of 3000. "In what feels like a very short decade, Sweden's Dungen has mutated at a furious pace. Longtime critical darlings, Dungen have outdone themselves again on their fifth LP. While the album is stuffed with concise songs (nothing running beyond five minutes) there are already candidates aplenty here for Dungen's live blotter-fueled sonic maelstroms.
''Hogdalstoppen' (named for a massive junkyard near Ejstes' flat) is already a massive instrumental track that we've started expanding between 5 and 15 minutes,'
Ejstes says. Perhaps the instrumental 'Blandband' (trans. 'Mixtape') exemplifies the Dungen philosophy best. A mélange of bright piano chords, snaking lead guitar, and weightless woodwinds, it twists and turns like a forest path. The song was inspired, says Ejstes,
'by a friend made me a cassette recently and I missed that antiquated way of listening. I like finding out about music fast but at the same time, I like listening to whole albums. I conceive Dungen music in that same way: side one, side two, a journey.'
Enjoy the trip."
Artist:
VIVA L'AMERICAN DEATH RAY MUSIC
Title:
Miles of Smiles, Towns of Frowns
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$22.00
Catalog #:
MEX 062LP
"Memphis-to-Brooklyn transplant Nicholas Ray has been pushing the moniker of Viva L'American Death Ray Music for close to fifteen years, as musical trends have come and gone around him. Nobody wants to hear about 'the best band you haven't heard of' anymore, but truthfully you'd have to stay pretty low to the ground to discover any of the albums and countless singles and EPs he's made under this name in that time. When you do find it, you'll realize that you're down on the ground because your home is literally ON FIRE from the excitement this guy's music has generated all around you.
Miles of Smiles, Towns of Frowns
is VLADRM's sixth full-length, following releases on Sympathy for the Record Industry, Misprint, New York Night Train, Shattered, and Ray's own Sangre Libre label. Though the band's entire output is uniformly recommended for you to check out at once, you would do well to start here, with twelve songs that capture a lost-in-time paean to glam rock, the Fall, the Velvet Underground, Britpop and dub reggae: earworms burrowing in, effortless cool breezing across the room, and a set of songs that will define your day/month/year/rest of life. It's hard to describe 'total music' but it's also difficult to categorize VLADRM in modern terms without bringing up lofty comparisons to Roxy Music or Bowie. And yet ... here we are. It'll have to make do. This cup will never run dry and never spill over, and no amount of clichés could do this music justice. Just get yourself a copy and try to prove us wrong." Deluxe gatefold LP on 180 gram vinyl; hand-numbered, limited edition of 750 copies.
Artist:
PURO INSTINCT
Title:
Stilyagi/Put Medved To Bedved
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.00
Catalog #:
MEX 065EP
"First single from upcoming Puro Instinct full length. Features the helping hand of none other than fan and mate Ariel Pink, who took the group on tour last year supporting Haunted Graffiti. Here, Mr. Pink adds background vocals behind Piper's dreamy voice. With Puro Instinct's full-length debut
Headbangers in Ecstasy
on the horizon, we're proud to boast that Puro Instinct will be the reality in 2011." Hand-numbered limited edition of 750.
Artist:
MIRACLES CLUB, THE
Title:
A New Love
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$22.00
Catalog #:
MEX 066LP
"Hallelujah! Miracles Club is the brainchild of Rafael Fauria & Honey Owens (Valet, Nudge, Jackie-O Motherfucker). In yet another left turn from the inherent psychedelia of those projects, this new EP presents four excessively blissful, thumpety piano-led acid house time machine numbers, reminiscent of the late '80s/early '90s, the Hacienda, late-period Factory Records, big pants, Soul II Soul, shopping at the Gap, Coogi sweaters, Stu-Stu-Studio Line hair gel and mousse, Lisa Stanisfield's spitcurl ... you get it, right? Owens is assisted here by Mark Burden (Silentist) and Jonathan Sielaff (Golden Retriever), and there's a dancer in the mix for live performances too. So cool, confident and energetic, you can relive the glory days of clubbing and that awesome, fruity smell that cassette tapes you bought (or racked!) at the mall record store had when you first took off the cellophane." Hand-numbered limited edition of 1000 copies.
