Our ferocious duo, The Pack a.d. can now add "Juno Nominee" to their long long list of accomplishments. Congratulations Becky and Maya, you've earned this one! We're looking forward to seeing what these two do next as they've been keeping busy, recording a new album and scheming to take over the world.

 

You can check out the full list of nominees here.

We'd like to take a moment to share some good news with you. We've added Toronto's Pick a Piper to the Mint Records roster! The band is made up of Brad Weber, who you may remember as a touring member of Caribou, as well his friends Clint Scrivener, Angus Fraser and Dan Roberts. Pick a Piper’s self-titled April 2nd debut features guest appearances from members of The Ruby Suns, Enon/Braniac, Born Ruffians and Braids. 

You can download the band's first single here: 

Remember that time we got really high off of paint fumes while silkscreening Mint/CiTR Pop Alliance LP covers? Well, this March, we're going to open the windows and do it again. GET READY for VOLUME 3 of the Mint/CiTR Pop Alliance Compilation! It will be out on Tuesday, March 5th, 2013.

To carry on the Pop Alliance tradition, we called upon CiTR’s Duncan McHugh (aka: the host of Duncan’s Donuts) to bring together 14 of Vancouver's finest including Jay Arner, Movieland, Korean Gut (RIP), Peace and more. Many songs are un-released and once again, all proceeds will go back to CiTR 101.9 - the birthplace of Mint Records! 

Only 300 of these waxy gems will be pressed, carefully silkscreened by the station's volunteers and numbered by hand. You can get one by donating to the station during their upcoming funding drive (Feb 28 - Mar 8), pre-ordering the release from us, or waiting for the record to hit record store shelves on Tuesday March 5th, 2013.

And while we're rambling, check out the incredible album artwork from former CiTR DJ, Melanie Coles. Mr. Jay Arner also deserves a golden star for mastering this creation and producing many of the tracks on the record.

To unleash this record in style, we're rounding up as many of the bands on the comp as possible (the lineup is currently TBD) and taking over Chapel Arts (204 Dunlevy) for an evening. This time, we're setting up not one, but two stages. Mark Friday, March 8th on your calendar, it's going to be swell! 

Now, you're probably wondering about the bands: 

MovielandMovieland is Alie, Selina, Adrienne and Davina. They take turns writing their own songs.“1-2-3-4 Get Fucked” comes from their so-to-be released debut on Green Burrito Records. It was mixed and recorded by Mr. Jay Arner.

PeaceAccording to Spin, “Your Hand in Mine” is a moonlit number with a heavy heart and dead eyes. We borrowed this track from their 2012 release called The World is Too Much With Us (Suicide Squeeze).

Jay ArnerJay Arner is the multitalented man-about-town who co-recorded the new Apollo Ghosts record and contributes to bands including Fine MistBleating Hearts and Gal Gracen. He was kind enough to produce several songs on this compilation and mastered the release too. His upcoming TBD solo project is something you should probably look out for!

Gal GracenPatrick Geraghty, of Role Mach (you may remember him from Vol 2 of The Pop Alliance collection), calls his newest band Gal Gracen and his live band features Adrian from Apollo Ghosts as well as Jay Arner.

PUPSPUPS is Caitlin Livingston, Katie Gravestock and Rose Melberg. They are from Vancouver, B.C.

FanshawOlivia Fetherstonhaugh aka Fanshaw is known for taking her time with songwriting. This is the first song that has surfaced since her Dark Eyes debut. After listening to this and her previous release, we’ll be right here, patiently waiting to see what she does next. 

Aaron ReadBorn and recording in Burnaby, BC, Aaron Read makes maunal pop songs with guitars, drums, voices, noises and keyboards. Songs are made out of and always inspired by friends, family, films, experiences and field recordings.  In 2011, he captured our interest with his debut record, Bubble Skulls. Since Aaron is a total mensch, he recorded “Unlimited Sight” especially for us. Thanks again Aaron! 

