PHOTOS!

FYI – the “climatic interactive showdown” is a lube wrestling match. Come early for the carnival to enter a raffle for a chance to wrestle one of the Burlesque Brawlers. Bad Luck Bazaar handbill

We released our first 12″ vinyl – Treble Treble Vol. 3 with the support of SPACE Gallery and the Maine Arts Commission. A celebration of the Treble Treble series was held at SPACE Gallery with performances by Aleric Nez, Hi Tiger, Dead Man’s Clothes, drab pony, A Severe Joy, Jakob Battick, and Samuel James.

The Milkman’s Union vinyl single “Texas Hold Me b/w Little Bird” was our 7th 7″ release. The Milkman’s Union also made a trip down to CMJ this year as part of the Portland Music Foundation showcase.

Panda Bandits released the limited edition cassette “Revolver” and played shows with Dead Man’s Clothes, the Dirty Dishes Burlesque Revue, Jesse Pilgrim & the Bonfire, Meghan Yates, Butcher Boy, Jakob Battick, and many more amazing bands.

Bearkat and The Gallerist stopped by for live performances on The Red Telephone.

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, the first band to ever be released on Eternal Otter Records, returned to Maine for a sellout show opening for Beirut at The State Theatre.

The Sound + Vision art exhibition in Biddeford featured music and artwork from six extraordinary bands including A Severe Joy, Hi Tiger, Computer At Sea, Dead Man’s Clothes, Panda Bandits, drab pony, and Meghan Yates. Not to mention the underground vinyl catacombs installation.

Best of all, the Panda Bandit leaders Waisely “Scar” Lighthead and Marie “Minnie” Pistola tied the knot at Mayo Street Arts on a night featuring some of the most breathtaking musical performances I have ever had the opportunity to witness.

Now we are looking forward to 2012. With so much good luck in 2011, we are excited to embrace the chaos of this apocalyptic year with The Bad Luck Bazaar on Friday the 13th!

We are also happy to announce our most recent release, and our first on 12″ (blue) vinyl! Treble Treble Vol. 3, curated by Ian Paige of Planets Around the Sun, collects 10 songs from Maine’s esoteric underground, including Nasty Negligee, kent, Big Blood, Samuel James, Village of Spaces, Wesley Hartley & the Traveling Trees, Gay Camp, drab pony, Jakob Battick, and Phantom Buffalo.

Finally, we invite you all to attend the Wedding of Minnie and Waisely at Mayo Street Arts on December 21st. The two Panda Bandits leaders have convened a summit of all their favorite bands to celebrate their holy matrimony. Come wine, dance, and revel.

Thursday, Oct 13th: The Milkman’s Union celebrates the release of their new vinyl single “Texas Hold Me” from Eternal Otter Records with a show at Mayo Street Arts. The Milkman’s Union will be joined onstage by a host of friends, including opener South China. Advanced tickets are available now. Show begins at 8 pm. You can also pre-order the single right now through Eternal Otter Records’ new bandcamp page.

Thursday, Oct 14th: The Portland Music Foundation is throwing a CMJ kick off party at the EMPIRE Dine & Dance, featuring vinyl to get you dancing all night long, alongside songs from all seven bands participating in the Portland CMJ Showcase in New York City.

Thursday, Oct 20th: The CMJ Music Marathon is one of the largest music industry events in the world, and the Portland Music Foundation will be showcasing Maine’s talents at NYC’s Sullivan Hall on the 20th. The Milkman’s Union will be in attendance, alongside Spose, Billy Libby, Kurt Baker, Sunset Hearts, The Mallett Brothers, and the Toughcats.

The album will ship on October 12th, but you can stream it now on our NEW bandcamp site. I have been following The Milkman’s Union since first catching them at the Apohadion playing “Little Bird”. Lead singer/guitarist Henry Jamison is one of Portland’s finest lyricist, and I am in awe of drummer Peter McLaughlin every time I see him play. And now they have just added pop-mastermind Jeff Beam on bass. As if the line-up wasn’t already stacked enough, Aly Spaltro of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper lends her vocals on “Texas Hold Me”.

The first 6 people to place a Pre-Order will also receive a bonus 7″ single randomly selected from our back catalog – so order now!

The official release show for The Milkman’s Union single will take place on Thursday, October 13th at Mayo Street Arts, with Jacob Augustine opening the night.

6:00 jesse pilgrim

6:20 good kids sprouting horns

7:00 billy carr

7:30 panda bandits

8:00 josh O’Donnell

8:30 milkman’s union

9:00 great western plain

9:30 bony legs

9:50 butcher boy

Don’t get lost in the woods!

This time she took the stage at the charming and warm (very warm) Biddeford venue The Oak + The Ax. The last few times I have seen Lady Lamb play she has stuck pretty closely to a “hit” packed setlist, best showcased on the excellent “Live at Brighton Hall” download available from her website. But for this show – “among friends” – she broke out the deep cuts (including personal favorites “Solar, Solar System” and “Sunday Shoes”) and debuted a number of new songs. She was also joined by the Milkman’s Union’s Henry Jamison (who opened the show) for one of the new “ditties”, and Henry and his bandmate Peter McLaughlin joined on bass and drums for her final song.

It was a great time, and it was particularly wonderful to hear “Sunday Shoes” played – one of my favorite songs of all time and one of the first vinyl releases from Eternal Otter Records. One audience member even drove 2 hours to see the show in hopes of hearing the song – Aly dedicated the performance to him.

You can order a copy of “Sunday Shoes” (b/w “Metal Mouth” by TJ Metcalfe) here. We’ll also send you an mp3 of a great live version of the song recorded for the vinyl release show.

We are also only 6 “Likes” away from 100 fans on Facebook. Become our 100th fan and you will receive a free copy of the single. You can checkout our facebook page here.

There is a lot in store for Eternal Otter Records this fall (including a new release from the Milkman’s Union featuring Aly), and becoming a fan is a great way to stay up to date.

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I also encourage you to head over to the Oak + The Ax tomorrow (Friday) at 8 pm for an excellent FREE show featuring NYC’s Hungry March Band and Portland’s The Dirty Dishes Burlesque Revue. Check out the faux newspaper I designed for the event:

First off, we are wicked excited to see Lady Lamb the Beekeeper open for Beirut at the State Theatre! The sold out show starts at 8 pm. Check out the awesome poster designed by Kris Johnsen (there will be a few available for sale at the show).

Second, we are proud to announce that Eternal Otter Records will be releasing a new vinyl singles from The Milkman’s Union this autumn. The A-side “Texas Hold Me” features guest vocals from Lady Lamb’s Aly Spaltro, and the B-side contains the excellent “Little Bird”. The Milkman’s Union will be playing a set with Lady Lamb the Beekeeper on August 17th at one of our favorite venues, Biddeford’s The Oak & the Ax.

Finally, I [WTE] am continuing to write a monthly music column, “Sounds of the City”, for the Portland Daily Sun. A new article should be appearing sometime next week. Check out my last column here. Starting in November, I’ll also be taking over from the incomparable Bryan Bruchman of Hillytown as the “Listen” column writer for Maine Magazine.

A lot more news to come – stay tuned!