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Welcome to People In A Position To Know Recordings, Inc.
A purveyor of fine, limited edition musical goods.

News:

6.16.08
Summer Hours
Some of you may know, this little mom and pop (well, ok, just a pop) operation is funded with Washington State homeowners taxes that are distributed to me through my "day job" as a professional secondary educator. And, as most of you probably know, such a profession is not without it's perks. Other than a rewarding job that I love, I also receive two months of vacation during the summer. And, I am most certainly planning on taking advantage of it (I earned it, believe me!). The downside of that is, that I won't be here to pack up all of your orders. I will be touching base every couple of weeks or so to fulfill orders, though. The upside of it is, that I will be out on the road, and I will hopefully get to meet one or two of you. If you happen to be near one of the following cities, and feel like having a drink, shoot me an email and I'll buy you one.

PIAPTK US tour!

June 21st-25th - Portland, OR - Just hanging out after I get out of my
school conferences.

Saturday, June 28th -Dallas, TX - Granada Theater - Centro-matic Live
DVD filming.

July 2nd - 8th - New York City, NY- Hanging out with my yuppie little
sister (who I love) and trying to mooch drinks off her many suitors.
tried to get tickets to the Sonic Youth show on July 4th, but you had
to pick them up in late June. So, if you have an extra... I'll swap
you my soul.

July 18-20 - Anacortes, WA - What the Heck Fest. Probably my all time
favorite festival (outside of SXSW. Little Wings, Sandman, Karl Blau,
Graves, Calvin Johnson, Gift Machine, Mt. Eerie, D+, etc, etc. A super
fun time of camoping, lake swimming, weirdo folk listening, etc.

And, for the third summer in a row, I'll be hitting the road with my
buddy, Krist Krueger of Southerly and Sean Brooks of Minmae. If you
can help us out with any of the TBD dates, please let us know!

SOUTHERLY – July/Aug 2008 – Highline US

7/24 - Someday Lounge – Portland, OR
7/25 – TBD
7/26 – Missoula/Bozeman/ Billings
7/27 – TBD - Minot, ND
7/28 – The Red Barn – Williston, ND
7/29 – The Jam Spot – Pierre, SD
7/30 - The Back Porch – Spearfish, SD
7/31 - Blacksheep Coffee – Sioux Falls, SD
8/1 - Aquarium - Fargo (tentative)
8/2 - Turf Club - St. Paul (tentative)
8/11 - Madison - TBD
8/12 - Chicago - TBD
8/13 - TBD
8/14 - Lawrence/KC - TBD
8/15 - Lion's Lair - Denver
8/16 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City
8/17 - Boise - TBD

We've also got a lot of amazing releases in the works for the Fall, but I'll have to get back to you on those!

6.09.08
Good News, and Bad News
Good news first. The Golden Boots and CFTPA/STSNC records finally arrived and everything has been shipped out as of today. Bad news is that 1) it took too damn long... no thanks to the pressing plant, AND we didn't receive the Green/Orange/White swirls, and instead got Mint Green (I guess the green, white, and orange swirled a little too much). The Mint Green ones look killer, but they aren't what I was expecting. Also, they didn't send me any of the transition vinyl I was expecting, but hey... you live and learn. Every record I've made has taught me something, and this record was no exception.

5.06.08
TWO NEW RECORDS!
Golden Boots - EV/Coyote Deathbed Surprize.
We are super excited to announce the release of a vinyl-only LP from Tucson AZ's Golden Boots. They classify themselves as Crumbly Western Americana. Musically, they are, in my opinion, a combination of Mutations-Era Beck, the Monkees and Gram Parsons. The LP is comprised of two seperate EPs. Side A is from a now out of print, tour-only cd-r called Coyote Surprize Deathbed. Side B is a brand new EP called EV. It was originally recorded to be released as part of the Trust Series, but was so damn good, I couldn't in good conscience restrict it to only 25 copies. There are 235 copies on Orange/Green/White swirl, 235 copies on Translucent Blue/Black, and about 30 copies on transition vinyl that are a combination of the two combinations. Also, there are a few peculiarities/eccentricities, etc. with this record. The CDS side plays from the middle of the record out. The EV side has double grooves, meaning that there are two sets of grooves running parallel. So the even grooves play one set of songs, and the odd grooves play the other set of songs. If you preorder now (records will ship in a couple weeks), you will be emailed a link to download the full album in 192kbps .mp3s. This offer only lasts until the records start to ship, so hurry! Preorder it on the SHOP page.
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - STSNC Instrumentals 7"
Owen Ashworth (CFTPA) was recently commissioned to do the music for an indie film called Stay The Same Never Change. He wrote all the music, including the ringtones for the character's phones. Owen asked PIAPTK to release a very limited 7" with some selections of this score. We were very happy to ablige. These should be available just in time for CFTPA's West coast tour that starts on May 21st. However, they are available for preorder right now! He will also have some copies available at the merch table. There were only 300 of these made, all on mixed (random) colored vinyl. These will probably sell out extremely quickly, so order soon. Preorder it on the SHOP page.

