small batch records "ESSENTIAL Records Volume 1"
Small Batch Records / Essential Records Collection Vol 1
out June 19th, 2020
Small Batch Records started in December 2018 by Aaron Rehling from his home in Seattle with the release of Jeff Hulett’s (Snowglobe) LP ‘Around These Parts’. Aaron teamed up with old friend Tim Regan in late 2019 and Small Batch Record officially became a subsidiary of Austin TX based label Nine Mile Records, distributed worldwide via RedEye Worldwide.
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The Essential Records Collection Volume 1
The Essential Records Collection Volume 1 comes out June 19th, 2020. This is the release of 4 albums that we believe are truly essential listens. Albums that are absolutely “Classic” in our minds that are through some great cosmic mixup are not in print and/or not available for streaming.
Volume 1 includes:
Andy Grooms - Grateful To Burn
Dixie Dirt - Springtime Is For The Hopeless And Other Ideas
The Glass - Concorde
Dave Quanbury - In The Meantime Let’s Attend To Our Pleasures
These records all happen to be related to Memphis TN in some way, shape or form. By being a Memphis band or having a band member from Memphis (or maybe Tim Regan produced or re-mastered the damn thing).
We truly feel that these albums are classic and essential to the world and need a second, third and 50th listen.
Who made this classification? We did. It’s the best part of owning a record label.
Enjoy.
Tim and Aaron
out June 19th, 2020
Small Batch Records started in December 2018 by Aaron Rehling from his home in Seattle with the release of Jeff Hulett’s (Snowglobe) LP ‘Around These Parts’. Aaron teamed up with old friend Tim Regan in late 2019 and Small Batch Record officially became a subsidiary of Austin TX based label Nine Mile Records, distributed worldwide via RedEye Worldwide.
-----
The Essential Records Collection Volume 1
The Essential Records Collection Volume 1 comes out June 19th, 2020. This is the release of 4 albums that we believe are truly essential listens. Albums that are absolutely “Classic” in our minds that are through some great cosmic mixup are not in print and/or not available for streaming.
Volume 1 includes:
Andy Grooms - Grateful To Burn
Dixie Dirt - Springtime Is For The Hopeless And Other Ideas
The Glass - Concorde
Dave Quanbury - In The Meantime Let’s Attend To Our Pleasures
These records all happen to be related to Memphis TN in some way, shape or form. By being a Memphis band or having a band member from Memphis (or maybe Tim Regan produced or re-mastered the damn thing).
We truly feel that these albums are classic and essential to the world and need a second, third and 50th listen.
Who made this classification? We did. It’s the best part of owning a record label.
Enjoy.
Tim and Aaron
Andy Grooms - Grateful To Burn (Originally Released in 2004)
Andy Grooms' record Grateful To Burn begins with the words "unsung songs" and ends with "that's where I'll find the unspoken truth". This wasn't a conscious decision on his part; no "hidden message" to decipher. But it does, in a sense, sum up what Grateful To Burn gives the listener or rather what it indelibly marks on them. There are innumerable brilliant lyrics to quote but the collective meaning (if such a thing even exists) is, by brilliant mistake, captured between and within those first and last words within a broad palette of sounds.
It is impossible to listen to Grateful To Burn without feeling as if, in some "unsung" place, you've both been shown some of that "unspoken truth" and left searching for it at the same time. Andy speaks that truth when he sings to us, "decadent eyes you don't have to worry because now in time your world will turn blue", and continues on in the same song to shred to pieces the false happiness we seek in materialism but not without destroying those who would deny it, too. He pronounces in that same song, Decadent Eyes, "And we become what we're expected and when we should scream we don't make a sound. We don't make a sound.". He calls us all out. He reminds us that we are all acting out parts pre-arranged for us; shoved down our throats and thrust into our hearts since birth. But he includes himself in this judgment, and the song's righteous indignancy cannot be ignored or argued against. He nails us to the wall he's already nailed himself to. In another song, "Itch To Scratch", he tells us of a girl "who takes off her clothes just to put something right up her nose, she'd rather go down than go nine to five" and of his sister who "has two fine kids, has a nice house, some scars on her wrists, I asked why she did it she said she was bored, tired of being grown up, tired of being ignored". It'd all sound like judgment if it weren't clearly Andy's headfirst high-dive into his own psyche that forces him to ponder the unconscious and conscious actions of others. He ends it with, "then there's myself I've got my thick-tongued ways, spent a few hours in a narcotic haze...". Boy In The Bubble uses the metaphor of a boy medically confined to a bubble who can't feel or be or exist as others do to perhaps show Andys' own realization that the world is an insane place inaccessible to anyone truly paying attention to it; to anyone who allows themselves to see it for what it is: a farce. This farcical world, however, isn't filled only with disgust but with confusing love and heartache and with humanity as it is: ambiguous and messy. Andy shows us the horrors and delights of it all as he explores them himself.
