TUCSON HIP-HOP DON'T STOP UNTIL THE BREAK OF DAWN

I'm just curious if there is anyone else out there other than my friends Jonny and Wax, and the whole New Tribe crew (obviously), that realize how much seriously great hip-hop is coming out of Tucson AZ right now.  I freakin' woke up this morning singing (do you sign rap?) my friend Manny's (Black Sai) tunes, from Stone Ninjaz.  Local DJ and PR-guru Carl Hanni was quite intrigued himself to hear about what's going on with this scene in the Old Barrio.  After sending him a few links to sample, he agreed about the quality and slickness.  That led me to posting this article for all of you to read.  Here is a track from each of my favorite Tucson hip-hop groups that I've been listening to recently...

STONE NINJAZ:
No Way by STONE NINJAZ

JIVIN SCIENTISTS:
15 Style by Jivin Scientists

Enjoy!
FLR

FUCK CANCER!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAVELAB – 10 Bands, two stages, one cause!

As part of Congress’ commitment to the SAVELAB cause, we are hosting the first part of our two pronged charity program this night. Tonight is the giant local event then, the giant national event During HoCofest the next week. 

Coordinated with the Tucson Artist And Musicians Healthcare Alliance we’ve arranged to have 100% of the proceeds go to our friend Craig Schumacher who’s battlin’ the big C. We’ll  have  indoor and outdoor stages  featuring a  little something for everyone. Don’t miss out on great music for an even better cause! Doors open at 7pm!

Outdoor Acts:
Determined Luddites
Stefan George
Tracy Shedd
Ferrodyne

Indoor Acts:
Wayback Machine
Last Call Girls
Carnivaleros
Funky Bones
Sunday Afternoon

DEATH KIT HEADLINES BOOTLEG + FREE NEW SINGLE

Hey there. After a bit of a break to write and re-vamp the lineup, Death Kit returns to the light of day to headline on Sept. 5 at Bootleg Theater, with the excellent Young Hunting and Paper Angels. It's a free show, DK at 9:30.  

As penance for waiting so long, here's the new single "Draw Blood." Post it elsewhere as you see fit.

DEATH KIT -- "DRAW BLOOD": http://yousend.it/otiuwo 

More fall shows coming soon. Thanks.

-DK

One Thirty BPM -- “Success in catchy tunes and high energy. The sound comes across as being very similar to The Rapture, especially when the singer busted out his cowbell-on-a-stick.I’m not a dancer, but Death Kit provided the kind of music that it was hard not to move your body to.”

Beatcrave.com -- “Forlorn yet effective lyrics paired with firm, romantic guitar chords and earth shattering synth lines in songs such as  “Devadasi” and “I Can Make You Love Me” made melancholy shockingly danceable.”

Turntable Kitchen -- “The a-side “Devadasi” is sure to be one of the year’s strongest synth-pop gems and alone is worth the price of the record.  It features brightly-lit synths, glass-smooth vocals, and purposeful percussion that alternates between stumbling and steady. Sporting an ambiance that calls to mind 80′s Cure singles, but a grooving electro-disco rhythm that transform this cut into a contemporary synth-anthem."

...MUSIC VIDEO? HIT THE ROAD

Good things come in threes, and in this case it's Tucson's electro-pop trio ...music video?, who will be hitting to road in September!  Check it out West Coast peeps, and stay tuned for possible additional shows:

Sept 1 - Silverlake Lounge - Los Angeles CA
Sept 3 - Freakin Frog - Las Vegas NV
Sept 4 - Audie's Olympic - Fresno CA
Sept 6 - Grant & Green - San Francisco CA
Sept 7 - The Ruby Room - San Diego CA

Also, check out ...music video?'s Facebook page for event details:
http://www.facebook.com/musicvideo

Rock on!
~ FLR

LUZ DE VIDA [LIGHT OF LIFE]

Fort Lowell Records is extremely excited to announce our partnership with Music Against Violence, a coalition of Tucson writers, recording engineers, and venue operators, for our next record release and what will be our very first full length 12inch vinyl... Luz de Vida: A Compilation to Benefit the Victims of the Tucson Tragedy.

