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❤️❤️❤️ all hearts for @talesofbraveida! Last night’s set at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly was an absolute joy. Almost all songs from circa 1995/96 I Know About You. Ida is in peak form, so if you’re in DC, Richmond, Durham or Brooklyn, make your plans!

New reissue of I Know About You reissued by @thenumerogroup, modeled above by steadfast Ida fan @headwound.

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Happy release day to @talesofbraveida album I Know About You, which originally came out in 1996 on Simple Machines. An absolutely stunning double LP reissue by @thenumerogroup with a whole bunch of previously unreleased material from that year.

Philly friends! Ida is at @johnnybrendas on Sunday. Full band! I’ll see you in the front row.

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is it still performative if i’m self-aware…

#duster #slowcore #numerogroup

uwu

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When you can’t get to the @simplemachinesrecords pop-up at @thenumerogroup so you bring the pop-up to you, Part 2: Thanks, Kristin! @kristinsthomson ❤️

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When you can’t get to the @simplemachinesrecords pop-up at @thenumerogroup , you bring Simple Machines to you…Part 1

I think I’ve heard these songs before. Someone must have had the cd and transferred it to tape, because I’m pretty sure I was in a car in the early/mid 90s listening to them.
But it’s been that long, and I’ve since forgotten most of them.
So when the fomo got the best of me and discogs was just a click away…
Here’s the Working Holiday box set with the Birthday Gift - a special issue of Duplex Planet.

Now that I’ve just finished listening to the entire box set in one sitting, here are some opinions:
1. July is the my favorite record. Nothing Painted Blue is great rock and roll and Lois is so very catchy.
2. Scrawl, Lungfish, Lois, Tsunami, and Swirlies have the songs I like the most (in no particular order).
3. The secret ingredient here is clearly love. There was so much thought and care put into this, and it’s evident almost 35 years later.

Now I just need that calendar…

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Happy to announce Velocity Girl “1989-1992” is now out on the faboo @slumberlandrecords ! Swing by your local record emporium or order at the link above. Two LP options and CD available for your listening pleasure.

NOTE TO PRE-ORDERERS: A hiccup down at the plant has very slightly delayed shipping out your copies, but it is for real very slight. Sit tight please! We really appreciate you!

Details: This new compilation “1989-1992” covers the band’s pre-Sub Pop years and shows that their skill with a tune was there from the beginning, across several line-up changes and numerous early releases. The all-time classic “Forgotten Favorite” is included, as is their debut single “I Don’t Care If You Go,” featuring original vocalist Bridget Cross (later of Unrest). There are also crucial split single and compilation contributions, a few choice covers (Beat Happening, The Jam) and even a pair of unreleased tunes. “1989-1992” is the comprehensive view of their early years that Velocity Girl has long deserved and their fans have long wanted.

Newly remastered and featuring extensive liner notes by DC scene scholar John R. Davis @umdpunkcollections and gorgeous art by Galine Tumaysan @modmoiselle1 -Special thanks to @kristinsthomson and @jtimmy2 of @simplemachinesrecords , @chordsoffame and of course our friends at @subpop for releasing a few of these tracks originally.

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I’ve been seeing Ida for 30+ years. Last night in Seattle was as memorable as the first. Hearing ‘It’s Not Alright’ for the first time live as far as I can remember.

‘Shoe-In’ cover by the Secret Stars. Can’t believe how great they are.

Plus a Ida family and Rebecca Gates version of ‘Hawaiian Baby’ with my wife Jessie. Amazing.

Thank you…

#talesofbraveida
#secretstars
#thespinanes
#simplemachines
#whatwasbehind

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Day 2 of Simple Machines posting up at the Numero NYC shop at 186 Front St. at the Seaport. Come on down and take a photo in front of the giant sprocket quilt done by @jtimmy2

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If we couldn’t convince you to stop by our NYC Factory Outlet this summer, maybe Simple Machines can. What’s better than one record label pop-up? Two record labels at the same place, at the same time.

From August 21st through the 23rd, Simple Machines will be taking over our NYC Factory Outlet for a special shop takeover with tons of their records.

Founded in Arlington, Virginia in 1989 by Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson of Tsunami, and friends, Simple Machines was built around a collective of people who wanted to find creative ways to release and share music that didn’t follow the rules of the established music business. The label put that idea into practice, releasing affordable and thoughtfully made records, 7” collections and compilations while actively sharing the knowledge and tools needed for other artists and labels to do the same.

They created The Mechanic’s Guide, a zine based on demystifying everything from manufacturing and distribution to the basics of running a record label. They built a network where other independent artists and labels could operate on their own and collaborate when needed, encouraging people to call and ask them questions or for guidance.

We’ve had the privilege of reissuing a number of records from their catalog, and even put together a box set celebrating Tsunami. We’re excited to celebrate the records they put out and the people that made this independent scene thrive.

What records do you want to pick up from them?

photos 1,6 and 7 by @instapatgraham

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Ida – “Tales Of Brave Ida”

@talesofbraveida #ida #talesofbraveida @polyvinylrecords @simplemachinesrecords #googlyeyes #recordswithgooglyeyes

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One more post in tribute to the @simplemachinesrecords Working Holiday series, this time with an audio sample! - this one is a split featuring @pitchblende_dc and @theswirlies and it totally rules

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In January 1996, during a blizzard that shut down New York City, Dan Littleton and his brother Miggy fishtailed a borrowed Hyundai across the Williamsburg Bridge, hauling gear through near-whiteout conditions to Excello Studios in Brooklyn. Inside, Ida, the duo of Dan Littleton and Liz Mitchell, joined by Miggy on drums and Rose Thomson of the band Babe the Blue Ox on bass, spent two weeks recording the songs they’d spent the past year rehearsing, arguing over, and quietly perfecting in their apartment. The result was I Know About You, the 1996 sophomore album that took the hushed intimacy of their debut and taught it how to hold a room.

The album takes its title from Ida Machado Schaefer, a sharp, cranky, magnetic woman in her late eighties whom Liz and Dan met on a road trip in the early ‘90s. That Ida was the kind of person who’d wag a finger and announce “I know about you” before launching into a story that blurred memory, myth, and truth. Her spirit runs through every track: songs that are less diary entries than composites, emotional weather systems built from real fights, real tenderness, and real friendship, refusing to resolve into either love songs or breakup songs.

We’re proud to bring I Know About You back into the world in true Numero Group fashion complete with a full disc plus of bonus audio, dozens of photos and liner notes from two people uniquely positioned to tell its story: writer Sara Marcus, who booked Ida’s earliest college shows and watched the band up close as a teenager, and Jenny Toomey (Tsunami, Simple Machines), Dan’s longtime friend and collaborator, who was there when the songs were still cassette-tape secrets. Together, their notes trace the record from those blizzard-bound sessions to its lasting influence on a generation of quietly devastating indie rock.

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