NEW STUFF

Just over a month ago, we somehow survived playing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for 12 hours in the bowels of an old Chinese movie theatre at Spadina and Queen. It was wild. It was art, we think. And for some masochistic reason, a few thousand people also watched it via a live stream provided by AUX and the Toronto Star. Here’s a rundown of everything that happened, in case you weren’t glued to your computer from dusk til dawn on October 1.

Four years ago, a few of us sat in our deep, stupid L-shaped couch at the old Juicebox Manor and joked about this project for Nuit Blanche. Every year, we would remember the idea, check the Nuit Blanche website, and realize we had missed the deadline for submissions by a week, or some similarly small, embarrassing amount of time. Then something happened. We remembered earlier. And we submitted the idea. And we were selected. Which is why we’re pleased to bring you Juicebox’s first performance art piece (!) as part of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2011: A Brief History of Rebellion. In short, we’re going to perform “Smells Like Teen Spirit” 144 consecutive times in the Toronto Underground Cinema. Yeah, we know.

Can you feel that? It’s everyone you know and love coming out of hibernation. Drinking colas in the sun! Eating fajitas on a patio! Listening to all the records we’re putting out this month! Check the column below, because it’s like everyone we know spent the whole winter recording and then all this music exploded on your hard drive as soon as warm weather hit. It rules, right? Life! Also, our new show has been all up on your TV, and my new book will be all up on your shelves in 2012. Things are getting real.

It’s been a while since we released anything new, but that’s because it’s winter, and everything in Toronto stops for five months to let the snow and sadness pass through. But things are melting, including our black hearts, and we’re pleased to announce that pretty soon we’ll be posting new music from bands like the Roman Line, Wayfarer, and Teenage Kicks. In the meantime, we’ll be headed to SXSW for the first time ever, so let us know if you have any free barbecue you need us to eat.

As we’ve mentioned here before, CBC Radio 3 is holding a competition for the best Canadian music website. And like we said before, we don’t expect to win, but we managed to sneak into the Top 30, which is really cool. So thank you! If you want to keep voting for us, we won’t tell you not to. We’re also very excited to be a part of a new project called Refiltered. It’s an amazing resource that pulls together all the PWYC digital labels in our little scene and makes their records available in one place. It’s awesome, so go download a year worth of great music for free.

CBC Radio 3 is holding a national online competition for the best Canadian music website. Look, we know we’re not going to win, but we just want to squeak into the next round where we can get trounced by the big guys. We didn’t nominate ourselves, which is the big thing that makes this not blatantly horrible and nauseating to me. Vote for us, or Exclaim or AUX, but really, vote for us, because we love you more, and we give you oodles of free music. VOTE.

This one’s just about punk! It’s on AUX. It’s fancy. It’s called Exclaim! TV’s Garageland. It’s a half-hour, it looks good as hell, and it has interviews and performances with all the bands you (and we really mean we) love. You can read all about it here, and watch the trailer here. Mark your calendars, buy your snacks. Also, there’s a launch party on February 11. What else do you need?

Hey holiday buddies. We’ve been too busy with some major, major stuff (we say that every month, don’t we?) to post any substantial updates, but it’s Christmas Day, and what better distraction from all the candy and ginger sesame brittle I just got in my stocking than updating our site? First of all, do you remember when we made a Holiday Message video last year with Andrew WK, Fucked Up, Alexisonfire, Woodhands, Bucks 65, D-Sisive, and my really ugly, ratty beard? Watch it again! It’s awesome as hell! And remember the two amazing Christmas albums that Aaron Zorgel made for you over the last two years? Listen to them both! Again! And go eat some turkey or fake turkey or nachos or whatever you do today, and say something nice to someone.

It’s been a while. Junior Battles was on tour, Ashley got a new job, and nothing really happened here. We’ve been intending to post the new In Time record for a few weeks, but life gets in the way of living, etc. It’s here now, though! And it’s awesome! And the artwork is the best artwork we’ve ever had. I think. Aaron Zorgel flying around like a Christmas angel comes close.

Last year, we made a comp featuring all the Canadian bands playing Fest 8 in Gainesville, Florida. It was a pretty cool year, since Canadian Fest representation had jumped for one band at Fest 7 to seven Canucks for last year’s festivities. This year, there are thirteen Canadian bands, and once again, we’ve culled choice cuts of prime rock and roll beef to present you with Free Health Care + MP3s II: Canadian Fest Comp. If you’re headed to Fest 9 this weekend, try to check these bands out, because they’re obviously awesome. And if you’re not, listen to this as a balm for your ravaged soul.