Artist:
NO JOY
Title:
Ghost Blonde
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$22.00
Catalog #:
MEX 067LP
"We could say a lot of things about the debut album from Montreal/LA ladies No Joy: that it builds upon the revitalization of shoegaze pop in recent times with a melodic fervor and angst that many of their contemporaries fail to capitalize on, that their records look and sound gorgeous, that there are moments on
Ghost Blonde
that match the challenges laid down by My Bloody Valentine and Lush years ago. We could say those things, but then what would the bloggers think? Probably the same. Oh well. We said it. Killer record from a band to be reckoned with. Ten new songs that'll singe your eyelashes off." Hand-numbered limited edition of 2000 copies.
Artist:
SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE
Title:
Ball Strenth
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
12"
Price:
$17.00
Catalog #:
MEX 069EP
"SoF kicked things off in 2004, with a lineup of guitarist Marc Moore (Cat Power, Lynnfield Pioneers), guitarist/organist Pat 'Papa Crazee' Sullivan (Oakley Hall, ex-Oneida), bassist B.L. Truax (Home, ex-Dan Melchior's Broke Revue), drummer Kid Millions (Oneida, Man Forever) and synth player Barry London (Home, ex-the Van Pelt). Not long after their first show, the world at large suffered the tragic loss of Mr. Moore, but the band kept on going in his memory, getting together every time the stars aligned just so, and its members found themselves in the same place. Over the years, their always evolving lineup has grown to include Mike Bones on guitar, as well as contributions from guitarists Matt Sweeney (late of Chavez and collaborations with Will Oldham, a/k/a Bonnie 'Prince' Billy), Jesper Eklow (Endless Boogie), and drummer Allison Busch (Awesome Color).
Ball Strenth
(featuring Truax, Millions, London, Bones, Crazee & Sweeney) is the Soldiers' long-awaited debut, which windsprints through classic Southern-styled rock 'n' roll, extendo psychedelic guitar battles, restless rhythmic intensity and blues chooglin' with the best of 'em. It's also the sound of friends getting together after long absences to play great music, and remind us out there in listener-land why we should care in the first place. If you're left standing after the colossal, 17+ minute crush of the closer 'Worm,' you may ascend." Hand-numbered edition of 1000.
Artist:
SOFT PACK, THE
Title:
Gagdad
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.00
Catalog #:
MEX 071EP
"The Soft Pack celebrates their jump over to the tanning rays of Mexican Summer with a brand new single. 'Gagdad' sprawls across both sides of a 7" with a party-starting organ groove, slamming drums, and the unmistakable vibes that one of our catchiest acts has no trouble bringing across. No matter what time of year, the distinct Fall/VU groove of 'Gagdad' will convince you to don some shades, make it down to your nearest body of water, and get your own beach party happening, under the auspices of no man-made laws."
Artist:
TEAMS VS. STAR SLINGER
Title:
Teams Vs. Star Slinger
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
12"
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 072EP
"Online collaborations between producers Star Slinger (repping the UK for Manchester) and Teams (standing up for America from Knoxville, Tennessee) reward the fruits of online labor: six blog-rockin', booty-shakin' rippers, culled from vinyl-sourced samples of R&B and modern soul classics and reworked, twerked, and shimmied into the matrix of hip hop rhythms, sunshine, and classy, electro-clipped states of mind. The work of these two individuals permeates the original material up, under and around, until you're not entirely sure how you'll ever listen to the dusties in your collection again without treatments like the ones provided here. Good times for the summertime state of mind, no matter what time of year you're livin' in." Hand-numbered edition of 2000.
