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 catmobile 		there are 6 titles on catsup plate in stock.
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back in stock as of
october 31st, 2008

first in stock on
september 29th, 2005

file under:
rock-etc...
lo-fi
sound-research
catsup plate (usa) #cpr 722 cd

steven r. smith “crowns of marches” compact disc

  • crown of marches (40:37)
late summer 2005 release from jewelled antler co-co-head steven r. smith, working under his xian given. can’t get enough of this jewelled antler stuff; poking out from the ashes of so many fumbled, inept bedroom psych “experiences” like the gold-plated wrought-iron 9-foot spires they are... i’ve only listened to this one twice as of yet & so far it’s one of my favorites. can’t recommend it enough...
catsup plate press release...
recorded january 2005, worstward studios

instruments, electric and baritone guitars, xaphoon, fretted hurdy gurdy, baritone psaltery, noah bells, organ, electric piano, bowed cymbals, tympani

steven r. smith is best known for his participation in thuja and hala strana as well as his contribution to many jewelled antler projects. until now, however, his recordings under his own name have remained somewhat under the radar.

in thuja, smith and his compatriots built up delicate soundscapes by improvising on whatever happened to be nearby—traditional musical instruments, hand-built sound makers, and ordinary objects. in hala strana, on the other hand, smith focused more on existing compositions—usually evoking eastern european folk melodies—and employed more traditional set of instruments. crown of marches—his debut for catsup plate—is a single, epic, forty-minute track: smith balances the composed and the improvisational and the result is as ecstatic, beautiful and compelling as music can get.

in the spirit of keiji haino, popol vuh, dead c, and flying saucer attack, crown of marches takes the possibilities of the basement psychedelic guitar excursion and fashions something very new and inspiring—a piece alternately beautiful and overwhelming.

crown of marches begins with a low rumble of feedback and speaker hum; a lazy eastern melody pokes through the haze and establishes a strong contrast with the rumbling. this is the basis upon which the piece will expand and contract over the next 40 minutes. at times the feedback rumble drops away and relatively bright guitar lines come to the fore. at other times faint keyboard lines or bowed cymbals add texture and additional gravitas to the proceedings, only to be pushed away with the wail of distant guitars and more distortion—like the heaviest rock with the skeleton removed. the feedback eventually drops away, leaving moments of only bells and the warmth of roomtone. and so the piece goes, rising and falling, until, at the end, we are left with the initial set of rumble and lazy melodies peaking through the haze. in the end, smith brings us full-circle through chaos, melody and intensity and deposits us back into the world.

edition of 1000 copies in hand assembled, black over white on black silkscreened digipaks. catsup plate's most inscrutable packaging scheme yet.

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back in stock as of
october 31st, 2008

first in stock on
march 7th, 2005

file under:
rock-etc...
lo-fi
catsup plate (usa) #cpr 721 lp

dennis callaci / simon joyner “stranger blues” one-sided long playing record

  • death of a lady (joyner)
  • third date with your fucked-up father (callaci)
  • the only living boy in omaha (joyner)
  • a thousand and one more (callaci)
  • sail away (joyner)
catsup plate press release...
dennis callaci & simon joyner “stranger blues” one-sided lp

dennis callaci and simon joyner are two of the foremost channelers of "the song." simon is known for his solo recordings, with releases on jagjaguwar, truckstop, shrimper, and sing eunuchs!, among others. dennis plays in refrigerator and was the sole voice behind the criminally underheard paste. they are singer-songwriters in that they write songs and sing them, but that appellation dumbs down and sanitizes what they do. i think it is more accurate to say that both have a way of tapping into the stream of collective creativity that flows from god-knows-when through to the present and beyond. their songs have a gravity to them, an "old soul," as it were, that cannot be mistaken. there are a few stylistic precursors to their work — precursors that have been well-documented previously — but the songs they write and sing tap into something more ineffable, timeless, and grave.

stranger blues set comprises three of simon's songs and two by dennis, all recorded live in the callaci living room to what seems to be a single microphone. the nontraditional (or better: non-studio) setting adds a palpable sensation of space to the recordings — by space i do not simply mean the warmth of the room tone, but actual space: backing vocals and spare piano or guitar lines arise in such a way that you are aware of the physical geography of the room. you can hear simon singing along with dennis from an actual distance away; his voice is (literally) distant and all the more forlorn. the guitar lines that dennis adds to flesh-out simon's songs have the same eerie effect.

this sense of space underscores two seemingly contradictory strengths about stranger blues. on one hand, these songs are beautifully lonely and spare, highlighted by the echoes and distance in the room. at the same time, it is clear that two songwriters who know and love the other's work, who are very much working in tandem to build upon each others strengths.

single edition of 500 one-sided lps. silkscreened and hand assembled chipboard jackets in a "traditional" catsup plate brown butchers tape design scheme.