3.27.08
Website revamped, etc.
We just got back from SXSW, where we had an amazing little day party with the likes of Golden Boots, Karl Blau, Poison Control Center, Spring Tigers, Ryan Anderson, and Zeigen Bock. The rest of the festival was equally amazing. I've just revamped the website, even though it looks pretty much the same, it has been streamlined a bit. And, hopefully, I've finally got the Paypal buttons all working at the same time!

2.06.08
CFTPA/Concern Splits arrive and Preorders ship
We just received the shipment of CFTPA/Concern splits, and boy, are they beautiful! Thick, square slabs of 8.375" brown and tan marble vinyl. The cover photo features Owen "the Grim Sweeper" Ashworth and Gordon "Batboy" Ashworth circa the early 90's, I would imagine. You can still order them on the discography page.

1.02.07
CFTPA/Concern Splits arrive and Preorders ship
We just received the shipment of CFTPA/Concern splits, and boy, are they beautiful! Thick, square slabs of 8.375" brown and tan marble vinyl. The cover photo features Owen "the Grim Sweeper" Ashworth and Gordon "Batboy" Ashworth circa the early 90's, I would imagine. You can still order them on the discography page.

12.15.07
Casiotone For the Painfully Alone/Concern Collaboration Square, Brown or Tan Marble 8 & 3/8" vinyl.
We are now accepting pre-orders for the Limited Edition, CFTPA/Concern split, which is a one-sided square 8 & 3/8" on Tan or Brown marble vinyl. The records should ship shortly after New Years Eve. It contains 2 Bruce Springsteen covers; Born in the USA and Streets of Philadelphia. CFTPA and Concern (Gordon Ashworth, Owen's (CFTPA) brother) will be doing a Northwest tour in early January to celebrate the release. Preorder them on the discography page.
The Limited Edition Subscription Club
is sadly in a state of indefinite hibernation. Due to quite a few factors beyond our control, we are having to retire the main Limited Edition Subscription Club for the time being. We had a lot of great bands lined up, and hopefully, we will be able to release them soon as independent releases (the first being the CFTPA/Concern split). We do, however, plan to continue the Trust Series.
Subsidiary Launched: The IVL
In an attempt to prevent diluting the PIAPTK indie pop/folk pool with the weirdness that is my musical taste, we've launched a separate label to release experimental bands, recordings from my personal past, and cassettes and cd-rs.
First IVL Release: ICBINVH - Fuck Art, Let's Dance 5 Song EP - Lathe Cut 7"
This album was recorded in a janitors closet in West Texas in 2003. 4 indie rockers and a metalhead, tired of the fact that the teenagers at the shows they were throwing only wanted to hear hardcore (and lacking the desire to play hardcore) decided to create the most cliched, tongue in cheek, synthy garage band imaginable to see if the hardcore kids responded. They set their crotches on fire, got in on-stage brawls, and drank a lot during 20 minute guitar solos. Download the whole thing here before you buy it. Limited to 20 copies. Get it at the IVL page.

