Hey news seekers! It has been too long since the last update I know but you'll soon forgive me because this update is full of late breaking news including announcements of four imminent releases, two brand new Matinée artists, some scintillating 2005 releases, our annual Matinée fanclub poll, excellent reviews of our current new releases, a handful of upcoming gigs and a special sale at the mailorder. Not bad eh?

The first of the new releases is a wonderful new compilation called 'The Matinée Winter Warmer' (matinée 055). The fourth in our series of popular seasonal samplers, it follows 2001's 'Matinée Spring Collection' (matinée 026), 2002's 'Matinée Summer Splash' (matinée 040), and 2003's 'Matinée Autumn Assortment' (matinée 051). Each of the previous editions featured a mix of exclusive tracks, previews of forthcoming releases and classic songs from new releases and this one is no exception. The CD features exclusive new songs from Harper Lee, The Liberty Ship, The Lucksmiths, Melodie Group and Pipas along with a rarity from The Pines and previously released gems from The Fairways, Lovejoy, Slipslide and The Windmills. All of the songs are winter or holiday related to warm you up during the upcoming season. The tracklisting is: 1. Slipslide - Baked Alaska; 2. The Fairways - Winter Song; 3. Pipas - Boxes; 4. The Windmills - When It Was Winter; 5. Harper Lee - Bad Christmas; 6. The Liberty Ship - Photograph; 7. The Lucksmiths - The Winter Proper; 8. The Pines - High Street; 9. Lovejoy - I Dream of Angels; 10. Melodie Group - Jingle Bells. Check the catalog page for soundclips! It's a good one so count your pennies because as always with our seasonal samplers, this one sells for the mere price of a single! The CD is released December 13th but if you preorder a copy now we'll ship it that day so you'll have it in time for the holidays.

As 2004 draws to a close, we are sad to report this is the first year since the label started in 1997 that we have not released a 7" single. While this is a simple acknowledgement of the poor state of the U.S. record industry with regards to vinyl sales, it is still a poignant moment since the format is what got us into the business seven years ago. Since then, we have released a total of 25 amazing slabs of 7" vinyl and they remain among our personal favorites. A handful of the early singles have sold out and several others are pretty close to depleted but they all contain fantastic songs that are mostly unavailable on CD. If you don't have a complete collection yet, why not give your turntable a holiday present this year and pick some up?! From now until January 3rd, we are offering all 7" singles at just $2 each (and while we're at it, all CD singles at just $4 each)... holy Batman!

Speaking of 45s, matinée 45 was always a troublesome spot on the discography for us because it naturally begs for a 7" release but how could we possibly choose which of the fine Matinée artists would have it? A 7" compilation was considered but the severe limit on the length of the songs meant we could only invite three or four bands to participate and that seemed an impossible choice as well. We wrestled with this for the past few years and skipped over the catalog number sometime last Spring to avoid making a decision. Then last Christmas it hit us... we'd make a 7" vinyl 45 that wasn't a 45 at all! The result is the magnificent brilliance of the Matinée 45 holiday ornament (matinée 045)! What? That's right, an ornament to hang on your favorite holiday greenery. We took ours outside to search for the perfect place for a photo shoot, and given the tropical nature of Santa Barbara, we narrowed it down to a hibiscus bush, a bougainvillea vine, or a lemon tree. I tried scaling one of the palm trees but they're quite tall so in the end the hibiscus won the contest. Now our lawyers want us to make it perfectly clear that THIS ORNAMENT CONTAINS ABSOLUTELY NO MUSIC! Yes, it looks just like a tiny 45 rpm record... grooves and all...but we're fairly certain it would ruin your stylus if you played it so just hang it up and enjoy it for years to come. We know it's so late 80s Factory Records to assign catalog numbers to non-music items, so call us crass commercialists if you must but we suggest you do so quickly because there are only 200 of these and they will likely sell out before too long. You can preorder one now and we'll mail it the week of the 13th (along with the new 'Winter Warmer' CD perhaps...or some of those wonderful 7" singles?). Now, back to the music...

Skipping ahead to January, make plans for new releases from Lovejoy and Pipas! The new Lovejoy album (matcd035) is called 'Everybody Hates' [Lovejoy]...get it? They're clever like that. The first Lovejoy release since the classic 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' CD (matcd018) in 2002, the album features fantastic new songs 'Everybody Hates Us And We Don't Care', 'Petrol Stars', 'America', 'Drug Autumn', 'Sandcastles', 'Sid Vicious', 'Nicotine & Love', 'Because You're Worth It', and 'This Could Be An Ending'. We suffered an artwork delay with the release but all is on track for a January release so check the mailorder page to preorder it next month. For now, you can listen to the brilliant song 'Sid Vicious' on the sounds page or go to the catalog page for additional cuts 'Everybody Hates Us' and 'Petrol Stars.' We promise it'll be worth the wait.