Today we’re releasing two records, because it’s Tuesday, and why not, and also, I leave for tour tonight, and finally, both bands are playing CD releases in the next week. Currents are from Ottawa, Gentlemen Husbands are from Cobourg, and they couldn’t be more different sonically. One is an incredible post-hardcore band, and the other is a ripping bar-rock band. But both of their records are great, and you should support them both when they start selling real-live versions of them.

JUICEBOXdotcom house band Junior Battles just posted a new, $0.00 budget, incredibly illegal video that includes pirated clips from more popular movies than you should probably use in a two minute music video. It’s pretty great. You can watch it here, then go to the band’s MySpace and issue a cease and desist, if you happen to own the rights to Terrorvision. In which case, we totally want to hang out.

A few months back, Juicebox co-conspirator Aaron Zorgel came up with the idea of a compilation of all our friends’ bands doing covers of songs that inspired them when they were lusty teenagers (that probably wasn’t the exact wording). It seemed like a lot of our 20-something buds were starting to play in bands that were primarily influenced by acne-ridden, 16 year-old versions of themselves, and Aaron wanted to celebrate it. The result is our new favourite release ever: an 11 song compilation very aptly titled Our Favourite Songs. Download it, love it, and make sure you listen all the way to the end, okay?

We’re happy to be unleashing the debut four song EP from Hamilton’s Monster Truck all over the internet today. Comprised of guys from a bunch of other successful Southern Ontario bands, Monster Truck started as a joke and became a truly awesome band. When Jeremy asked us to host the record, we were stoked, and when we saw the cover art, we were stoked-er. You can also check Jeremy out doing his rock and roll day job thing in this episode of Talk Show Night. And then you can rip figure eights in a field somewhere while crushing out this EP.

Take a look around. Things looking different? We know. Barely. But barely takes hours, and you’ll just have to deal for now. We’ve updated our About page so that it’s actually, you know, about us, and posted a link to our new Big Cartel web store to offer physical copies of some the records we have available for free. Maybe the biggest change, both annoying and unnoticeable to the naked eye, is the clean-up of all the old articles from the site’s first incarnation, now archived clearly in a section cleverly dubbed Old Stuff. And we posted a great new record by Teenage Kicks. It’s been a night.

Did you come out to our stupidly fun NXNE rager last week? If not, you missed out. But it’s cool, we heard there was a line and a few famous people didn’t get in, which obviously tickles us endlessly because we’re awful human beings. Internet sarcasm aside, it was a really amazing opportunity to get a bunch of the bands whose great music we’ve had the opportunity to share on this website in the same room with a bunch of like-minded cool folks and have a really fun night, and we’re grateful to have had that chance. As Tyler from the Decay remarked on stage: “Looks like the internet works.” Sweet.

In celebration of tonight’s out of control NXNE rage-a-thon, we’ve posted the last Hostage Life song your ears will probably ever hear, a cover of Tapper Zukie’s “MPLA” originally intended as a 7″ release to accompany the COTU vinyl. As the story goes, the band broke up just before the record went to press, but here she is, ready for you to download and get down to. Then come out the Bovine tonight! Get there early and stay late - Victim Party, who play at 2am, features Colin and Pat from Hostage Life, along with every one of their best friends. You’ll fucking love it because it’s fucking awesome.
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08 pm: The Decay // Punk rock from Guelph
09 pm: Wayfarer // Hot Water Music worship from KW
10 pm: Cavaliers! // Alt-country from Newmarket
11 pm: !ATTENTION! // Pop-punk from Toronto
12 pm: Dig It Up // Party punk from Montreal
01 am: The Video Dead // Hardcore from Burlington
02 am: Victim Party // Best friends from Toronto (members of Bombs Over Providence, Hostage Life, The Black Lungs, The Artist Life, The Little Millionaires, Bang It Out and Marilyn’s Vitamins)
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Only $5! Cheap! (Or free with a festival wrist band!). And because of the municipal magic of NXNE, the Bovine will be serving until 4 a.m. It’d be swell to see your face.

