HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2013 HONORS FOR TTOTALS AND MICHAEL BEACH

Happy New Year! Man, what a year 2013 was. While it wasn’t our busiest in terms of the number of releases we put out, it was definitely one of our most exciting. I had the pleasure of watching Ttotals perform at this year’s Austin Psych Fest and meeting in the flesh excited fans who had just placed orders online for their critically acclaimed Spectrums of Light 7-inch that we released days before. Another highlight was meeting the man who had a hand in making this record sound so damn good hours before he blew us all away on stage…Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom. While Tate Eskew expertly handled recording and engineering duties, Sonic mastered this A/B slab of outer blues. Expect more doses of brooding psych sure to set your soul ablaze from these guys in 2014 in the form of a new LP. 

Ttotals at Cake Shop, NYC

August saw the release of Michael Beach’s sophomore LP, Golden Theft, a real genre-bending stunner. I got to tour the East Coast with Beach, backing him on drums, while his regular bandmates waited for him to return home to San Francisco for some West Coast dates. That week saw us share the stage with Matt Valentine (MV&EE) and John Moloney's (Chelsea Light Moving) new project, Home Comfort, as well as Chris Forsyth and other great bands, like the Estrogen Highs, Fatal Film, and Margaret Mead. We managed to wrangle a gig in an old church on the stunningly beautiful Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. What a blast!

Beach at The Elevens, Northampton, MA

Both of the aforementioned additions to our catalog turned many heads this year and earned end-of-year honors. Ttotals appeared on The Styrofoam Drone’s Top 7” Records of 2013 list, while Beach broke the top 5 on both The Vinyl District and SF Weekly’s Top Albums of 2013 lists.

Twin Lakes has never been about the sheer volume of output…it has been and always will be about turning people on to the music we carefully curate because we love it. We’re looking forward to continuing to do so in 2014 with more from Ttotals, long-awaited releases from Closely Watched Trains and Myty Konkeror, and who knows what else? In the meantime, head on over to our Bandcamp page where you can download for free a Twin Lakes compilation.

MYTY KONKEROR IS BACK... BEACH BACK IN OZ WITH SHOVELS

Just wanted to get everyone up to speed on some key happenings in the Twin Lakes family. For starters, after taking about a year off from shows, Myty Konkeror is back in action. This coming Sunday the 17th, they will be helping heavy psych jammers Eidetic Seeing release their new LP at Brooklyn's Death By Audio.  The new record, Against Nature, features some serious stoner riffage amidst doses of improvisation, prog explorations, and some of the sweetest melodies we've heard from a band this heavy. I hear they put on a killer live show, too. And if you haven't seen Myty Konkeror in a while, you won't want to miss them either, as their live set continues to evolve and explore uncharted waters. They've been working on some new sounds for the follow-up to their highly-acclaimed 2011 LP "I miss the future." so come see what they've been up to. Check the full lineup here.

As always, Michael Beach remains active. Quick on the heels of his summer dusk tour around both US coasts, he's back in Australia for a long string of both solo shows and plenty of gigs with his mates from Electric Jellyfish, who have recently undergone a name change to mark the release of their new cassette--the eponymously titled SHOVELS. Same awesome riffs and intensity from these dudes who've mastered the art of unhinged Gothic blues-punk. 

Beach also continues to tour in support of Golden Theft, the genre-bending stunner of an LP that we put out in late August. One show in particular you will not want to miss if you're in "Brizzy" is this Thursday at the Beetle Bar. Our favorite music blogger from Brisbane, Sonic Masala, has curated a killer lineup with Beach as the headliner. Click here for details.

EARLY PRAISE FOR MICHAEL BEACH'S "GOLDEN THEFT" ... TOUR UPDATE

Just a quick reminder that Michael Beach's Golden Theft has hit the streets. The physical pressings are extremely limited and will go quickly.  So far early reviews have been glowing. IMPOSE called it "...the grand theft surprise of the summer...an album that picks and chooses the best parts plucked out of the modern golden era that sound better than anything before," and The Vinyl District referred to it as a masterpiece. For more coverage, click here.

Choose your format before they're gone...

Gatefold LP (w/ poster and download card), Digipak CD, Digital Download (iTunes or Bandcamp) 

US Tour West Coast Dates
Beach and Kiefer had a blast on the East Coast leg of his Golden Theft US Tour, but he is now back on the West Coast with Utrillo Kushner (drums) and Muslim Delgado (bass) for the remaining dates...

9.13 - SEATTLE, WA - Bogarts w/ F-Holes, Pynnacles, The Dumps
9.14 - OLYMPIA, WA - The Northern w/ Arrington de Dionyso
9.15 - PORTLAND, OR - Valentines w/ Ruby Pins
9.21 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Hemlock w/ MV & EE, Herbcraft
9.26 - OAKLAND, CA - 1234Go! Records w/ Permanent Collection, Dead River (AU)
9.28 - DAVIS, CA - Third Space 

For those of you out that way, don't miss out on catching one of the most compelling performers you'll ever see. Watch him at a recent East Coast show playing "Static" off the new record at St. Vitus in Brooklyn, NY.