Artist:
YOUNG, THE
Title:
Sweet/Swollen
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$4.00
Catalog #:
MEX 073EP
"Two new tracks from The Young grace this 7" single, out just in time for the band's December 2010 East Coast tour. The Austin, TX quartet continues to carry the torch for honest, emotive rock music, gravel-throated and pure of intent, the way we all used to remember indie rock: as music for the outcasts, in the years before it was co-opted as a marketing tool. 'Sweet' and 'Swollen' both continue in the path of the group's debut album
Voyagers of Legend
, a stark and sincere rally for all the proud men and women holding back the tears out there in radioland." Hand-numbered, limited edition of 500.
Artist:
VACANT LOTS, THE
Title:
Confusion/Cadillac
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.00
Catalog #:
MEX 074EP
"Hailing from the wooded confines of Burlington, Vermont, the Vacant Lots are musicians as well as scientists, having built a time machine that will transport your headspace directly to the Sunset Strip in 1967. 'Confusion' and 'Cadillac' are both prime-cut psychedelic burners, heavy-lidded and strobing with the delights of the era, pristine examples of atmosphere and attitude lent to great pop-rock songwriting." Hand-numbered edition of 300.
Artist:
NITE JEWEL
Title:
It Goes Through Your Head
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 075LP
2011 repress. "The music of Ramona Gonzalez (you know her better as Nite Jewel) brings to mind the days of Teen Steam--a restless, infectious R&B beat, a voice you can sing along to, a positive outlook that sympathizes with your troubles and helps you to dance them away. With a melody like the one found on
It Goes Through Your Head
, you're going to find that it'll stay there as well, bridging a pop sensibility beginning with Cyndi Lauper, continuing on through '80s pop R&B like Expose and The Jets, and ending with Ms. Gonzalez's winning charm and tremendous voice. Remixes by DaM-Funk and the Samps on the flip side reinforce the inherent danceability in these exclusive tunes. Play this record, then get out, get organized and do something awesome today!" Hand-numbered limited edition of 1000 copies.
Artist:
PURO INSTINCT
Title:
Headbangers In Ecstasy
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 076LP
"Mexican Summer came under the spell of the starry Kaplan sisters: Piper and Skylar, and their band Pearl Harbor, who graced the land with their beautific
Something About the Chapparrals
EP. But funny how time flies for the beyond their year siblings, as it's suddenly 2011 and Pearl Harbor now goes by the name of Puro Instinct. And Piper and Sky find themselves bolstered by four other bandmates: Cody Porter, Jessie Clavin, Mike Baum, and Crazy Murray to make their hazy, swirling pop even more realized and sumptuous. Think Fleetwood Mac, Bobb Trimble, and Lush in a champagne filled jacuzzi -but with a bit more sparkle and smog." Hand-numbered limited edition of 1000 copies. Includes a download code.
Artist:
PART TIME
Title:
What Would You Say?
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 080LP
"Captivating bedroom pop with a karaoke video/soft haze filter on it that collapses the textural dimensions of music to an appealing, shiny finish. The music of Part Time owes a debt to '80s movie scores, neon lights, fog machines and nightlife, a generous sampling of New Romance in a post-capitalist world, its heart going out to everyone who hasn't abandoned their silk shirts in favor of more practical attire. The home studio shell and canned dynamics of Part Time quickly dissolve to reveal some serious jammers in the midst, the image of a man pouring his heart out into the psychotropic fronds of the lounge at the Venusian Holiday Inn. Pour yourself a yard of liquid acid and float along." Numbered edition of 750 copies. Includes download code.
