blvd records

We’re stoked to OFFICIALLY announce that we’ll be working with awesome Minneapolis band CLAPS in the near future, who we fell in love with when they played a show with our beloved Population a while back.

CLAPS = minimal wave/synthpop at it’s finest. Bare bones analog synths + bass + vox, but managing a sound as dynamic and full as OMD or Joy Division. Poppy, yet dark. Stark, yet danceable. We highly recommend checking them out IMMEDIATELY.

Chicago folks can check them out TWICE this Saturday, 4/20.

6:00pm, Laurie’s Planet of Sound (free Record Store Day instore) with Unur, Cinchel
9:00pm, The Observatory (3036 Lincoln), with Jimmy Whispers, Ball Drop, Sleeping Bag, Laser Background — BLVD+Laurie’s Record Store Day afterparty!

Claps on Facebook
Claps on Bandcamp (<– grab “Glory, Glory” and “Wreck”!!)
Claps on Twitter
Claps on Tumblr
Claps on Soundcloud

BLVD AND RECORD STORE DAY

Speaking of Record Store Day (which is this Saturday 4/20). . .  not only will Claps be at Laurie’s for their RSD celebrations, but Fake Limbs will be playing at Saki at 6pm. Pink Frost are in Minneapolis that night playing with the almighty WARLOCKS at the Turf Club!! Our own little afterparty will be the Claps show at the Observatory on Lincoln Ave, at 9pm. Support your local record stores, labels, AND bands!

The awesome traveling record show, Beat Swap Meet, is coming back to Chicago THIS Sunday (3/24) at the Empty Bottle! BLVD is super stoked to be a part of this event, along with Numero Group and other fine local labels.

BLVD folks will be DJing throughout the day and there will be special performances from our own synthgazers New Canyons and lo-fi master Scott Cortez/Astrobrite. Times TBA.

PLUS: fine vinyl records for sale from vendors galore!
PLUS: BLVD giveaways, plus we’ll have some merch available, including a few “out of print” items!

Event info is HERE!
Admission is FREE with a canned good!

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Mahogany‘s *NEW* breakthrough single “Phase Break” is available on iTunes!
AND they got a nod from or friend Leor Galil at the Chicago Reader for their SXSW performance at the SESAC Showcase…. “blissful fuzz” abound!

If you haven’t checked out their excellent new video, definitely do so HERE.

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RANDOM NOTES:

Peep our ongoing calendar HERE for SO. MANY. GREAT. SHOWS.

We have something pretty awesome in the works for Record Store Day 2013 (April 20th!!) in conjunction with our sister-business, Laurie’s Planet of Sound. Keep an eye out, because it will be Very Cool.

Also, our partnership with Chicago’s goth/glamiest event, BITTERSWEET, rolls on as DJ Peroxide celebrates Bittersweet’s 3rd Anniversary at Late Bar, on Wednesday, March 27! This will also be Bittersweet’s LAST night at Late Bar before moving to other locations, so let’s go out with a bang, shall we?

Population has a new single out on the wonderful HoZac Records! Pretty sure you should pick it up, quick!

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Mahogany, “Phase Break” (Official Video)

The illustrious and renowned Mahogany have released a brand new official video for their upcoming “Phase Break” single, in anticipation of their upcoming SXSW appearances! Featuring Mahogany member Jaclyn Slimm’s glorious choreography and performance… this is a must-see!

“Phase Break” will be released on iTunes and all other major digital retailers on Tuesday, March 12, so please keep an eye out.

Direct link to the “Phase Break” video is HERE.

Mahogany will be joining a well-rounded grouping of excellent Chicago bands on Saturday (3/9) at the Hideout’s annual SXSW Send-Off Party… tickets and additional information can be found HERE.

MAHOGANY SXSW APPERANCES:

Wednesday, 3/14: Swan Dive/Barbarella (Patio Stage)
Brooklyn Vegan/Epitonic Showcase, 12:45pm.
Event info HERE.

Wednesday, 3/14: Friends Bar
SESAC Showcase, 1am (Headlining)
Event info HERE.

Thursday, 3/15: Waterloo Cycles
SXSWaterloo Showcase, 4:30pm
Event info HERE.

Press from our friends at The Color Awesome can be found HERE… “My favorite modern music project, Mahogany, are breakin’ through with their newest, “Phase Break.”  There aren’t many bands in the last decade (plus) who can legitimately claim to have torn the corporate pop music manual up to bits.”

