Last week spent the full week with some of the guys who make up Slumberland Records‘ roster of talented artists. To celebrate our week with the iconic label, we’re giving away two different Slumberland items to two lucky winners. First up is the new record by first-wave Slumberland artists, Lorelei. Their latest LP, Enterprising Sidewalks, is their first […]
It’s been a bittersweet year for Thom Hill of UK-based dreampop band Echo Lake. The band’s longtime drummer Pete Hayes passed away in June, just as their debut LP, Wild Peace, was released. Pete and Thom had been playing music together since they were teenagers, and everyone at The Vinyl District was very saddened to hear of Pete’s passing. […]
Jeremy Underwood of Gold-Bears weighs in today on Day 4 of our Slumberland Records Week. When his former band, Plastic Mastery fizzled out, Jeremy got a few of his friends together as an outlet for his stockpile of songs, and Gold-Bears was born in 2010. The guitarist’s desire to keep making music continues with the jangly, noise-pop […]
Phil Benson plays bass in San Francisco-based punk-ish/chainsaw pop band Terry Malts, and he just might be a bigger vinyl fan than we are. Terry Malts’ first releases were a six-song cassette (!!) and two 7″ singles for Slumberland, and they expanded their happily and noisily fatalistic music to release their first LP, Killing Time. As […]
Black Tambourine were only around for a couple of years in the late ’80s/early ’90s, but their shoegaze sound made them one of the most beloved and influential indie pop bands of their era. In fact, Black Tambourine were the band behind Slumberland Records’ very first single. Archie Moore found a concurrent role as guitarist/vocalist in […]
Slumberland Records isn’t so much an indie label as a labor of love. Known for doggedly defying hipness and focusing on a love for pop music in its purest form, Oakland, CA via Washington, DC-based Slumberland Records has been known for its roster of dreampop artists and genre-bending indie bands since 1989. Mike Schulman has […]
San Francisco-based jangle-pop four-piece The Umbrellas return with their second full-length “Fairweather Friend” on January 26, a co-release by Slumberland Records of the USA and Tough Love Records of the UK. With alternating guy-gal lead vocals and rich harmonizing from Matt Ferrera and Morgan Stanley (as both wield guitars in the scheme), the record offers […]
VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Umbrellas are back and they’re announcing a new 7″ single for Slumberland Records and sharing the lead single/video, “Write It In The Sky.” The 7″ is out on June 24th via Slumberland and is available for pre-order here. The band gave some context on the A-side’s origin: “The instrumental and […]
Part one of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases presently in stores for December 2020. REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICKS: The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time OutTakes – Previously Unreleased Takes from the Original 1959 Sessions (Brubeck Editions) The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out, released in 1959 by Columbia Records, remains one of […]
Oakland’s Lunchbox is the long-extant partnership of guitarist Tim Brown and bassist Donna McKean; their latest album is After School Special. Fitting for the title, its 11 songs cohere into a teen music fiesta, blending bubblegum, sunshine-pop, power pop, and classic C86-style indie-pop. That’s a lot of pop, but the duo (plus guests) also has […]
Slumberland Records winds up its 18-month, 30th anniversary series, offering a baker’s dozen of SLR30 singles with a pair of 45s getting their debut here at The Vinyl District. From England comes the trio Flowers, who have cited the Slumberland ethic as an influence since the noisy indie pop band formed in London eight years ago. […]
Part one of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases presently in stores for April, 2020. NEW RELEASE PICK: Trees Speak, Ohms (Soul Jazz) I was turned onto this Tucson, AZ outfit via their self-titled 2017 debut on the Italian Cinedelic imprint. The label change for LP two should increase […]
Part two of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases—and more—presently in stores for February, 2019. Part one is here. NEW RELEASE PICK: V/A, SLR 30 Singles Subscription Series (Slumberland Records) Back in 1990, I scooped up Slumberland’s single of Velocity Girl’s “I Don’t Care If You Go” and I’ve been […]
VIA PRESS RELEASE | Originally formed as teenagers in 1984, The Wolfhounds released four critically acclaimed LPs and numerous singles, appeared on the NME’s influential C86 cassette, extensively toured the UK and continental Europe, finally disbanding in 1990. The band reformed in 2006 at the request of St Etienne’s Bob Stanley to celebrate 20 years […]
When Kip Berman formed The Pains of Being Pure at Heart back in 2007 with friends Alex Neidus and Peggy Wang, he never expected the band to reach such a level of success. It’s been seven years since their self-titled first album came out, and although Alex and Peggy are no longer part of the band, The Pains […]
