HOPSCOTCH!

The Hopscotch Music Festival is almost here and we are all very excited about it. Between Thursday, September 9th and Saturday, September 11th over 100 bands will be playing at over 9 venues spread out over Raleigh, NC. Here is a guide to Odessa Records at Hopscotch:

9.9.10: Shit Horse @ The Ruby Red Warehouse - A Hopscotch afterparty at 2:00AM. Prepare yoursleves for the premiere of the Shit Horse long form music video, directed by CreatoDestructo!

9.10.10: 12NOON @ Tir Na Nog - Record Label Record Fair & Daytime show!

The Kingsbury Manx - Tir Na Nog @ 10:00PM w/ Bellafea, Schooner, The War on Drugs

Americans in France - The Hive @ Busy Bee @ 9:30PM w/ Veelee, Active Child, Mountains

Spider Bags - Slim's Downtown @ 10:00PM w/ Followed by Static, The Golden Boys, Harlem

We hope to see you there!

Prepare to be Transported...

...And we don't mean via a shitty, oops, I mean awesome Jason Statham action movie. September 28th will see the release of TRANSPORTATION Amusement Park. Transportation are one of the best live bands Chapel Hill has to offer so we are pleased to be presenting this, their second official release. Amusement Park finds the trio simplifying things and showcasing what they do best - rock, riffs, hooks, and damn good songs. What can we say to aptly describe the hot-as-hell fretwork of Stephen Murtaugh? The to-die-for-Emmit Rhodes-by-way-of Phil Lynnot voice of Robert Scruggs? The exploding landmine drumming of Ben Dunlap? Nothing that hasn't been said already - it's best to hear it for yourself. In fact, you can download the standout track 'Danni' for free on their bandpage, or head over to Bandcamp where the full record is currently streaming.

Here is the album cover and tracklist:

1. Amusement Park * 2. Love on The Ground * 3. Pool Parties * 4. Danni * 5. I Will Be What I Was * 6. Blew Our Minds * 7. Stars in The Sky * 8. The Yard * 9. To All Our Friends * 10. Let It Out

Amusement Park was recorded by Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Portastatic, The Kingsbury Manx, to name a few) at his famed Duck Kee Studio in Mebane, NC. The Transportation songbook at this point is filled with could-be hits and we think this latest release may be their best. NC residents will have plenty of chances to see some great performances this September. Head back over to their bandpage for their complete show schedule.

Fall Plans

We're making plans for the Fall. The first plan is to not go out of business, and then if that plan works, we have lots of others. For instance, on September 28th we plan to release Transportation's latest album, Amusement Park. October 12th we plan to release Wild Wild Geese's debut full length Sorry, Earth.

There are also brand new records in the can by Inspector 22 and Michael Holland ready to go. We'll keep you posted on those release dates.

Americans in France have been busy in the studio. Their second full length Davie, is just about done. The three piece have been holed up at Sound of Music studio in Richmond, VA working with producer John Morand. The results so far sound pretty great. If we're still around, we hope to release it later this year. For now you can check here for a preview - a video for 'The Mingler', a brand new song from the aforementioned album as directed by drummer Casey Cook.

Speaking of videos, The Kingsbury Manx also have a new one. This one is for the song 'Over The Oeuvre' from last year's Ascenseur Ouvert. It was directed by Richard Jaimeyfield and we like to think of it as a mash-up of The Monkees and Lost.

And by the way - in case no one has noticed - SHIT HORSE kills it. If you're not sure what we mean, check this video from the Mercury Lounge in NYC a couple weeks ago. Their first cassette release, They Shit Horses, Don't They? came out this past June, and no one seems to have noticed. WHAT THE FUCK is wrong with this world?

I'm starting to feel like Roy Baty over here.

Odessaic Arrtctosk Plation

Yes, you read that right - and it's true. Meaning, the first ever Odessa compilation is here and will be available for sale exclusively this weekend at Odessa Fest. But if you can't make it to the festival - don't fret. It will soon be available through this site, free as a download, or $6 for the CD. It is mostly unreleased material from every single Odessa artist, and then some. Here is the tracklist:

1. "Your Friend" - Wesley Wolfe 2. "The Mingler" - Americans in France 3. "Big Plans" - Impossible Arms (from 'Ripped in No Time') 4. "The Make We Love" - Fan Modine 5. "Walk On Water" ( Alternate Version with Eric Morrison of Home) - The Kingsbury Manx 6. "Cannibal" - Inspector 22 (from upcoming 'Drop Dead' Album) 7. WURG - WAUMISS (from "WAUMISS" album) 8. "He Called For You" - Spider Bags (An exclusive track that was originally slated for thei amazing debut, ' A Celebration of Hunger' but left off) 9. "Long Destruction" - Mowing Lawns (from their as yet unreleased album) 10. "Flush It Away (Live) " - Shit Horse 11. "Dreamer" - Wild Wild Geese 12. "Hot Summer Night" - Michael Holland (from upcoming "The Good Life is Half Night" album) 13. "Long Walk Home" - Transportation. That's 13 songs, 10 of which are previously unreleased. 43 solid minutes of music. Here's an image of the cover, which was painted by Casey Cook (Americans In France).

