February 17, 2016 • Youtube Shmat
"Why, long time no see!" said Shmat ironically after 8 years of not posting any updates. We are futzing around with a Youtube channel. Some "videos" may be up, which will likely just be mp3s with a suitable picture.
Seriously, 8 years is an eternity. It's like I don't even recognize how we did this back then. So much has changed - I can't even. We really missed the boat on social - I wish we had current technology and social infrastructure back in the early 2000s. It would've made getting the word out and managing the community aspect so amazing.
November 26, 2008 • A Few Reviews
Hi. There's actually some nice news to report: Avoidance Theory's Calico Cliche EP has gotten a few reviews over the past few months. I've been too lazy to make a post until now, but here they are. First, the always wonderful 3Hive had a short post about the EP. I read 3Hive quite a bit, and though the reviews are short, it makes for nice quick reading. Second up is Partly Porpoise, which besides having a fun name, also had some nice things to say about the songs and about AT in general. Lastly, we had a few Italian reviews - the main one is a short blurb from Nuovamusica. I translated it once, and I think it was mostly positive...
Radio airplay has been difficult to track, and we didn't send out many packages, but I believe Calico Cliche was added at KZSU in Stanford.
I have to to run - need to get ready for the upcoming feasts. Happy Thanksgiving!
September 3, 2008 • The Evolvin' EP
Well, well, well, what do we have here? Is this an actual Shmat Records release after nearly four years of inactivity?
Yes and no.
I think I've explained this before, probably much to the un-delight of people interested more in the music and not so much in me blathering on. But, here is the lowdown: we can't afford to physically manufacture CDs any longer. It's just not worth it. And having people pay for e-downloads? Not ruling it out, but for now I'd rather have people listen than make a decision to pay for an inferior sounding download that may or may not have DRM on it. No hard feelings, iTunes...
Actually, I had an interesting idea for this EP - maybe it's going to be an "Evolving EP". That is - we'll continue to change it as time goes on. Add songs, fix things in the mix. I had a really hard time getting these songs to sound decent. But as I said before, I just got tired of trying to make improvements with our limited equipment. So we decided to just release them into the wild as they are.
The songs from the Calico Cliche EP (SHMAT08) are completely free to download in MP3 format. We might change this at any time, of course, but it's not likely. I don't know if future releases will be this way - but we just wanted to try it once.
Also: if you have a music blog, radio station or zine and you enjoyed the songs could you please post about it or tell a friend? Thanks.
Download Avoidance Theory's Calico Cliche EP
February 4, 2008 • AT Working On Somethin' New
OK, so we're working on some new material for Avoidance Theory. Actually, we've been working on it off and on for nearly 2 years now. You know how it goes. Look for a new EP to come out in the next couple months. I'm still trying to figure out what it means to "release" a CD or EP. I mean, for a tiny, tiny record label and in the world of free downloadable music - does that have any meaning any more? I'm almost 100% certain this will be a limited CD-R release. It may also be "free", either for a limited time, or we'll put exclusive tracks on the EP for those who decide they'd like to support independent music and fork over some cash.
In other news, there may be a new Hrududu Factory EP coming out soon. I'm not sure if it will be released on Shmat or another label. It's always surprised me how well this little handmade limited edition EP has done. After nearly 4 years, people still order it from around the globe. We are down to approximately the last 70 copies of SHMAT03 now. Get yours while they last! Hahaha...
October 20, 2007 • New Comes and Goes
Hi there. Last we talked was over a year ago. I redid the site (it only took 2 all-nighters) - if this was a technology company then I guess this would be Shmat 2.0 or something. You can read a little bit about the current situation here. The website has been pared back a bit, no more reviews / features, etc (though those pages will still work).
