"... she's not so scary, she's got all of my records"

Happy Halloween! Today we have, Vampire Girl by JONATHAN RICHMAN from his album , You Must Ask The Heart. At some point, I want to dedicate an entire week to Jonathan. He actually deserves a month!

Happy Halloween!!

Last night I sat up thinking, "What would be the most AWESOME pumpkin ever carved?" I thought about all the things I love, all the things that influence me and I came upon one obvious choice. JENNY MEARS.

It didn't turn out very accurate (she's way less ghoulish in real life), but it's the thought that counts, right?

Whatever Happened To Who?

This close to Halloween, it seems fitting to feature former child star Butch Patrick and his new wave band, EDDIE AND THE MONSTERS. In 1983, the youngest Munster released the single, Whatever Happened To Eddie? Be warned... this truly terrible.

MP3 of the Day

Have you heard the new GWEN STEFANI single, Wind It Up with the sample from The Sound Of Music?

Congratulations Cori!

Hey! If you get a chance, check out the November-December issue of PRINT magazine. The Regional Design Annual issue is the most comprehensive survey of graphic design in the United States—and one of the biggest issues to hit the graphic design industry each year. This year, our very own Corianton Hale was honored with a number of awards including one for the Tullycraft album Disenchanted Hearts Unite.

Hmm?

Do you think that maybe VOXTROT has been listening to THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH? Something sounded a little too familiar about that new song.... and then it hit me. The THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH song Have You Ever Been Away?, from their 1990 album, Welcome To The Beautiful South. Listen to the beginning of both yesterday's and today's MP3s... and you be the judge.

MP3 of the Day

Today we have a brand new song by VOXTROT. It's called Trouble, and it's from their new 3-song EP titled, Your Biggest Fan. It's being released on PlayLoudeRecordings, which is sort of unfortunate because that means they're forced to be label-mates with the totally sucky Serena-Maneesh. Despite the fact that I share a Norwegian heritage with this band, I think they are terrible. Hey VOXTROT, you should have stuck with Magic Marker! So much for indie-cred I guess?

TULLYCRAFT TUESDAY

Each Tuesday we feature a band (or artist) covering a Tullycraft song. Today we have Swedish singer/songwriter NILS FOLKE VALDEMAR putting his 'zombie' spin on Superboy & Supergirl from our first album, Old Traditions, New Standards. Check out: Zombieboy & Zombiegirl. Hey! If you're in a band or know a band that covers a Tullycraft song, send it our way and we'll put it on the site!

Je suis arrière!

Hey all, I'm back. Sorry about the blog being down for a few days! I was in France and didn't get a chance to deal with it until this morning. The trip was really fun... I listened to a lot of France Gall, ate some of the most amazing pastries, and spent a million hours chained to my laptop, but the view was stunning, and it was fun to hear all the French office chatter. Did you know everyone says "bonjour" to everyone, every morning? It takes about an hour. Think of all the time they could spend updating their blogs! And then when you see them later, you can't say "bonjour" again, because it seems like you didn't remember saying hello the first time, so instead you say "rebonjour." I know!!

MP3 of the Day

The new 7" by THE HOW called Happy Matt on Slumberland Records, has more than a passing resemblance to early Who. The recording is so spot-on that the pressing plant actually thought it might be a Who bootleg! The single is pressed on red vinyl in a clear plastic jacket with the How logo silkscreened on it. If you don't know already, THE HOW is Matt (from Henry's Dress) and Stewart (from Boyracer). Today's MP3 is the B-side, I Was A Boy. Enjoy!

I hear you brother!

Hey Chris! It looks like people are actually starting to get excited about this record we're working on. Check out: the chatter.

news from the Great White North

Liz and I have been living out of a hotel room in Vancouver, BC for almost a week now. We're up here doing press checks on a catalog her company is having printed. We did make it back to Seattle on Saturday for the Math and Physics Club / BOAT show, but then we turned back around... and here we are again. Between press checks I've been passing the time watching Much Music (Canadian MTV) and trying my hand at Curling. Canadians love Curling! I'm not very good, and the scoring still confuses me, but it's been fun.

When Jeff lived in Bellingham...

Over the years, there have been a lot of jokes about how many bands Tullycraft drummer, Jeff Fell was in during his time in Bellingham. Even he would admit there were quite a few. One of the more notable ones was THE JEFF FELL TRIO. Jeff played guitar and occasionally drums in this band... and they weren't actually a trio. Inspired by the popular Estrus 60's sound, the band released two 7" singles and two full length LPs. Today's song, Dime Store Voodoo Kit, is from their second album, Songs Our Mummy Taught Us, (a spoof of the 1959 Bob McFadden album title). There was a rumor that Magic Marker Records might reissue both LPs on one CD, but I haven't heard anything about this recently.

Beat Happening cover of the Day

MATH and PHYSICS CLUB played a record release show at the Sunset Tavern (here in Seattle) last night. In addition to playing many of the great songs off their self titled full-length debut, they pulled out a cover of the Beat Happening classic, Angel Gone. An old-school 3.2 MegaPixel Digital Elph captured the action (until the card filled up). Check out the video here.

It IS easy being green!

In honor of Earth Day, I wanted to repost these enviro-tips:

Call me what you like (dirty, tree-hugging hippie; filthy, earth-lovin' envirogeek--I've heard them all) I've learned that it actually is quite easy to be green without compromising your rock 'n' roll lifestyle:

*It's EASY to drive your car less. Even if your city is public transportation-challenged like Seattle, carpooling or taking the bus just one day a week is easier than you think. And you get to experience the Metro crazies!
*Recycling your electronic gadgets is EASY. I know you crazy kids love your camera phones and mp3 players. When it's time to upgrade, don't trash it! Those little beauties can be recycled to make new gadgetry. If you live in Seattle, the Seattle Audubon store allows you to drop off all your TechnoTrash including CDs, cell phone chargers, and computer cords. If you don't live in Seattle, post a comment letting me know what city you live in and I'll help you find a way to recycle your electronics.
*It's EASY to compost. If you have the space, worm bins will take care of most of your food scraps. I recommend this book to get started. If you live in Seattle or other compost-friendly city, your yard waste bin can take pizza boxes, paper coffee cups and a lot of different food waste.