Mahogany Website
Mahogany on Facebook
Mahogany on Twitter
“Keystone Sonata” SXSW ’12 Official Video

We have an announcement that we’ve been holding in for a bit…one of our favorite Chicago bands, Pink Frost (formerly Apteka), have been hard at work over at Electrical Audio putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming second LP, and follow up to their debut, Gargoyle Days. BLVD Records, in partnership with Chicago awesome upstarts Notes & Bolts Records & Tapes, will be releasing the LP and we couldn’t be more excited. Here’s some ‘official’ press wordage:

“Notes & Bolts and BLVD Records are happy to not only announce a most excellent partnership for an upcoming dual/split release, but also that this dual/split release (the first of many) is for awesome Chicago gazey psychedelic rock heavyweights PINK FROST (formerly Apteka)!

Following a cassette release of their “Gargoyle Days” album and a brand new 7″ single (both on Notes & Bolts), the two Chicago labels will be joining forces to release the vinyl LP version of Pink Frost’s highly anticipated upcoming album, due out this spring/early summer!”

Here are some kind words on the Frost from the Tribune and the Chicagoist:

“This quartet builds an expressway to your skull in the grand tradition of Sonic Youth, Spiritualized and other guitar armies. On its first full-length album, Apteka luxuriates in the sound and physicality of humming amplifiers, but crucially, the band doesn’t forget the songs.” -Chicago Tribune

“Apteka creates aggressive music you can hum along to. They don’t quite fit in any easy categorization. The guitars shred and burn as they build up a trembling wall of sound that would enter shoegaze territory were it not so insistent on driving forward instead of draping easily over you. The drums and bass create a rock solid base of support without ever resorting to an easily followed rhythm…. But again, there’s a surprising accessibility to this music and we think the point of entry there is probably through the band’s appropriation of melodies that please instead of scare. These are songs that, no matter how much they make your skin want to melt into a puddle at your feet you can still hum along to.” -Chicagoist

Pink Frost on Facebook
Pink Frost on Bandcamp
Pink Frost on Twitter
Pink Frost video for “Where Days Go” at Impose Magazine HERE
Pink Frost “Gargoyle Days” cassette release on Notes & Bolts
Pink Frost NEW 7″ single release info Notes & Bolts info

Pink Frost will be playing a release show/Epitonic Session for their new N&B single at Saki Records, this Saturday (1/25). Opening will the Coins and BLVD-family member Scott Cortez (Astrobrite) PLUS in-between and after music from DJ Peroxide! More information HERE.
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Also introducing… BLASTED DIPLOMATS! We’re super stoked to be adding this superb rock’n’roll band to the BLVD roster for 2013!

BLVD Records is proud to announce that the vinyl release of the amazing North Highlands, Wild One LP is up for pre-order now!

Official release date for the LP is Tuesday, November 27, 2012. When you pre-order the record in our store you will receive a link to a quality digital download of the album while you wait for the wax (and never fear, the vinyl will ship before release date + also includes a download card!).

Initially digitally self-released this past year, here’s what a few folks had to say:

In an era where cute indie bands are a dime a dozen, one might be less inclined to trust a band that comes from Williamsburg, Brooklyn — one of a number of bellies of the just-ok, lo-fi hipster music beast. However the debut album by North Highlands offers a refreshing take on another end of the indie spectrum: one that emphasizes the album as a work of interrelated, complexly composed songs that contain complementary layers of instruments without sacrificing an upbeat tone. -Gozamos

Wild One is the band’s debut full-length, constructed by Malvini and her band, which demonstrates a proficiency seldom heard on the Brooklyn indie rock circuit. Fortunately, this is a group that knows how to juggle the technical gifts at its disposal and the emotional application needed to make this something more than an exercise in indie navel-gazing. Wild One might seem like an inappropriate banner to hoist over such quotidian surface structures, but dig a little deeper and it clearly represents this band’s desire to shake things up every once in a while. -Pitchfork

It’s the sort of intricately homespun and delicate indie-pop I’d call “polite” in an unpatronizing, earnest, and positive way, though it is on a painful post-CMJ morning like this that it stops being polite and starts being soothing balm for a battered brain. Think Twin Sister with less Stereolab and a more gentle breeze. -Stereogum

And there is plenty more to checkout from our NYC cohorts, if you so desire (you do!):

-STREAM: Wild One (and more!) on Bandcamp
-DAYTROTTER: North Highlands Session from June 27, 2012
-VIDEOMANIA: Sugar Lips, Benefits, and Fre$ca music videos + live acoustic session on Big Ugly Yellow Couch
-MEDIAMANIA: Brooklyn Vegan, Interview Magazine, Paper Mag, Quit Mumbling: Mixtape by North Highlands
-SOCIAL: North Highlands on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube

Click HERE to access the BLVD store and purchase!

