dang. it's been a pretty amazing (and hot) summer here in Tucson. I've actually been home for a while getting stuff done, so it's been nice. This particular email (even more than usual) has some very long winded jabbering about my thoughts as I enter the THIRTEENTH year of this label... PIAPTK Bar Mitzvah Party time??? Is THIS the year that PIAPTK becomes and man and puts away childish things, like trying to make a living in the music industry in 2018? Doubtful. As I get older, the more I realize how very much this label means to me, in terms of being able to collaborate with these incredible bands that are largely ignored (or lost in the intense digital clutter of the internet) by the public at large. It also reminds me how amazing YOU, the purchasers and supporters (even if you've only bought one or two things from us over the years) are.
Thank you so much for allowing me to bring this weird shit into the world over the years. I want to continue for a long time, although I am constantly evolving to try to figure out the best way to do it without going bankrupt.
A NOTE ON SHIPPING: So, all previous orders should have gone out by now. We never claimed to be Amazon Prime, but we've been taking longer to get these things out of the studio recently, and I really apologize for that. It's just me (and I'm always out of town) and one fulfillment guy (and he's got 3 other jobs), but we are working on fixing the slow down, so thanks a lot for your patience!
A GENTLE REMINDER - PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS WHEN PLACING AN ORDER!!!
THIS TIME:
1) Little Wings: High Times Go Shine - Hand drawn Covers Instant Merch Machine 7"!
2) Hickeyfest Singles Leftovers
3) Spaceface Phenokenistoscope 7" Pic disc #2 "The Calm Before"
4) Lathe Cut Camp 8: Columbus Day Weekend Oct 6-8, 2018. Record Lathes for sale...
5) Signed Test Pressings added to the Test Pressings Category!
Little Wings: High Times Go Shine Handmade 7"s! Instant Merch Machine Installment 4!
If you have paid any attention to PIAPTK over the years, you KNOW how much I love Little Wings. If you haven't done it, do yourself a really big favor and check out his expansive catalog. I binge listened to his entire catalog on my recent drive around New Mexico and Colorado for www.Thescienceofsound.org gigs and it was amazing revisiting all of these records that I have been DEVOURING on their release over the last 20 years, but all in the space of one roadtrip. It brought up so many weird memories and feels... it was intense. Lyrically, his music can be charmingly silly and light or deeply profound, melodically, he has an extremely unique and clever sense of timing and structure, his voice has a tremendously wide range and is wholly unique, and the way that he carries all of these elements through the different phases and sounds of each album and self references themes and melodies from previous songs and phases of his career gives his entire catalog, while diverse and constantly evolving a type of cohesiveness that very few artists has....
BUT ANYWAY... enough fanboying over one of my favorite artists... I'm here to sell you some shit. But I would rather you spend the money on a couple months of Spotify and listen to nothing but Little Wings (and throw in the rest of the PIAPTK artists for good measure) if you can't do both.
Ok, so, around the Lathe Cave in Tucson, we have an open standing offer to our friends and family... it's called The Lathe Cave Instant Merch Machine... if they are coming through Tucson, they can stop through and spend a few hours making records in the studio. I cut the records while they hand make the covers and we make how ever many copies that we can before the show. Usually 30-70 depending on where they are coming from/going to.
Kyle Field came through Tucson as the last stop on his last tour and did some great india ink and pencil/pen drawings while I cut records for his brand new tune, High Times Go Shine. We made 54 copies. He took 27 of them with him, and left 27 of them here. so I REALLY don't have many to sell.
FYI, we are down to single digit copies of all other Little Wings and related releases. We have 5 copies of the Soild Gold Be Gulls "Dead Giveaway" LP, 9 copies of the LW "Me Thats Me" CD-Record, and 4 copies of the Little Wings "Made It Rain" handpainted LP. So pick one up!
So if you bout that Little Wings lyfe, go get em.
LISTEN TO SOME TRACKS HERE
PICK ONE UP HERE
HICKEYFEST EXCLUSIVE LATHE CUTS! LEFTOVERS FROM THE FESTIVAL....
A couple months ago, I went out to Legget, CA to Hickey Fest, the "Coachella on Quaaludes" music fest run by Sugar Candy Mountain, and featuring a ton of bands that we've worked with over the years and/or friends of ours.
Hickeyfest is a tiny camping festival in Leggett, CA that happens this weekend and is thrown/curated by Sugar Candy Mountain. Many of the artists are bands we've worked with.
I took a lathe out there and was doing on-site cutting of exclusive tracks from some of the bands that will only be available at the festival and through this site for three days only!
I still have a handful of overruns from the festival.
This particular weekend really codified for me something that i've known for a long time... There is a very cohesive and collaborative connection between MANY of the PIAPTK artists... PIAPTK is very much a family tree, much like the Athens, GA Elephant 6 Collective. Almost ALL PIAPTK artists have ties to other artists... that's how I find bands I love... new bands from previous bands or friends/bands they've toured with, etc.
At some point I want to try to put a name to it, and promote it as an entity so that people can REALLY dig into this amazing scene of slackass geniuses. Maybe call it "West Coast Soft Psych" or "Universal Western Attractions" (after a comp of the same name compiled a decade ago by Matt Adams of the Blank Tapes.
But, this festival was UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE.... You saw the same musicians on stage with 4-6 different bands, many times after one or two practices, playing their asses off, and sounding fucking amazing. Everybody shared members and it was like a huge family picnic. It was fucking mindblowingly incredible and I didn't even take any drugs. Highlights of the fest for ME were: Bill Baird, FpodBpod (HUGELY underrated and incredible band), Assateague, Graves, SCM, Blank Tapes, and Veronica Bianqui (she is going to be HUGE, yall... I PROMISE)....