11.30.07
Trust Series Released
So, while I'm STILL waiting for some recordings for the second series of the LARGER series, which I guarantee is going to be amazing, We've got a new super-limited lathe cut series. Here is the deal:
You get: 7x8" EPs from bands I really love. They all have between 4 and 10 songs. They come in silkscreened jackets, whose designs were hand drawn by the artists. They will be shipped in three shipments every 2 or 3 months (the turnaround time from New Zealand is about this). The Trust part of the series is basically that noone knows which bands are part of the series, until they receive them. But, if you like the stuff we've released so far, you'll like this stuff. No huge names, just good tunes. Get them on the discography page.
Ten more Casper and the Cookies/Keith John Adams Split 8"s available.
Due to a total SNAFU situation on the first pressing of these, we ended up about 15 short of the original 50 that were going to be made. And Peter King, being the totally stand up and amazing Kiwi that he is, has made good on it and sent me some replacements. I only have an extra 10 available, the rest went to the bands. Get them on the discography page. SOLD OUT...AGAIN.
SEVEN Anthony Junior albums available on www.AnthonyJunior.com.
If you haven't checked this guy out, you really should. He's weird, lo-fi, quirky, and catchy as hell. There are a lot of free downloads on the page. We've combed through the 500+ songs he's written in the past 4 or 5 years and compiled 7 seven albums. Anthony and I spent many an evening hand-stamping the covers, watching mockumentaries and romantic comedies, and drinking lemonade. They are available at AnthonyJunior.com for $6 ea ppd or a special package deal for the whole catalog. He's also got some pastel drawings up there for cheap.

11.03.07
Flaspar - Deep Punk Square 8"
Las Vegas via Portland Electro band Flaspar coming at you with four live-in-the-studio tracks recorded with No Love For Ned. There were only 35 made, with each one in a hand-letterpressed, snake-skin pattern giftbox with a hand-made collage insert on clear, square lathe cut. Go to the discography page to purchase
AnthonyJunior.com launched
weirdo folky Anthony Junior has finally got himself a website. You can buy his art for cheap, and will soon be able to buy a LOT more of his music. With over 500 songs recorded over the past 4 years, we dug through the vaults to compile the best stuff into 6 (soon to be 7) cohesive albums on cd-r. These will be available in the next few weeks. You can sample some of the tracks on the site. Until then, there are still a few copies of the expanded Magical Evening cd-r with hand-drawn art available on the discography page. When they are gone, they will be gone forever and replaced by the new version. We are also in the process of recording a full band album, which will be available on both pressed cd and vinyl in Spring 08. It will feature reworkings of old classics and new hits.

9.13.07
Casper and the Cookies/Keith John Adams Split 8" picture disc
Early one Sunday morning, Keith John Adams and Casper and the Cookies recorded a couple songs in my home studio in exchange for a place to sleep and some veggie pasta. One mic, in the middle of the room, no retakes/no overdubs. This 8" is PIAPTK's most labor intensive to date. These one-sided 8"s were silkscreened on the flipside and Kay Stanton from CATC HAND KNIT all of the bags! As KJA says "They also make very fetching hats". We made 50, but between silkscreening screwups and a rat chewing up a cord in the New Zealand pressing plant, there were only 40 that were usuable. Go to the discography page for info. UPDATE: These are sold out!
Anthony Junior cd-rs
Straight out of the Sharps Mental Hospital in San Diego, Anthony just moved back up to Olympia. He is now one of the weirdest, catchiest, most prolific artists in a town full of weird, catchy and prolific artists. As a fundraiser for the LP that we have coming up later in the winter. 40 songs, in hand drawn and unique covers with a polaroid of the man himself. Go to the discography page to purchase!

7.23.07
Paypal Shopping Carts, T-Shirts, and Interns
This is fairly boring news, but news nonetheless. We've finally got the whole Paypal shopping cart thing figured out (US orders only), so now you can avoid doing the math in your head. We also have new, sweatshop/sexual harrassment free t-shirts in two different colors for only $8 ea. We are also looking for college interns (long distance ok) to do graphic design/online marketing etc. If your college has an intern course for credit and you would like to work with us, please email us at PeopleInAPositionToKnowInfo--at--yahoo--dot--com and we can sort out the details.

7.11.07
Norfolk and Western and Graves Present: Fleetwood's Hack 10" $9.
Two bands on loan from Hush Records collaborate and produce a 6 song tribute to the 50's/60's Olympia Doo-Wop band, The Fleetwoods. You may or may not know the name, but you will definitely recognize the tunes when you hear them (Mr. Blue, Graduation, Come Softly to Me, Go Away Little Girl, Tragedy, To Know Her (Is To Love Her)). Norfolk and Western, despite being an amazing band also nightlite as the backing band for M.Ward. Graves are definitely one of my favorite PacNW bands! Comes in hand-letter-pressed covers. Only 490 made!
Casper and the Cookies - The Optimist's Club LP - $10
The long-awaited vinyl LP release for the latest Casper and the Cookies (ex-Of Montreal) album, "The Optimist's Club". These are on amazing, psychedelic swirl vinyl! Contains a bonus track, not available anywhere else! Comes in hand painted and silkscreened covers (I had carpal-tunnel for weeks after finishing these things!). These are available for preorder and will be shipped out as soon as CATC get me the lyric inserts.

