Things we sell
CUSTODIAN
| buy CUSTODIAN’s Ultra Fresh |
Adreon Henry is no stranger to the game. As the former frontman for Volcom signed Single Frame, his cutting-edge songs garnered Pitchfork praise and college radio prominence. Henry was also a founding member of the first incarnation of Car Stereo (Wars), which began as a bi-weekly dance party, a mish mash of hiphop, britpunk and indie favorites with his live percussion spin over it all. Needless to say, Henry knows the score. But after years of hustling, the pretense and inaccessible goals lauded by modern music had begun to take their toll. Henry needed to escape. So Henry cast off his celebrity and chose instead to don a Dickies jumpsuit and a more sensible life. A life of sweeping. A life of cleanliness.
Or so he thought.
Along with collaborator/harrier Jay Bradley, Henry’s new project CUSTODIAN tells us what we already know: even blue collar has its fair share of the blues. Mixing old school boom bap with new wave samples and performance art, the working class hero and his fashionista foil weave morality tales, car-theft threats, and high gas price woes. Is this a joke? If so, on who? CUSTODIAN offers no easy answers for their audience, instead revealing only glimpses at the fantasies of a proletariat embarking on a world tour.
Channeling everyone from the Blow to Kurtis Blow and drawing from their visual/performance art backgrounds, Bradley and Henry generate provocative, innovative songs that will have the audience shaking their hips as they scratch their heads. Listen closely for nods to Laurie Anderson, Whodini, Supersystem, the Fat Boys, the Beach Boys, New Order and Klymaxx to name a few. Layered with original break beats and synthesizers, the hybrid songs embody the fundamentals of hip-hop with an abstract tongue placed firmly in an intangible cheek. Think Das Racist meets Pleaseeasaur. Simply put, CUSTODIAN is the perfect alliance of arty meets party.
CUSTODIAN’s first release Ultra-Fresh comes with one-of-a-kind packaging. The EP comes in a janitorial soap sponge box and includes steel wool scouring pads impregnated with soap. The box is be hand numbered and extremely limited edition.
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download “Pop-A-Lock” (right-click and select Save As …)
DJ Car Stereo (Wars)
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Download Explains It All and The Bandit for FREE by clicking on the links to the right. There’s also an option to donate any amount you choose for the download, which we really appreciate as these records took a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and even a few tears. JUST Download. Donate AND Download. JUST Donate. It’s up to you!
Want a totally unique physical copy of the records? Get those for FREE too. All you have to do is pay $5.02 for shipping and handling for each and we’ll send you a one of a kind CD for FREE!
Mash-up whiz DJ Car Stereo (Wars) — who’s been called “Girl Talk with a broader musical vocabulary” by the A.V. Club Austin, “fun tune-spotting” by Stereogum and “a one-man Big Bang, building up and breaking down multi-verses with ease” by the Austin American Statesman — has gone from keeping Austin sweaty and dancing to playing major festivals like Lollapalooza and Fun Fun Fun Fest. Artifact Workshop’s second DJCS(W) release, Explains It All, is a fist shaking medley of rapid-fire samples taken from today’s and yesterday’s pop-culture musical lexicon. It is as upbeat and fun as puff paint, which just so happens to be hand drawn on the cover.
The Bandit was the first DJ Car Stereo (Wars) album as well as the first offering from Artifact Workshop Records. Branded with a Smokey and the Bandit theme, the first 200 records contained a one-of-a-kind “Bandit” Polaroid and all copies include a fake mustache on the front cover! The LP is a departure from traditional mash-up fare, opting instead to sound more like a DJ Car Stereo (Wars) live set: frantic, fast-paced snippets of various tracks blended together to create new songs and sounds.
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download “Whoah Dude” from Explains It All (right-click and select Save As …)
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download “Who Likes Nick McKenna” from The Bandit (right-click and select Save As …)
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download “Gator McKlusky’s Gold” from The Bandit (right-click and select Save As …)
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download “Charlie B. Barkin” from The Bandit (right-click and select Save As …)
The Laughing
| buy the Laughing’s Jungle EP |
During the recording of Jungle there was continual effort to bring in the sounds of old dub records, elements of hip-hop, psych rock, and yes, a love of Roxy Music. The limited first run of this EP from Artifact Workshop Records features hand painted cds from a large mural by Austin artist Bryan Keplesky, which will be painted LIVE at the Jungle release party while the band plays. As with all Artifact Workshop releases, getting the hand-crafted release is more gratifying than going through a torrent site. This often contradictory, always innovative band has once again fashioned an avant album sure to gain attention. Jungle is not one to be missed.
Listen to “Canopy,” one of the more upbeat tracks from the EP:
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download “Canopy” (right-click and select Save As …)
Jungle smut core, yeah.
No matter if you were there to witness it or not- this brief video recap of the Laughing’s momentous recent CD release is a MUST watch. Listen to the Laughing perform “Paradise” off the Jungle EP as you watch the mural of CD sleeves painted. Watch it HERE.
Neiliyo
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| buy Neiliyo’s Game Night EP from iTunes |
We are pleased to welcome electro-funktionaire Neiliyo into the Artifact Workshop family. Neiliyo recently was a finalist in the Dell Last Band Standing Remix Contest in Chicago and served as a top-notch hype man for the DJ Car Stereo (Wars) Lollapalooza set. The Neiliyo release will be experiential and we aren’t supposed to reveal too many details just yet. We can offer two words to get your imaginations going: Game. Night. It is practically guaranteed that this will be one of the most fun album releases ever.
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download “Invitation Only” (right-click and select Save As …)
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download “Bigger Freaks” (right-click and select Save As …)
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download “U+I” (right-click and select Save As …)
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download “Fire” (right-click and select Save As …)