Just yesterday, as our group Music Against Violence were walking into the offices of the Rialto Theatre to begin planning for our promotional launch, the world was celebrating Gabby Giffords' return to Congress in Washington DC to vote on the debt ceiling.  The six of us, along with Joey Burns of Calexico and Charlie Levy from Stateside Presents, stopped in our tracks and cheered at the C-SPAN web stream that we had raced to display on Ryan's large design-friendly monitor.  It could not have been better timing, as Gabby's determination to vote yesterday was a great motivator for our team to continue pushing more ideas to make Luz de Vida bigger and more impactful than any of us had ever imagined.

Luz de Vida will be released on 12inch yellow vinyl featuring 12 Tucson artists, as well as a digital release made up of 37 artists, including John Vanderslice, Rachel Flotard & Jon Rauhouse, Chuck Prophet, Robyn Hitchcock, Ozomatli, Meat Puppets, Jimmy Eat World, Spoon, Neko Case, and DeVotchKa.  The 12inch vinyl will be available regionally in stores that carry other Fort Lowell Records releases, plus directly here on our website and through out distributor, StickFigure.  The digital download of 37 tracks will be included inside the vinyl record, and also available through all major online music outlets such as iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic (basically anywhere IODA makes available).  We will also have download cards for sale at all local events promoting Luz de Vida, such as our record release party at the Rialto Theatre on Saturday, October 15th.

You can read much more about this record and the track listings for both the vinyl and digital versions on the Music Against Violence website.

Luz de Vida is brought to you 100% by businesses that have sponsored this project by donating money and/or services to make this Luz de Vida possible.  Because of their sponsorship, we are able to guarantee that all proceeds generated from Luz de Vida will go to the Tucson Together Fund, the only officially sanctioned fund established to assist victims, families, and witnesses of the January 8th tragedy.

As of today, the jackets are being printed, we have approved the liner notes, which are now off to print  The vinyl test pressing has arrived and sounds absolutely great!  All in all, Luz de Vida is coming along nicely.  Promotional work will begin in September, so if you are in radio or with the press... stay tuned!  You will be hearing from us shortly with more information (and music to listen to).

Okay, that's all we have for now...
but stay tuned for more information to come!

Enjoy!
Fort Lowell Records & Music Against Violence

SO TRUE (AND HILARIOUS)!

I can not take any credit for writing this. In fact, I think it is one of those spam-story-telling emails that your Aunt Judith sends to your work email addy. But this one was sent to me from my buddy Skid, and it is so-damn-freakin'-hilarious, I couldn't resist... Read on!

IF PETS WROTE DIARIES

Excerpts from a Dog's Diary...... 

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!


Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary...

Day 983 of my captivity...

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage...

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously clueless.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.................

WET & RECKLESS HIT THE ROAD

The fabulous four femme fatales, otherwise known as Wet & Reckless, are hitting the East Coast once again, this time with their latest 7inch release from Fort Lowell Records featuring their smash hit "New Guy!" Check it:

July 16, Cyclops, Baltimore, MD
July 17, the Galaxy Hut, Arlington, VA
July 18, The Velvet Lounge, Washington D.C.
July 19, Pianos, NY, NY
July 20, the Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
July 22, Girl’s Rock Camp, Boston, MA (during the day)
July 22, O’Brien’s, Allston, MA (at night)
July 23, Nectar’s, Martha’s Vineyard

SUCCESS?

When we started this record label thingy, we said to ourselves "Wouldn't it be cool if one of our 7inches ended up on eBay selling for more money than it was really worth?" Well, that day has come...

Howe Gelb - 'Sno Angel + Melted Wires - $29.89

Just in case you were interested... look to your right.
You can order the same record directly from us for $5.00.

Happy shopping!
Team FLR

WHAT'S NEXT FOR FORT LOWELL RECORDS?

Twelve inches of Tucson AZ!

FREE DEATH KIT CD!