Korean Gut: Korean Gut is a surf-garage band, but they don't exist anymore. Jarrett wrote this song about something their bass player said at practice, and it morphed into a bitter rant against people who confront you in troubled times just to feel better about themselves. At least it wasn't about comic books for once. You should probably check out theirYour Misery – Our Benefit 7” (Mammoth Cave). It is a thing of true beauty. When we told them about this comp, Korean Gut were kind enough to record this song just for us. 

Needles//PinsThis is powery, poppy, garagey, punkish stuff from Vancouver, BC. “I Heart Drugs” came from their 2012 creation 12:34 (Mammoth Cave).

The CourtneysSun drenched flying nun influenced pop with sweet licks that'll stick with you for days. 

“The Courtneys are one of those bands that you can file under “feel-good.” I mean, the three-piece named their first release Keanu Reeves (yes, after THAT Keanu Reeves), and their songs don’t have a single angry bone of note.” – Vice

The ladies even have a video for "90210" – you can watch it here.

Babysitter"Victoria B.C.’s Babysitter are a savvy bunch of garage gourmets whose love of lo-fi and d.i.y. decor is honest and appealing." – Discorder

We should also mention, “Be Cool” is an outtake from their 2012 full-length debut called Eye (Psychic Handshake). 

BankrobberThis is Jordan Minkoff from Slam Dunk's other band, which pretty much automatically makes them awesome. Bankrobber is and will always be the band most closely associated with it's roots firmly planted in a mix of this meets that and vice versa. Since 2010 it has been Bankrobber that has been making that familiar sound of a dog biting a dog on a doglog.

WeedWeed is a heavy, grungey pop band from Vancouver, BC that features Will Anderson, Kevin Doherty, Hugo Noriega and Bobby Siadat. When not recording they play all-ages shows and publish a free monthly newsletter with Lucky’s Comics called "Dunk". This song is from last year's Gun Control EP. They just finished recording their debut LP in Seattle to be released in mid-2013.

SleuthSleuth are the 2011 CiTR Shindig Winners, have been featured on a Cloudberry Records compilation, played NYC Popfest last year, have one release, Brave Knew Nothing and are currently working on new recordings. Besides tipsy bowling with Mint Records, The Lion in Love, Julian Bowers, Oliver McTavish-Wisden and Leon Easter enjoy long walks on the beach and evenings by the fire.

"If you’ve been reading The FADER for a good couple of years, you’d know that there’s been a long-standing soft spot Studio, a now defunct duo that made beach disco perfect for lazing around. If you caught me in the right moment, I would probably tell you it was the best thing to ever exist. Renny Wilson—who probably spends a lot of time listening to yacht rock and old disco—has created a song that sits comfortably up there with Studio’s woefully small catalog. It’s lush and pretty, and more importantly: soft. Not in a bad way, though. It’s more that it feels blurred at the edges, existing in a constant half-sleep state of near bliss. Renny Wilson’s Sugarglider comes out January 22nd on Mint Records." 

Read more: http://www.thefader.com/2012/11/30/stream-renny-wilson-by-and-by/#ixzz2E2G0pDXH

We at Mint Records are proud to announce our latest signing, Edmonton Alberta's, Renny Wilson. Now, Renny Wilson is not your typical young man. He's a gentleman. He can sport a Canadian tuxedo like no other. And he is a menacing presence both in the studio and on the dance floor. Soon, Renny will win you over with his dizzy, saxified pop indulgences. Look out for his Mint Records debut, Sugarglider in early 2013. 

To give you a little more insight, Renny once described his musical being as "A film starring Hall & Oates set on a cruise ship with Donna Summer playing the woman of interest. Competition for her love nearly tears them apart, but they soon find out she and her accomplice, played by Paul McCartney, are plotting to sink the ship! Also, Al Green is the ship's resident crooner." We're just going to say that Sugarglider is our go-to party record these days and we're pretty sure you'll agree.

