"COKE-AND-SPIRITERS"

AVAILABLE NOW!

“Maniacal Mechanic”
 by Dream Bitches

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The New Yorker hearts two RiYL Bands? A Chris Maher Poem Anthologized?  ///  February 24, 2009 12:58 PM  ///  dispatch from Chris!

Ooh la la:

In the recent weeks, two of our bands got some love from the reputable New Yorker magazine. The magazine wrote of The WoWz: "The country-leaning rock-and-roll trio the Wowz traffic in polished harmonies and the occasional twang, but behind the rough folk façade there’s a great deal of wit and allusion, and a deeply urban core—the Everly Brothers with a New York accent." Regarding Dream Bitches, they said: "The Dream Bitches’ Summer of Love-inspired rock-and-roll songs are loaded with so many words it’s a wonder that the two lead vocalists, Yoko Kikuchi and Ann Zakaluk, don’t slip up; they deliver them at a breakneck pace, and slip seamlessly from unison to harmony and back." Thanks, New Yorker! Catch The WoWz at Sidewalk Café (94 Avenue A, NYC) this Friday night, February 27th, and Dream Bitches the following night, Saturday, February 28th, at Glasslands (289 Kent Ave., Brookyln).

In other news, a poem credited to Chris Maher appears in a collection called "Issue #1", alongside poems credited to heavyweights like W.B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, James Tate, Ezra Pound and Edna St. Vincent Millay. The two-line poem, called "Working dark", reads:

Working dark

A lute of cobwebs

Chris Maher

So, what's the deal? According to Chris, he didn't write the poem, but he is tickled by it: "If I had written it, I wouldn't've thrown it in the trash." He added, "I find it odd that the poem appears on page 736 of the collection. Those numbers were the first three digits of my home phone number as a child." Coincidence? Apparently, "Issue #1" was assembled by editors Stephen McLaughlin and Jim Carpenter with the help of an algorithmic poetry generator called Erika. The software spit out thousands of "poems", to which the names of various poets and writers (both living and deceased) were then randomly assigned. We think its a cool project, definitely worth perusing, but apparently a lot of the people whose names were used are pissed off. Who knew poets could be so uptight?

See you next time,
Recommended If You Like Records

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Rebecca Schiffman Self-Releases 'To Be Good For a Day'!  ///  January 28, 2009 10:50 PM  ///  dispatch from Chris!

Hey friends,

Long time, no speak! We wanted to break our unintended silence by congratulating our friend Rebecca Schiffman on the release of her second album, To Be Good For a Day. You may recall that RiYL was once going to release this record. Well, a few months ago, Rebecca decided to release it herself and we enthusiastically supported her decision! (Really, who doesn't realize that, in many cases, record labels are an antiquated business model?) The excellent To Be Good For a Day is available now and we encourage you to purchase a copy at iTunes, Amazon or any other digital retailer.

Once again: Congrats, Rebecca!

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YES!  ///  November 05, 2008 01:30 PM  ///  dispatch from Chris!

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TONIGHT! TONIGHT! TONIGHT!  ///  May 17, 2008 12:00 AM  ///  dispatch from Chris!

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RARE PATHWAYS SHOW!  ///  May 05, 2008 01:10 PM  ///  dispatch from Chris!

We've received this note from the Pathways:

Our good friends from Chicago, The Narrator, are calling it quits, and we are playing a show to help them celebrate all the rocking out that has been. This is the first Pathways show in over a year, and it will likely be the last one for quite a while too, as David will soon be going all Canadian on us. So please come and drink to the end of an era, or, if you prefer, the beginning of a beautiful hiatus.

Details:

Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 8:00pm
Red Door (no marquee — it's just a red door)
140 W. 24th btwn 6th and 7th Ave.

Also playing are The End of the World, Oxford Collapse and, bien sur, The Narrator. We're on first, so step lively.

With love,
The Pathways

If you're a Pathways fan, don't miss this rare opportunity to catch the band live!

Best,
Recommended If You Like Records

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