Welcome Wesley Wolfe

April 20th 2010 will see the release of "Storage" by Wesley Wolfe on CD and limited edition LP that includes a CD copy in lieu of a download card. "Storage" was already finished and manufactured by the time it reached Odessa HQ. We liked the record so much that we immediately struck a deal with Wes to co-release and distribute it. Refreshingly catchy, these ten finely crafted songs will get stuck in your head and you'll be hooked! Check out Wes's band page for a free MP3 download of the wonderful song "Who's Going to Truly Love You?". So let's give an official and warm welcome to Mr. Wesley Wolfe. Yeah!

Check out a track preview and nice write up for Wes at Magnet Magazine.

Odessa Fest 2010

The first annual Odessa Records Festival will be happening on April 23rd - 24th at Night Light in Chapel Hill, NC! We have plenty of strange and awesome surprises in store, as well as complete sets by almost every Odessa band. Tickets are $8 per night or $15 for the weekend. Pre-sale tickets are available now at Night Light - (919) 960-6101 and CD Alley - (919) 960-9272 in Chapel Hill.

As of right now, the lineup is:

Friday April 23rd

Transportation   12:30

Inspector 22   11:45

Shit Horse   11:00

WAUMISS   10:15

Wesley Wolfe   9:30

Saturday April 24th

The Kingsbury Manx   12:30

Americans In France   11:45

Wild Wild Geese   11:00

Impossible Arms   10:15

Michael Holland   9:30

We hope to see you there! Check this site for more updates coming soon.

Our First Year...

Well, we survived our first year! Not too shabby in this current state of the world. Spring of 2009 started out with a bang with debut releases by Americans in France and Impossible Arms, and of course the FIFTH full length by The Kingsbury Manx, a band that has now been around for a solid decade.

The fall brought us a great full length by Inspector 22, and of course that amazing single by Spider Bags, "Teenage Eyes" that seems to be ending up on a lot of year end lists. Wild Wild Geese graced us with a four song free digital EP. We closed '09 out with the wonderful CD issue of the WAUMISS record!

So what's in store for 2010? Lots, my friends, lots! We'll have the second full length by Chapel Hill's Transportation, the long promised full length by Wild Wild Geese, new full lengths by Americans in France and The Kingsbury Manx, and then the beginning of a series of split singles, inaugurated by a Polvo / Fan Modine split 7"! Yes, you read that right and we are just as surprised as you are. So to quote the little man from another place in Twin Peaks, "Let's Rock!"

Odessa bands on Tour!

This November both Americans in France and Impossible Arms will be on the road! Check here and here for full tour itineraries. They are on tour at the same time, but separately - locked in deadly competition. Americans in France's route takes them up the east coast, through the mid-west and eventually down to their beloved Florida. Impossible Arms will be up the east coast as far as NYC, then through the midwest as far as Chicago and then head back to NC via Louisville and Nashville. Both bands are truly terrific and unpredictable live - not to be missed!

AIF Update: Americans in France are keeping up a tour blog, and it is hilarious. Check out  the Pretzelvania Blogspot for the latest on the "Americans in France Lose Their Jobs Tour 2009."   

IA Update: The boys are back in town now, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention receiving a text from them while they were driving through the midwest which simply read: "Next record: OUH1N12." Priceless.                         

Blog Update: After I was done reading the Pretzelvania blog, I wanted to become a follower. I went through a few steps and realized I was actually creating my own blog page. Rather than cancel what I had already started, I decided to finish it, so now there is an Odessa Blog. I'll try and keep it entertaining!

WAUMISS, WAUMIXX

The duo of Clarque and Caroline Blomquist released their debut LP, "WAUMISS" way back in 2008. Earlier this year, we hatched a plan to release a CD issue of the same record, featuring remixes as bonus tracks. Some calls were made and emails sent, and we were beyond pleased with the results.

Ajay Saggar gave us his dub-inflected version of "Nightengale", featuring his own sweet vocals. Next up Eric Morrison (Home) delivered a witchy, spirited version of "Hey Ramona". Mike Jorgensen (Wilco) delivered the goods with his Krautadelic take on "Nightingale" and managed to weave several other WAUMISS songs into it. But nothing could prepare us for the mighty PFFR (Xavier: Renegade Angel, Wonder Showzen) and their enchanting "DeathDreamWithTheUseOfYourOwnBuzzsaw". We're not even sure what songs they used!