MICHAEL BEACH CONTINUES TO EXPLORE, BEND GENRES ON HIS NEW LP, AVAILABLE AUGUST 20th ON TWIN LAKES

We are beyond psyched to announce the latest addition to our catalog...a new album by San Francisco's Michael Beach. On Golden Theft, Beach again teamed up with drummer Utrillo Kushner (Comets On Fire, Colossal Yes) and engineer Phil Manley (Wooden Shjips, Barn Owl) at Manley’s Lucky Cat Studios in San Francisco.  Featuring mostly brand new material and a few remastered songs from previous EPs, this long-player was mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac) and continues with the musical intensity for which Beach is known.  On this record, we also see a gifted songwriter continue to hone his craft, exploring and bending genres, and cementing his place as a vital artist in today’s sonic landscape. Golden Theft comes out on vinyl in a gorgeous gatefold jacket (free poster and download code inside) on August 20 on Twin Lakes, the day Beach kicks off a US East/West Coast tour to support the record. You can listen to some of the new songs and order the album through this Bandcamp pre-order link. 

Beach has earned high praise for his previous work, most notably for his cassette-only Mountains + Valleys EP. Terminal Boredom made Greg Cartwright (Oblivions) comparisons, and Aquarius Records had this to say: “Hooky and a little bit heavy, driving and catchy like crazy, and that tempo shift just kills us every time, so unexpected, but so cool…..drifting from crunchy post punk, to woozy psychedelic drift, to countrified rust belt songsmithery, and several other stops in between... Gorgeous stuff for sure."  

RECENT CASSETTE OFFERINGS BY MICHAEL BEACH AND ELECTRIC JELLYFISH REVIEWED IN THE BIG TAKEOVER

Some glowing words by the man himself, founder and editor-in-chief Jack Rabid...

ELECTRIC JELLYFISH KICK OFF US TOUR!

Electric Jellyfish recently kicked off their 2012 US tour by performing an in-store at Oakland's 1234 Go Records this past Wednesday and will continue to wind their way around the country till early April. This is their first US tour in two years, and this time around it will include SXSW appearances and shows with Aussie legends feedtime, The Wedding Present, Spectre Folk, Tall Firs, Noveller, Hank IV, Golden Boys, The Men, Carlton Melton, and label mates MYTY KONKEROR.

The SXSW details are as follows:

Electric Jellyfish are playing two showcases. One is at Headhunters Patio on Wednesday March 14th in the 11:00 time slot, and the other is one we're really not supposed to say much about as it's not an official SXSW showcase. Let's just say it's happening at the end of the week and was curated by the best independent radio station on the planet, so you know the line-up will be amazing.

EJ frontman Michael Beach is also playing a solo set at SXSW on March 15th at The Hideout with MYTY KONKEROR's Michael Kiefer on drums in the 11:00 time slot.

A full list of dates for the entire tour can be found here. And don't forget to check out the limited edition tour cassette for their new single/EP "Trouble Coming Down". These are sure to sell out on the road, but we'll be sure to hold on to a few copies at our online store for those who can't make it out to a show. Order soon before they're gone.

ELECTRIC JELLYFISH TOURING THE US IN SUPPORT OF A NEW CASSETTE

We're really proud and excited to announce the release of a new cassette from Australia's Electric Jellyfish. Recorded in a two-day session in Melbourne’s inner north suburbs in between shows on their 2011 Australian tour, "Trouble Coming Down" features the band's most compelling work to date. Raw, elemental, and filled with post-punk fury, these tunes channel Leadbelly, the Jesus Lizard, and Joy Division all at once through their singular, grunged-out blend of Gothic folk and blues punk. It sees its official release on March 1, 2012 as a limited edition cassette (100) and download on Twin Lakes Records. Listen and grab your copy here.

Electric Jellyfish will be spending all of March and early April touring the US in support of these new tunes, including SXSW appearances and shows with Aussie legends feedtime, The Wedding Present, Spectre Folk, Tall Firs, Noveller, Hank IV, Golden Boys, MYTY KONKEROR, and Carlton Melton. We are in the process of finalizing the last few dates, but a more detailed tour schedule is coming soon.

MICHAEL BEACH RELEASES NEW 7-INCH ON TWIN LAKES

We are pleased to announce the release of Michael Beach’s “A Horse/The Exhilarating Rise"-- our first on 7-inch vinyl.  Beach’s first single since relocating to San Francisco from Australia, "A Horse" is a clear display of the versatility he has become known for after multiple releases with Melbourne’s Electric Jellyfish (Ecstatic Yod/Twin Lakes). In the first sessions for his sophomore album, Beach brought together friend and co-producer Raymond Raposa (Castanets) and engineer Seth Lorinczi (Corin Tucker Band, Golden Bears) at Seth’s Little Golden Book Studio in Portland, Oregon. The tape hiss and sparseness of "A Horse" recall early Elliott Smith recordings mixed with upbeat Townes Van Zandt melodies, while the B-side offers a euphoric Glenn Branca-esque guitar drone with hints of White Light/White Heat-era Velvet Underground madness. Though they span a wide array of influences, both songs are held together by Beach’s single-handed approach to recording and an exploration of alienation, unity, sadness, and joy. There’s a depth to these songs that have kept them in heavy rotation here at Twin Lakes ever since Beach sent us the masters. The vinyl version of this two-song treasure officially drops on February 8th but can be pre-ordered here now. Digital downloads are immediately available on a name-your-price basis over at Beach's Bandcamp site.