The BIG news is BLISSFEST 2012. We’ve been working very hard with Bittersweet and Neon Sigh to expand DJ Peroxide‘s annual Blissfest event, and everything is set to go:

Friday, October 19 at the Subterranean, Chicago.
With NEW CANYONS, lovesliescrushing, Airiel, Darkred, Golden Gardens & DJ Peroxide.

New Canyons will be playing tracks from their upcoming BLVD LP, “Everyone is Dark.”

Tickets here: Blissfest 2012 Tickets

Our Blissfest Kick Off/Pre-Party will be held on Thursday, October 18, at Late Bar. We will be raffling off TWO pairs of tickets, as well as other rare merchandise from participating bands!

Info here: Bittersweet Presents: BLISSFEST Kickoff Party

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Other BLVD briefs:
-BLVD ongoing sampler on Soundloud is HERE.
-The North Highlands “Wild One” LP is *finally* in production!
-The Blizzard Babies 12″ is about to go into production!
-The BLVD Records Events listing over at Facebook has been updated and includes super cool shows (like Blizzard Babies with Grass Widow! Population with Lost Tribe!). Check it out!
-Awesome review of the Fake Limbs “Man Feelings” LP here at Still Single!
-Our friends over at the Notes & Bolts have been doing a series of awesome podcasts, a lot of which are BLVD-related! Check out very not-boring-but-actually-super-interesting podcasts with Melissa of BLVD, Blizzard Babies and Staring Problem! There are also many “friends of BLVD” featured, like Patrick from Modern Tapes, Cinchel, Robert Loerzel, Outer Minds, and more!
-New Canyons, Mahogany, Staring Problem & Astrobrite are all hard at work on their upcoming BLVD releases… as always, stay tuned for more information!

Shimmer is tonight (9/6) at Late Bar, Chicago. SHIMMER is our monthly devotional to all things shoegaze, spacerock, drone, psychedelic and dreampop. Hear several BLVD acts plus the classics, every first Thursday of the month. Brought to you by Bittersweet and American Gothic Productions, with DJs Peroxide & Scary Lady Sarah. Melissa of BLVD bartends.. come say hi!

You now have a chance to easily sample BLVD tracks online: BLVD is now on Soundcloud! Click HERE to check out our ongoing “BLVD sampler” of already-released and upcoming tracks. We just added BRAND NEW (ie: unreleased) streaming tracks from New Canyons and Astrobrite. Also sample tracks from Population, Vee Dee, Staring Problem, Fake Limbs, North Highlands, and Blizzard Babies. Check frequently – we will add as we can!

We are very excited to announce future collaborations with our friends at Neon Sigh, currently located in Seattle. Neon Sigh will be releasing the CD versions of two upcoming, brand new albums by ASTROBRITE, and will be split releasing these albums on lovely vinyl with us! Stay tuned… and be sure to follow Neon Sigh on facebook and on twitter.

FAKE LIMBS …. all sorts of great hubbub over the Fake Limbs “Man Feelings” LP! A great review was just released on Still Single:

Chicagoans doing what they’re known for, dusting off the Midwest tool & die math/noise/boogie rock motif for a new year, decades away from the prime cut of that sound (Jesus Lizard, Tar, Shorty) but investing vigor, non-cruel laffs, and weirdness into the fray in a manner that most current practitioners are too serious (or just not good enough) to muster. Recorded at Electrical and featuring one of its employees, Fake Limbs put on the bulk required to bust through the walls of convention… -Doug Mosurock

Speaking of. . . Fake Limbs are playing two (2) shows this month. TOMORROW (Friday 9/7) at Quencher’s Chicago with the almighty Bellini and IFIHADAHIFI, and this MONDAY (9/10) at the Whistler, Chicago (presented by CHIRP!).

Always keep abreast of BLVD-related events on our BLVD Events listing on Facebook, HERE.

European friends!! The Population AND Staring Problem 7″s will very soon be up for mailorder via Inflammable Materials Records in the UK…check out this awesome DIY/punk/hc mailorder and easily get a hold of these releases! We’ll have stuff in Japan very soon, as well…keep an eye out.

//finis b/w we love you!

STARING PROBLEM.

RECORD RELEASE SHOW: TONIGHT.