Artist:
RADIO PEOPLE
Title:
Hazel
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 082LP
"Slowly drifting over the horizon, into the realms of Mexican Summer, comes Radio People. The return of Cleveland, Ohio man Sam Goldberg's cosmic synthesizer project is cause for fanfare of the most blissful kind -- his music is, after all, a beautiful, hovering behemoth worthy of celebration. Since 2007 Goldberg has become renowned for his slew of highly collectable cassettes, CDRs and VHS on such labels as the Emeralds-curated Wagon and Gneiss Things, Weird Forest, 905 Tapes, Catholic Tapes and Tusco/Embassy, while also finding the time to found his own prolific imprint Pizza Night. Radio People appeared in 2009, producing a similar cascade of material, with Digitalis Records carefully gathering a selection and committing them to vinyl a year later. Mexican Summer is proud to contribute to this legacy with his new album
Hazel
, a collection of dream-like soundscapes, billowing clouds of synthesizers cut with poignant razor drones, expansive sweeping melodies and suspended harmonies. When brought out of reverie, Radio People pushes ever onward with Italo and Kosmische pulses, concise percussion and sombre vocals, but when left for a while it is always happy to melt back into music for drooping eyelids and swollen hearts. Intergalactic drama at its best and most essential." Limited, numbered edition of 750 copies. Includes download code.
Artist:
ASHLEY, GREG
Title:
On Thin Heroine/Misery Again
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.00
Catalog #:
MEX 084EP
"Greg Ashley (The Gris Gris, The Mirrors, Strate Coats, solo fame, record maker extraordinaire) continues along his path as a troubador, with two new countrified crooners which'll find you alone, sittin' at the bar in broad daylight, lookin' down low. Skirting the line between legitimate Nashville tears in your beers and marvelous, near-classical new Americana folk, these two sorry sons-a-guns are slowly revealing the full count of Ashley's skills as a singer, songwriter and arranger." Last copies.
Artist:
PINK PLAYGROUND
Title:
Destination Ecstasy
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$16.50
Catalog #:
MEX 085LP
"From Houston, Texas comes Pink Playground, a new band that makes videos instead of playing live, and runs in the tradition of shoe-gaze and ethereal sounds right back to the earliest Jesus and Mary Chain demos. Guitars, synths, otherworldly vocals and drum machines collude to the proto-noise pop moment of the mid '80s, and charges forth as if the band's members were born to play in that vein. Ear-splitting volume and spun sugar melodies fill the space with pink pollen blizzard dynamics so thick and hazy you might need a dust mask to power through them, songs so sweet that they sting, manners inverted into a new form of aggression." Hand-numbered limited edition of 750; includes download code.
Artist:
DATE PALMS
Title:
Honey Devash
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 086LP
"Based in Oakland, California, Gregg Kowalsky and Marielle Jakobsons share internationally spanning solo careers as creative practitioners with a solid foundation in drone music composition and performance. However, it is a mutual love for analogue electric sound sources and tape multitracking that has resulted in their psychedelic, trance-inducing collaboration as Date Palms.
Honey Devash
, Date Palms' first release on Mexican Summer, is testament to their captivating skill for layering and balancing timbres into long-form, immersive slow burners. Astonishingly evocative of desert heat, summer nights, dry sandscapes of fuzz bass, fender rhodes, synth, violin, tanpura and feedback shift gradually like dunes in hot winds, as wavering mirages in the distance are picked out through slow melodies on keyboards, piano and flutes. Two tracks of incredibly slow-panning consideration,
Honey Devash
feels like a hazy meditation on survival; a prolonged buzz of tension and uncertainty melding with simple acceptance as the sun, unrelenting, beats ever down." Hand-numbered edition of 500; includes download code.
Artist:
BRAIN IDEA
Title:
Cosmos Factory
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 087LP
"The title of these Chicago boys' latest EP may scream Creedence Clearwater Revival, but the sounds within revive nothing but the best moments of the Flying Nun catalog, that venerable New Zealand indie label that brought us bands like the Clean, the Verlaines, the Bats, Tall Dwarfs and countless others. Five songs to make your heart swell and your shirt buttons pop open, sturdy yet vulnerable songs for contemplative times." Numbered edition of 500 copies; includes download code.