Order Death Kit's Devadasi 7inch from us directly and receive a free copy of their CD/EP titled 'Deathworks,' featuring five tracks: "Boy," "Catholic Kitsch," "We Were Young and Needed the Money," "Acid Kids," and "Morning Comes."

I DON'T HAVE A RECORD PLAYER

So, you've been dying to pick up our Record Store Day 7inch for Howe Gelb, but you sold your record player at the yard sale the PTA hosted for the kids to go on a field trip to the science museum last year.  No sweat, the Howe Gelb 'Sno Angel + Melted Wires 7inch is available all over the world wide web to purchase as MP3 audio files!  Here are three of the more popular sites you may like to download the songs from:

Amazon
eMusic
iTunes

Enjoy!
FLR

F' IT! WE'RE SELLING PROMOS!

So we might have sold out of the 750 numbered Howe Gelb 7inches... but we've got un-numbered promo copies available, and we're puttin'em up for sale on the ol' world wide web! The 'Add To Cart' has been made available on our website on the right side of the page for your purchasing pleasure.

GO!

SUNDAYS IN THE PHOENIX METRO AREA CAN BE FUN

Yesterday was a great day spent at The Nile Theater Record Fair in Mesa AZ! This was the second event they have hosted like this, and something we hope they keep doing. We continue to meet people that have never heard of Fort Lowell Records, and truly appreciate the opportunity to make new fans.

It was great to be set up next to our favorite record store in the Phoenix Metro Area, Stinkweeds. Good times were had hanging out with our friend (their Manager), Lindsay Cates... admiring the awesomeness of her credit card machine (SEE BELOW). We even managed to pick up a few records ourselves from Stinkweeds: The Black Angels' B-Side EP, The Amazing, The Black Ryder, a Deerhunter 7inch, a Trouble In Mind 7inch sampler, and two great great great records from the record label The Numero Group (#17 and #35 1/2) that we are very excited to listen to soon.

We met a lot of nice people throughout the day that were really excited to hear new music. The listening station proved to be helpful once again. This time we brought in two sets of headphones, so family and friends could join in the fun.

We also met Ryan from Perfectly Round Records and James from Gilgongo Records, two awesome awesome record labels from the Phoenix Metro Area. We highly recommend you check out both labels and the various bands they are releasing. We picked up The Tri City Thundercats 7inch, our only missing 7inch from the Perfectly Round Records catalog; excited to complete that set now. We also got a number of new vinyl from James at Gilgongo Records: two full lengths from French Quarter, one from ZS, Little Women, and James' own release, as well as 7inches by Woods, Married In Berdichev, and Vegetable. It's nice to finally meet both of those guys. They are both working really hard to bring you some great tunes, so definitely check them out.

Stinkweeds and Fort Lowell Records toughed it out until the very end, making sure every last possible customer was met and no one left behind. We celebrated a successful day of hard work at a local wine bar call Il Vinaio. Definitely recommend stopping by there if you are ever in the neighborhood. Pretty cool spot with a great selection of wine and beers, including an awesome Hemp Ale (that they allowed Tracy Shedd to take home in a growler she just happens to carry around with her at all times just in case she find a beer on tap she wants to take home in a growler... #realtalk).

Good times! Good times! We look forward to the next time The Nile Theater hosts a record fair, or to any other time we have a reason to head north and hang with our peeps in Phoenix.

Word.
FLR

THE GIFT OF THE NILE

Today we are headed up to Mesa AZ to The Nile Record Fair II, hosted by The Nile Theater.  If you are in the area, stop by and say 'Hello!'  We will have our new Fort Lowell Record "Music Sounds Better 7inches At A Time" TShirts, as well as all of our colorful 7inch records (including promotional copies of Howe Gelb's sold out 7inch)!  We are now able to accept Credit Cards, so don't sweat stopping by the ATM machine.  See ya'll at the show! ~ FLR

MUSIC VIDEO KILLS THE PODCAST!

Just in case you missed to awesome live performance ...music video? gave on KXCI 91.3FM Radio a few weeks ago, you can download or stream the podcast right here:
http://kxci.org/localsonly/podcast/podcast-05022011.mp3

Photos by Andrew Brown:

Enjoy!
FLR

GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE, GONE!

