News

On April 4th, Dave Gowans, Lasse Lutick, Morgan McDonald and Dan Gaucher will be celebrating 10 years of playing music together at Vancouver's Biltmore Cabaret (395 Kingsway). Not content to rest on their laurels, the Buttless Chaps are as sharp and spry as ever; together with Mint Records they will be releasing their first digital only release, titled, CBC Radio 3 Sessions.

The CBC Radio 3 Sessions will be available on April 1st, exclusively through iTunes and Zunior.com. It features old friends, Jesse Zubot (Fond of Tigers, Zubot and Dawson) on violin, and Peggy Lee on cello. The release includes a myriad of the Chaps' favourite songs; "Fresh Horses", "Migratory Birds" and a cover of the Echo and the Bunnymen classic, "The Killing Moon," to name a few.

Since their formation in 1998, the Chaps have toured the Canadian and US wilderness extensively and performed with artists such as The Rheostatics, The Handsome Family and The Stars. Their brooding jangly orchestral folk music will make you come to the realization that life, although pointless, is also wonderful.

So mark these dates on your calendar:

April 1st
The Buttless Chaps CBC Radio 3 Sessions
*The first digital only release on Mint Records, available exclusively through iTunes and Zunior.com

April 4th
The Buttless Chaps' 10th Anniversary Show with The Parlor Steps
The Biltmore Cabaret (395 Kingsway)

* Advance tickets available at Red Cat, Zulu and Scratch Records.

** CBC Radio shall be there to record the evening for their Concerts on Demand.

*** See you there.

Hey! You! Here's your chance to advertise your band/company/radio show/stuff in our fancy Mint fanzine!

If you haven't seen it yet, we've been printing Fresh Breath of Mint for two years now and our Fall '07 issue (number 7 to be precise) is coming out soon. Now, Why would I want to be involved, you may ask yourself...

Well, in Johnny Cusack's High Fidelity fashion, here are our top 5 reasons:

5) Fresh Breath of Mint is Fun! Who wouldn't want their ad sitting next to Carolyn Mark's recipe for potato salad?

4) We work really really hard to get FBOM to you, the music fan! And so do our record shop friends, distributors, non-music store pals, touring bands, campus radio stations, and our lovely street teamers across the country.

3) And, FBOM is consumed rapidly by music fans across the country. Just ask our friend Aaron, at KMA.

2) And, it is not just in consumed rapidly in our country, FBOM has been sighted in other countries too! We've previously distributed copies at SXSW (12,000 copies!!) and other conferences and events (such as Mint shows).

1) We've got big plans for our next issue! Along with our regular mail-outs, 6,000 copies shall be released into the wild at CMJ.

Fresh Breath of Mint #7 is due out on October 1, 2007, and we are anticipating a split run for this 64-pager: a minimum of 9,000 copies in the USA and 9,000 copies in Canada. (Interestingly, for Issue #6, we had intended to make 4,000 copies of a 40 page issue, but demand was such that we made 12,000 and expanded it to 56 pages!)

Here are some ad rates for our Fall Issue (number 7):

full page (5.5" wide x 8.5" high) CAD $250 + gst
1/2 page (5.5" wide x 4.125" high) CAD $150 + gst
1/4 page (2.625" wide x 4.125" high) CAD $100 + gst
1/8 page (2.625" wide x 1.937" high) CAD $50 + gst

booking deadline: August 25, 2007
artwork/payment deadline: August 31, 2007

format:

PDF, EPS, TIF, or JPEG
Illustrator AI or EPS
300 dpi greyscale -- please allow for newsprint dot gain

If you have any questions, please email Shena.

The Pack AD are sending out postcards from their upcoming USA tour. If you like seeing things other than bills in the mail, send your name and address to info@mintrecs.com (preferably before March 8th) and Becky or Maya will personally write you a postcard from their tour. After their big Canadian tour last summer, Becky and Maya learned that touring results in many hours of driving. And, to help relieve the boredom that comes with traveling long long distances, Becky and Maya plan on embracing the lost art that is letter writing, packing an archaic typewriter in their tour van and updating their friends with handwritten postcards. Neat!

As of today, only 42 more days remain until Bella's Mint debut, No One Will Know, is out. Yes, we can't wait for September 18th to come, and to share that warm and fuzzy feeling, we're going to let you in on a little secret.

You can download "Give it a Night" (the first single) from No One Will Know here!

For the past 13+ years, Mint Records has been headquartered in the Dominion Building in Vancouver. In other words, for the past 13+ years, Mint Records has been neighbours with what is commonly known as the Downtown Eastside, or also recognized as the poorest postal code in Canada. We've long considered the fact that we are mere visitors to the area (in more ways than one), there to do work, then eventually vacating the area until the next day, and have often wondered about all the hundreds of people who call the DTES home, and who can't leave like we can, and who face a daily at-risk reality whose depths we can only fathom to imagine.

It was with this in mind that we thought that we should put our money where our mouth is, and contribute in some fashion to the PHS Community Services Society -- namely by turning the Mint Records Xmas nights at the Railway into PHS benefits.

The PHS Community Services Society is a nonprofit society that manages a number of social housing projects in the Downtown Eastside, including the Portland Hotel, where several members of local musical groups have worked and work, providing support, services, and resources to its residents and other high-risk individuals in the community.

Coco Culbertson of Mint Records' The Choir Practice was a key figure in the Portland Hotel Society, and she had this to say: "The PHS has done incredible amounts of good for the community. I could go on and on about the groundbreaking, tireless and innovative accomplishments for the most voiceless and marginal that the PHS is fiercely committed to....but i will just say PHS rocks. Good choice."

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.

Phew, this year’s Mint Records Just in Time for Xmas parties are over. And, after two action-packed nights at the Railway club, we’ve managed to raise $4,343 for our neighbours at The PHS Community Services Society, who provide sustainable housing and services to high-risk individuals in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side.

Thanks to The Awkward Stage, Bella, The Buttless Chaps, Carolyn Mark, The Choir Practice, Hot Panda, Immaculate Machine, Kellarissa, The Pack A.D., The Ramblin’ Ambassadors, Vancougar and Young and Sexy for making these events such a success! A special thank-you goes out to our generous prize sponsors, and of course to everyone who came out to the Railway on those nights!

Photo copyright Adam PW Smith - www.adampwsmith.com

Have you gotten a Fresh Breath of Mint this summer? Well, once you do, you'll learn the secret to Carolyn Mark's Ultimate Salad, get some sound advice from our resident rocktologist/cremationist, Shane Nelken, of the Awkward Stage, giggle over Nardwuar's interviews and oogle some comics created by our friends in Immaculate Machine. And, it gets better. Our little Fresh Breath of Mint zine is not only awesome, it's free! If you can't find one at your local record store, we'll send you one. Just send a nice note here. We'll help you out.

And, if you're really really keen. We're always on the lookout for Minty allies to help spread the freshness around their one-horse towns. Yup. That's right people, we love our Minty correspondents. Interested? Ask Shena how you can help.

Holey smokes! They’ve passed the test!

Yes, it was originally a 1993 release, but, cub’s cuddlecore classic, Betti-Cola is back on the college charts! This week, Betti-Cola is sitting pretty at #89 on the CMJ Top 200. Neat!

We’re still crazy about Lisa M, Lisa G, Robynn and Valeria’s catchy songs about chinchillas, Motel 6 and flaming red bobsleds. We’ve even re-mastered added bonus tracks and re-released Betti-Cola and Come Out Come Out into the world. Catch 'em if you can!