It’s great to have friends in high places, but it’s even better to have friends in sunny places…like California. And Geoff Geis (of Pizza! and Big Whup) is that friend! Yes, you know him…or at least seen him here. He has started contributing to FMLY and he had some very kind words about Vertical House Records. We certainly appreciate the recognition and want to say a special thanks to Geoff for spreading the Rocket City love. You can read his post here!
Vertical House Records is expanding!! yay! Dreams really do come true! Kinda serious about that…I dreamed about the space we are moving to last year. And now it’s happening. We are moving across the hall, and that means we will no longer be crammed. Our couches will no longer be occupied by crates of records. You won’t have to dig under tables for the 12″ singles. We’ll be able to have sections (gasp)!
So say farewell to our old space, and join us soon in our new one soon!
Speaking of fresh, we’ve been excited about this new Fresh & Onlys video ever since the creator emailed us about it a while ago. Unfortunately, he had to email again saying that Pitchfork had to preview it first. And now that they finally have, we can share it here! This is a video of the song “Vanishing Cream” off their upcoming 7″ on Plastic Spoons Records.
The Fresh & Onlys – Vanishing Cream
The Fresh & Onlys – Vanishing Cream from EyeBodega on Vimeo.
Know who’s awesome? YOU! And we love you for being so!
And you don’t get all this cheese without whine. All those times we whined, begged, and spammed you to vote for us really payed off this year cause Vertical House Records won first place for “Best Place to Buy CD’s and Music for Listening” in the Best of the Valley (Planet) Poll! Granted, we don’t have a lot of competition in this town, but it’s great to see we beat out The Big Guys.
So thanks to all who have supported us…and congrats to all our friends for placing first in their categories!
Love always,
Vertical House Records
PS – Anyone know where Trish Land is?!
I wish the Strange Boys would come back to Huntsville. Specifically to our store. To play again. But until that happens, this video for a song off their upcoming album will have to do. Be Brave comes out on February 22nd.
Last night we went to Exit/In in Nashville, TN. to see a few of our favorite bands: Smith Westerns, Magic Kids, and Girls. It was awesome, simply put. The trip to Nashville was ever so brief, but when most of it is spent singing and dancing along, maybe short and sweet is best!
Smith Westerns
Magic Kids
Magic Kids pizza box set list…propped up with beer, of course.
David Byrne, anyone?
The Magic Kids – ‘Hey Boy’ – Exit/In Nashville, TN. from vertical house records on Vimeo.
Girls
Girls – ‘Laura’ – Exit/In Nashville TN. from vertical house records on Vimeo.
Girls – ‘Lust for Life’ – Exit/In Nahville, TN from vertical house records on Vimeo.
Thomas Function is going on tour! Catch ‘em when you can…for real. Always good times!
January
26 Chattanooga, Tenn. @ JJ’s Bohemia
27 Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl
28 Tallahassee, Fla. @ Engine Room
29 Miami, Fla. @ Legion Hall
30 Orlando, Fla. @ Richie’s Wiggly World (4:30PM)
30 Orlando, Fla. @ Wills Pub (10PM)
31 Tampa, Fla. @ Fly Bar
February
2 Gainesville, Fla. @ The Atlantic
3 Mobile, Ala. @ Alabama Music Box
4 Auburn, Ala. @ The Independent
Welcome welcome 2010…although you have brought with you upsetting news and destruction to our neighborhood. By now everyone has heard about the sad fact of Jay Reatard passing away. And while we didn’t know him personally, his music has inspired us for years. It’s always disconcerting when someone passes well before their time, especially after reading his quote: “I’m just trying to get the idea out before the inspiration is gone. Everything I do is motivated by the fear of running out of time.”
To the family and friends of Jay, we are truly sorry for your loss.
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Our friends in Thomas Function have put a new song up called In the Light of Day…although we gotta credit Josh for doing the whole damn thing himself. You can listen to the song right here though, no need to trek over to mahspace, unless you really want to. It’s such a catchy song and it makes me wish summer was right around the corner. I’m ready for the sun-kissed, pool-side hang outs!
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Another friend, Charlie, has made it part of her resolution to create a new mix cd every month. Her first mix is almost like a twin sis to our Eargasms 6…ok, maybe Eargasms 5 and 6 combined. Anyway, it’s really great and you should make it yours! Download it here.
Tracklisting:
1. Jacuzzi Boys – Island Ave
2. Jaill – Beggar Sincere
3. King Tuff – Kind of Guy
4. Wipers – Return of the Rat
5. The Fresh & Onlys – Peacock and Wing
6. The Magic Kids – Good to Be
7. Wipers – Alien Boy
8. Smith Westerns – Dreams
9. Goodnight Loving – Colin Attends a Party
10. King Tuff – Sun Medallion
11. Hunx & His Punx – You Don’t Like Rock & Roll
12. Puppy Hearts – When Kingdom Come
13. Girls – Morning Light
14. Nervous Patterns – Robot’s on the Loose
15. The King Khan & BBQ Show – Crystal Ball
16. Wipers – Mystery
And she has this to say about it: For the past few months I’ve been ingesting music at an alarming rate. This mix is really just the tip of the iceberg, but I think are the highlights that could be best described as eargasmic. I plan on making this a monthly series partially to encourage myself to continue digesting everything I can find and partially to share my discoveries. This mix includes all three bands playing at Bottletree on February 4th – Girls, Magic Kids, Smith Westerns. I hope to encourage you to go to this show (or where ever they are playing in your city), it’s going to be an amazing time.
