Archive for July 2013 | Monthly archive page

Jul 31

Lycia Cold in Popmatters, with nice bit about Projekt

“When desolate cityscape post-punk merged with the melancholic lyrical and theatrical pull of gothic rock in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, darkwave took form. Drawing in synth-heavy hypnotic pop and industrial chills, darkwave’s often whispered, crestfallen sound first began to take shape in a series of overlapping electronic and rock scenes that were particularly strong in European independent music circles. The resulting bands (whether favoring industrial, pop, shoegaze, or rock leanings) were frequently shrouded in a fitting sense of pitch-black subcultural and musical mystery, and in North America, Projekt Records was one of the first labels to promote the resulting surge of darkwave artists. Founded in 1983 by Sam Rosenthal, Projekt concentrated on releasing dream-pop, neoclassical, ambient, gothic rock and shoegaze bands, and Rosenthal’s own group, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, was an early exponent of darkwave’s hallmark mournful cabaret. ” – popmatters.com

Full Article about Lycia’s Cold on Vinyl here.

Jul 30

Projekt.com is now live

S U M M E R   2 0 1 3  P A R T   O N E  |  For years and years, I’ve been thinking about redesigning the Projekt website; over the last six months (with the help of behind-the-scenes-guy Gregory), we did it! The new Projekt.com site is live and looks great; and the ordering process is very smooth.

On the new site, you can create a user account. No more re-entering your information every time you order. The user account gives you access to a portal where you can see all your past orders, as well as keep track of your current order in progress. You get an email receipt when your payment is received, and another when you order ships. We can add notes or questions to the portal, so there’s an easy place to see our communication about your order.

All orders are processed by PayPal, which gives you increased security for your personal info.

Last week, a few customers beta-tested the store, placing successful orders. There was a bit of confusion about paying with a credit card; hopefully I can clear that up.

When paying with Visa, MC, Discover or AmEx, it isn’t obvious at PayPal where you enter your credit card info. Once you are on the PayPal page, click the yellow arrow next to “Don’t have a PayPal account.” This opens a new page, where you enter your information. You do not have to open a PayPal account to use your credit card.

If you have any suggestions for improvement, please email me. Keep in mind I am still updating the album pages to fix formatting issues that came over in the import from the old store. If you see a broken link, or a missing image, I am working on that. You don’t need to point those out. These issues do not affect your ability to place orders.

Projekt.com will be integrated with Bandcamp, which serves as our audio player. I will be adding more audio files every week. We like Bandcamp because it offers a variety of file formats (including FLAC – higher resolution than MP3s); the other reason we like Bandcamp is because Projekt (and thus the artists) get a larger percentage of your payment (vs. at iTunes or Amazon). Feel free to buy at your favorite store, of course. No matter where you buy, we appreciate that you purchase music! Thanks so much.

There are other exciting things coming this summer. The new website is part one. More announcements soon.

And, of course, Projekt has great new music! August 13 is the street date for Projekt’s next two 2-CD releases. Pre-order them today, to arrive at your door by street date.

Thanks so much for your support and interest over the years.

Sam

Jul 05

Lovesliescrushing review from BLURT Magazine / only 50 copies left

Lovesliescrushing review from BLURT Magazine

Ghost Colored Halo

BY MICHAEL TOLAND

It’s been a decade since guitarist Scott Cortez and singer Melissa Arpin-Duimstra last recorded together as Loveliescrushing, but Ghost Colored Halo shows they haven’t lost a step. Indeed, if anything, the band’s tenth album indicates an evolution in sound.

After years of being the dreamiest of dream-poppers, Loveliescrushing moves from the outer edges of the mist deep into the fog itself. Eschewing verses, choruses, hooks and lyrics, the duo dives straight into the ethereal, channeling the purest of sonic impulses through its amp and microphone. Cortez wields no weapon but his guitar, allowing echoing loops and ambient washes to color the oxygen. Arpin-Duimstra responds with phantom keening, often floating so high in the atmosphere it’s impossible to distinguish her larynx from Cortez’s six strings.

With Ghost Colored Halo, Loveliescrushing passes from dream pop directly into the dream.

Physical CD. Only 50 copies left. $13.98 at Projekt

Download. $8 at Bandcamp