"As a rule, I pretty much love blissed-out, hypnotic, sax-filled jams, so I was already going to enjoy “By and By”, the new single from Edmonton’s Renny Wilson, but throw in a sexy jeans & gyration-filled, self-shot video, and you can set the Friday Fun meter to 10+++." - Herohill.com

After 10 years, 6 albums and countless tours, The Buttless Chaps have decided to part ways. No hard feelings exist amongst band members, just a feeling that it is time to move on to new musical projects and that the band has creatively run its course. The most recent incarnation of the band featured Dave Gowans on vocals, guitar and banjo, Morgan McDonald on keyboards, Lasse Lutick on guitar and synthesizer, Dan Gaucher on drums, and Ida Nilsen on vocals, accordion, synthesizer and euphonium. Mint Records released their final album in 2008 titled Cartography. Original drummer Torben Wilson left the band a few years prior to these last recording sessions. The Chaps have been known for their vibrant, eclectic live shows and a fearlessness with experimenting in the studio, always exploring many different muscial genres within their compositions. Over the years the band had several notable highlights, touring with acts such as The Rheostatics & The Handsome Family, and having several concerts and sessions recorded by CBC Radio. One session titled CBC Radio 3 Sessions was released digitally last year and featured contributions from Jesse Zubot (violin) and Peggy Lee (cello).

Some members will continue with their other projects; Great Aunt Ida, Fond of Tigers & Bad Human all have recording plans in the works and lead singer Gowans will be finishing a record this spring with new act Cloudsplitter. The band also features Nilsen and Zubot, and will likely perform select concerts.

The Buttlesss Chaps will perfom one last confirmed show at the Dawson City Music Festival in July and are considering a farewell concert in Vancouver B.C. around the same time. Mint Records is proud to have released four recordings by the Chaps, 2003's Love This Time, 2005's Where Night Holds Light and last year's Cartography, and CBC Radio 3 Sessions.

Some press for Cartography:

"It's an album that makes you close your eyes and listen, which is always a good sign." - Edmonton Sun

Gowans ability to pen a sci-fi ballads and rural anthems (and tracks like Coal Grey Sky will satisfy any classic Chaps fan), but with beautiful harmonies, static electro currents and terrific percussion the Chaps are able to replicate lonely nights in dark cities (the energy that crackles throughout the desolate title track is incredible). - HeroHill

Blending folk-country with a bit of atmospheric new wave sentimentality, Cartography takes you on a soft, dream-like journey that you won't want to wake up from. - Discorder

Sombre country rock underpins world-weary vocals, and while the guitars may twang, the effect is closer to a musical meditation than a whiskey-soaked hoedown. This basic foundation allows for some interesting side trips -- such as the vocoder-filled gravitas of The Opera, which wouldn't sound out of place on an Air album-- while still providing an ideal soundtrack for a late-autumn solitary trek through fallen leaves. Suitable for a cool, Canadian October. - The National Post

From the dead-souls darkwave of "Broken Transit, Broken Soil" to the campfire twang of "Water by the Wayside", the group's latest album, Cartography, maps out terrain where others would fear to tread. It's a good indication that, 10 years into their career, the Chaps are just getting started. - Georgia Straight

Cartography is an ideal name for an album that reveals itself as an expedition across unknown landscapes, matching in name the record's sense of discovery, of twists and turns, of behemoth rocks rising suddenly out of the ground where just moments ago there was plains and rolling hills. - Vue Weekly

Cartography is a mesmerizing, virtual magnum opus from Vancouver's The Buttless Chaps. While previous Chaps albums have always tested the boundaries between organic folk and synthetic electronica, Cartography is an even more aggressive exploration of this binary, resulting in a beautifully wrought, complex and cohesive outing. - Chart Magazine

What with GPS gizmos and Internet pathfinders, the art of cartography is probably now archaic. And yet, with its latest release, British Columbia's the Buttless Chaps sounds nothing like dated. Cartography is panoramic and often futuristic, expansive in its arrangements and lyrical imagery. The band and leader Dave Gowans specialize in juxtaposing old sounds with new wave. The title track updates Doorsian psychedelia with a spacier direction, and a funny thing happens on the way to The Opera, a sublime track with a classic piano motif and a robotic vocoder. Water by the Wayside forebodes gently; Coal Grey Sky has a folk-rock strum. If it sounds like the Chaps are all over the map, that just isn't the case. Rather, its course is absolutely chosen. - The Globe and Mail

it combines strummy folk songs with vaguely futuristic synths and effects-laden guitars into a serene chamber-pop hybrid. - Ubyssey