Grateful To Burn was produced and engineered by Kevin Cubbins in a small studio in Memphis, TN. It must be noted that the sonic landscapes and aural imagery - at times stark and foreboding and at others lush and ethereal - are a product of not only Kevin's brilliance as a producer but of his own friendship with Andy. The two had played in a band together for years before and when it came time to create Grateful To Burn, Kevin brought with him not only his innate genius as a producer and engineer but also a plan. A simple one.
Andy Grooms is difficult. No one would reasonably argue otherwise. Were he to have made this record any other way it wouldn't be close to the work it is. Why? Because Kevin only allowed incredibly talented musicians (not "session guys" - though they all have done session work - but true instrumental artists) that Andy didn't know well or at all to play on it. He did this to force Andy to push himself and in doing so created an odd symbiosis - dysfunctional and absurd, but symbiotically brilliant regardless. John Argroves (Jack Oblivion, Alvin Youngblood Hart), arguably the finest drummer in Memphis today was brought in. Jazz upright bassist Jonathan Wires (Southern Excursion Jazz Quartet) was another addition. Perhaps the musician most notably involved, aside from Andy, is Clint Wagner (Banyan, Lucero, Mark Lemhouse, and many others), whose nylon string guitar solos haunt the record and whose echoing and feedback laden electric guitar work provides beautifully textured backdrops for the songs.
The record is deceptive. Almost no electric instruments were used. But the walls of sound, the violence of noise, the lush and pleasing arrangements, and the ever-shifting production provide something quite literally indescribable. It sounds like nothing else.
In totality the record - the "experiment"- was a "success": we are left with a journal of sorts. Andy was both deeply in love with an unattainable woman and was being divorced by another whose cruelty resounds in the recordings right alongside the heartbreaking love for the other. It's a truly cathartic record. It's a bowl of tears and a floor covered in bile. It was a success, in the sense, for becoming what it did. But it is a chronicle of failures and loss. So from the deepest of hurts and the greatest of loves we are left with a record that can ultimately only be explained - hell, it can only be made sense of - by experiencing it, not hearing it. It is so painful, so hopeful, so loving, so spiteful, and ultimately so human that we aren't allowed to simply be listeners. We must sit in the car with Andy while he drives. And he has no idea where he is going. But his observations and emotions become mirrors of our own. We find ourselves in Grateful To Burn because Andy so painfully and honestly searches for himself.
Andy Grooms' record Grateful To Burn begins with the words "unsung songs" and ends with "that's where I'll find the unspoken truth". This wasn't a conscious decision on his part; no "hidden message" to decipher. But it does, in a sense, sum up what Grateful To Burn gives the listener or rather what it indelibly marks on them. There are innumerable brilliant lyrics to quote but the collective meaning (if such a thing even exists) is, by brilliant mistake, captured between and within those first and last words within a broad palette of sounds.
