News

Holy Smokes! SXSW is less than a month away. If you are also counting down the days to a week of sunshine, bands and BBQ delights do pop by our annual afternoon Hootenanny! There will be tacos, tequila and performances from your favourite Mint and Six Shooter artists.
 
Our Hootenanny hostess, Carolyn Mark, has a brand new youtube cook show! Episode one with NQ Arbuckle, Justin Rutledge and BBQ secrets can be seen here.
 
 

 
2:15 - Carolyn Mark
2:35 - Amelia Curran
2:55 - Hot Panda
3:15 - Luke Doucet
3:35 - Meilssa McClelland
3:55 - The Pack a.d.
4:20 - Justin Rutledge
4:40 - The Beauties
5:05 - Carolyn Mark
5:25 - Nardwuar with special appearance by Andrew W.K.
 
 
Also, Mint Yvette and Mint Shena will be there. They will also be hanging out at these other Mint shows, hunting for late night burritos and crashing cocktail parties. Get ready!
 
Hot Panda
Thu March 18th - Mint/Sixshooter Hootenanny @ Headhunters, Austin, TX (2:55pm)
Fri March 19th - Jamies Spanish Vila, Austin, TX (10:00pm)
 
Carolyn Mark
Thu March 18th - Mint/Sixshooter Hootenanny @ Headhunters, Austin, TX (5:05pm)
Fri March 18th - Stephen F's lounge, Austin, TX (12:00am)
Sat March 20th - Riot Act Party @ Liberty Bar, Austin TX time TBA

The Pack a.d.
Thu March 18th - AFM party @ Canada House, Austin, TX (12:30pm)
Thu March 18th - Mint/Sixshooter Hootenanny @ Headhunters, Austin, TX (3:55pm)
Thu March 18th - The Best Damn Day of Duos Ever @ Pie Guy's Pizza, Austin, TX (6:00pm)
Fri March 19th - Buddyhead.com Day party TBA
Fri March 19th - Jamie's Spanish Villa, Austin, TX (12:00am)
 
Download the brand new mp3 of "Crazy" from The Pack a.d.'s upcoming album we kill computers.

Holy smokes! We've passed the test and are gearing up to celebrate 20 years of Mint Records. Now, this isn't our typical Ridiculously Early Xmas event. This time, we've summoned 13 bands (many which are re-uniting to play for the first time in years!) and will be taking over two rooms at the glorious Waldorf Hotel. Come out! Come out!

Featuring:
- cub tour videos
- Miss Marr (of cub) & Friends
- The Evaporators
- Fanshaw
- The Gay
- Hot Panda
- Kellarissa
- Maow*
- Operation Makeout
- Pluto
- Vancougar
- Volumizer

with friends:
- The Maxines (K Records)
- My Friend Wallis

AND MORE!

November 25th @ The Waldorf Hotel (1489 E Hastings) 

Tickets: $12 in advance/$15 at the door
Doors: 8pm (come early for prizes)

The first 50 people to arrive will receive gifts from the good people at: Pocky, Red Cat Records, Zulu Records, Six Cent Press and Black Dog Video.

Partial proceeds go to support Vancouver's Safe Amplification Society.

We'd also like to thank our sponsors, CBC Radio 3, CiTR 101.9FM, Exclaim! and Scion. Maybe they'll donate some prizes too.

Advance tickets are available from: Red Cat Records, Zulu Records, The Waldorf's front desk and online through eventbrite.com

*Maow will feature original members, Corrina Hammond and Tobey Black, with guest drummer Lisa G.

This year’s Mint Records Ridiculously Early Xmas party is over and after an action-packed night and tons of great music, we've managed to raise $1765 for the ALS Society of Canada.

The ALS Society of Canada is committed to supporting research towards a cure for ALS, supporting provincial ALS societies in their provision of quality care for persons living with ALS and building public awareness of ALS and its impact.

Thanks to Bella, Vancougar, the Awkward Stage, Young & Sexy, Hot Panda, The Ramblin' Ambassadors and Novillero for making this event such a success! As always, a special thank-you goes out to our generous prize sponsors, and of course to everyone who came out to the Cambrian Hall to join us!

That's right, Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle are Juno nominees! Yes, just yesterday we learned that their October 2009 collaborative record Let's Just Stay Here might just be the Roots & Traditional Album of the Year. Nice work guys!

Carolyn Mark doesn't sit still for long. After putting the finishing touches on Let's Just Stay Here, she is burning down the great Canadian highway, probably on her way to a festival somewhere. Now, we should mention that Carolyn doesn't like to hog the spotlight; Let's Just Stay Here sees Carolyn teaming up with Toronto's JUNO Award nominated (and Six Shooter stars) NQ Arbuckle for six Carolyn penned numbers, three NQ songs and a handful of covers. NQ Arbuckle and Miss Carolyn set their minds on creating a "rock" record together after a summer of touring Southern Alberta. Not like AC/DC rock, more like Lucinda Williams/Wilco/Tom Petty rock. Carolyn lovingly calls it her Rumours. We think you'll love it too.

Let's Just Stay Here is not the first time that Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle recorded together. Perhaps it was a harbinger of things to come, but back in 2005 they recorded the track "Fireworks" for another of Carolyn's collective recording projects – Just Married: An Album of Duets (Mint/Outside). They were not alone in noticing that there was some, for lack of a better word, "magic" there (which illustrates an interesting facet of cooperation, sometimes 1+1 can equal infinity). So, like Gretzky and Kurri, Burns and Allen, Peanut Butter and Jelly, they decided to take this winning combo and head for the Big Time.

Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle – Let’s Just Stay Here
Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group Nominee
The JUNO Awards – watch them on April 18th, 2010

Oh boy! To celebrate 20 years of Mint Records, for the entire month of November, our entire catalogue is on sale. Visit maplemusic.com for 20% off your next mailorder, zunior.com for cheap digital downloads, or your favourite local record shop to get your Mint fix. Not bad!

Mint Records' newest signing, Hot Panda, are set to release their debut full length album Volcano... Bloody Volcano on February 10th, 2009. Hailing from Edmonton Alberta, Hot Panda formed during the particularly chilly winter of 2006 and have already become an experienced touring act, playing well over a hundred shows in a very short time (including CMJ and PopMontreal this past October).

Volcano... Bloody Volcano is a collection of collaborative songs chock-full of the band's spastic energy. Comparisons to luminaries such as Daniel Johnson and The Talking Heads have been swirling about and while it is always nice to be compared to such bands, Hot Panda have certainly found their own sound.  Leaving behind the frozen garage jam sessions in which their musical explorations began, Hot Panda have been taking their unique blend of Brit Pop, Glam & Lo-fi Indie back and forth across the expansiveness of Canada and the USA winning new friends and fans.

The Pack a.d.'s new album we kill computers is out on April 27th and the band is going on the road ...again. Their van, the Falcon, doesn't like the iPod hook up though. Maybe because it's 13 years old. Or maybe because 13 year old's, who are vans, seem to really like cassette tapes. Either way though, the band needs new music to listen to when they hit the road. So they are excited to announce The Pack a.d. Mix Tape Contest!

Here are the contest particulars and rules according to the band:

“Do you have an old mixed tape you would like to send us? Or the capability to make a new mixed cassette tape? We are down with all sorts of music and would love to listen to music you think we should listen to. If you have a burning desire to sit around for hours pouring your blood, sweat and tears into the Ultimate Mix Tape, just for us... or at least the desire to throw your old mix tapes into an envelope and mail them then we would be forever grateful. And you, in turn, can win some great prizes! However, we only want homemade tapes OK? So, no copies of Much Dance 2000 or the like, please... those jokes are really old... and only 99 cents at Value Village... and we already have those.”

Here is what you can win:

1st prize – a signed poster and CD, a signed cymbal, a vinyl copy of we kill computers as well as a Pack AD shirt and beverage cozy in a Mint tote bag.

2nd prize – a signed poster and CD in a Mint tote bag and a vinyl copy of  we kill computers

3rd prize – a signed poster and CD and a vinyl copy ofwe kill computers

Here is how you enter:

Simply send a cassette entry to the address below to arrive no later than May 21st. Then after the The Pack a.d get back from their European tour with NoMeansNo, they will take it on the road with them, pop it into the Falcon’s cassette deck and turn up the volume as they head across western Canada with The Sadies. The band will decide the winners and notify them at the end of the tour.

The Pack a.d.
c/o Mint Records
P.O. Box 3613, M.P.O.
Vancouver, BC
Canada
V6B 3Y6

Click here for a complete list of the Pack a.d.'s tour dates!

Brace yourselves, the man in plaid is busy and preparing to unveil his latest project. This time, Nardwuar and The Evapotators have invited their friends, Franz Ferdinand, Andrew WK, Kate Nash, Sage Francis, The Cribs and Faud and The Feztones AND MORE to join them on their upcoming white-splattered LP titled Busy Doing Nothing. It will be in record shops on March 6th and comes with a free 2012/2013/2014 Punk Rock Calendar filled with vintage punk rock images from Vancouver's iconic Bev Davies. Oh boy! 

Nardwuar has posted more information on his creation here. 

We are pleased as punch to announce it, Miss Carolyn Mark is ready to show off her latest country fair creation. Nothing is Free shall be out July 3rd in Canada and a little later, September 18th, everywhere lse.

Like those delicious Frosted Mini Wheats, there are two sides to Miss Carolyn Mark. At a recent Railway Club performance, Carolyn compared her fifth record (sixth when you count our Party Girl's gig with Neko Case in The Corn Sisters) on Mint Records to that tasty bipolar breakfast cereal. And she's right, Nothing is Free has a funny frosted side, but is also packed with healthy goodness, psyllium fiber and will make your heart ache (but in a good way).

Hungry? Well, you're in luck. On July 3rd, Carolyn Mark's Nothing is Free, is ready for your rapid consumption.

And, Keep your eyes peeled, for the sassy Victoria songstress may be visiting a folk festival near you.

Check here for more of our favorite Terrible Hostess’ party dates!!!

It started innocently enough with plans of having a night out to celebrate mintrecs.com's recent renovations. Then, our talented friends, Cloudsplitter (Ida Nelson and Dave Gowans), Shane Nelken (of The Awkward Stage), Veda Hille, Paul and Lucy (of Young and Sexy) and Victoria's dark lord of the squeezebox, David P. Smith stepped in. Now, we've got ourselves a special acoustic evening booked. So come visit us on August 16th at The Main (4210 Main St.), and visit our Fancy New Website at www.mintrecs.com. It'll be fun. We promise.

Who: Cloudsplitter, Veda Hille, Shane Nelken, Paul and Lucy and David P. Smith.

What: Friends of Mint, unplugged!

Where: The Main (4210 Main St.)

When: 10:00pm on Aug 16th, 2007

Why: Because mintrecs.com is here and out of control! Or, because Dave Gowans had a plan that evolved into a big acoustic evening of fun. You choose.