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back in stock as of
october 31st, 2008

first in stock on
march 7th, 2005

catsup plate (usa) #cpr 719 cd

the double “palm fronds” compact disc

  • blanket on the beach
  • a throw of a distance
  • ghost song
  • standing on a levee
  • firecrackers in sawdust
  • soul cougar / dicey
  • mohawks
  • miami
  • black diamond
catsup plate press release...
the double “palm fronds” cd

the double that you hear on palm fronds is very different than what founding members david greenhill and jeff mcleod originally conceived. the band began as a guitar/drum math-rock-cum-outre-blues duo replete with intricate time signatures, multiple song sections, and an overall sense of angular complexity. after time, the two decided to focus on simplified musical structures and a more fleshed-out instrumentation and added two new members, donald beaman and jacob morris.

but prior to recording what would be called palm fronds, jeff hurt his hand — preventing him from drumming while it healed. instead of postponing the recording, the band opted regroup and reconceive of the songs without the traditional drum kit. they experimented with drum machines and other electronic textures, learning as they went along. “mistakes” that sounded good were left in (the band has a deep respect for eno’s approach to music making a la oblique strategies, etc.) and discoveries used in one song influenced the sound palette in the others. the songs quickly took on a unique sound that was reminiscent of — but ultimately distinct from — the band’s live shows.

because of this, palm fronds is a compelling listen on a number of levels. the songs themselves could be described as singer-songwriter in scope; i hear echoes of mid-to-late period smog and even “horse with no name”-era america (especially on “standing on a levee,” though some folks disagree). but the production, drum machines, and general vibe have a wonderfully overmodulated digital crunch, plenty of echo, broken electronics and all sorts of whatsit thrown into the mix. which is to say that all that songwriter stuff, when the double finally let you hear it, owes a lot to a bunch of digital dub and experimental electronic types. but through all this palm fronds has an impeccable balance; the production never overwhelms or obscures the essential song. so with palm fronds you’ve got ear candy and brain candy when you get right down to it — lucky you.

first two editions of 500 copies [in jewel case] with offset printed inserts and silkscreened, individually decorated outer wraps (sold out). third edition of 1000 copies without outer wraps. 

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back in stock as of
october 31st, 2008

first in stock on
january 1st, 2003

file under:
rock-etc...
catsup plate (usa) #cpr 713 lp

french paddleboat “rome loves tan” long playing record

  • a-long the connect it
  • venture forth
  • a wait in shore inn
  • indication of motion
managed to nab the last few of this chestnut ...

vote robot member steps out with these bids for post-rock supremacy, retooled in the digital age for a heightened sense of relevance. live drum, clarinet, vibes etudes with a little 1/0 application. very chill... quite lovely.
catsup plate press release...
french paddleboat “rome loves tan” lp

french paddleboat's rome loves tan, though just now getting a vinyl release, was originally released in 1996 as a small-edition cassette on the esteemed union pole label. scott august, the mind behind french paddleboat, was never quite happy with some of the idiosyncrasies of the record, but later paddleboat recordings and his work as one-half of vote robot commanded his attention and the songs were left as-is until now.

this new version of rome represents a more fully realized vision than the original tape did: august tightened up and reworked the songs and loops. one song was replaced with a more fully realized piece ("indication of motion," track 3, side 2). in a sense, this version offers insight into both the earlier work of french paddleboat, as well as what he's up to now. the music-making process on rome emphasizes analog, homemade sound sources in much the same way as paddleboat's work with vote robot, though here the tone is gentle, familiar, and unabashedly pretty. the songs are, for the most part, structured on acoustic drum beats, played live and looped, which lend a solid foundation of familiarity and rhythm to the songs. from there paddleboat layers chimes, bells, clarinet and warm keyboard tones in meticulous and intricate arrangements. the resulting songs are a wonderful combination of melody and experimentalism — particularly mind blowing in that everything here is so meditative and understated. in the wrong hands, things could quickly get stale and academic, but everything here is melodic and strangely catchy. one can listen to rome loves tan for its unique take on electronic music, but one can just as easily sit back and bask in the warmth and beauty of the music presented here.

edition of 300 copies, in paint-by-numbers style silk-screened sleeve.

