drive

DZ15 is on its way down I-95 courtesy of Baltimore duo Romantic States, who continue their minimalist approach to writing and recording, while integrating dynamic shifts not explored in earlier work. The result is a collection of raw, sparse, and skeletal lo-fi rock songs that are sincere, vulnerable, and haunting. Jim and Ilenia's newest works have been compiled for release on a self-titled album out February 6 and the band will be touring the East Coast throughout the month.

Special thanks to Spanish magazine Shook Down for their kind words about the album and for premiering "Back Pain" on their site. Look out for an interview with the band in the next physical copy of their magazine, and check out the track below for your first sneak peak at DZ15:

"9 canciones honestas, cristalinas y eso, minimalistas, una propuesta de corazón lo-fi que desprende honestidad, la misma que habían desfilado en algunos de sus trabajos anteriores" - Shook Down

"Romantic States are a minimalist experimental rock band from Baltimore, emphasizing rhythm and melody over instrumental complexity. Their sound is spectral, with live drums and drum machines combined to provide a back beat for reverby guitars and washed out, dream-like vocals in their own version of deconstructed pop/rock songs." - The Modern Folk Music Of America

Tapes are available for pre-order in the merch store, along with a limited number of older cassettes unearthed during my move, including releases by Wavepool Abortion, Ghostandthesong / Chris Rehm, Terror Bird, Adam Torres, Pool Holograph, and Birkwin Jersey, plus one last copy of DYVNZMBR2.

Additionally, Tape School in Tokyo is now stocking some more recent releases - Big Hush, Hazey Jane, Easily Suede, The Sweets, and Seabright all safely made the trip across the globe.

Stay tuned for more updates on DZ15, including new tracks and event info, coming very soon...

reverse labatomy

The next DZ live event is coming up on October 12, and this time around features three relentlessly explosive acts from Murderland in Two Inch Astronaut, Hive Bent, and Scott Russell. This will most assuredly be a bitchin' loud time. Come out to the Dougout to catch these three hard acts and enjoy the crisp autumn evening with some friends and brews. Limited edition glow-in-the-dark screenprints have been specially concocted for the occasion by Mike O'Brien at Red Table Press and will be on sale at the show in addition to other gnarly band merch. Click the image below for more details about the show.

In other upcoming concert news, Birkwin Jersey will be supporting Small Black for their show on October 8 at Sticky Mike's in Brighton. Click here for the scoop.

Lastly, I've got some new It Is Rain In My Face. goodies to share with you. Mat's been working hard recently in preparations for an upcoming LP on Chill Mega Chill, but has still managed to put together some other new material in the meantime. Stream and purchase his new Untitled EP below:

DeeZ TAPES

DZ TAPES is proud to bring to you a new addition to your summer cassette rotation. Seabright's new album "Tomorrow" was released digitally earlier this month, but tapes are now available and will be shipping soon! To celebrate, Justin will be taking to the stage with Silent Pictures in San Jose and everybody from the Bay Area is going to be there, so check out the show at The Blank Club this Saturday.

Across the pond, Birkwin Jersey and friend J Biscuits have teamed up on a new Split EP now freely available. The two have also joined forces with Vienna on her project Partpanda and released a slow glitched-out funk single "Way Back When", the video of which can be seen below:

reels in motion

All orders of DZ09 have been shipped, thanks to everyone as always for your patience as I run back and forth to and from the post office every day on my lunch break. Catch a preview picture of these beauties below:

In some more offbeat news, apparently Myspace still exists, and they just released a list of their 25 Best Cassettes of 2013, two of which just happen to be from our catalogue. Pool Holograph (#6) and Birkwin Jersey (#19) were both featured, alongside some sweet tapes put out by friends at Bridgetown Records, Night People, Crash Symbols, Holy Page, Burger Records, Moon Glyph, Orchid Tapes, Chill Mega Chill, Bird Tapes, Orange Milk and others. Thanks to Kristen for the kind write-ups.

Angular Peals

Birkwin Jersey released a new video today for "Angular Danson" featuring some mesmerizing visuals. Check it out below, and if you've been waiting to pick up a copy of "Between The Weather And The Sea", there's no better time than the present! Check out the Shop to pick up one of the last remaining copies.



DZ TAPES is hosting its next atmospheric audio showcase on May 19. If you're in the Washington DC area, feel free to stop on by for a low-key Sunday night slow-burner featuring some up-and-coming organic electronica from Baltimore and one act from College Park's cassette champions at Tricot Records. Click the flyer below for more information at the event page.

Acts include:

∞ PEALS (members of Future Islands and Double Dagger) create warm, textural, organic instrumental music and will be celebrating the release of their debut LP “Walking Field”, out May 14 on prolific Thrill Jockey

∞∞ ROMANTIC STATES play weird, skeletal folk pop, and are coming back to the Dougout to share some mellow cuts from the “Vessels of Devils” LP, self-released this past March.

∞∞∞ PRINCESS REASON is an intimate lo-fi indie pop project from College Park and will be playing humble new tracks including ones from the “Always Pretty” EP featured on Tricot Records.

∞∞∞∞ AMANDA SCHMIDT plays a peaceful mix of keys and pedals, but her enigmatic recordings remain buried on the moon's deepest crater.

  

Let's Stay Up All Night

Birkwin Jersey just released a new video for "Let's Stay Up All Night", produced by Novi Films. Thanks to Dummy Mag for the premiere! Check it out below:

Up(2)date

The latest releases for Pool Holograph and Birkwin Jersey have both received some very nice accolades from the folks at Ad Hoc, The FADER, I Found Music, Neighborhood Tapes, Obscure Sound, Portals, and This Is Fake DIY, and Weed Temple.

This past month has been much busier than expected at DZ HQ, but things are finally getting caught up to where they should be. All orders have been shipped out, my thanks go out to everyone for your patience. Being the only one running the show here, things can bottleneck fairly quickly if there's even a slight delay, so I appreciate you all bearing with me. The tapes all look and sound really good, so if you haven't ordered yours yet there's no better time than the present!

In other news, two additional releases are currently in the works and should be ready for release in the spring! Stay tuned for further details. :)

DZ08 preview on The FADER

The next full-length release from Brighton producer Graeme Coop, or BIRKWIN JERSEY, is set to hit the streets next week as a co-release between DZ TAPES and Absent Fever, and The FADER was kind enough to post a preview of one of the many standout tracks, "We Don't Go To Dances" featuring Vienna. The pair make up two-thirds of Partpanda. 

"On “We Don’t Go To Dances,” there’s a clear comfort between the two, found in the nonchalance in Vienna’s weathered talk-sing, like she’s recording from an old couch next to an old friend to whom she’s got nothing to prove." - The FADER

Limited Edition of 100

Cassette ships within the US for $9

sleepwalken

While the sun sets on 2012 and the surrounding world seems to slip into a state of hibernation, the DZ beast continues to conjure up dreams of discord. One of the aural specters being summoned from slumberlust takes its form as the weaving folktronic collage-pop fabricated by Brighton producer Birkwin Jersey. Graeme Coop, the mind and spirit at the helm of this budding project, has been hard at work composing new material in preparation for his upcoming full-length release.

As a 2012 parting gift, Graeme has prepared an otherworldly mix of old and new tracks sprinkled with enough rheum to soothe your howling incubus until his latest creations are ready to be unleashed. Enjoy the Sleepwalken premix below, and look for "Between The Weather & The Sea" on DZ TAPES and Absent Fever, due out early 2013.