That's right folks, Howe Gelb's 7inch is gone! All 750 numbered copies have been sent out to record stores across the world. Stop by your local record store to see if they have it in stock. If not, they may still be able to order it in through our distributors: EDGE, AES, Super D, or StickFigure.

For those of you in Tucson AZ, you may still be able to find a copy at one of these local retail stores: Bohemia, Bookmans Grant, Bookmans Ina, Bookmans Speedway, Mast, Preen, Toxic Ranch, Zia Records Oracle, or Zia Records Speedway.

We personally only have a few un-numbered promotional copies available that we may use to sell at shows or use to restock local retailers, if not use them for promotional reasons. We are going to bring a couple of these with us this coming Sunday at the Nile Theater Record Fair in Mesa AZ, so stop by our table if you need one.

As you can see... Kickflip does not seem to mind selling out of this record. She is enjoying the extra shelf space to lounge around in.

For those of you that were able to secure a copy of Howe Gelb's 7inch, we hope you have been enjoying the record!

Thanks for the support!
Team FLR

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!

I just wanted to take a moment to share with everyone out there in cyberworld how rad the El Patron De Mamá (AKA: my Mom) is.  She's a lil' Italian lady with the brightest damn red hair you've ever seen (close to Miki Berenyi from Lush).  For most of her life, she was a school teacher, and an amazing one at that.  The stereotypes you would expect about an Italian mother are all true, just like Vinnie's mother from The Jersey Shore: she's a supergreat cook and loves having big groups of family and friends around for dinner, and she definitely has a soft spot in her stern heart for her lil' bambino (me).

Mom was never mean to us kids, but she definitely had her rules we had to follow.  She taught us the value of working hard at an early age.  At age six I had a solid list of house chores which included doing laundry for everyone (Mom, Dad, sister, brother, and myself) in the household.  She rewarded us for our hard work each week with an allowance, but made us responsible for buying our own 'luxuries in life,' which for me at the time were skateboards.  Then, when I was sixteen, old enough to have a 'real job,' she made me responsible not only for buying my skateboards and whatnot, but also for many of the 'necessities in life,' such as clothes and transportation.

Mom knows how to have fun too, though.  She was not all about work-work-work.  Mom was very supportive of developing a creative mind.  When any of us had a wacky idea to do something that most parents would not normally approve of, she was always there encouraging us to explore our ideas, but yet holding us accountable and making us responsible for our actions.  She was always there to guide us along the way to learn something new about ourselves or life.  My sister and I both ventured into the world of Interior Design with our own bedrooms; mine being tremendously more psychedelic than my sister's angular modernism.  Most parents would hardly let their kids put a poster on the wall, let alone paint swirly checkerboards with flames coming out the edges and wrapping around a six-foot happy face (don't ask me what I was thinking).

Don't get me wrong, Mom was not a push-over.  She would not just let us kids run wild and do whatever the heck we wanted.  She said "no," a lot.  But what is more important is that she knew when to say "yes."  Mom knew what was best for us to explore, and (more importantly) what would teach us the greatest lessons to become the people we are today.

My Mom is the reason why Fort Lowell Records is Fort Lowell Records.  She not only taught me to explore ideas, but to follow through on ideas, as well as to value the rewards of hard work.  Today, as we celebrate Mother's Day, Fort Lowell Records is also celebrating the success of selling all copies of one of our records for the first time: the Howe Gelb 'Sno Angel + Melted Wires 7inch we released for Record Store Day 2011 (just three weeks ago).  After one year of releasing 7inches records, we have finally succeed with getting all copies of a release out to the public, a common goal (if not the main goal) for any record label.

This achievement is not being taken for granted.  We know it is a result of all of the hard work and many sacrifices everyone has made in our inaugural year.  When I was growing up with my Mom, I would give up my time on weekends to work around the house so I could earn money to buy new skateboards.  Now we give up our time on weekends (and holidays and weeknights and an hour before going to work each day) to run this record label... a record label that only after one year has so much to be proud of.