It is impossible to listen to Grateful To Burn without feeling as if, in some "unsung" place, you've both been shown some of that "unspoken truth" and left searching for it at the same time. Andy speaks that truth when he sings to us, "decadent eyes you don't have to worry because now in time your world will turn blue", and continues on in the same song to shred to pieces the false happiness we seek in materialism but not without destroying those who would deny it, too. He pronounces in that same song, Decadent Eyes, "And we become what we're expected and when we should scream we don't make a sound. We don't make a sound.". He calls us all out. He reminds us that we are all acting out parts pre-arranged for us; shoved down our throats and thrust into our hearts since birth. But he includes himself in this judgment, and the song's righteous indignancy cannot be ignored or argued against. He nails us to the wall he's already nailed himself to. In another song, "Itch To Scratch", he tells us of a girl "who takes off her clothes just to put something right up her nose, she'd rather go down than go nine to five" and of his sister who "has two fine kids, has a nice house, some scars on her wrists, I asked why she did it she said she was bored, tired of being grown up, tired of being ignored". It'd all sound like judgment if it weren't clearly Andy's headfirst high-dive into his own psyche that forces him to ponder the unconscious and conscious actions of others. He ends it with, "then there's myself I've got my thick-tongued ways, spent a few hours in a narcotic haze...". Boy In The Bubble uses the metaphor of a boy medically confined to a bubble who can't feel or be or exist as others do to perhaps show Andys' own realization that the world is an insane place inaccessible to anyone truly paying attention to it; to anyone who allows themselves to see it for what it is: a farce. This farcical world, however, isn't filled only with disgust but with confusing love and heartache and with humanity as it is: ambiguous and messy. Andy shows us the horrors and delights of it all as he explores them himself.
Grateful To Burn was produced and engineered by Kevin Cubbins in a small studio in Memphis, TN. It must be noted that the sonic landscapes and aural imagery - at times stark and foreboding and at others lush and ethereal - are a product of not only Kevin's brilliance as a producer but of his own friendship with Andy. The two had played in a band together for years before and when it came time to create Grateful To Burn, Kevin brought with him not only his innate genius as a producer and engineer but also a plan. A simple one.
Andy Grooms is difficult. No one would reasonably argue otherwise. Were he to have made this record any other way it wouldn't be close to the work it is. Why? Because Kevin only allowed incredibly talented musicians (not "session guys" - though they all have done session work - but true instrumental artists) that Andy didn't know well or at all to play on it. He did this to force Andy to push himself and in doing so created an odd symbiosis - dysfunctional and absurd, but symbiotically brilliant regardless. John Argroves (Jack Oblivion, Alvin Youngblood Hart), arguably the finest drummer in Memphis today was brought in. Jazz upright bassist Jonathan Wires (Southern Excursion Jazz Quartet) was another addition. Perhaps the musician most notably involved, aside from Andy, is Clint Wagner (Banyan, Lucero, Mark Lemhouse, and many others), whose nylon string guitar solos haunt the record and whose echoing and feedback laden electric guitar work provides beautifully textured backdrops for the songs.
The record is deceptive. Almost no electric instruments were used. But the walls of sound, the violence of noise, the lush and pleasing arrangements, and the ever-shifting production provide something quite literally indescribable. It sounds like nothing else.
In totality the record - the "experiment"- was a "success": we are left with a journal of sorts. Andy was both deeply in love with an unattainable woman and was being divorced by another whose cruelty resounds in the recordings right alongside the heartbreaking love for the other. It's a truly cathartic record. It's a bowl of tears and a floor covered in bile. It was a success, in the sense, for becoming what it did. But it is a chronicle of failures and loss. So from the deepest of hurts and the greatest of loves we are left with a record that can ultimately only be explained - hell, it can only be made sense of - by experiencing it, not hearing it. It is so painful, so hopeful, so loving, so spiteful, and ultimately so human that we aren't allowed to simply be listeners. We must sit in the car with Andy while he drives. And he has no idea where he is going. But his observations and emotions become mirrors of our own. We find ourselves in Grateful To Burn because Andy so painfully and honestly searches for himself.
Andy Grooms - grateful to burn (DOWNLOAD)
promo photo
Dixie Dirt - Springtime Is For The Hopeless And Other Ideas (Originally Released in 2002) - Remastered (2020)
Springtime is for the Hopeless and Other Ideas was released in the fall of 2002. It was recorded in Knoxville Tennessee by Todd Steed and co released by Champ Records in Murfreesboro Tennessee.