Artist:
LIGHT ASYLUM
Title:
In Tension
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
12"
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 088EP
"At once brutal and romantic, Light Asylum exists in that space where industrial gives way to goth, where the city meets the outer regions under the cover of night. Four songs here that showcase Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello's fluid synth pop attack that shifts elegantly from midtempo industrial dance to subliminal futureballads that are deceptively uplifting when considering LI's relentless dark sheen. Calling Funchess a commanding lead singer is an understatement; there is a heaviness and attack in her vocal delivery that is downright sinister. This is contemporary synth pop to a tee that comes to life during their revered live performances." Limited, numbered edition of 1000; includes download code.
Artist:
HOME BLITZ
Title:
A.T.K./Last Cycle
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.00
Catalog #:
MEX 089EP
"It's okay there aren't any two Home Blitz releases which sound alike. Sure, bandleader Daniel DiMaggio is involved in all of them -- that's his voice, a British scouser trapped in a latent New Jersey teenager's body -- and they're all pretty much as lo-fi as you can get without the tape disintegrating, but it's his approach to songwriting that changes things up on each new record. Here we have two new ones, songs about nostalgia for experiences not had (
A.T.K.
, which shifts from Incredible Kidda Band style energy to Pavement-esque slacker downbeats in just over two minutes), and experiences in interstate travel and estimation of one's worth ('Last Cycle,' doing a completely different trick in something more like three). Both songs bristle with the sort of nervous energy that powered groups like the Feelies and Game Theory, two distinct touchpoints in Home Blitz's sloppy, floppy sound, and when they power through it in the live setting (with guitarist Theresa Smith, bassist Jason Sigal and teenage drummer Henry Hynes in tow), they become the greatest band on the East Coast for that moment." Numbered, limited edition of 300 copies.
Artist:
COLD SHOWERS
Title:
Highlands
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.00
Catalog #:
MEX 093EP
"
Highlands
is the forceful debut by Los Angeles based band Cold Showers. 'I Don't Mind' is the sound of a band displaying their influences. Punk washed away in a pool of reverberated vocals, fuzzed out nervous sliding guitar rhythms, thumping bass, and minimalistic metronomic drumming lend a blissful, weightless quality. 'Near Burn' expands their sound further. Slowed down with tuneful pop sensibilities, it is more immediate in terms of melody. The music swells and pushes through with just the right little wrapping of echoes. This one takes longer to settle into, but the lyrics are more direct, personal, and anxiety ridden. Shades of Gun Club, X, Section 25 and A Certain Ratio. Essential listening limited to 300 copies."
Artist:
PURLING HISS
Title:
Lounge Lizards
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 094LP
"After a series of three LPs which alternated between mind's eye-gouging psychedelic excess and pine-scented woodshedding of pop tunes, here comes the logical endpoint between both:
Lounge Lizards
, six songs that stick around like sedan carpet matted with spilled Pepsi and Pat's wrappers, a hard drill that penetrates historical musical hits, like the Cars through Dinosaur Jr through Monoshock and into the cold, acrid air of present times." Limited, numbered edition of 1000; includes download code.
Artist:
QUILT
Title:
Quilt
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$16.50
Catalog #:
MEX 099LP
"Listening to their self-titled debut, it's no surprise that the members of Quilt came together out of a shared love of visual art. While their music is steeped in timeless qualities like the gorgeous harmonies on 'Milo' or the twinkling guitar on 'Utopian Canyon,' the entire record is full of expansive, cinematic moments. Each song can be enjoyed independently, but taken as a whole, the record becomes a world of its own: guitars drift languidly, keys sparkle in and out, often following their own threads into the stratosphere, with vocals that are at once powerful and intimate." Hand-numbered limited edition of 750; includes download code.