Andy and I are going to the Girls, Magic Kids, Smith Westerns show in Nashville on Feb. 6th and we can’t wait! It’s going to be a blast…and Andy is already predicting it to be the best show of 2010. If we can swing it, we’re gonna try to go to the B’Ham show as well. Cause I wanna have a slumber party with Charlie!
We did it! We’ve finally chosen our top 20 Albums of 2009…along with the top 7 inches of the year. And while we were at it, we included our favorite shows from ‘09. If you have a “best of” list of your own, you should share it with us!
ALBUMS:
1. Box Elders – Alice & Friends (Goner Records)
2. King Tuff - Was Dead (Colonel Records)
3. Smith Westerns - Self Titled (Hozac Records)
4. Jail - There’s No Sky (Oh My My) (Self Released)
5. Fresh & Onlys - Debut (Castle Face)
6. Nobunny – Raw Romance - (Burger Records)
7. Goodnight Loving – Self Titled (Dusty Medical Records)
8. Girls - Album (True Panther Sounds)
9. Fresh & Onlys – Grey Eyed Girls (Woodsist)
10. Hunx & His Punx – Gay Singles (True Panther Sounds)
11. Thomas Function - In The Valley of Sickness (Fat Possum Records)
12. Thee Oh Sees – Dog Poison (Captured Tracks)
13. Jacuzzi Boys – No Season (Florida’s Dying)
14. The Strange Boys - And Girls Club (In The Red)
15. Pine Hill Haints - To Win Or To Lose (K Records)
16. The Dutchess & The Duke - Sunrise / Sunset (Hardly Art)
17. Harlem – Free Drugs (Female Fantasy Records)
18. So Cow - So Cow (Tic Tac Totally)
19. The Resonars - That Evil Drone (Burger Records)
20. Yussuf Jerusalem - A Heart Full of Sorrow (Florida’s Dying)
7 INCHES:
The Magic Kids - Hey Boy / Good To Be (Goner Records)
Girls – Lust for Life / Life in San Francisco (True Panther Sounds)
Smith Westerns / Magic Kids - Imagine Pt. 3 / Superball (Fat Possum)
Goodnight Loving - Nothing Conquers Us / Scary Bad (Dirtnap Records)
Diamond Rings - All Yr Songs (Hypelighter)
Dan Sartain - Hungry End / Perverted Justice (Big Legal Mess)
Ganglians – Blood On the Sand (Captured Tracks)
Fergus & Geronimo – Harder Than It’s Ever Been (Woodsist)
Fergus & Geronimo – Blind Muslim Girl (Tic Tac Totally)
The Oh Sees – Tidal Wave / Adult Acid (Woodsist)
SHOWS:
Nobunny & Rock N’ Roll Adventure Kids @ Vertical House Records
Magic Kids @ Gonerfest Memphis
Hunx & His Punx @ Gonerfest Memphis
Spellcaster Maritime Ball (Quintron & Ms. Pussycat, Thomas Function) @ Spellcaster Lounge New Orleans
Goodnight Loving @ Bamalama Huntsville
Box Elders @ Bamalama Huntsville
Thomas Function, Puppy Hearts, Geoff Geis @ Vertical House Records
Fresh & Onlys @ Gonerfest Memphis
Box Elders @ Gonerfest Memphis
Pine Hill Haints, Counterclock Wise, Revival Now @ Crossroads
On December 23rd, we had a Christmas Party Potluck Showtime at Vertical House Records! There was so much food and friends and fun! Geoff Geis opened the show and Andy, Jennifer, and I played with him on a few songs again. Puppy Hearts went next and they stole the show, hands down. It’s a new band here in town and they are fantastic! We heard one song when Zach sent it to us for Eargasms 6, but all these new songs they have are so great. Thomas Function ended the evening with a high energy dance party before the eggnog effect wore off. While doing shows at our store is a lot of work, this was definitely worth it and we had several extra hands to help us clean up and lock up, and that always helps. After the show we went to the Bandito Christmas Party that was still going on, and it was also very fun! This time, an 80s music dance party…which you can never go wrong with! We left Bandito around 3:30am and finally hit the sheets at 4am. Because the night was pretty hectic, pictures were a minimum.
Geoff Geis
(No Puppy Hearts ::sad face sad face sad face::)
Thomas Function
Also wanted to say hello and thanks for the feature to the lady (ladies?) that run Daed Pizza! They came to Vertical House as part of their epic road trip and we read the kind words they said about our store and wish them good luck and fun times for the rest of their trip! Thanks for letting us be a part of epicness…that’s always rad.
can you spot the kitten?
And speaking of the store…guess who else has been a big hit? TINY! It’s so funny to watch customer’s faces when they see this tiny kitten running towards them…then all of a sudden start pouncing sideways at their shoe. omg I love it! She’s a hard little booger to photograph though. I know, I know…use flash! But I like the motion in the shots cause it’s a glimpse of how rambunctious she is!
I found this mini radio flyer and I knew it was perfect for Tiny! You will probably be sick of this kitten in this wagon…just a fore warning.
She loves to snuggle in my jacket…in fact, she’s napping in there as I type this.
Jimmy, a satisfied kitten customer!
Yes, I did this.
wikka wikka whaaa?
DJ FluffnStuff
Tiny helps Andy price records!