The album served to simply capture a live set and was released quietly among a few fans & friends in the regional music community. Unexpected radio and mixed media exposure post release resulted in a surge in demand for live showings.
This album is considered to be a fan favorite not only due to it's raw and honest showing, but also to a clear lack of commercial intent behind its release.
"Springtime is an early dissertation of Kat Brock's powerful ability to weave her own vulnerability into her art in a way that makes it all unconditionally accessible to anyone who has ever experienced any emotion beyond the pale" - Angela Santos.
To describe the sound of Springtime is to commit a (now) fabled error that will only serve to disappoint all. It's loud & quiet, it's analog, it's beautiful, it rocks and it might make you cry in the car. There are no cool production techniques to speak of and nothing digital was used to make the music.
Springtime was a pedal free zone that changed people's lives and that's really all you need to know.
dixie dirt is:
kat brock
brad carruth
simon lynn
angela santos
Springtime is for the Hopeless and Other Ideas was released in the fall of 2002. It was recorded in Knoxville Tennessee by Todd Steed and co released by Champ Records in Murfreesboro Tennessee.
The album served to simply capture a live set and was released quietly among a few fans & friends in the regional music community. Unexpected radio and mixed media exposure post release resulted in a surge in demand for live showings.
This album is considered to be a fan favorite not only due to it's raw and honest showing, but also to a clear lack of commercial intent behind its release.
"Springtime is an early dissertation of Kat Brock's powerful ability to weave her own vulnerability into her art in a way that makes it all unconditionally accessible to anyone who has ever experienced any emotion beyond the pale" - Angela Santos.
To describe the sound of Springtime is to commit a (now) fabled error that will only serve to disappoint all. It's loud & quiet, it's analog, it's beautiful, it rocks and it might make you cry in the car. There are no cool production techniques to speak of and nothing digital was used to make the music.
Springtime was a pedal free zone that changed people's lives and that's really all you need to know.
dixie dirt is:
kat brock
brad carruth
simon lynn
angela santos
Dixie Dirt - springtime is for the hopeless and other ideas
promo photo
The Glass - Concorde (Originally Released in 2003)
Concorde was written and recorded in 2003 in Memphis’ immortal Easley/McCain studios (White Stripes, Pavement, Sonic Youth). The record was cut as The Glass were becoming a band, whittling down their sound, surrounded by their friends—the roommates, pals, local colleagues and contemporaries who helped make Concorde what it became—who produced the record, played on sessions, designed the album art, made t-shirts, sold records at shows, or opened up their calendars for The Glass to play.
Singer and songwriter Brad Bailey remembers, “We started recording only a few months after I’d given up trying to be a guy in a band.” But then a friend introduced him to bass player Tommy Pappas late one night at a bar and The Glass took on a new momentum. Rehearsing at drummer John Argroves’ parents’ metal fabricating company, where both Argroves and guitarist Justin Minus worked, the group often wrote and arranged the songs one day and recorded them the next, or whenever producer Tim Regan (Snowglobe, Oh No Oh My, Spiral Stairs) could get them into the studio at an odd hour or on a slow day. “I painted houses and between that and Tim’s help and cash from gigs and my student loan check, we were able to cobble together enough to finish eight songs over six months.”
“Concorde is about the loss you feel when you find an emptiness at the center of an everything,” Bailey says. “And that vow betrayed, that pact—that concord, that’s broken.”
Designer Sasha Barr added an accidental “e” to the title and they decided to leave it there.
The Glass sold out of two pressings of Concorde, peddling merch off the stage on van tours across the US.
“They were sad, slow songs that didn’t always go over out of town,” Bailey remembers. “But we always managed to sell four or five copies of Concorde everywhere we played. There was always that kid in the back listening. That’s who we played to.”
Eight lovelorn vignettes, full of grief but mad with all the hope for a new pact, from which was born every great lost thing.
