I received an email earlier this month that began,
“Hey. My name’s Jamie, and I’m in a duo called Since I Was A Little Girl. Well… I was.”
Jamie Cameron and James Macdonald met in 2001 at Cambridge Regional College and formed a fast friendship and immediate musical bond. Choosing the cheeky moniker “Since I Was A Little Girl”, they set out their plans for world domination. A debut EP, was released last year on Where It’s At Is Where You Are, to great word-of-mouth and critical response. Tragically, the duo’s future was cut short by a devastating car accident in June of 2003 that left Jamie with a collapsed lung, and tragically resulted in James’s death.
Their story impacted me more than Jamie could have ever initially realized. One of the most difficult days of my life was attending the funeral of my friend Scott Harder, who passed away before even reaching thirty. The sight of seeing a parent burying their son is still one of the most fucked up, tragic and surreal things that I think I shall ever witness. Scott was someone I had just gotten to know, however he was a longtime friend of my spacecadet design brother-in-arms Chris Clarke. Scott’s passing was difficult for me, but I know it was truly heartbreaking for Chris.
So their music is definitely something I want to share with all of you. The duo’s first album proper “Good Morning Sunshine and Goodnight” is now available at Rough Trade. It’s full of passion, heart and promise.
This is a great track:
[MP3] Since I Was A Little Girl – She’s OK Tomorrow
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SEBASTIAN///Current favourite albums
THE STROKES. Is this it?
THE MOLDY PEACHES. s/t.
BEN KWELLER. Sha Sha.
THE KINKS. The Golden Hour of the Kinks.
BETH GIBBONS & RUSTIN’ MAN. Out of season.
ALISA///Current favourite albums
MODEST MOUSE. The Lonesome Crowded West.
THE ROBOT ATE ME. On Vacation.
THE DECEMBERISTS. Castaways and Cutouts.
LEAH ABRAMSON. Demolition Songs.
PATRICK WOLF. Lycanthropy.
Alisa & Sebastian are two kids from Germany who are in love with life, music and a good stiff drink. In their words, “Thinking about ‘starting a cool record label’ while getting drunk was the beginning of Sterben im November (Dying In November) Records”.
Their label was launched with the compilation “Sterben im November volume 1″ released in November of 2003. It gathered the recordings of local friends from Leonberg (near Stuttgart in Southern Germany) and musicians from the U.S. and Canada who had been persuaded via email to contribute to the compilation. Among the artists of note on that disc is the wonderful Diane Cluck who contributed two yet unreleased tracks. For all you Freak-folk groupies out there, she’s most recently appeared on the much sought after “Golden Apples of the Sun” CD compiled by Devendra Banhart.
Copies of the CD still available by mail order (cash only):
Prices for one CD including shipping and handling are:
Germany 5 EUR
Rest of Europe 7 EUR
Rest of the World US$10
to
Sterben im November Records
c/o Alisa Heller
Brandenburger Str. 11
71229 Leonberg-Warmbronn
GERMANY
Their first official release will the debut album of Alcoholic Sunrise. Described by Sebastian as “sounding a bit like a German version of The Good Life“, they got together during a 3-month alcohol excess, writing songs in the early morning hours (hence the name).
If you enjoy songs about drinking and lost love (and hey, who doesn’t) check them out:
[MP3] Alcoholic Sunrise – Mach Das Licht Aus (Turn The Lights Off).
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One the biggest kicks I get out of my P77 mixes is blurring genres and splicing together the DNA of lo-fi pop, folk, rawk, woozy electronics and ADHD sound bites of my favorite movies and media.
A label with a similar post-pop attitude is Frigital Records out of Jacksonville, Florida. The musicians on their roster create personal little tapestries from bits and bobs of guitar strum, tape loops, amp feedback and rinky-dink keyboards. Call them tattered tales for the lovesick generation.
Check out Frigital’s band page for an overview of their label talent and links to MP3s. Be sure to sample the sounds of Crix Crax Crux, whose latest, “Camel and Needle” has been bringing on the heat at indieworkshop.
