paradiseofbachelors

Record Store Day with the PoB Gang.

Alas, another Record Store Day is upon us. Tomorrow, April 19, is the party and we do encourage you to stop by your favorite independent shop and pick up a record or a dozen to keep the spirits moving. While we have no official PoB releases for the cause this year, several of our artists are pitching in.

Classic Mike Cooper Reissues Now Available for Pre-Order.

After two years of work to liberate these long out-of-print masterpieces from the vaults, we are thrilled to announce pre-orders for the first artist-sanctioned reissues—and first-ever vinyl reissues—of iconoclastic English-born, Rome-based folk and experimental music legend Mike Cooper’s classic trio of early 1970s avant-folk-rock records: Trout Steel (1970), Places I Know (1971), and The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper (1972).

Mike Cooper: Places I Know/The Machine Gun Co. with Mike Cooper (PoB-014)

The 1971 and 1972 masterpieces, which span his song-based and improvisation-based styles of the early 1970s, are presented for the very first time as the definitive double album, as Cooper originally intended them to be released. These historic sessions veer from the impeccable conceptual folk-rock artistry of Places I Know to the utterly singular, long-form “songmaking” deconstructions of the more radical The Machine Gun Co.

Mike Cooper: Trout Steel (PoB-013)

The first artist-sanctioned reissue—and first-ever vinyl reissue—of iconoclastic English-born, Rome-based folk and experimental music legend Mike Cooper’s classic 1970 album, Trout Steel presents a heady homebrew of lap steel blues traditions, avant-jazz group improvisations, and studio explorations that presaged Cooper’s adventurous work for decades to come.

PoB Ides of March L.A. Weekender (March 14-16) + SXSW Details.

The PoB crew will be in Austin for SXSW (March 11-13) and in LA for our Ides of March Weekender (March 14-16). Read on for news about performances by Steve Gunn, Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band, Lavender Country, Promised Land Sound, Magnolia Electric Co./Hiss Golden Messenger, and friends.

Live Love: PoB Ides of March L.A. Weekender + Artist Touring News.

Details about the PoB Ides of March Weekender at the Church on York in L.A. (March 14-16) featuring Steve Gunn, Chris Forsyth, the Songs: Molina tribute (with Hiss Golden Messenger’s M.C. Taylor), and Lavender Country’s first performance in almost 15 years. Also, info on upcoming separate shows and tours by Gunn, Forsyth, Promised Land Sound, and HGM.

Lavender Country Pre-Orders and Release Show.

We’re proud to announce PoB-12, our reissue of the S/T 1973 LP by Lavender Country, regarded as the first openly gay country music record. Pre-order this historic album now, and please consider joining us at the official release party performance on March 16 in Los Angeles.