Hello again, it's been a while. A lot has happened at Robotic Empire over the past month or so... in fact, the label/mailorder is now split into two camps on opposite ends of the country. This massive move was a huge undertaking for us, but better for everyone in the end as it will mean a more organized setup for our
Online Store operation (now located in Olympia, Washington), and some much needed change for the Virginia setup.
We want to thank everyone who ordered from us in any of our our pre-move sales, and also thank those who have been patient while we've gotten everything for the
Online Store re-established out in Olympia. Things are fully operational again, and better than ever! So we are very pleased to present you a somewhat meaty update here, with lots of happenings both for the label and
Online Store aspects of Robotic Empire...
First up, we're releasing some new records in June. It's been a slow first part of the year for the label (intentionally) but we've got a lot going on in the second half of the year. Kicking things off on June 9th will be the debut releases from New Zealand's
DIAL and Louisville, Kentucky's
BAD SECRETS.
DIAL is the first band from the southern hemisphere that we've ever worked with, and couldn't be much happier about this pairing. Hailing from Wellington, New Zealand...
DIAL self-released a demo a couple of years ago that we recently got to hear on a trip to NZ last fall. Intensely powerful stuff is contained within this little five-song EP, so much that we asked the band if we could re-release and thankfully they agreed.
To quote our official hype sheet for this: "The material contained within is leaps and bounds beyond what most bands accomplish even at their best.
DIAL successfully channels the darkest corners of the AmRep catalog, the raw ferocity of classic hardcore, offtime kilter of math-rock, and the whole concept that music can actually be dangerous. The air-tight composure of
DIAL's debut recording is striking; focusing more on space and dissonance than technical shreddery. Obscenely heavy guitars collide with bludgeoning percussion and intense, vicious and scathing female vocals... turning the whole thing into a downright terrifying experience. Add an incredibly crisp recording, and this makes
DIAL's debut EP one of the most impressive demos we've heard in years, let alone had the privilege to re-release."
We are really stoked about this release and it'll be available on CD and digitally come June 9th. To give you a little preview, we just posted a track from it on our myspace page:
*
Listen to DIAL @ Robotic Empire's myspace*
Listen do DIAL @ their myspace page
Louisville, Kentucky's
BAD SECRETS was born out of improv jam sessions between
YOUNG WIDOWS' Evan Patterson and
KODAN ARMADA's Dan Davis. They recorded three weekends of jamming together, whittled it down to seven songs and thus, their debut release is born. We went for the super conventional 9"+CD format for this one, since it's such a normal release and all. Hah!
In all seriousness though, we're really psyched to finally work with Mr. Patterson after knowing this righteous dude and his kin for years. Who knows, maybe we've got another release with him up our sleeves...
Until then, the self-titled debut 9"+CD from
BAD SECRETS should hit the world on June 9th (if we can get the band to screen the covers in time) and we're very pumped on the ridiculous color vinyl we've got in store for it too. More info on this release forthcoming.
This is probably also a good time to announce that we'll be releasing the debut album from northern Virginia's
TIDELAND! Mostly comprised of dudes we've known for years, upon hearing their killer full length that they recorded @ Godcity studios... deciding to release this was kind of a no-brainer. We'll be teaming up with our Italian brethren Sons Of Vesta to co-release this on both CD and 12", sometime later in the summer (most likely July or August).
We'll post up a track from this release sometime soon, but in the meantime several demos can be found on the band's myspace page. We should note: the album blows away everything they've recorded before.
*
TIDELAND on myspace
Semi-related,
TIDELAND will be playing the two upcoming
MANNEQUIN reunion shows. Yep, our ol' brothers in grunge finally decided it was time to return to form! There's surely several reasons for this happening, one favorite being that Ian Widman wanted to drum for
MANNEQUIN as his graduation present. We gotta give a hearty "congrats" to him for making this happen! If you live in Virginia (or anywhere relatively close) and want to check out these killer shows, they'll both be happening the weekend of May 9th/10th and the details for the shows can be found on
TIDELAND's
myspace page.
* An unmastered tour-only
MANNEQUIN EP that had two released & two unreleased songs on it (and their name spelled wrong on the cover) can be found here:
download "Yr Aching Tooth!!!"
Semi-related to
that is that we've now got new t-shirts in our
Online Store from both
PYGMY LUSH and
PG.99. Resurrecting the old "goth girl" design sourced from the
PAGENINETYNINE / CITY OF CATERPILLAR split 7", we're psyched to have this one back in print. Along with that are two new designs from
PYGMY LUSH, designed for their last tour. Totally classic, and available now in our
Online Store.