Concorde was written and recorded in 2003 in Memphis’ immortal Easley/McCain studios (White Stripes, Pavement, Sonic Youth). The record was cut as The Glass were becoming a band, whittling down their sound, surrounded by their friends—the roommates, pals, local colleagues and contemporaries who helped make Concorde what it became—who produced the record, played on sessions, designed the album art, made t-shirts, sold records at shows, or opened up their calendars for The Glass to play.
Singer and songwriter Brad Bailey remembers, “We started recording only a few months after I’d given up trying to be a guy in a band.” But then a friend introduced him to bass player Tommy Pappas late one night at a bar and The Glass took on a new momentum. Rehearsing at drummer John Argroves’ parents’ metal fabricating company, where both Argroves and guitarist Justin Minus worked, the group often wrote and arranged the songs one day and recorded them the next, or whenever producer Tim Regan (Snowglobe, Oh No Oh My, Spiral Stairs) could get them into the studio at an odd hour or on a slow day. “I painted houses and between that and Tim’s help and cash from gigs and my student loan check, we were able to cobble together enough to finish eight songs over six months.”
“Concorde is about the loss you feel when you find an emptiness at the center of an everything,” Bailey says. “And that vow betrayed, that pact—that concord, that’s broken.”
Designer Sasha Barr added an accidental “e” to the title and they decided to leave it there.
The Glass sold out of two pressings of Concorde, peddling merch off the stage on van tours across the US.
“They were sad, slow songs that didn’t always go over out of town,” Bailey remembers. “But we always managed to sell four or five copies of Concorde everywhere we played. There was always that kid in the back listening. That’s who we played to.”
Eight lovelorn vignettes, full of grief but mad with all the hope for a new pact, from which was born every great lost thing.
- Bass – Tommy Pappas
- Drums, Percussion, Wine Glasses – John Argoves
- Guitar, Portastudio – Justin Minus
- Vocals, Guitar, Organ, Piano – Brad Bailey
the glass - concorde
promo photo
Dave Quanbury - In The Meantime Let’s Attend To Our Pleasures - (Originally Released in 2014) Remastered (2020)
In the meantime Let's Attend To Our Pleasures was originally recorded in 2014 while Quanbury was active in Austin Texas music scene. The players were poached from the ranks of the Minor Mishap Marching band. The band was captured live in a single 5-hour session with vocals added later at producer Tim Regan’s studio Super Sonic Sounds. A few of the songs draw from his experiences visiting New Orleans. The lyrics for the first track Marguerite are adapted from a letter his grandfather wrote to his grandmother from Europe during World War II.
Quanbury's voice and guitar are complimented by French horn, flugelhorn, trumpet, and tuba, giving this 6 song record a New Orleans swagger.
Produced by Tim Regan in Austin, TX
written by Dave Quanbury
personnel:
Dave Quanbury - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Clayton Lillard -Drums
Aja McMillan -Trumpet, Vocals
Leah Durrett -French Horn
Tom Crail - Bass
Brian Carr -Flugelhorn and arrangements
Tim Regan - Organ
In the meantime Let's Attend To Our Pleasures was originally recorded in 2014 while Quanbury was active in Austin Texas music scene. The players were poached from the ranks of the Minor Mishap Marching band. The band was captured live in a single 5-hour session with vocals added later at producer Tim Regan’s studio Super Sonic Sounds. A few of the songs draw from his experiences visiting New Orleans. The lyrics for the first track Marguerite are adapted from a letter his grandfather wrote to his grandmother from Europe during World War II.
Quanbury's voice and guitar are complimented by French horn, flugelhorn, trumpet, and tuba, giving this 6 song record a New Orleans swagger.
Produced by Tim Regan in Austin, TX
written by Dave Quanbury
personnel:
Dave Quanbury - Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Clayton Lillard -Drums
Aja McMillan -Trumpet, Vocals
Leah Durrett -French Horn
Tom Crail - Bass
Brian Carr -Flugelhorn and arrangements
Tim Regan - Organ
dave quanbury - in the meantime let's attend to our pleasures
promo photo
For all Press Inquiries and Interview Requests
Tim Regan / [email protected] / 901-487-1182
Tim Regan / [email protected] / 901-487-1182