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

Sep 26 - Weekender, Innsbruck, Austria
Sep 28 - L'Internationale, Paris, France
Sep 30 - The Brixton Windmill, London, UK

Oct 01 - Labour Club, Northhampton, UK
Oct 02 - The Old Queen's Head, London, UK
Oct 03 - The Bull and Gate, London, UK

Our resident rocktologist/cremationist Shane Nelken is preparing to pack up the van for another tour. This time, The Awkwward Stage is heading South of the Canadian boarder to play in fine cities such as Seattle (home of the world's largest glass of orange juice), San Francisco (home of the world's largest baseball glove) and many, many more! Click here for The Awkward Stage's complete tour schedule.

Also Shane will be on MuchMusic's Going Coastal this Sunday for part II of his appearance... Stay tuned for Part III yet to come! And don't forget to check out the latest CBC Radio 3 Podcast (#108) for another dose of rock 'n' roll advice on Dear Shane.

 

Our latest Fresh Breath of Mint zine is here! We're pretty excited about the new Bella craft ideas, Carolyn Mark tour stories, Vancougar crossword puzzle, Nardwuar interviews and Immaculate Machine comics. If you haven't picked up one at your local record store, send us a note and we'll make you a care package!

 

 

Like Vinyl? Like Neko Case? Well, our pal Jack at Lance Rock Records in Nanaimo is releasing most of Neko's back catalogue on limited-edition, collectors LPs, and we're lucky enough to have a few to pass on to you.First up is Blacklisted, and copies are available now for pre-order at MapleMusic. It's a gorgeous album and the pristine 150 gram vinyl comes in a gorgeous gatefold package. Visit our friends at MapleMusic here for a copy of your own.

And while you're there, check out our latest 7" releases: One Woman Show from Nick Krgovich of P:ano and Volume One of our split 7" series, featuring The Awkward Stage and Young and Sexy.

 

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!!!