Artist:
FORD & LOPATIN
Title:
Snakes/Flying Dream
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
12"
Price:
$15.00
Catalog #:
MEX 100EP
"For our 100th release, Mexican Summer proudly presents an extremely special one-off: two productions from Ford & Lopatin quite unlike anything heard from them to date, featuring guest appearances from label mates Tamaryn and Shannon Funchess (Light Asylum). Limited edition of 750 pressed, clear vinyl, screen printed inner sleeve, large one-sided poster."
Artist:
WEXLER, MIKE
Title:
Dispossession
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 104LP
"
Dispossession
is the second full length from Brooklyn's Mike Wexler, and his debut for Mexican Summer. An artist who defies easy categorization--a songwriter/guitarist without a traditionalist bone in his body, with an ear for far flung sound-worlds and sonic atmospheres both high & low, Wexler brings all of his manifold interests to bear in carving out a space for a singular vision uniquely attuned to the present moment. Dispossession is the product of over two years of intermittent recording. It features players from the worlds of underground rock (ex members of White Magic and The Occasion), free improvisation (Ryan Sawyer, Nate Wooley, Jessica Pavone), synth and string textures inspired by the likes of Eliane Radigue and the Spectralists, a vocal and lyrical presence of unsettling, near-subliminal depth, and the omnipresent backbone of fingerstyle guitar, without a trace of 'Americana' to be heard. The basic band tracks were recorded live, at more or less the moment when the arrangements first crystallized, so there's a bedrock of spontaneity and a free feeling to the proceedings, complicated by the highly mapped-out nature of the subsequent orchestration, synth washes and overdubs. It's a record that fits the broken mold of auteurist songwriters who nod to the ideas of forward looking writers and artists in their work, a loose lineage that could include musicians like Robert Wyatt, Scott Walker, or Richard Youngs." Includes download card.
Artist:
LIGHT ASYLUM
Title:
Shallow Tears
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
12"
Price:
$11.00
Catalog #:
MEX 105EP
"Light Asylum storms the dark castle with the
Shallow Tears
12". A co-production with Chris Coady (Beach House, Gang Gang Dance, Grizzly Bear),
Shallow Tears
is an early morning, arm-in-arm dancefloor psalm that hints at what's to come from the band's debut album. The B-side, 'Genesis' is mostly instrumental melancholic techno-pop in line with Chris & Cosey's output, accented by ambient delay tactics and ghostly vocal choruses. Pressing of 300." Includes download card. Pressed on high-quality virgin vinyl.
Artist:
LILACS & CHAMPAGNE
Title:
Lilacs & Champagne
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$16.50
Catalog #:
MEX 106LP
"As the producing-team behind Grails, Alex Hall and Emil Amos have hybridized and warped various cultures' versions of psych music over the past decade. With their new project Lilacs & Champagne, they've created another umbrella under which to tweak hip-hop, tape-collage and the darkest creases of '70s film-soundtracks with their lysergic and perverse style of head-music. The project's name and imagery evoke a strange thrift-store mystery LP you might come across, unsure if you've discovered an exotic dub record, a flowery Bacharach AM radio classic or something by an obscure duo of Swedish avant-techno producers. The record began under the influence of Madlib's production style, which had suggested that writing songs using an Akai MPC sampler would force the two to stretch their legs and explode any expectations created by records they've made in the past. But rather than sampling the funk and soul canon of traditional hip hop, they pulled from disparate sources such as Polish private press hippie records, indistinguishable radio noise or the chopped and reversed sounds of Jayne Mansfield's head being decapitated. Layers of instruments and found sound were then painted over the original samples until entirely new directions were created and taken to their logical conclusion, creating something simultaneously alien and familiar, something like the sound of Nurse with Wound collaborating with J-Dilla. Release date 1/31. First pressing of 1000. Vinyl includes digital download."