5.30.07
Southerly - Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist LP
PIAPTK is ecstatic to release this on beautiful Blue/Grey Marble vinyl (CD version on Greyday Records). This album is getting a lot of press and college radio play, so please check Southerly's Myspace to hear some tracks or to find out which stations are playing it. These are only $11
Southerly - Best Dressed and Expressionless 2x10"
This is an extremely limited edition reissue of Southerly's debut album, Best Dressed and Expressionless on a pair of clear lathe-cut records. Covers are on hand torn paper with woodblock print artwork. There are only 50 of these made! These are only $20
Final Sub Club Records Shipped
The final shipment of the first series of the Limited Edition Subscription Club shipped out a day ahead of the USPS's enormous postage hike. It may have only gone up $.02 for a stamp, but cds and records have gotten MUCH more expensive. Anyway, enough complaining. This load featured an exclusive Will Johnson (Centro-Matic) single on square lathecut and in hand stamped burlap bags. It also included a heart-shaped 8 song "single" from two of my favorite French artists, who both happen to live in Olympia: K Records Electro-pop star Tender Forever, and some dirty blues from Kimya Dawson's baby-daddy, Angelo Spencer. Head over to the DISCOGRAPHY page for more details on these amazing records.

4.01.07
Southerly/Protest Hill 7" released!
The first only-somewhat-limited-edition release by PIAPTK (I.e. more than 100 copies) is finally available! A split 7" from Portland indie-folkers Southerly and Protest Hill (one-man-band, Ryan Heise from System and Station) See the DISCOGRAPHY page for more information.

3.03.07
Second Subscription Club Records have shipped!!
So, the next two installments in the PIAPTK Limited Edition Vinyl Subscription Series have just been mailed out. #3 is a 2-song split with Wooden Wand and Clay Ruby. Both are doing songs from the Velvet Underground and Nico... Run Run Run and Black Angels Death Song respectively. These come incased in hand-screened (and (at least partially) hand-cut/folded/glued/trimmed) jackets. #4 is from Jad Fair (Half Japanese). It is an extremely weird Jad Fair record, largely because it is from Jad Fair and it is NOT weird. It contains a cover of Blue Moon, Sunday Morning (also Velvet Underground), and a poem set to music. It has production value, actual singing, and studio musicianship... characteristics somewhat uncommon in Jad's music. See the DISCOGRAPHY page for more information.
Other new releases that have come in and are ready for purchase are:
Southerly - Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist. - The cd version of this won't drop until at least May, when it is released by Portland, OR's Grey Day Records. Ten tracks of pure beauty on clear, hand-lathe cut vinyl. There were only 50 copies made... Southerly has 25 to sell at shows, and PIAPTK has 25 to sell through this site. This will sell out very fast, so don't dilly-dally. Each of these covers is completely hand-painted by Portland artist Heidi Elise Wirz (the woman that did the artwork for the proper release). $20

2.14.07
2nd shipment of PIAPTK LESC:
So, I've gotten a few emails from subscribers asking where the next shipment of records is. They are coming soon! Getting the records from New Zealand has been a longer process than I had anticipated. Peter (the man that makes the records) is an incredible guy, but he has to do each one by hand in real time, and he is used to orders of 20-30 records at a time. Add to that the fact that he has plenty of other customers, and it is taking some time. We have most of the artwork ready, and are just waiting on the 4th record to arrive.
South By Southwest March 14-18th, Austin, TX:
Well, it's almost time for the biggest music party of the year. I tried really hard to arrange a day party for PIAPTK at SXSW this year, and given the caliber of bands that we have coming up, I figured I could pull it off... Unfortunately there weren't many of our bands that were playing this year, and all of the places I could find were booked up long ago. So, I'll just be down trying to promote,schmooze,drink, and generally have a good time watching as many of the 2000+ bands that descend upon Austin as possible. So, if you see me around handing out postcards or stickers, say hello! If you know of any bands I shouldn't miss, I'd appreciate the heads up! Or if you just want to sit down for a free Red Stripe (you must know the location of the free Red Stripe) somewhere, let me know!
Other new releases that have come in and are ready for purchase are:
GO to DISCOGRAPHY to purchase!
Miniature and Presidential/Manipulator Alligator Split 8"
A split 8" from Olympia, WA's Miniature And Presidential and Manhattan, KS's Manipulator Alligator. One original and one cover of the others original on both sides. On clear, square, 8" vinyl. $8
Miniature and Presidential Circumstances and Pseudonyms 12"
A Debut Full-Length from Miniature and Presidential on clear hand-lathe 12". Includes a cd with 11 bonus tracks. Only 25 made, all with unique hand-made covers cut from maps. $12
The Arizona Quints - Please Excuse the Off-Key Caterwauling 8"
A 4-song EP from Texas one-man band, The Arizona Quints, now back in print on 8" square, clear, hand-lathe cut vinyl. 25 made. $8
Shel Silverstein Tribute Cassette
This is actually a release by Alligator Shoes Recordings, but they have given us a few copies to sell through our site. A tribute to one of the best country/comedy songwriters and childrens poets to walk this earth. Contains tracks by Kimya Dawson, Dane Herrin, Yes, Please, Hacksaw, Ark Ruffians, Miniature and Presidential, Eastern Bloc Robot Cowboy, Aaron Matson, David Fenech, Son of Adam, Ghost Bear, and Ciel. Only 100 made, and we only have 10 available. $4

