To Live A Better Life

Zip Codes

Did I ever mention how K is one of my favorite labels? It always has been, since the time I became aware of punk, independent music, people making tapes of their own music, basement shows, etc.. Getting a chance to work with the truly inspiring family of people at K has been one of the cooler parts of my musical career. I'm really excited to announce a few K-Related bits of news. For one, City Center has contributed some music to the new K-idea/smash hit called "The Zip Pak". A subscription of exclusive mp3s from K artists sent out weekly and available nowhere else. It looks like a pretty sweet deal for a year of unheard sounds running a mere $50. There's an interview with Calvin Johnson all about the idea here, and you can order the thing for yourself right over here. Our songs don't come for a while, but we have a number of pretty stellar compositions dedicated to the project, some recorded in Olympia at the Dub Narcotic studio and some recorded in our time-honored broke-ass way.

A little later in the year, we'll also have a new single on K as part of the Dub Narcotic Disco Plate series, (the singles with the hand-stamped letters on plain white sleeves) which has our new song "Zen Kids" and a pretty grimy remix/dub on the flip. This is radical news and I can't wait for these songs to enter the solar system at long last. I'll make some sort of post closer to the time these things are available, but I'm excited to say the least.

Alt Codes

So, that was a relatively long pause between blog posts. Sometimes you just need to decompress after tour, but this is ridiculous. What is cool and new I can tell you? Where to even begin?

∆ We have a song on the new Woodsist compilation LP/Cassette. Our cover of the Grateful Dead's "Box Of Rain" that originally appeared on this blog in it's very early beginnings back in 2008. It's a real honor to be affiliated with such a rad label, and the comp is nice as hell. Unreleased songs from Ducktails, Woods, Nodzzz, Fresh And Onlys and lots more. You can check it out over here...

∆ My label the Life Like is finally off the ground, with a few cassette releases come and gone, and a bunch of other cool stuff on the way. I started a blog separate from this one so I could talk about whatever kind of candy bars I like in any given week and not get too off topic. Check it out and order some cassettes!!

∆ I found this unmarked CD in a stack which actually turned out to be a recording of the very last solo City Center show in Brookly, January of 2009. It was an empty ass night at Zebulon and I played four songs which sound really strange to hear so far away from when I wrote them, and having been played all over the place since then...

City Center

January 15, 2009

Zebulon, Brooklyn NY

1.Tomorrow Soon Come

2.Summer School

3.Killer Whale

4.This Is How We See In The Dark

Total Time: 19min 48sec

Download the set here.

∆ Still working on our record, and only playing a couple of shows this summer. There's so much more, but that's what I got for now. Hope you're feeling the sun out there.