...and for that, we have my Mom to thank.


Thank you Mom for being my Mom.  I really appreciate all you ever taught me in life.  I may not show it in ways others would expect, but I want you to know that I am proud to say that my own successes are due to being your son.  With each achievement in my life, I can pinpoint the moment in my childhood you showed me whatever life-lesson it may have been that led to that accomplishment.  Your wisdom and direction have given me the greatest life one could ask for.  Thank you, again.


Happy Mother's Day!
I love you, Mom!
~ Son

ROCK LOTTERY ROCKED TUCSON

Last night's Rock Lottery was simply awesome! What a great display of how beautiful the Tucson music community is! 25 talented musicians came together and in one day put together 5 bands that all kicked butt! Our favorite was The Sweet Spots, featuring our very own Tracy Shedd and one of our favorite guitarist in Tucson, Dana Fehr from the band Juarez. They started the night with their ass-kicking-take-no-prisoners power pop (file between Husker Du and Velocity Girl), that included an amazing cover of The Cars' "Just What I Needed."

Kudos to Mike Sanger and Johnnie Munger from Dead Western Plains, Dr. Dan from KXCI's Locals Only radio program, Maebelle Reed and everyone at Plush, and to the people of Tucson AZ, ...all for an awesome night!

Lastly... Thanks to The General! You can't have a great night out on 4th Avenue without stopping by to see The General at his hot dog cart across from Che's. He is simply the coolest vegetarian you will meet selling the raddest hot dogs while playing the sweetest jams! I swear, if he could sell beer, I would just hang out with The General all night.

RockRock!
FLR

HOT DAMN! IT'S THE TUCSON ROCK LOTTERY! [TONIGHT]

The Rock Lottery began in Denton, TX in 1997 (and in Seattle in 2006 and Brooklyn 2010). This will be Tucson's inaugural Rock Lottery. The premise is simple, but effective...

Twenty-five hand picked musicians meet in the morning at Plush. These volunteers organize into five groups through a lottery-based chance selection. The five separate groups are then released to practice at different locations. The musicians have 12 hours to create a band name and three to five songs (with a one cover limit). The groups will then perform what they have created that evening in front of a waiting audience.

The twenty-five musicians included in the experiment are selected in an attempt to represent a wide variety of musical styles. This event intends to bring together many facets of the Tucson music community that may seem incompatible as well as musicians whose interests may conflict. The challenge for these musicians is to try and go beyond their personal and musical differences and work together to create a unified group project that still contains personal styles of each of the participants.

All door proceeds go to CysticLife.org, a social network for the cystic fibrosis community. This positive, uplifting web site is the central location for the CF community to share tips, questions, ideas, experiences and encouragement to those families dealing with cystic fibrosis.

Musician participants include:
Mik Garrison, Winston Watson, Dante Rosano, Vikki Brown, Dana Fehr, Dave Mertz, Gabe Sullivan, Brian Lopez, Keli Carpenter, Joshua Butcher, Tracy Shedd (Fort Lowell Records), Ben DeGain, Fen Ilkner, Mike Mihina, Kaia Chesney, Lana Rebel, Steven Yanez Romo, J Lugo Miller (...music video? / Fort Lowell Records), Brian Green, Nick Letson, Vikas Pawa, David Clark, Ryan Janac, Geoff Hidalgo, and Will King.

More information:
- Facebook Event Page
- Plush Calendar

Press Coverage:
- Arizona Daily Star
- Arizona Daily Wildcat 
- KXCI
- Tucson Lifestyle Magazine
- Tucson Metromix
- Tucson Weekly
- Zocalo Magazine

Congratulations Mike Sanger (Dead Western Plains / Fort Lowell Records) on a job well done putting this together!  It is going to be an awesome night for sure!  See you all at the show!

OUR RECORDS ARE NOW SQUARE

We are superexcited about our new lil' Square! It's going to allow us to take credit cards at our merch tables from now on! Sweet! Thanks again Johnnie for the heads up on this! If anyone has any feedback to share on these lil' Squares, please let us know what's the 411.

Word.
Team FLR