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new to stock as of
october 31st, 2008

threads:
live-electronic
modern-psych

catsup plate (usa) #cpr 707 lp

lettuce prey “atlatl” long playing record

  • the onus is on you
  • jello mold bundt fan decor
  • for your grist mill
  • it sounds nice

  • my wife
  • my dog
  • can't be blind
  • homily on the anomaly
  • julie with ...
  • bycycle of bees
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "jello mold bundt fan decor"
catsup plate press release...

lettuce prey “atlatl” lp

though lettuce prey has been writing and recording songs since the early 90’s, atlatl is his first not-dubbed-for-a-few-friends full-length release. this is due to a number of things, but his involvement in what would seem to be hundreds of bands in the philadelphia area (most notably the lilys and caterpillar) might be the primary reason. just prior to his departure to the considerably less musically inclined state of montana, lt. prey dropped a rough master of what would become atlatl in our laps.

on atlatl, you can hear prey combining, reshaping, and generally mushing together a fairly disparate set of influences. yeah, this record at times recalls the psychedelic pop of the 60's. but instead of the polished vocal group sound of the early 60's that seems to be the norm these days, prey hearkens back to the earthier and perhaps more immediate sounds of acid folk and blues-based psychedelic rock. but this isn't simply a retro record, what with its nods to punk, the home-taping scene of the early 90's, and other facets of musical modernity (i.e., the casiotone rhythms of "white suits" and "my wife, my dog"). basically what we're dealing with here is a guy who knows and references a wide swath of what might fall under the rubric of "rock and roll." and while these things are always subjective, to say that there are hints of and references to the likes of roky erickson, arthur lee, can, and cream (!) wouldn't be too far off the mark, though you'll probably have your own radically different comparisons by album's end.

edition of 300 copies. chipboard covers silkscreened with a sufi-inspired design. block printed titles in blue paint.

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new to stock as of
october 31st, 2008

threads:
lo-fi
bedroom

catsup plate (usa) #cpr 706 cd

mark szabo “chocolate covered bad things” compact disc

  • go for the thrill (3:45)
  • daytime emmy (3:04)
  • personnel (2:46)
  • ash (3:39)
  • siachen (2:26)
  • pilots (5:02)
  • power of attorney (1:52)
  • george peppard (2:16)
  • cop (3:51)
  • by a nose (5:22)
  • i should b with u (3:24)
  • alibi (3:14)
  • viper (1:18)
  • rome (2:41)
  • the swamp (1:41)
  • tposmocsa (5:37)
  • the end of history (3:09)
... much earlier catsup plate title ; bedroom singer-songwriter antics from good horsey member “mark*,” featuring, amongst others, josh “magneticring” stevenson ...
catsup plate press release...
mark szabo “chocolate covered bad things” cd

if you start in the middle, then that would bring you to horsey (america made them call themselves "good"). the good horsey record (and handful of singles) had tom rapp tied up with the ex-liontamers going no-wave on his ass (how's that for point-of-no-reference references). too short-lived and sporadic for most of us, we compromised and called them seminal. one of 'em (mark szabo) has digitally re-emerged, with the help of good horsey drummer max lee, amongst others, under the guise of mark, and some things change and some things stay the same.

the music operates under a softer light here; an acoustic warmth which will surely get "singer-songwriter" launched at it. though pearls before swine and those other esp folkies no one's heard of do spring to mind, i'm also reminded of blue mask-era lou reed: domesticity and fierce matter-of-facts somehow turn real poetic in marks hands (jarringly so), much like on that record. the weirdest thing to me, though, amidst the jittery baroque melodies and chicken scratch folk-skronk guitar mark has patented (check out 'by a nose', for mark's guitar alone — a revelation), is the pervading randy newman-ness of the record (an influence i'd heard mentioned but never quite understood). there is portraiture and satire going on here at a level seldom aimed at, or attained, in the songs of these bit-oriented days. but don't get me wrong; this isn't 'literary' music. this is pill music, first and foremost. the pills ronee blakely collapsed with mid-song in nashville are the same ones they force-fed marcy on 'daytime emmy' and listen to the creaking chairs and the disembodied voices way out back, they are as important as the piano pounding out the world's last notes.

you see, listening to 'the end of history' (chocolate covered bad things' last song, and very own eulogy), i'm reminded of the balance between beatitude and severity that life is perched upon while we're living it. i think this is a sign of very good music.

— dan bejar, destoyer

edition of 1000 copies. standard jewel cases with 4-color process printing.

previous record label:
 catmobile 		...and that's everything on catsup plate in stock.
(why not take a look at the previous and next labels?)		next record label:
 cci 
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... this page was last updated on wednesday, july 28th, 2010 @ 3:55 pm