"one hell of a new album... The gorgeous artwork accentuates the excellent album to a T. Both are exploratory things of beauty, well worth the investment of your time." - Monday Magazine

"...this is a band at its peak and Cartography is a work of art." - Discorder Magazine

Recorded by John Collins and David Carswell of JC/DC Studios (the New Pornographers, Destroyer, Tegan and Sara), the sophomore album from Edmonton's Hot Panda was captured mostly live off the floor, with few takes and overdubs. Officially titled How Come I'm Dead?, expect to discover a fresh dose of dreamy noise, circus freak dance numbers, heartbreaking country ballads with screeching metal guitar solos, lovely pop harmonies, psychedelic drones, and straight up pop/rock numbers when this album hits the streets on October 12, 2010. And yes, that is lead singer Chris Connelly's mother riding the camel on the cover.

Longtime Mint recording artists, The Ramblin' Ambassadors are ready to unleash their third full length album, Ramble On. Only 500 copies will be pressed on shiny 180g vinyl and available on March 6th, 2012. If your turntable is still broken, not to worry, it will also be available digitally. 

fun fact: Guitar wizard, Brent Cooper, of The Ramblin' Ambassadors made his first Mint Records appearance back in 1995 on a Huevos Rancheros 7" called Dig In. That means he's been putting out records on Mint for over 15 years!

"The Ramblin' Ambassadors have all the shimmery, vintage sounds (the songs are laced in tremolo), but they still have the dusty textures and feedback you'd expect to come from heavy bearded, plaid shirt wearing, tattooed hombres." - Herohill.com

TRACK LISTING:

SIDE A:
Standoff at Calf Robe Bridge
Clambake!
Back Seat Action
The Savage
Tyger Beat

SIDE B:
Pine Beetle Express
Meat Sweats
Super Bee
Dallas B. Goode
Super Lungbucket

Album release party: Friday, March 23rd @ Dicken's, Calgary, AB.

 

 

We’ve stocked up on confetti and are counting down - only seven days until the release day of Hot Panda’s debut, Volcano… Bloody Volcano on February 10th (pre-order your copy now at Maple Music!). The Pandas shall be celebrating at Edmonton's Pawn Shop with Rah Rah and The Whitsundays on Feb 14th. And after that, they’ll be departing on yet another Canadian crawl.

Now, here are the dates:

Sat Feb 14, Edmonton AB, The Pawn Shop - CD Release Party!
Fri March 13, Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto ON (Canadian Music Week)
Thu March 19, Headhunters, Austin TX (SXSW Mint Records Hootenany)
Sat March 21, Habanna Calle 6, Austin TX (SXSW Mint Records Showcase)
Mon March 23, Atomic Cantina, Albuquerque, NM
Thu March 26, Silverlake Lounge, Los Angeles CA
Tue March 31, Le Voyeur, Olympia, WA
Wed April 1, Commet Tavern, Seattle, WA
Fri Apr 3, Logan's, Victoria, BC
Sat Apr 4, Media Club, Vancouver
Wed Apr 8, The Exchange, Regina
Fri Apr 10, Lo Pub, Winnipeg
Sun Apr 12, Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines, Iowa
Tue Apr 14, Bottom Lounge, Chicago
Wed Apr 15, Dark Room Bar, Chicago
Sun Apr 19, Velvet Lounge, Washington
Mon Apr 20, Black Betty, Brooklyn
Tue Apr 21, Piano's, New York
Wed Apr 22, Manhattan Room, Philladelphia
Fri Apr 24, Gus's Pub, Halifax
Tue Apr 28, Le Divan Orange, Montreal
Wed Apr 29, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa

Check here for more tour updates, and check the band's site here!