Departmentstore Santas -- At The Medieval Castle Nineteen 100-Year Lifetimes Since LP

Original 1984 US private pressing on Top Shelf Records (catalog # 92041), with "Departmentstore Santas LP Includes 'Kaleidoscope'" red sticker on shrinkwrap, custom innersleeve -- a printed diecut on both sides.

One of the greatest private DIY bedroom psych records ever, made in 1981-82 and released in an edition of 500 copies in 1984 and never reissued in any form. A simply wonderful album, with a totally unique mercurial sound. The closest comparison in both sound and spirit is The Deep Freeze Mice... Departmentstore Santas have a quirky DIY ethic guiding a charming obtuseness (check the songtitles and cover art if you have any questions...) parallel to the Mice, just transplanted to Southern California.

Equally valid are comparisons to Bobb Trimble, Bobby Brown's The Enlightening Beam of Axonda, West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Freshly Wrapped Candies, early Beck if you tempered him with some Jandek.

This LP is equal parts catchy-as-hell memorable pop-psych and inventive art-damaged lo-fi guitar experiments. D'Angelo is a tremendous and creative guitarist but never ostentatious, more interested in evoking moods through texture and noise, using toy instruments and recording setups that call to mind shoeboxes and milkcrates. On this score the Santas' sound shares much with Epic Soundtracks' sonic experiments on Swell Maps albums like Jane From Occupied Europe or Whatever Happens Next.

Siltbreeze did a great writeup of this LP in '06: http://siltblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/any-major-dude-will-tell.html

rumproast Review: If you’ve ever enjoyed the DIY sounds of early Beck, Sebadoh, the Microphones or pretty much anything on the K records label, you really need to hear the Departmentstore Santas’ first and only record At the Medieval Castle Nineteen 100-year Lifetimes Since. Only 500 vinyl copies were pressed in 1984 and the leader of the group, Joseph D’angelo has steadfastly refused to allow anyone to rerelease it as a CD, causing it to fetch ridiculous prices on eBay and through dealers. I was first introduced to the record when the music director at our college station—I was assistant music director at the time—scored it in an impulse buy at Cutler’s Records in New Haven, CT. It quickly became a station favorite. Unfortunately, by the time I made it down to Cutler’s it was long gone and so for many, many years all I had in my possession was a badly worn cassette of the record, which inexplicably (and cruelly) excluded a few of the tracks. A few years ago my pal Tom from the Major Stars, who’s as obsessed with this record as I am, hooked me up with a vinyl rip CD of Medieval and I listened to it repeatedly for weeks on end, falling in love with it all over again. It’s moody, charming, eerie, sloppy, joyous, haunting, funny and everything in between. There are certain albums like Exile on Main St. and The Basement Tapes that exude an overall aural aura that elevates them well past the strength of their individual songs and Medieval Castle is one of those albums.

mp3 and photos taken from the copy for sale:

Download a mp3s of Departmentstore Santas -- An Open Letter To Seniors From Mackenzie and for more mp3s from obscure records check out the ampnoise audio blog, and search ampnoise records eBay store for listings with mp3 downloads.ampmp3

Tracks:

Bactol Bank Acct Surfboards, Convertibles, And Dark, Lonely Beaches Hey (What's Going On Here?) Kids On A Merry-go-round At Eucalyptus Park Play In The Sun R. Joseph D'Angelo Theme An Open Letter To Seniors From Mackenzie Jewel Of The Hills Photo Album Of Baby Lost At Sea Egypt W Song For A Sunny Day Monkeys And Organ Grinders Kaleidoscope music written and played by joseph d'angelo - vocals, electric guitar, telecaster and stratocaster with erik ross brashers - vocals, electric bass, electronic guitar matt metzgar - drums, electronic guitar bart alan brashers - saxophone, trumpet todd hilton - drums, bass made by joseph d'angelo recorded 1981-82 this record is dedicated to the memory of keith mcloud

""d.s.s." was the name i used for my recording projects at the time; "medieval castle" was recorded 1981-82 on various reel-to-reel and/or cassette decks and pressed 500 copies in 1984" ~ jos. d.

CONDITION: Cover NM- / Vinyl NM-   excellent shape, still in shrinkwrap, which is a little ruffled at top, cover shows slight ringwear underneath; vinyl is extremely clean, a few light scuffs which don't really affect play, plays beautifully.

Graded conservatively using Goldmine standards [G / G+ / VG / VG+ / NM / ]
grade only used if record is brand new.
Bid with confidence -- over 12000 positive feedbacks selling vinyl on eBay since 1998, with a total 11-year average of 100% positive.

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