Artist:
ZIG ZAGS
Title:
Scavenger
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
7"
Price:
$5.50
Catalog #:
MEX 107EP
"Los Angeles-based Zig Zags debut 7" single for Mexican Summer. 'Scavenger' unloads like Budgie's 'Breadfan' played in a high school heavy metal bedroom while the band screams threats to all freeloaders and marauders who show up to parties empty-handed. 'Wastin' My Time' -- a more straightforward punker, keeps up the tempo but locks into a repetitive Krautrock groove that worms its way into your ear holes like those brain eating maggots in
Beastmaster
. Cover dude (drawn by Chad Kawamura of the Outdoorsmen) getting eating by a vulture is one of the aforementioned freeloaders we have to deal with out here while our dead friend Randy watches the carnage drunk on Olympia beer like a zombie Clint Eastwood. Zig Zags have shared personnel with West Coast nose-garage royalty the Intelligence and Unnatural Helpers. Pressing of 300."
Artist:
LIGHT ASYLUM
Title:
Light Asylum
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$18.00
Catalog #:
MEX 108LP
"The debut full-length album by Light Asylum has been a long time coming, but not without rabid anticipation. As their self-released
In Tension
EP circulated and resonated with new leagues of listeners worldwide, the reputation of duo Shannon Funchess and Bruno Coviello sweltered via their intense live show, collaborations, and remixes.
Light Asylum
marks Funchess' and Coviello's return to the recorded fray with renewed intent, emotion and visceral energy, all too powerful effect.
Light Asylum
is a collection of ten songs that are contemplative and starkly necessary." On orange-colored vinyl, housed in a full-color gatefold sleeve with poster; numbered edition of 1000 copies.
Artist:
BEST COAST
Title:
The Only Place (Limited Edition)
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$19.00
Catalog #:
MEX 109LTD-LP
Deluxe version of the new LP which comes with a photo booklet. "
The Only Place
is the follow-up to Best Coast's 2010 acclaimed
Crazy For You
and finds the proudly Southern Californian duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno maturing in both their sound and perspective. While
Crazy For You
was a nostalgic tribute to teenage feelings, this new album finds front woman Cosentino transitioning into adulthood, with the feeling of uncertainty and self-doubt at the emotional center of the album. The album also features a love song to her home state of California in the title track. All encompassed in the memorable album cover, derived from a 1913 sheet music illustration paying homage to the golden state."
Artist:
ALPS, THE
Title:
Easy Action
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$16.50
Catalog #:
MEX 115LP
"Following the limited edition pressing of
Pop-Up Pyramid
LP -- designed by acclaimed visual artist Tauba Auerbach & Alps member Alexis Georgopoulos aka ARP (RVNG Intl/Smalltown Supersound), Mexican Summer is happy to present a special second edition of the group's
Easy Action
LP.
Easy Action
is the group's third studio album, following
III
and
Le Voyage
-- both released by Type (UK). Though, in fact,
Easy Action
stands apart from those two albums in that the group combined studio recordings with home recordings and further processing to put together the album. Taking a cue from Faust's legendary
Faust Tapes
sessions, which combined jams in a rather obtuse, sometimes jarring way, the group wanted to showcase a different side of things." Housed in a gatefold sleeve; includes download card.
Artist:
ALPS, THE
Title:
III
Label:
MEXICAN SUMMER
Format:
LP
Price:
$16.50
Catalog #:
MEX 116LP
"Mexican Summer presents a reissue of the out-of-print album
III
by The Alps. Originally released in 2008 by Type (UK),
III
was, in fact, The Alps' third release - the first two being CDR releases for the Root Strata and Digitalis labels - but represented the group's first proper studio recording. At turns luminous, at others cavernous,
III
is a beatific collision of sounds and influences that show the group, like castaways on some hazy archipelago, weaving a musical brocade that is richly evocative, deeply imagistic and from another place.
III
is psychedelic mind music as suited to contemplating the void as it is for dreaming up distant, otherworldly journeys. It is music with far-off places in mind, suggestive of a transnational Paul Bowles epic." Numbered edition of 1000 copies; includes download code.
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