Hey friends, it’s been a while since we all hung out and shared a knowing glance, hasn’t it? So consider this a formal invite to our NXNE-themed debutante ball. On June 16 at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto, we’ll be showcasing a bunch of bands we’ve released records for over the past year or two + some additional friends courtesy of brother-in-arms Adam Kreeft & UOBA. The lineup looks like this:
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08 pm: The Decay // Punk rock from Guelph
09 pm: Wayfarer // Hot Water Music worship from KW
10 pm: Cavaliers! // Alt-country from Newmarket
11 pm: !ATTENTION! // Pop-punk from Toronto
12 pm: Dig It Up // Party punk from Montreal
01 am: The Video Dead // Hardcore from Burlington
02 am: Victim Party // Best friends from Toronto (members of Bombs Over Providence, Hostage Life, The Black Lungs, The Artist Life, The Little Millionaires, Bang It Out and Marilyn’s Vitamins)
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Only $5! Cheap! (Or free with a festival wrist band!). And because of the municipal magic of NXNE, the Bovine will be serving until 4 a.m. It’d be swell to see your face.

The extra fine Juicebox/UOBA tour that’s been rolling through Quebec and Ontario finishes up this weekend in Toronto with the extra-rad addition of Horses and Greg McPherson to the west-coast wrecking crew of Party at the Moontower. That sounded like a bad marketing sentence meant to sell shoes to high school girls, but shit, we mean it. To celebrate Saturday’s night of music and responsible adult debauchery, we’re offering up some vinyl and free tickets through our television buds, AUX. Just cruise over to their site for your chance to save some money and get some free records. Life is good sometimes, right? Stay tuned for an extra-special announcement about our extra-special NXNE showcase. Hint: It will be the best.

Attention, live music fans and generally cool people who live in Quebec and Southern Ontario. A bunch of bands who have released records under the loving umbrella of the Juicebox Recording Co. are heading out in vans to play multiple shows as part of what is commonly referred to in The Biz as “a tour”. Anchored by Party at the Moontower and the Video Dead, the shows also include label-buds and great folks Prevenge, Dig It Up, Horses, and Stay Home. Kind of the best, right? So if you live in or around Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Oshawa, Hamilton, London, Sarnia, or Toronto (what an exhaustive list of places!), get your dancing shoes on and your liberty spikes fresh. For a complete list of dates and info on each show, check this out. And go download some free records and get your brain ready.

If you check out the snazzy new artwork below, you’ll see (because you’re oh so smart) that we’ve posted a new record from our west coast mega-buds, Party at the Moontower. Unlike their first EP, this one isn’t entirely dedicated to a single character from Dazed and Confused, but we promise you that it will still hunt you down and try to kick the crap out of you, O’Bannion-style. This EP is especially cool for us, as it marks the first time we’ve been able to release a follow-up from a band whose first recordings were posted here, and the second time we’ve gotten involved in a limited-run vinyl adventure with a release also available here, for free. We’ll have more details on that soon, but for now, just download the free music because you’re an honest thief.

It’s been a while, good inter-chums. Why? Because it’s spring! If you look beside this text, you’ll see one of the first Google Image results for the word “spring”. That fresh-faced baby animal is expressing our general excitement at the end of the dark times here in dumpy, snowy Canada. Reading outside! Drinking outside! Concerts outside! We basically just move everything we do in basements to our backyard between the cars and the weeds. We have some major announcements coming up in the next few weeks: new records (including Hostage Life b-sides), new tours, and a bangin’ showcase for a big music festival that happens in Toronto in June. Plus, we’re going be to re-launching this site sometime in the summer, with real blogs, written with some degree of regularity, by real people. We think it’s an idea that could really catch on. In the meantime, would you like to read about how the government of a foreign country flew one of us across the ocean to talk to bands? Go ahead!

Hey buddies! That wicked-good TV show we have is now repeating in its entirety on AUX, and to try and fool you into watching every episode again (you already watched them all, right?), we managed to wrangle a mess of cool prizes from a mess of cool record labels (Matador! Paper Bag! Dine Alone!). To win, all you have to do is join the show’s new Facebook group. It’s so easy, you should be offended. We hope you aren’t.

In more free news, we’re really excited to be the digital home for Wayfarer’s new full-length, Our Fathers. It’s great. Go get it. And like some kind of visionary collaboration between Kanye, Lil Wayne, Drake, and Eminem, the Juicebox Manor House Band, Junior Battles, just released their latest 7″ on pretty coloured vinyl through Square Up Records, and as a PWYC digital download through If You Make It, the more-Brooklyn incarnation of the kind of spirit we try to foster with this weird little creative hub. Up the punx, everyone, everywhere.