The label's "mission" is a bit different as well - right now it's just me here. No more hiding behind The Shmat talking in the 3rd person, hehe. I've gotten a little older, a little more cynical about helping to promote indie music out of the goodness of my heart. Funny - the idea before was to make our label look "bigger" than it actually was and I think we succeeded so much that it caught up with me. And now, what I'm interested in is a return back to a smaller thing - something that's more manageable.
A lot has changed since 2003. The state of the indie music industry is completely in flux right now - it's too soon to tell how we'll buy music in the future. If I had a crystal ball I'd be working for Apple right now... but I don't. So - I'll continue to write songs and "release" (not necessarily manufacture) them through Shmat. And hopefully, we'll get a few friends to put out some music as well.
But: no promises, no free handouts, no obligations. Don't get me wrong - I'm proud of what we accomplished. But we'll have to see how it goes. Here's to more music in the future...
June 3, 2006 • Minor Housekeepin'
Whew, what a year already. Just a quick note to say that the Shmat is going to be doing a bit of site housekeeping over the next couple of months. One important thing is that the Shmat's Peoples are consolidating the billions of email addys that were running around. So, please use this form from now on.
March 6, 2006 • No More Reviews. No More Reviews. Yes, No More Reviews.
Unfortunately, this is not news that you most likely will be overjoyed to hear. Shmat Records is no longer going to be releasing indie music reviews on this site. However, the Shmat and his Peoples will be continuing review coverage over at Palebear.
On a happier note, The Shmat will now be focusing ENTIRELY on record label stuff. After all, Shmat Records started out life as an indie RECORD LABEL. Not an indie music review site! And the Shmat hopes to actually release music this year. Stay tuned for news on that.
January 5, 2006 • Happy New Year
Happy Good New Year to everybodys. The Shmat's new year's resolution is to post more in this here news section of his site. His secondary new year's resolution is to write up more reviews, but he will have to see just how that goes...
October 6, 2005 • Hooray Hockey
The Shmat has not much news to report except... HOCKEY IS BACK! Hooray hockey
July 6, 2005 • Hello summer...
The Shmat has been hiding away from the summer heat, going through all the CDs you've sent in. He apologizes for the lack of updates and reviews lately.
Some news of note: the Carte Blanche Summer's End CD EP is now official SOLD OUT on the Shmat site. This isn't to say that every single copy has been snapped up, but the stock of CDs at Shmat headquarters are gone. You may be able to find copies of the CD at the Shmat's friendly distributor up in Florida, Tonevendor. Tell them he sent ya there.
Hrududu Factory is looking to start up the music thingy again. Perhaps this time with more members than just Tharn the rabbit! Stay tuned for more details.
The annual Shmatfest has been delayed again indefinitely. But he may be looking to plan either a Winter fest or wait until next Spring. Sorry to those indie bands who were looking forward to performing or attending.
All's well that shmats well... talk to you soon!
May 16, 2005 • Some Shmatty Cha-changes
Hello from the Shmat! Long time no hello from him. Anywho, after much consideration the Shmat has decided to remove the option to order by credit card through CCnow. The Shmat has had nothing but good experiences from the company, but it has started to become difficult to offer this service since it is not free. From now on, Paypal is the preferred method to pay online (for the majority of customers, you were already using Paypal so this won't change a thing). If you absolutely need to pay by another method, please let the Shmat know and he will try and work something out.
Secondly. If you've been keeping score lately, you may have noticed that this year's CD reviewing schedule has been erratic to say the least, not to mention sparse. Because of various other time committments, the Shmat has been having difficulty reviewing music on a regular basis, that is, releasing reviews every Monday the whole year long.
So as of now, there will be no set schedule for reviews. He is just going to put up CD reviews as he gets / writes them and not only on Mondays. But rest assured he will still be reviewing CDs; some weeks may feature 10 reviews and others may have none. He would like to thank each and every one of you indie musicians (about 180) who have sent in a CD already this year. Also, if he doesn't review your CD, please don't take it personally because there are so many that come in that he can't do them all.
Have a nice and shmatty day...
Read More News in the Archives...