The new Pipas release is actually not very new at all but a reissue of the band's magnificent debut mini-album 'Chunnel Autumnal' which was released in 2000 on the Long Lost Cousin imprint. It was a 10" vinyl release and limited to 300 copies so the vast majority of the immense Pipas fanbase never got a copy of their own. It's the band's 'Tigermilk' if you will... But we lovely folks here at Matinée have worked tirelessly to remedy that wrong by reissuing it using newfangled CD technology! The resultant 'Chunnel Autumnal' CD (matcd036) is a suave digipak that combines the eight songs from the original 10" release with three bonus tracks from the debut Pipas 7" 'A Short Film About Sleeping' (matinée 035) which is nearly sold out as well. The CD therefore collects all Pipas songs previously unavailable on CD into one handy package! The full tracklisting is: 1. Tout Va Bien; 2. Don't Tell Me That; 3. Wells Street; 4. Moss Oval; 5. Amsterdam; 6. Bye Bye; 7. The Bobby; 8. St. Pancras; 9. A Short Film About Sleeping; 10. Troublesome; 11. Fingerprints. Check out the sounds page for a preview of 'Wells Street' and the new catalog page for 'Tout Va Bien' and 'A Short Film About Sleeping.' We think you'll like what you hear. Pipas are promoting the new album at two upcoming live shows: December 10th at the Chickfactor Mon Gala Papillons at Bush Hall in London with the Television Personalities, Stevie Jackson and Mascott; and Club MAD in Athens Greece on January 21st.

In other top news, we are very pleased to announce two new Matinée bands! The first is a duo called The Happy Couple who hail from Hamburg in northern Germany. We first took notice of them a year ago when the label they run (Félicité Singles Club) placed second (to Matinée of course!) in the best label category of the annual Indiepop list poll. After swapping some records we soon fell in love with their debut release, the 'Four Seasons' EP. Shortly thereafter they sent us some wonderful demos and we knew we were hooked. That debut Félicité 7" went on to receive nice reviews around the world and as of this writing hovers on the edge of selling out. The band has just finished recording its debut release for Matinée—the 'Fools In Love' EP (matinée 054) - including new songs 'Another Sunny Day,' 'Hopeless Case,' 'The Pop Kid' and 'Don't Call It.' We are working on artwork now so pencil this in for release early next year. If you missed hearing the debut Happy Couple release, we'll soon have the last 30 remaining copies available via the Matinée mailorder so get there quickly before this sells out for good. The band has a very informative website here that includes soundclips of several songs, and we have just added 'Another Sunny Day' to the Matinée sounds page as a preview to the single. Finally, we are working to finalize a new Happy Couple artist page on the Matinée site so check back soon for more information on this exciting new band!

Our second new band is a brilliant five piece from Seattle, Washington called Math and Physics Club. Now we get a lot of demos here at Matinée HQ and sometimes we fall a wee bit behind listening to them but for some reason the demo package sent by this band made us take notice. Perhaps it was the unabashed praise for Matinée described in their cover letter or their use of sans serif fonts...in any event I played the demo as soon as I got home from the post office. There it was again...that rare feeling of excitement the first time you hear a new band that makes you smile from ear to ear. A short email exchange and a hastily scheduled conference call later, we won the bidding war that was ensuing among international indie labels and started making plans for the debut 'Weekends Away' EP (matinée 056) for release early in 2005. In addition to the title track, the single will include 'Sixteen and Pretty' and 'Famous' and a fourth song that is still undecided but the choices are all fantastic so this release will be solid from start to finish. For now, you can check out 'Weekends Away' playing on the updated sounds page and check back in a few weeks to view their Matinée artist page. The band has its own website here too so pay them a visit because they just might be one of your favorite bands in a few months time.

Also on the new release horizon, we are finalizing details for the brilliant debut album 'Summertime?' (matcd037) from our Brazilian friends Pale Sunday! The reaction to their debut single 'A Weekend with Jane' (matinée 049) was exceptional and the band followed up with admirable contributions to the 'Matinée 50' (matinée 050) and 'Romantic and Square' (matcd030) compilations. Now they are back with 10 brand new songs to celebrate the Brazilian summertime. The tracklisting for the album is 1. The White Tambourine; 2. Mary; 3. Sunday Morning; 4. Twiggy Superstar; 5. My Punk Girl; 6. Sweet Goodbye; 7. A Safe Place; 8. 1978; 9. She'll Never Be Mine; 10. Strangeways. We'll provide more release details in the next web update but check the sounds page soon because we'll be adding some preview tracks shortly.