FUNFACT: We are starting to get a PIAPTK MEGATOUR together to play the West Coast on the way up to/back from Hickeyfest 2019... Hopefully with FLOATING ACTION, GOLDEN BOOTS, and FOREST FALLOWS plus more, hopefully.
ANYWAY, back to trying to sell you shit. We had a few of some of these left over... so pick them up!
While at Hickeyfest, San Francisco recording studio, Donut Time Audio, was doing on site recording sessions in the woods of some of the bands. So I decided to make a few copies of some of them.
There are only 20 copies... 7 for the band, 3 for my archives and 10 of each to sell. There are also a handful of leftovers from the original series.
To Differentiate them from the original series, they are on round semi flexis, still silkscreened and swirl painted.
Bill Baird - Captain Brain (on site with Donut Time Audio)
Veronica Bianqui - Sunday Cups (on site with Donut Time Audio)
Graves - Pay Me Less (on site with Donut Time Audio)
A few tracks got added last minute, if you purchased a disc earlier and didn't get ALL of the tracks in the download, reply here and I'll send them over.
On silkscreened and psychedelic swirled picture discs.
Available Discs:
Sugar Candy Mountain - The Night is So Long
Graves - Waterfall
Assateague - Oceanside
The Blank Tapes - Big Ol Wave
TV Mike and the Scarecrowes - Patience
King Dream - Echo Chamber
Veronica Bianqui - Shame on You
Bill Baird - Eat The Lawn
Night Heron - What Do You See
ABC LOVE - Le Petite Etoile
Everyone Is Dirty - Banana Split
FpodBPod - Cannonballs
LISTEN TO THE TRACKS HERE
PICK ONE UP HERE
Spaceface: The Calm Before New Phenokistoscope 7" Pic Disc! Drew Tetz design!
In between Flaming Lips tours, Jake Ingall's is constantly working with his main band, Memphis, TN spacerock and live show legends, SPACEFACE! And PIAPTK is so grateful to have released a TON of this output. And now, we got a new one! Another Drew Tetz Phenokistoscope (Animated Record) Picture Disc design. You should download the "Vinyl Strobe" App or watch the disc through your video mode on your phone to see the animation... To Check out the Animation, go to our instagram!
LISTEN TO THE TRACKS HERE
PICK ONE UP HERE
Lathe Cut Camp 8! Plus Record Lathes for Sale
I've got some record lathes for sale! All of them are fully functional, (will be) ready to go and include a starter pack and tech support. If you want to make your own records at home, email me!
We've done 7 sold out Lathe Cut Camps, and are constantly getting asked to do more. So, #8 will be on the three-day Columbus Day Weekend, Oct 6-8. You could stay home and celebrate a genocidal murderer who didn't even know where the fuck he was, or you can come down to beautiful Tucson, AZ and learn how vinyl records are cut!
Here's the Pitch:
(THIS CAMP FOCUSES ON NEWBIES AND THOSE WITHOUT MACHINES, BUT WHO WANT TO LEARN AND SEE IF INVESTING IN A LATHE IS A GOOD FIT FOR THEM, OR THOSE WHO RECENTLY ACQUIRED A LATHE AND WANT TO LEARN THE SECRETS!)
YOU ALSO GET TO CUT YOUR OWN RECORDS AND TAKE THEM WITH YOU!
October 6-8th, 2018 (Sat Oct 6 and Sun Oct 7th are the most important days, Mon the 8th is just additional practice and cutting of attendees records, in case you have to leave early)
THERE ARE ONLY 8 SPOTS AND EVERY PREVIOUS CAMP HAS SOLD OUT!
Spend three days in scenic Tucson, AZ learning (almost) everything you need to know about DIY Record Cutting! The focus of this camp will be on mono "semi-professional" machines, with particular focus on Presto 6Ns, which are one of the most common and "industry standard" vintage machines around. You can do some amazing things with these incredible machines, and I will show you how.
Bring your own music and we will put it onto discs for you to take home. We will touch on professional record mastering/pressing, but my main interest and experience, and the focus of this camp, will be on the more DIY and experimental side of the hobby. There are only 7 spots available, so buy early because every previous camp has sold out!
Perfect if you are interested in:
Vinyl records and how their masters are cut
Learning how this strange black art works
Buying a lathe to make your own records
Ordering lathe cuts from a lathe cut service
Cutting your own music to disc
Topics covered:
The science behind vinyl record cutting
Lathe Operations and equipment
The pressing process
Lacquer dub plate cutting
Experimental and alternative materials (plexiglass, laserdiscs, picnic plates, etc)
Please Note: You are responsible for your own transportation to/from Tucson and your accommodations. However, the hotels here are pretty damn cheap (DO NOT book a hotel on Oracle Rd unless you enjoy the company of tweekers and ladies of the night).
RENTAL ROOMS AVAILABLE: And, if you want, I've got a cute mid-mod casita mother in law next to my house that I rent on airbnb, that can be yours for the whole stay (you can come in Friday night and stay until Tuesday, or longer if you want) for an extra $150, or a shared room in my house with a full size bed for an extra $100.
Signed Test Pressings Added!
We added some signed test pressings from Sugar Candy Mountain, American Monoxide, SM WOLF, The Blank Tapes, etc to the Test Pressings category of the site. Also put up some NOT signed Saqqara Mastabas test pressings (Matthew Friedberger from The Fiery Furnaces + Bob from Sebadoh playing freaky electronic jazz).