We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Matinée releases are a bit like buses—you wait for one for ages and then four come along at once. As always, we trust you’ll find these worth the wait. Here’s the mildly impressive lowdown:
The latest in our splendid series of compilations is entitled ‘The Matinée Grand Prix’ (matcd050) and it features eleven magnificent new songs from a truly international coterie of popstars. The disc kicks off with a firm favorite from Denmark’s Northern Portrait entitled ‘Stirling Moss” which sets up the car racing theme rather nicely. Scottish popkids Strawberry Whiplash answer the challenge with new smash ‘Boy In The Bubble Car,’ while Australian legends The Lucksmiths deliver their swansong recording with the predictably stunning ‘Get-to-bed Birds.’ Sweden’s The Electric Pop Group is represented with perhaps their strongest song to date ‘Believers,’ while Clay Hips—American expats living in Germany and Ireland—don’t disappoint channeling their inner Pet Shop Boys with ‘Disappointed.’ The album’s centerpoint sees the return of England’s mighty Tender Trap after four long years with the new classic ‘Danger Overboard,’ and Australia has its second contender with the very welcome return of Simpático and new favorite ‘Australian Idle.’ Finland’s Cats on Fire close out the year with a fantastic new song called ‘The Hague,’ while Scotland is back in fine form with Bubblegum Lemonade and ‘Cuts Like A Dream.’ Finally, American hipsters Math and Physics Club break a two-year silence with a great new song called ‘I Keep To Myself,’ and Australia’s The Guild League soundtrack the final lap of the compilation with the lovely ‘Bookmark.’
We are previewing five tracks on the Matinée catalog page and rotating songs on the sounds page and on MySpace today. The album is scheduled for official release in January, but we are taking preorders right now exclusively in the Matinée shop and will ship copies beginning December 14th so you can have one in your hands for the new year. The album makes a nifty gift too so why not add two to your shopping cart?
Following incredibly popular singles ‘The Fallen Aristocracy’ (matinée 068) and ‘Napoleon Sweetheart’ (matinée 070) last year, Denmark’s Northern Portrait have delivered the highly anticipated debut album ‘Criminal Art Lovers’ (matcd054) at last! The album includes ten brilliant songs from perhaps the most hyped band in Matinée’s 12-year history: 1. The Münchhausen In Me; 2. When Goodness Falls; 3. Crazy; 4. The Operation Worked But The Patient Died; 5. Criminal Art Lovers; 6. Life Returns To Normal; 7. Murder Weapon; 8. What Happens Next?; 9. That’s When My Headaches Begin; 10. New Favourite Moment. The band previewed a few of these on live dates throughout 2009 and the others are all new and just as spectacular as you might imagine.
We are currently previewing four tracks on the Matinée catalog page and rotating songs on the sounds page and on MySpace. The album is scheduled for official release in January, but we are taking preorders right now exclusively in the Matinée shop and will ship copies beginning December 14th along with the ‘Matinée Grand Prix’ album described above (which contains yet another exclusive new Northern Portrait song). Go on then…order them both! Just to warn you, we have just a handful of copies of ‘The Fallen Aristocracy’ EP still in stock and the ‘Napoleon Sweetheart’ EP is selling fast too so best pick up both while you can.
In addition to an exclusive track on the ‘Matinée Grand Prix’ compilation, Swedish sensations The Electric Pop Group have been busy finalizing songs for their long-awaited sophomore album ‘Seconds’ (matcd053). If you liked the band’s 2008 Matinée debut ‘Sunrise’ EP (matinée 067) you’re going to love this outstanding new entry to our album discography. The album features 10 new recordings including a new version of ‘My Only Inspiration’ which first surfaced on the ‘Matinée Hit Parade’ compilation (matcd045) in 2007. The full album tracklisting is: 1. Not By Another; 2. Out Of Sight; 3. I Know I Will; 4. Drawing Lines; 5. My Only Inspiration; 6. In The Back Of My Mind; 7. The Way It Used To Do; 8. Into Thin Air; 9. We Never Made Up Our Minds; 10. The Best Of Times. That leaves all four tracks from the ‘Sunrise’ EP exclusive to that release so you may want to pick that up too if you haven’t already.
We are previewing tracks on the Matinée catalog page and rotating songs on the sounds page and on MySpace all this month. The album is scheduled for official release in January but we are taking preorders right now exclusively in the Matinée shop and will ship copies beginning December 28th. In the meantime, enjoy the preview tracks and reserve your copy now on the order page!
Our final new release is the surprise return of Brazilian band Pale Sunday with their exclusive new ‘Shooting Star’ EP (matinée 073). The first new recordings from the band since their debut album ‘Summertime?’ (matcd037) in 2005, the EP includes four great new tracks: 1. Shooting Star; 2. Are You Scared To Get Happy?; 3. Before I Found You; 4. Unknown Half. Following four years in hiding, the band return with more radio friendly pop hits as found on their album and debut single ‘A Weekend with Jane’ (matinée 049) from 2003. Timed to coincide with the peak of the Brazilian summer, this EP will bring a little dose of sunshine to you wherever you are this January. We are taking preorders for the EP right now exclusively in the Matinée shop and will ship copies the week of December 28th with the new album from The Electric Pop Group. In the meantime, you can listen to ‘Shooting Star’ on the Matinée sounds page and on MySpace starting today.
On the August hit parade, Strawberry Whiplash are straight in at number one with the ‘Picture Perfect’ EP, followed by some recent releases and a few of those sold out gems we offered last month. The sale continues at the mailorder and there are still some great releases available from the old Roundabout Records days so see the 
While we’re at it, the stockroom also contained some nice rarities from Roundabout Records, the mailorder we used to run in Washington, DC before starting the record label. There are releases from top indie labels of the day like Apricot, Bus Stop, Clover, Elefant, Drive In, Firestation Tower, Fortuna POP!, Labrador, Marina, Marsh Marigold, North of No South, Sarah, Shelflife, Shinkansen, Siesta, Soap, Subway, Vinyl Japan, A West Side Fabrication, WIAIWYA and more, and they were boxed up nearly a decade ago when the mailorder stopped. Needless to say some of these records are long deleted but while you’re picking up some Matinée rarities you might just want some of these too. You can see the complete list 
In July hit parade action, Bubblegum Lemonade are back on top with ‘Doubleplusgood’ more than six months after its release. Yeah, it’s that good. Here are the top sellers for the month:
Everybody loves the latest album ‘Our Temperance Movement’ (
On the strength of their visit, Northern Portrait have seized the top two spots on the hit parade. Here is a list of top sellers for the months of May and June:
Our favorite Danish band Northern Portrait are heading to the UK this week for a series of shows before landing on California soil in time for the San Francisco popfest on May 23rd and other shows in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oxnard and Santa Barbara later this month. Complete tour details are summarized below. We hope to see some of you there! 
Firmly in the bad news category is the announcement that Matinée favorites The Lucksmiths have decided to call it a day. Here is a sadly official sounding farewell notice from the band: