As you may have noticed, for the last year, our trusty website has collected some dust. Today, we're coming by to clear some of the cobwebs and provide you with a little update as to our whereabouts. Recommended If You Like Records turned five years old this past May and, until this year, we've been able to put out a new record or two (or three?) each year we've been in operation.

Unfortunately, like many small businesses around the country, the recession has stunted our growth. Sales are not currently where they need to be in order to fund new releases, and so we've had to lean on our back catalog more than we'd like to. We've got one or two more releases in the pipeline that'll hopefully see the light of day, but until things turn around financially, our hands are tied.

Still, all news is not grim:

Our entire catalog is now carried by the great online record store, Hands and Arms, based in France. If you're overseas, this is a great way to get our records without paying for shipping from the USA! Visit this link to see all that they have to offer: handsandarms.com. Additionally, all of our records are also now back in stock at Insound and you can find 'em here or by searching for whatever record it is you want.

What has been up with the RiYL gang? The WoWz have started plotting the follow up to their wonderful, self-released-and-self-titled third record. They're also planning some dates in Europe in early 2010. Check 'em out here: http://www.myspace.com/thewowz. Word has it that Chris Maher has finally finished his debut record. Details are sketchy but we're hearing he plans a late-Winter/early-Spring release. (You'll know as soon as we do.) Casey Holford's been working on a record with his new band, Outlines. With Dream Bitches on hiatus, Yoko Kikuchi has escaped to San Francisco, where she's played some solo shows and updated her website. Finally, there was some indication of a Fugue-resurrection, with posts hinting at such on their MySpace page and on their blog but we know no more than this.

Some friends have have put out new records this year that we think you should check out:

Sonya Cotton recently released her third record, Red River, and it is a triumph, easily her best work yet. This review, by our pal Chris Kiehne, expresses sentiments similar to our own. Here's her video for the song "Hunters":

This summer, Throw Me the Statue put out their sophomore LP, Creaturesque, on Secretly Canadian. They've been touring like animals and if you have the chance to see 'em, we recommend you go. We love the video they made for the Creaturesque song, "Hi-Fi Goons":

Austin, TX's wonderful Shotgun Party put out their spectacular second record, Mean Old Way, a few months ago. Here's a live clip of them playing "Moonlight" at the Sugar Maple Festival in Madison, Wisconsin:

Finally, the WoWz's Simon Beins has released a great record with his other band, The Fishermen Three, on Hype City Records. Here's a live clip from earlier this year of the band playing "Obsession (It Ain't Love)" in Norway:

Other records we've loved this year by those directly or indirectly related to the RiYL family are the new records by Jeff Lewis ('Em Are I), the Final Spins (This Is Then, That Was Now), John Houx (John Houx's Green Period), Soft Black (The Earth Is Black), the Dirty Projectors (Bitte Orca) and Hockey (Mind Chaos) and singles by Penguin Prison ("Animal Animal" / "A Funny Thing") and Holy Ghost! ("I Will Come Back"). Hope we're not forgetting any.

These treats should keep you satisfied 'til we've got more good stuff for you. Until then, be well. And, though it should go without saying, if you want to help ensure that we'll be able to put out more music in the future, we encourage you to pick up a record or two from our online store.

Yours truly,
Recommended If You Like Records

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

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!

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.

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

The album will be available from the iTunes Store and many other digital music stores as well as through the RiYL website. It will hit college radio in mid-May. Then, on Saturday, May 17th, the band will celebrate the album's release with a release show at Sound Fix Records in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Rejoice!

Dream Bitches' sophomore LP, "Coke-and-Spiriters", coming late-Spring 2008.

More soon...

We're proud to announce that Casey Holford and Yoko Kikuchi's wonderful split-EP, "This Song / That Song", was released internationally today! You can download the four-song EP from iTunes, Amazon MP3, eMusic or Napster. Alternately, you can head over to the RiYL Records Online Store and order a copy of the limited edition, hand-numbered vinyl/CD pressing. Here's a little sample of what the EP has to offer: Casey Holford - "That Song". Spread the word!

More soon,
RiYL Records

[$12.00 PPD - USA || $15.00 PPD - INTERNATIONAL]

Release details to come...

Word has it, The WoWz's tour of Europe has been a smashing success. One more TWO MORE shows are scheduled, both opening for Herman Dune - first in Belgium on October 17th, then in France on October 18th. If you happened to catch a recent WoWz show, don't hesitate to send us your pictures or videos... We'd love to live vicariously through you. Oh, and good news for those of you in New York: The WoWz will be playing a homecoming show at Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Friday, October 26th. They'll be sharing the bill with their buddies in The Brunettes, who recently put out a great record on Sub Pop. Don't miss it!

In other WoWz news, the new Mosaic Films documentary, King Corn, for which The WoWz recorded the soundtrack, premiered at New York's Cinema Village yesterday. We sent a few folks to an opening-day screening and they couldn't stop raving about it! We think its a 'must see' for anyone who eats food produced in the United States. (Yes, we mean you!) For those not yet familiar with the film, we encourage you to get acquainted:

That's all for now...