Continuing their legacy of eclectic lo-fi indie pop albums for Mint, Hot Panda's Go Outside will be out on July 17th. Once again recorded by the famed JC/DC team of David Carswell and John Collins (The New Pornographers, Tegan and Sara), the album is just as vibrant as their first two albums, yet significantly more developed.

You can listen to "Future Markets" here. 

Once again, we're packing our sunglasses, dusting off the sunscreen and heading to Austin for SXSW. We're planning a party too. And you should probably be there. This is the plan:

Mint Records, Olio Festival and Light Organ Records present:
A FREE SXSW DAY PARTY!!!
Thursday, March 15th at Headhunters (720 Red River St)

FEATURING:

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!

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! 

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!

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!

Our pals in Hot Panda are feeling a little restless. In addition to preparing for Vancouver's always exciting Victory Square Block Party, they are writing new material and packing their bags for their second European tour. Not bad guys, not bad. 

Their dates look like this:

Aug 18 - Comet Tavern, Seattle, WA
Sep 04 - Victory Square Block Party, Vancouver, BC
Sep 15 - Guilt and Co, Vancouver, BC
Sep 24 - Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg, Germany

Becky and Maya of The Pack a.d. are loading up their new van, named HAL, and bracing themselves for the tour of a lifetime! To commemorate the September 13th release of Unpersons, they'll be playing 40+ shows over three months. Be sure to check them out, and buy them a beer. Those girls work hard!

To satiate your appetite for Unpersons, we've posted "Sirens" from the new record here.