Hey, what’s new? Probably a lot since last we spoke. Us too… we really should try catching up more often. But I get it, you’re busy, we’re busy. We should just enjoy the time that we do have. SO! The latest episode of Talk Show Night at Juicebox Manor is now online, featuring the mighty & newly minted ANVIL (our first and only guest to have also been on Conan O’Brien. Look out late night network TV, we are limping toward you in a menacing albeit friendly way). On the very same episode, we go to DJ school with Maximum RNR to learn how to do what the kids do, AND we get drunk with power and feature Juicebox Recording Co.’s own Cool Dad… who may or may not have broken up since we filmed this, rendering our incestuousness useless. But what an episode! Also, feel free to check out the episode previous to that, which is just as full of fun and whimsy and high-flying death-defying action, with The Gaslight Anthem (and a 4-year old), Diableros, and a basement performance by the king of beards himself, Mayor McCa. Lots of fancy news on its way about Recording Co. releases in the near future too. Oh, and I think we have an intern now. More on that when we wrap our brains around it.

Hey sweet peach. You’ll be tickled to know that episode 12 of our TV show is online now. In this whirlwind teevee adventure, Gonzalez teaches us how to properly disrespect a piano, The Hidden Cameras’ Joel Gibb tells Canada what’s what, and Halifax’s own Cousins play a couple songs in the basement. And hey, while we’ve got you, be sure to check out Punknews and Paper & Plastick’s limited pressing vinyl auction for the Haiti disaster relief effort. There’s a bunch of cool, super rare stuff available (including a 1/100 blank sleeve pressing of the final Hostage Life album that was supposed to be a full art pressing of 1000 but the band broke up blahblahblah, you know the story). All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. In the same vein, The Decay have announced that all donations from their record that we recently released will now be going to www.chglobal.org.

Oh hey bros. We’re back! Twenty ten, listen to Len! Hope everyone had a relaxed or insane end to 2009, depending on your preference. We’ve been busy, making new episodes of our smash hit TV show and using our newfound digital cable celebrity to pass ourselves off as some kind of “experts” on Allan Cross’ TV show. Then we posted another great record for you to love forever. Hey, do you use Twitter? It’s awesome, follow us. If you do, you are automatically entered for a chance to win a great time, every day, when you look at your Twitter. Life! It’s a miracle. Stay real.

It’s holiday time at the manor which means we can update the site even less than usual. Great! Before we go, we wanted to celebrate our ever increasing love for You and Yours with this HOLIDAY MESSAGE from Us and Ours (featuring some of our studliest houseguests from the past year). If that’s not enough, we’ve got our dear Aaron Zorgel’s annual Christmas miracle/holiday mixtape/celebration of friends up for grabs. AND one of our favourite interviews + episodes of the show is now online. Mow down! Merry this and that! See you in 2010, buttheads.

Things are hectic at the buddy factory as usual, so here are some gifts in lieu of our embarrassingly characteristic lack of updates. GIFT ONE: Not one, but TWO brand new EPs direct from Montreal + straight to your download finger here (by Dig It Up!) and here (by Prevenge!). GIFT TWO: several newly internet-ified episodes of our AUX teevee show. GIFT THREE: a kiss. Come collect at 633 Clinton between the hours of 2 & 3 a.m., Monday through Friday. Or Friday night at the Press Club where you’ll have to kiss Greg too for his birthday.

We’re pretty sure that headline makes us looks cool. Last week’s stellar episode of the show is now online, featuring us going to California for Warped Tour, an interview with the Reason, and a performance from the Roman Line. This week’s episode, airing tonight at 11pm on AUX, features us trying to find KISS in Quebec City, an interview with Spookey Rueben, and a performance from the Darcys. 1000% bangers.

So. Hostage Life broke up right before Centre of the Universe was sent to press. The band + us decided that pressing hundreds of copies was now probably an unsound idea; pressing was halted, and in fully shitty news, the gorgeous full-art copies we were all stoked about will never see the light of day. The band is, however, pressing 100 blank label copies to mail out to anyone who pre-ordered and to sell at their last few shows. We wish things had worked out, but life is one crazy motherfucker.

With the Fest over and our kittens headed back to the den, things are slowly returning to normal at the manor. Episode four of the show (feat. Tokyo Police Club + Crystal Antlers) is online now; our Canadian Fest Comp is still available (freshly antiquated and collectible!); and today the Toronto Star called our show “a cross between a regular talk show and a riotous house party.” Thank god tonight’s episode (11 p.m.! Rogers cable 107!) is a banger: Josh Reichmann, Dave Bidini, and D-Sisive.