Late Bar, 3534 W. Belmont, doors at 9pm, bands at 10 sharp, $7, with DEN and ZED.

Their new BLVD 7″ EP is here, and is beyond excellent. The proper release date is this coming Tuesday, but it will certainly be available at the show and on their mini-tour (more info on that below).

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Moody, minimal, swirling postpunk of the new age… Staring Problem, along w/BLVD cohorts Population, are leaders of the midwest nugoth craze. If you like The Cure, Christian Death, Raincoats, Malaria!, Arctic Flowers, Pleasure Leftists, The Wake, and/or early Siouxsie, then having this in your collection is a MUST. A propulsive rhythm section (courtesy of Alix & Jake) guides sparse and angular guitar licks while maintaining a DIY punk backbone. Singer/guitarist Lauren Owen brings an angsty, yet calm vocal effect to the fold, built upon the tradition of past dark & dire postpunk singers. This phenomenal band, with members located in Chicago and Carbondale IL, are taking the gothic/postpunk/darkwave revival and reinventing it into their own excellently dark sound. Look for a full-length soon on BLVD.

”BLVD Records will release a new three-song seven-inch from downcast Carbondale/­Chicago postpunk trio Staring Problem. The band’s sweet ‘n’ screechy 2010 self-titled debut cassette for local label Modern Tapes had Gossip Wolf frothing at the mouth, and not from rabies! Their sound—imagine Phil Spector producing a girl-fronted group that had murdered and was filling in for the Cure—makes a mighty strong impression. This Wolf is already fiending for that seven-inch.” –Chicago Reader/Gossip Wolf

“Catchy, dark, post punk from the bowels of southern Illinois with a hint of light at the end of the tunnel.” –Modern Tapes

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You may also purchase the Staring Problem EP + MP3 direct from BLVD, here.

STARING PROBLEM MICROTOUR:
Friday, 7/13: Melody Inn, Indianapolis IN
Saturday, 7/14: Ace of Cups, Columbus OH
Sunday, 7/15: Lager House, Detroit MI

As our beloved, fucked-up country adds another yearly notch to its belt, we figure there is no better way to celebrate our nation’s independence (aside from BBQs of course) than to offer some HOT DEALZ for all you hard workin’ Americans out there. The following super special sales will be up and available for only a week, so don’t miss out!

1. Vee Dee LP + Miss Lucy 7″ – $10

Self-explanatory Vee Dee sale! Order the self-titled LP and Miss Lucy 7″ for a combined $10. Deal of the century!

2. Buy 2 LPs and Get 1 LP (or 7″) for Free! – $24

Order any 2 BLVD LPs and get an additional, FREE record of your choosing. Can be LP or 7″, the choice is yours. (Make sure to list your selections in Paypal order).

3. 7″ Discount Deal – $10

Order any 2 BLVD 7″ for $10. (Make sure to list your selections in Paypal order).

Moody, minimal, swirling postpunk of the new age… Staring Problem, along w/BLVD cohorts Population, are leaders of the midwest nugoth craze. If you like The Cure, Christian Death, Raincoats, Malaria!, and/or early Siouxsie, then having this in your collection is a MUST. This phenomenal band, with members located in Chicago and Carbondale, are taking the gothic/postpunk/darkwave revival and reinventing it into their own excellently dark sound.

Each 7″ comes with a digital download code and nice insert. If you’d like to sample a track first, head over to the Staring Problem bandcamp! These will begin shipping the week before the proper release date, which is July 10.

‎”BLVD Records will release a new three-song seven-inch from downcast Carbondale/­Chicago postpunk trio Staring Problem. The band’s sweet ‘n’ screechy 2010 self-titled debut cassette for local label Modern Tapes had Gossip Wolf frothing at the mouth, and not from rabies! Their sound—imagine Phil Spector producing a girl-fronted group that had murdered and was filling in for the Cure—makes a mighty strong impression. This Wolf is already fiending for that seven-inch.”  –Chicago Reader/Gossip Wolf

Catchy, dark, post punk from the bowels of southern Illinois with a hint of light at the end of the tunnel.  –Modern Tapes

It’s dark chocolate casual. Not deliberately but casually dark, post-punk…….the kind that print in mostly black shirts, but not seemingly interested in shaping an image…. at a glance they can sound like early Siouxsie….wait, wait!!! Don’t roll them eyes like that. “Don’t they all” you say. But if that is what gets you to listen, and since they are an active band, go see them. -Goth Traveller

Click HERE to access the BLVD store and purchase!

Staring Problem, Stoked