12.13.06
First Subscription Club Records have shipped!
We shipped the first two records of the first series last week, so they should have arrived in the hands of our subscribers by now.Check out the records on the DISCOGRAPHY page!
There are several more releases winging their way across the ocean right now on their way from New Zealand, and the artwork and everything should be complete by Februaryish. Two releases from Portland singer-songwriter/road warrior Southerly: A vinyl pre-release of his new album Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist on 12" and appearing on vinyl for the first time, his classic debut album, Best Dressed and Expressionless on 2x10"s. Also two releases from Olympia, WA one-man band, Miniature and Presidential: A 12" LP called "Circumstances and Pseudonyms" and a split Square 8" with Kansas singer/songwriter Manipulator Alligator.

11.17.06
Update
Well, the sub club has been completely sold out for a while, but I have been pretty lax about updating the site. Most of the records for the first issue are here, but the USPS seems to have "misplaced" half of the pressing for the very first record of the series. So, we are just waiting for them to come and a little bit of artwork to be completed and screened, and then the records will be out asap. We also have some amazing non-series related records coming out soon... so keep an eye out!

11.01.06
1st Series Sold Out (kinda)!
well, it only took 9 hours, but almost all of the 100 subscriptions for Series 1 of the PIAPTK Ltd Ed Subscription series are sold out. Due to a lot of problems with paypal for IE users, we held on to a few subscriptions until they could get that sorted out. Once everyone that got in early but had internet glitches gets their chance to sign up, we will release whatever are leftover via the link below. So keep an eye out!

10.31.06
1st Series Subscriptions available! - Happy Halloween! Rather than partying tonight, we here at the PIAPTK HQ in Olympia, WA have been wrangling with Dreamweaver and Paypal to bring you a treat, The subscriptions are now available! Click here if you want one. NOW SOLD OUT.

10.26.06
Arizona Quints - Clear, Square 8" Ltd Ed of 25 Available
EDIT: SOLD OUT!!! - Please Excuse the Off-Key Caterwauling - a 4-song, Sqaure 8" from the now defunct Texas Power-Cow-Pop one-man band is now available! Once described by an Austin show-goer as "Camper Van Beethoven, Daniel Johnston, and Neil Young riding around a circus stage in the little tiny clown-car" whatever that means. You can download "The Picture You Wish You'd Never Given Me" Here. We have already sold out of this release. Sorry.

10.06.06
Do you have subscriptions left?
I've been getting a lot of emails about whether or not we have subscriptions left. We DO have 80 subscriptions left. HOWEVER, they will not be released until early November. The only way to get one is to sign up on the email list below. The first 80 people to follow the link in the email will be able to get a subscription. You will not get spammed, I only send out emails on rare occasions, and noone but me can post to the group.

08.22.06
Website Launched
Thanks to a brilliant 14 year old in San Francisco named Sophi who is much more in tune with technology than any of us here at PIAPTK, and a collage artist named Steven Williams from our hometown of Olympia, WA, PIAPTK now proudly has a website. Herein you can find details of upcoming releases and the Limited Edition Vinyl Subscription Club (8" clear vinyl records on heart, hexagonal, square and triangular hand-lathe acetate, and featuring some amazing bands).