The best thing about it all is that the remixes add a natural extension to the original album, retaining the WAUMISS vibe as seen through the lens of some amazing artists. WAUMISS will be available on November 17th. Odessa will also be carrying the original LP album, complete with a new digital download card that contains the bonus tracks.

Wild, Wild Whaaat?

Wild Wild Geese! Something of a Chapel Hill soupergroop, WWG features members of Americans in France, Spider Bags, Ye Olde Shoppe, and The Toddlers. Odessa is proud to be inaugurating our online digital store with their debut EP, "Are You a Baby?" The question is rhetorical, but the band is mighty, and unquestionably rock and roll. The digital only 4 song EP is available for purchase on September 15th. You can preview the song "Ladders" on the Odessa audio player. And guess what? The EP will be free only through this website!

...What about the Spider Bags?

Oh, Indeed! Spider Bags released a classic full length on Birdman records called " A Celebration of Hunger" back on 2007 that was sorely overlooked. This Fall the band released their second full length, and we are lucky enough to have gotten a 7" single out of them for an October 13th release. Recorded with the by now legendary Jerry Kee, "Teenage Eyes" b/w "Eileen" will have you dancing the whisky out of your sweaty pores.

Who is this Inspector 22?

Inspector 22 is the think tank of one Todd Wesley Emmert. Todd has been a local artist, painter, musician and all around legend in Chapel Hill for some time now. He has previously released one 7", 'Rainy Day Saints' and two full lengths, "IRNI" and "The Waiting Grave" through Maine label, donttrusttheruin. Odessa proudly released his most recent opus "Hey, Man I Understand" on October 13th, 2009.  At times harrowing, witty, insightful, folky, and droney, this is a true song cycle. Perhaps the anti-matter universe inversion of Van Dyke Parks, where his session players are replaced by demons with casios and the Sun City Girls in place of Lenny Waronker. Curiosity piqued yet?

Manx Happenings

The Kingsbury Manx's fifth album "Ascenseur Ouvert!" is still gaining praise and press across the four winds. If you haven't picked this classic up - or at least stolen it online - you don't know what you are missing.

Check out the Video page on this site to see the latest Kingsbury Manx video for the song "Well, Whatever". The video was shot entirely on beautifully grainy Super 8 by local film guru Matt Hedt.

The Manx also recently recorded a brand new song called "Custer's Last Stand" for the Terpsikhore Records "Hear Here" compilation to be released late August.

And just to keep things interesting, The Manx boys recently recorded a five song collaboration with Andrew Deutsch (Home), Matt Sumrow (Dean & Britta Band) and Danny Magic (too numerous to mention). What will happen with the tracks remains a mystery. But we will say this - in the space of one afternoon some magic was recorded.

Lastly in recent Manx news, almost the entire Manx back catalog is finally available for Mailorder through the Odessa Store!

Americans in France & Impossible Arms

May 12th saw the release of two debut records. "Pretzelvania" by Americans in France has been gaining some nice reviews and college radio play. The trio's live show is not to be missed. Look for them on tour this November!!

"Ripped in No Time" is the first record for Impossible Arms, another trio. Check out the video page for a wonderful video for their song "Ghost Town" shot by the ever-elusive video artist Damon Bishop. Impossible Arms will be hitting the road this November, so keep an eye on their band page for dates.

Surprise Event During Mergefest XX

This last week the towns of Carrboro/Chapel Hill have been abuzz with the activities of the 20th Anniversary Merge Festival. And rightly so - our neighbors at Merge are amazing and enough good things cannot be said of them.

But nobody expected the impromptu midnight performances three nights in a row by the elusive SHIT HORSE. They set up on a sidewalk with a few broken down amps and small drum sets and played their hearts out. Passersby could not help be taken in by their amazing performance and now SHIT HORSE has become something of a local legend. We should be clear that the shows were in no way an official part of Mergefest. At one point, the Police showed up and had every right to show them down, but were so taken in by the beauty of their playing they let them finish their set.

So who is Shit Horse? Well, they prefer to remain a mystery, but we know them as Jessee, Ronny, Red and Danny Magic. We at Odessa were able to film the two of the performances and get crowd reactions. Some people mistook them to be a new Merge signing but this is not the case. Shit Horse rides for Odessa!!!! Look for the full documentary on this site soon - as soon as we can get it edited.  Ron Liberti of Pipe said he loved the band and compared them to Malcolm Mooney-era Can. Another passerby, anonymous, referred to them as 'the People's band". Hopefully Odessa will get a chance to release a Shit Horse record if we can convince front man Danny Magic that we can't afford to hire Terry Bozio to produce. We're pushing for Brian Paulson.

Jupiter and Beyond

Further ahead, We'd like to eventually get to that Mowing Lawns, the one that begat both Impossible Arms and Inspector 22. We are also planning a series of seven inch split singles, and the lineups may just blow your mind!

That's the news for now. Until next time!

Paul Erol Finn