For the last eight years, the folks behind No Idea Records have organised a monster punk circus called the Fest. In the past, Canadian representation has been limited. As in, one band out of about 300. But this year, seven filthy Canuck rock units are headed down to Gainesville to blow minds. So we’ve compiled tracks for all but one Fest-bound Canadian band. And it rules. And you can go download it now.

Last week’s hotly-anticipated second episode of Talk Show Night at Juicebox Manor–wherein we hit the Steamwhistle Brewery with United Steelworkers of Montreal, talk dead bodies and dating with Alexisonfire, and The Thermals play the basement (no big deal)–is now online. On tonight’s on-the-actual-TV episode (11 p.m.! Rogers 107!): Woodhands, Wax Mannequin, and The Artist Life.

Last week marked the debut of our real-life, parent-impressing TV show, Talk Show Night at Juicebox Manor. Everyone we watched it with said it ruled, and we don’t think they’re biased or unlikely to express dissent, so the show must rule. Now you can watch it online and decide for yourself if we’re full of it or not.

The thing we’ve been yammering about forever is happening, finally, in the real world. The trailer is up. The countdown is on. Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 6th, at 11:00pm, Talk Show Night At Juicebox Manor becomes a TV show that you, your mom, and your best friends can all watch, love, and enjoy forever. If you live in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick or Newfoundland, you can catch the fever on Rogers Cable 107. Elsewhere, head to www.aux.tv to fall in love all over again. We are stoked. You are stoked.

While we squeaked in with the midnight release of Hostage Life’s utterly rad sophomore full-length record, Centre of the Universe, we were faced with the simultaneous complete meltdown of our server. After endless discussions, revisited mixes, couriered masters and fierce uploading, this whole night rested on two pots of coffee, one large pizza, and an endless series of calls to some guys in California, offering indisputable proof that God hates Hostage Life and doesn’t want you to hear their record. Do you need a better reason to download it right now?

(Pictured: Webmaster losing his mind trying to not fail at delivering maximum rock to you on schedule.)

We’ve talked about it in dark rooms with large beers, and there have been murmurs over these interwebs, but we are officially making it official: Hostage Life will be releasing their massively rad sophomore full-length through the Juicebox Recording Co. on September 30th. It’s called Centre of the Universe. It’s incredible. Donny Cooper recorded it and Alex Snelgrove did the artwork. There will be vinyl. You will be stoked. Check out this video for a snippet of just how good this record is going to be. If you like punk rock and thinking about stuff, you will be down.

All you really need to do is peep our little blurb for the latest JBR release to see how much we love this band, but just to drive it home, Horses are an incredible band, Brotherly Love is an incredible recording, and we’re stoked and honoured to be able to share it with you, glorious internet. If you like rock music, people that are nice, songs that are good, or enjoying life, you should probably give it a download.

When we were younger, thinner, and much bigger fans of the first Fenix TX album, there was this band from Windsor, Ontario, who were awesome. They were called Sewing With Nancie. They changed their name and stopped playing all their old songs without ever playing a real farewell show, so six years later, they’re playing six final shows and putting things to rest for good. And we’re releasing their discography. High school awesome times deploy.

There’s this movie that rules. It’s called Dazed and Confused. We hadn’t watched it ’round the JB Manor in a little while, but in a moment of beautiful serendipity, we basically re-watched the movie and got introduced to Party At The Moontower the next day. These guys seem to be dedicated solely to rocking extremely hard and referencing Richard Linklater’s best movie all day, ever day. It’s a rad combination that works well if you like good music and sweet films. The decision to release their debut EP was a pretty easy one, despite them living way far away in “beautiful” and “serene” Vancouver, which has always seemed way too simultaneously bourgeoisie and dangerous for us. Mostly because it is awesome. Enjoy it, and relish in what a dink Fred O’Bannion was.

Well, for one, what can really be said after a MEMBER OF FUGAZI PLAYS IN YOUR BASEMENT (tv = fun amirite?!) But mostly we’ve been slacking because the Juicebox house band and co-proprietors of this ghostship are on tour and I’ve been busy forgetting that computers co-exist with ice cream in the summertime. But! NXNE is coming up, the bars are open till 4, and the aforementioned Junior Bagels will be there (UO / No Idea Records showcase on Thursday w/ the awesome Bridge & Tunnel from Brooklyn NY +++), so let’s go to that together and reminisce about days of yore. I’m buying. But only if you wear that shirt. You know the one.