New releases from The Lucksmiths, The Young Tradition and The Snowdrops are also coming together for release early in the year. Look for more details in January.

Switching to our superb current releases for a moment, the brand new 'Inner North' CD from Australian collective The Guild League is earning favorable reviews near and far, with Tasty saying "Inner North may well be the best album released this year, and even a contender for the best ever released on Matinée," while Vanity Project called it "a shot in the arm of early summer sunshine, with a vague hint of dampness in the air" and Inpress said "a seamless blend of music and poetry, of word and emotion...one of the best albums of the year so far." The album is available now in the shops or via the Matinée mailorder. You can preview four tracks on the album's catalog page or download an mp3 for the stunning song 'Citronella' on the sounds page. Yes folks, this one's a gem.

Meanwhile, the excellent third album 'All Things Can Be Mended' (matcd033) from English duo Harper Lee is serving to adorn its already impressive resume further. Among the latest reviews, All Music Guide called it "solid indie pop craft perfect for wallowing in heartbreak and ennui," while Aversion.com declared it "the perfect soundtrack for autumn...putting melancholy before melodrama, Harper Lee makes the sort of record that'll make lonely record geeks, awkward outcasts and even with-it hipsters stop and take a tender moment of reflection." In a similar vein, Friends of the Heroes said "written in black and white, [the album] will wrap its arms around you and draw you into the slow rhythmic sinking feeling that it creates. It will snatch you from the busy everyday world, into one where there is time to stop and take stock of your life." We happen to think the album is brilliant and as it is about to enjoy its third straight month as the top seller at the mailorder it seems to be having a good response with you as well. Preview tracks 'Everybody Leaves,' 'Stupid' and 'This Is The Sound That A Heart Makes When It's Breaking' are now playing on the sounds page so have a listen if you want to sample an album that is showing up on 'best-of 2004' lists already.

The wonderful 'The Morning After' CD (matcd032) from London quartet Would-Be-Goods is another album that has made scores of friends in a very short time. The latest batch of reviews include Pennyblack calling it "a welcome antidote of sophistication" and Vanity Project describing it as "downbeat indie-pop in a similar style to the Delgados and Drugstore [with] fizzy garage moments giving it an extra kick." Meanwhile, Kitten Painting declared "this is the sound of 'indiepop' pulling on a chic outfit and growing up. The key word is elegance. Keeping your dignity whilst all around you are losing the plot is sometimes the only stylish option." Yes indeed, and Would-Be-Goods are clearly the most stylish band around at the moment so get on board and see what the fuss is all about. The album is now available worldwide in shops or via the trusty Matinée mailorder, and you can sample 'Big Cat Act,' 'The Morning After' and 'Miss La-Di-Dah' if you like on the sounds page. Would-Be-Goods play a special UK show Saturday, December 4th at The Wheatsheaf on High Street in Oxford with The Relationships and are making plans for additional shows in early 2005 so watch this space for details.

As the year draws to a close it's time to reflect on the wonderful releases our talented artists made possible this year with our second annual Matinée Fanclub Poll! The poll includes the usual questions about favorite releases of the year, favorite bands and favorite songs, but we've added a few new questions about reissues and music magazines to help us with our market research. There is also a catchall 'what can we do better' question at the end where we welcome any thoughts you have about the label (bands you want to hear more of, website suggestions, touring ideas, etc.) Please let us know what you think! Everyone who enters is eligible to win a prize of five free releases of your choice. To enter the poll, simply submit your answers by January 3rd. Cast your vote and you just may be the lucky winner!

As we mentioned above, all 7" and CD singles are on sale from now until the January 3rd so get over to the mailorder and complete your Matinée singles collections today before they sell out for good. The top sellers on the hit parade last month were:

10. The Visitors - Miss CD
9. Various - Matinée 50 CD
8. Brighter - Singles 1989-1992 CD
7. The Fairways - This is Farewell CD
6. Pipas - Bitter Club CDEP
5. Razorcuts - R is for Razorcuts CD
4. The Pines - True Love Waits Volume 2 CDEP
3. Would-Be-Goods - The Morning After CD
2. The Guild League - Inner North CD
1. Harper Lee - All Things Can Be Mended CD

This is the last proper update of the year but we will be adding lots of behind the scenes content to the site in December so have a look for more information on forthcoming releases, two new artist pages, fresh soundclips, and year-end favorite lists from all the Matinée artists. The artist of the month feature is on hold for a few months but will return in February with new band features and exclusive mp3 downloads only available via the website.

Seasons greetings to everyone and thanks again for all your support this year!
Jimmy
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