I hope you've enjoyed these enviro-tips. Feel free to share other green tips or call me any names I haven't thought of. Oh! and I wanted you to know that my Kermit is part of a bigger Muppets quilt being made by Vicki Marsh. I'll post a photo of the whole quilt when she's done with it.

Cheers!
Jenny

I'm off!!

I'm off to the South of France for a 2-week freelance gig! I'll be working on Façonnable's showroom, developing some event campaigns, and creating a handful of logos for the brand. The only suck here is that I'm missing this weekend's Boat show!

MP3 of the Day "sugar shopin' all through the night?"

Today we have a slightly creepy duet between Greg and Marcia of THE BRADY BUNCH called, Candy. The track was featured on 1973 album, The Kids From The Brady Bunch. I'm sort of surprised this song was ever recorded with lines like: "Come on Sugar drop and give me some" and "I wanna give you all the love I got," considering the Bradys were a family act and and Greg and Marcia were supposed to be brother and sister. Hmm?

TULLYCRAFT TUESDAY

Each Tuesday we feature a band (or artist) covering a Tullycraft song. Today we have BOAT putting their spin on Molly's Got A Crush On Us, from our album, Disenchanted Hearts Unite. Hey! If you're in a band or know a band that covers a Tullycraft song, send it our way and we'll put it on the site!

MP3 of the Day

The BMX BANDITS are a Scottish guitar pop band who have been putting out records since 1989. Over the years they have shared members with other Belshill bands that include: The Soup Dragons, Teenage Fanclub and The Pastels. Today we have, Miss Nude Black America, from their album, Down At The Hop, released on Shoeshine Records in 2003.

Strictly for nerds

Here are a few random clips of Tullycraft in the recording studio working on the new record. There wasn't a whole lot of footage taken, so I wouldn't necessarily call these highlights. A better description might be "a snap-shot of the process." If you have 3 minutes to waste and find recording semi-interesting this might be for you, otherwise I might skip it.

MP3 of the Day

Is it just me, or do The Long Winters sound sorta like NOTHING PAINTED BLUE? Today we have Block Colors from the 1993 NPB album, Power Trips Down Lovers Lane. You be the judge.

Wild Bikini - the back story

A few years ago I happened to catch the 1965 Annette Funicello movie, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini. I had never seen this movie before and was overwhelmingly disappointed by it's theme song. With such a great title, it should have almost written itself! These were professional song writers! How on earth could they have done such a poor job?! Listen to this thing! Here is the theme from the Original Motion Picture: How To Stuff A Wild Bikini. It's a total stinker! Suddenly, I was inspired and convinced that we could do better. Thus, the Tullycraft song, Wild Bikini, which appeared on our album Beat, Surf, Fun a few years back. Whether our version is better (or not) has never been officially determined, and I'm pretty sure it never will be... and that's ok. Have a great day!

MP3 of the Day

Before making the fatal mistake of joining Tullycraft, Chris Munford was in band called INCREDIBLE FORCE OF JUNIOR. This dynamic three piece, that also included Susan Robb and Steve Lodefink, released a few 7" singles and one amazing up-beat angular pop album. Today's MP3 is: Kid Champion from their one (and only) album, Let The World Fall Apart, released on UP Records.

MP3 of the Day

Today we have SPRITES covering the Tullycraft song Wish I'd Kept A Scrapbook. The original version appeared on the Tullycraft album, Old Traditions, New Standards. It's really a great cover! Have a great Tuesday.

MP3 of the Day

You've got to hand it to Stewart Anderson; this past year he released a 75 song Best Of CD by his band BOYRACER. That's pretty bold considering Crashing Through, the Beat Happening 6 CD box set has 79 songs... and that's every song they ever recorded! The fact that Stewart was able to narrow his exhaustive back catalogue down to JUST 75 songs might be the truly remarkable part. It's probably the perfect introduction for anyone curious about one of indie-pop’s longest running and most respected bands. Today's song, Buffalo, is from this double CD called, Punker Than You Since 92' released on 555 Recordings and available through Darla for only $13.

My first post!

It's taken a few months for me to dip my toes in the tullyblog, but I'm finally overcoming my technofears and am posting from the studio. My first official stint in a real recording studio has been pretty fun and interesting thanks to the following:

1. Kip, the sound engineer, is not only good at what he does, but he's a super nice guy and makes puns out of my name ("Jenergy and Jenuine". Okay, maybe they're not actual puns, but you know what I mean.)
2. Tormenting Chris about the Project Runway guy with the neck tattoo: I hate him; he's Chris's favorite. I didn't believe the hype about that show, but I was totally sold on it yesterday when I watched six episodes back to back. Especially the one where they made dresses out of recyclable materials. I heart recycling.
3. Watching Sean do his trademark Stumbling Man Dance while we listen to different takes.
4. Food parade! Doritos, Jeffurritos, sour candy for Chris, and the Mexican food that almost killed Sean. My favorite, however, was Cori's classy dinner of canned ravioli and a glass of merlot (see photo).
5. Cori's wearing a necktie as we speak. And Chris's lady shades.

Okay! That's my first post. If there's one thing I'm proud of, it's that I beat Jeff to the punch.

Cheers!
Jenny