When we started putting out records last December, I doubt anyone anticipated we’d already be at a total of ten gorgeous records by May. Well, what’s up. Ten records. The latest of which is the kind of high-water mark I didn’t think we’d reach for a while: the complete discography of Burlington punks the Video Dead. The first time I ever saw them play was at the Bovine a few years back; their singer kept spitting beer on everyone and he scared the shit out of me. Plus their bassist had this weird chud-baby-skull-thing bass, which was also kind of disconcerting. Then we all became friends now we’re releasing the career-spanning A Face For Radio… But Not The Songs. Life is rad like that sometimes.

In other news that doesn’t make my high school brain fold in on itself, we’ve got some big plans for this summer. Like most seasons. This time, watch out for a Repo Man tribute night. Yeah. Details and Emilio worship to follow.

We’re still busy collecting our sanity (and the wreckage that is our house minus a film crew) this week after wrapping the first four episodes of the show with a bunch of in-house “interviews” (including a round of the dating game wherein Justin’s ex-girlfriend gets fresh with Alexisonfire). Speaking of yer buds in AOF, we’ve got a showcase at this year’s Over the Top Fest, a mixed bbq featuring headliner Hunter (members of Alexisonfire, Moneen, and The Abandoned Hearts Club), a couple of Juicebox bands (Cool Dad, Ulysses and the Siren), and out-of-towners The Narrative (from Brooklyn NY). Best yet, it’s at Dee’s this Friday (May 22). You were gonna be there anyway!

Definitely a bit of a bananas month here at the manor as we scramble to complete the first season of our TeeVee show. This week begins with The Thermals gracing our basement to play some songs. Tuesday we’ll be feeding ducks and scoping babes in the park with Woodhands. And Friday our lucky lil basement (seriously, it’s starting to get a big head) will see performances by both Crystal Antlers and Wax Mannequin. All while we continue to cover the best film festival this city has to offer by seeing more movies in a week than we’d normally see all year (look forward to coverage involving the stars of Troll 2 and Best Worst Movie). Yiiiiiiip.

How are you? Yeah? Great to hear. Just another week at the office for us that’ll see bands like Nomeansno and The Rural Alberta Advantage play in our basement(!) for episodes 2 & 3 of our forthcoming TV program that I swear we are not just pulling your leg about. Also, we’ve got a new release for you to feast your ears upon by Haligonian ex-pats Cool dad. AND an event you should probably hang with us at: Juicebox house band Junior Battles’ cd release party at the El Mocambo. Friday! Let’s drink about it. (oh, and, uh, we got a, uh, twitter account. new hot updates! wassup haters.)

Have you watched the Terminator films recently? Well, a very potent strain of “feeling like total shit” has swept JBHQ this week, and seriously, those first two movies own your life. The third one is just kind of funny. In non-Terminator-related news, the Recording Co. is pleased to announce the release of Saint Alvia VS. Jeremy Chambers, our first release from anyone ever nominated for a Juno. It’s awesome, go download it. Right on.

Lots for us, thanks. It’s been a gigantor month traffic-wise thanks to everybody stuffing their faces with our last few releases. Some cool announcements/records/burgersandwiches coming soon, possibly even this week. Until then, for all none of you living in London, Ontario, go see our mega pals in Great Lenin’s Ghost (you may remember them from such releases as JUICEBOXdotcomp) open for some boyband called Tokyo Police Club (this Thursday! Call the Office!). We’ll be there. If you see us, say hello and I swear we’ll buy you a car.

As you can hopefully tell, we’ve been pretty busy lately making your life great. We’ve got the first release from Ulysses and the Siren (ex-Cain and Abel), plus our very first limited-time download — The Darcys’ cover of Final Fantasy’s “The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead” (with the blessing of sir Owen Pallett). If you’re in Toronto and feel the need to party about it, we’ll see you at this week’s show featuring the above bands alongside fellow JBR friends (and master brewers), Cool Dad. ALSO: JBR on FB. Do it.

Life is a beautiful, precious gift. Celebrate with: the new LUM EP! Luc Doucet’s recession wisdom! Our March 6th party at the Bovine with Video Dead, Junior Battles, and Fog of Leprosy. Chris Nash’s love of attending movies in Sault Ste. Marie. And all the awesome records we’re putting out in the next two months. And our TV show. Seriously.

Attention awesome folks: Running a blog is great, but like most normal people, we’ve got other, non-blog interests. Interests like our recently-launched record label. And our soon-to-launch television show (really). And a few assorted other schemes. So enjoy the new layout, download our records, keep reading the blog, and get ready for great times all the time.