wampus multimedia ramps up for new releases in 2004

U.S. indie label Wampus Multimedia is preparing eight new releases for 2004. A schedule of at least one release per month will continue through 2005. Filling the slate for this year:

In 1989-1994, Wampus published oodles of innovative contemporary fiction. Distributed nationally, the quarterly Friction magazine counted Kurt Vonnegut among its paid subscribers. Wampus will offer the whole enchilada (18 issues) in affordable electronic format.

Brimming with darkly sweet pop hooks, Cafebar 401 blends Bowie-esque vocal presence with danceable grooves rooted in Euro-rock. Their relentlessly contemporary sound calls to mind Coldplay, Masters of Reality, Muse, Beck, Soulwax, Radiohead, and Queens of the Stone Age. Don't want to wait for the release? Get it now.

http://cdbaby.com/cafebar401

Rollicking like the illegitimate love child of Toby Keith and Faith Hill, this "love suite" is a mischievous valentine to country music. Wildly tuneful, it's Nashville pop for now people.

Originally released in 1993, this songwriting watershed finally sounds like it should have in the first place. A literate curio of acoustic pop.

When Arms of Kismet's Eponymous came out earlier this year, it featured 10 tracks. What it didn't include was the 10 songs that missed the cut. Here they are.

Conceived in the mid-'90s, this cycle of a midwestern boy's unlikely spiritual pilgrimage to Mecca predated John Walker Lindh's quest by years, not months. Produced in 2004, it's a gut-busting classic for our times.

Originally released in 1990, this eclectic juggernaut was packed with subversive toe-tappers. Hear it the way it was supposed to sound at the start.

Visit...

http://wampus.com/store

********

Arms of Kismet Wraps Tour

Arms of Kismet (a.k.a. Mark Doyon) toured the eastern United States throughout the month of April. Barnstorming through coffeehouses and cred-infested clubs up and down the coast, he baffled, inspired, annoyed and thrilled audiences in Roanoke, Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Philadelphia, Williamsport, New York City, Suffern, Boston, Kutztown and Dewey Beach. Upon returning intact, he began work on his non-fiction debut, Slingshot to Obscurity:

http://wampus.com/doyon/wad

Don't miss Arms of Kismet live on Saturday, June 26 at the Millenium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA.

Buy the new CD...

http://cdbaby.com/armsofkismet

 

********

Get the Good Stuff: Releases from Wampus

http://wampus.com/store

Prefer downloads to CDs? Wampus titles are now available from Buy.com, iTunes, MusicMatch, and many others!

Arms of Kismet / Eponymous

Literate and insidiously catchy, Arms of Kismet is postmodern pop for the savvy, ironic streetcrawler.

Various Artists / After Hours: a Tribute to the Music of Lou Reed

From the unflinching optimism of Johnny J Blair's "Sunday Morning" to the cerebral ambivalence of Brook Pridemore's title track, 'After Hours' tells the story of an artist unencumbered by popular expectations, yet... popular.

Various Artists / If I Were a Richman: a Tribute to the Music of Jonathan Richman

A wildly entertaining ride through the repertoire of one of rock's most original and eclectic songwriters. Like Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground before him, Richman's deceptively straightforward music defies easy categorization. From his early days with the original Modern Lovers, through numerous iterations of the Lovers, to his latter-day solo career, Richman's work has mixed an arresting sense of innocence with a deep sensitivity to human emotion.

tvfordogs / Heavy Denver

The best modern-rock record of 2003. Check it out.

Kowtow Popof / Kowtow Drops the Pop Off

Powerfully nuanced postmodern rave-ups that set the car radio ablaze. "Preternaturally surrealist post-pop." --Eve Zibart, The Washington Post

Amateur God / Near Life Experience

Dark gothic-semi-vocal-ambient music in the tradition of Mylene Farmer, All About Eve, Celtic Frost, Type O Negative, Sisters of Mercy, The Gathering, Jean Michel Jarre, Orbital, Front 242, Rammstein, Art of Noise, and Voivod.

Various Artists / Glass Flesh 2: a Tribute to Robyn Hitchcock

Twenty-one great ways to skin Robyn Hitchcock's cat. Indispensable.

Wampeters / Murder Your Darlings

D.C. post-modernists reinvent the contrarian rock sensibility. Smoldering chamber rock descended from the Band, the Beatles, and the Beach Boys. "A great narrative album. The last great mainstream release that exemplifies this method of development of style and sound is Wilco's Summer Teeth." --Heidi Drockelman, IndieMusic.com

Mark Doyon / Bonneville Stories

Crisp fiction from Arms of Kismet's Mark Doyon that's as dark as optimism gets. "A brilliant collection of beautifully written stories that made me cringe, grimace, and laugh, while sometimes moving me to great pity.... There just aren't any flaws here, and I can't possibly do this book justice in a review. No one could, really...." --Laurie Edwards, CultureDose.net

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1929763093/qid=1034199246/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_7/102-8551637-2399362?v=glance&n=507846

********

Coming in 2004-06

Dedicated to the support and promotion of independent music, Wampus is home to growing roster of indie artists. Interested in becoming a Wampus artist? Read all about it.

http://wampus.com/programs.html

********

Wampus Multimedia values you as a supporter of independent music and will never share your contact information with anyone.  We welcome your ideas and suggestions with regard to promoting the work of indie artists.  Contact us anytime at mail4@wampus.com.