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Representation by Peter Shershin for Breathing Protection
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Dave Fridmann and The Flaming Lips complete At War With The Mystics, the long awaited follow-up to the critical and commercial smash, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. AWWTM debuted on the Billboard Album charts at #11. Dave also produced, engineered and mixed the new album by Thursday, City By The Light, which debuted at #20 on the Billboard Album chart. For more information, click here.

Tony Doogan and Mogwai combined to buy and build out Castle Of Doom Studios in Glasgow, where the new Mogwai album, Mr. Beast, was recorded. Tony produced and mixed songs for the debut album by ex-Libertines frontman Carl Barat and his new band, Dirty Pretty Things at COD. Waterloo to Anywhere debuted at #3 on the UK album chart. For more information, click here.

Bill Racine again co-produced and mixed the buzzing Rogue Wave as well as the new album from the Mates of State.
For more information, click here.

Paul Mahajan recorded The National’s amazing Alligator and mixed multimedia stars Vic Thrill (Paramount film set to star Ali G with a script by SNL’s Tina Fey, soundtrack album and Random House book). For more information, click here.

Sandy Pearlman was a featured speaker at Patti Smith’s Meltdown festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall.  The famous Saturday Night Live Behind The Music parody where Christopher Walken plays Sandy during the recording of the “Don’t Fear The Reaper” session is now available for download on itunes. For more information, click here.

Grand Mal complete their first album (Love is the Best Con in Town) after the critically acclaimed Bad Timing, just released on Jonathan Toubin’s new indie label, New York Night Train (Learn More), which will also have releases from Kid Congo Powers and The Fiery Furnaces. For more information, click here.

Dave Fridmann has been busy, as usual, working on the new albums by The Flaming Lips (Warner Bros.) and Thursday (Island Def Jam), producing “Street Fighting Man” for Lake Trout (Rx/ Palm Pictures) and mixing the Trespassers William album for Nettwerk. Dave’s studio, Tarbox Road Studios, is now equipped for 5.1 surround sound. He recently completed the surround sound mixes for The Lips’ The Soft Bulletin and their new release, At War With The Mystics. And he received more than his usual amount of critical acclaim for the latest Sleater-Kinney album, The Woods (which made the year-end best of lists for Time, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Mojo, NME, etc.) as the sound of his production and mixing work continues to evolve in new, uncharted directions.

Listen:  Sleater-Kinney ("Entertain”, “Jumpers”)

Listen: Thursday ("Counting 5-4-3-2-1")

Listen: Quasi ("The Rhino")

Tony Doogan spent the early part of the year building (to his specifications) Castle of Doom, the studio he and Mogwai purchased together. C.O.D. is equipped to mix for 5.1 surround sound and sync to picture for film work. Tony co-produced, recorded and mixed the new Mogwai album, Mr. Beast (PIAS/ Matador), at C.O.D. Tony also produced, recorded and mixed the Art School album, Paradise Lost (Pony Canyon Japan) at C.O.D. He and Mogwai recently completed recording and mixing several film soundtracks there. He produced and recorded Lake Trout’s Not Them, You (Rx/ Palm Pictures) at Dave Fridmann’s Tarbox Road Studios. He mixed several songs for the new Belle & Sebastian album, The Life Pursuit, for Matador/ Rough Trade. Tony has also recently worked with The Mountain Goats (4AD), Wolf & Cub (Remote Control/ 4AD) and Dirty Pretty Things, Carl Barat’s (ex-Libertines) new band, for Mercury UK.

Listen:  Lake Trout (“Pill”, “Riddle”, “Shiny Wrapper”)

Bill Racine had a breakout year on his own after having been Dave Fridmann’s assistant for a few years. Bill once again co-produced, recorded and mixed the new Rogue Wave album, Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop), which received a 7.8 Pitchfork review, 9 in Drowned in Sound and “one of the year’s best” from Billboard. He returned to Dave’s Tarbox Road Studios to record new tracks with Mark Gardener (of Ride fame) and Goldrush for their recently released These Beautiful Ghosts (UFO). He also co-produced, recorded and mixed the new Rogue Wave track (a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Every Day”) featured in the Stubbs The Zombie videogame (Aspyr) and soundtrack (which also features the music of The Flaming Lips, Death Cab For Cutie, The Walkmen, etc.). Bill co-produced Mercury Rev off-shoots Hopewell's latest album for Tee Pee. And he co-produced, recorded and mixed The Mates of State new album for Barsuk, Bring It Back.

Listen:  Rogue Wave (“Bird On A Wire”, “Endless Shovel”, “California”)

Listen: Mates of State (“Fraud in the 80s”)

Listen:  Hopewell (“Calcutta”, “Synthetic Symphony”, “Trumpet for a Lung”, “Square Peg Teeth”)

Listen:  Mark Gardener with Goldrush (“Gravity Flow”, “To Get Me Through”, “Where Are You Now”, “Water and Wine”)

Paul Mahajan continues to develop NYC’s varied young bands. He recorded The National’s introspectively pastoral and rocking first album for Beggars Banquet, which has garnered great press and worldwide sales. He mixed the new release by the electronic The Burnside Project, the finest example is you (Bar None), and recorded and mixed the new album project by Vic Thrill (led by the charismatic Billy Campion, ex-Bogmen), which promises to be a multi-media bonanza with a Paramount film and Random House book in addition to the CD. Paul produced, recorded and mixed the second album by The Black Spoons who have already gained press notices in The New York Times, Flavorpill, etc., as well as the EP from the post-punk Art of Shooting (The Family Business/ Ace Fu). And he took special pleasure in his work with the amazing Japanese prog punks, Green Milk From The Planet Orange (Beta-lactam Ring).

Listen:  Green Milk From The Planet Orange ("Concrete City Breakdown" and "omgs")

Listen:  The Burnside Project ("And So it Goes", "Signs of Perfection," and "One to One")

Listen:  The Black Spoons ("I Heart Failure," "Julia Heartache" and "If You Loved Me")

Listen:  The National ("Abel" and "Secret Meeting")

Listen:  Vic Thrill ("Fire In The Old Canteen" and "The Belle of Hula Hula")

Listen:  The Art of Shooting ("Lost in Boredom" and "Timeliness of Strangers")

Sandy Pearlman served as a featured speaker at Patti Smith’s Meltdown festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall. The famous Saturday Night Live parody where Christopher Walken plays Sandy (“Bruce” in the skit) during the recording of the “Don’t Fear The Reaper” session, is now available for download on itunes. Sandy is currently serving as the technology mastermind to various internet companies and is a visiting scholar at McGill University while continuing to run San Francisco bay area studio Alpha & Omega. Sandy continues to seek out young artists to work with who can have an impact on rock history (as did his past collaborations with Blue Oyster Cult, The Clash and The Dictators).

To purchase the Cowbell Skit, go to itunes and select SNL: The Best of Christopher Walken

Grand Mal complete their first album (Love is the Best Con in Town) after the critically acclaimed Bad Timing, just released on Jonathan Toubin’s new indie label, New York Night Train (Learn More), which will also have releases from Kid Congo Powers and The Fiery Furnaces.

For a listen to some of Grand Mal's songs, check out tracks 2 & 3 from the upcoming album, and tracks 1 and 4 from Bad Timing.

Click Here to Listen

Below are some reviews from Grand Mal's last album, Bad Timing.