Completely unrelated to everything above but equally exciting to us is the re-press of the
A STORM OF LIGHT / NADJA -
Primitive North 2x12"+CD split. The first press for this thing was a total blowout, so we've re-pressed it with the quickness in attempts to keep it available. Two new color vinyl combinations are available for this beast of a release, this time as "Aurora Forge" and "Phosphorescence". Maybe corny names (?) but it compliments the weird colored vinyl well, and we're equally pleased with how the re-press turned out as we are with the first press. This comes with a CD of the same jams, and is housed in some pretty fancypants packaging.
Related to
that is the fact that we got some super rare CDs direct from Josh Graham of
A STORM OF LIGHT and formerly of
RED SPAROWES. This includes the self-released very first
RED SPAROWES demo CD-R, and their limited live CD that Neurot released. Along with those (which WILL go fast) is the hard-to-find
(FALLEN) BLACK DEER Latitudes CD release that Southern organized a couple years back. Hardly any distros got that thing and we scored some copies direct from the band.
Along with all that crazyness above, we've also received a healthy amount of new and re-stocked items for this massive first
Online Store update from our bi-coastal locations! GO!
NEW ITEMS:* (Fallen) Black Deer, The - Requiem CD (Latitudes) $12.99
* A Storm Of Light / Nadja - Primitive North [split] - AURORA FORGE COLORED VINYL 2x12"+CD (Robotic Empire) $19.99
* A Storm Of Light / Nadja - Primitive North [split] - PHOSPHORESCENCE COLORED VINYL 2x12"+CD (Robotic Empire) $19.99
* Chronic Youth - Das Chillin Cassette (Vinyl Rites) $4.99
* Drowning With Our Anchors - Breathing Lessons 7" (Commodity Fetish) $4.99
* Grief - Come To Grief - BLACK VINYL 2x12" (Throne) $24.99
* Grief - Come To Grief - BLUE SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 2x12" (Throne) $24.99
* Grief - Come To Grief - ORANGE COLORED VINYL 2x12" (Throne) $24.99
* Hex Machine - Omen Mas CD (Minimum Underdrive) $9.99
* My Disco - Paradise 12" (Fruits & Vegetables) $12.99
* Nadja - Corrasion 2x12" (Basses Frequences) $26.99
* Neil On Impression - L'Oceano Delle Onde Che Restano Onde Per Sempre 2x12" (Denovali) $22.99
* Pageninetynine - Goth Girl - Size: DOUBLE EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $15.99
* Pageninetynine - Goth Girl - Size: EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $14.99
* Pageninetynine - Goth Girl - Size: LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $14.99
* Pageninetynine - Goth Girl - Size: MEDIUM T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $14.99
* Pageninetynine - Goth Girl - Size: SMALL T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $14.99
* Pageninetynine - Goth Girl - Size: YOUTH LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $14.99
* Pirates Press - Vinyl Collage Puzzle (Pirates Press) $25.99
* Pygmy Lush - Donkey - Size: DOUBLE EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $13.99
* Pygmy Lush - Donkey - Size: EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Donkey - Size: LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Donkey - Size: MEDIUM T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Donkey - Size: SMALL T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Donkey - Size: YOUTH LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Man On The Moon - Size: DOUBLE EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $13.99
* Pygmy Lush - Man On The Moon - Size: EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Man On The Moon - Size: LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Man On The Moon - Size: MEDIUM T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Man On The Moon - Size: SMALL T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Pygmy Lush - Man On The Moon - Size: YOUTH LARGE T-Shirt (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Red Sparowes - Demo 03.12.2004 CD-R (Self Released) $29.99
* Red Sparowes - Oh Lord, God of Vengeance, Show Yourself! CD (Neurot) $14.99
* Winters In Osaka - Molded To Crawl CD (Haunted Hotel) $9.99
RESTOCKS:* Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind Of Cadwallader CD (Be Happy) - $7.99
* Burst - In Coveting Ways - ORANGE COLORED VINYL 10" (Throne) - $13.99
* Dystopia - The Aftermath CD (Life is Abuse) - $9.99
* Monarch / Grey Daturas - Split 12" (Throne) - $15.99
* Noothgrush - Erode The Person CD (Throne) - $11.99
Phew! Wow OK so that's enough to keep us busy for a while right? There's plenty more on deck so this year's just gonna get crazier and crazier for us. We like it this way, so please get those orders in and we'll crank them out as quickly as possible. THANK YOU!
Robotic Empire
Richmond & Olympia chapters
Robotic Empire - Online Storep.s. almost forgot, we caved in and signed up for stupid Twitter... so if you're into that, check out our micro-bloggin's
here.
