Process

…receive test pressing of lp in post….

….listen to lp…..

…listen to lp with band….

…say “yes please” to record manufacturer people….

…receive large box of lps….(thank you Holiday Records on so many levels….you guys rock)…..

….open all the boxes…

…mmmm…records….

….make the covers….(we already printed them but “somebody” hadn’t glued ’em up yet)…..

….find booklet you DID prepare earlier…(it’s probably in THAT box)….

…all hand folded and stapled neatly….(sorry no vid’)….

…put them all together….

…oops!…don’t forget to hand stamp the labels (first identifying which side is which)….

…small printing blocks (cheers Tracer) taped together with masking tape may come in handy at this stage…

..place lps in in inners then inners in covers….add booklet…place in outer sleeve…

…and there you have it …

…all ready for the lp release on the 28th September at The Crown Hotel….

…see you there.

Yesterday

…wax in….

…wax out….

…hurry while stocks last.

 

 

…busy, busy…but not THAT busy…photos flipped to create retail frenzy…

….(sorry kids, your folks are spending your pressies money elsewhere this year).

From The Office Of The President Of The Vinyl Filled State Of Tootonekstan

….after 7 years of 6 day weeks, no holidays (apart from longish w/ends in Kokonga), no sick leave (except for one and a half days where I could barley stand),  whilst celebrating the the fourth anniversary of the cut off date for employing a part timer and this being the third summer that I have clasped my hands together and batted my eyelashes towards the heavens while intoning the mantra “maybe this summer there’ll be enough money saved to get new glasses”, I’ve decided to call time on Too Tone Records….

…nope, that’s it… no discussion will be entered into, no business advice will be taken, no cajoling will be succumbed to… I’m off to find a nice mindless shit-job and save up for being able to see clearly again….(and maybe buy some new underpants)….

…all the stock from the back room is groomed and ready to be presented in three weekly doses of 3-400 new arrivals avalanches…everything will be offered for sale to my loyal locals and any “foreign-devils” lucky enough to be in the area before it is packed away to be sold, over time, on Trade Me….

…last day of shop trade will be January 15th 2017….hurry whilst stocks last.

…a huge shout out and my undying gratitude to all my regulars, from here, from there, from overseas….. without your dedication to hunting for black plastic discs I wouldn’t have been able to do the biz for as long as I have,  sorry if I haven’t been able to tell you all about shutting shop personally, but time and circumstances can’t facilitate that….to all the naysayers and over precious obsessives…fuck you – go bother someone else… : )

…to my suppliers, come and have a yarn and we’ll stock take…

…huge props to the Feastock team, you are legendary…Feastock tickets?…the committee are on to it and will inform you in good time as to the whereabouts of  their new ticket outlet….(see you all up there)….

…an especially huge thank you to my good friend Dee whose support & loyalty to the Too Tone brand has got me thru some rough patches…

Tone Out

 

 

… (truth be told…. I couldn’t bring myself to continue running a small business without John Key at the helm of Godzone…thank you John for all the support, tax breaks, mentoring and custom over the years…it’s been real….).

Oh God I Had Forgotten About Bob The Texas Tapeworm

…I have no explanation…Bob’s origins are lost in the mists of time (or a cloud of jazz-cigarette smoke)…

…Bev’ Hills 90210 must have been annoyingly present tho’.

Why Do I Always Forget I’ve Said These Things

…in case you aren’t flying Virgin Australia this December…

…and don’t receive a copy of their inflight mag’ as an improvised Xmas gift from your eccentric Aunt….

 

….I swear I don’t say this shit on purpose…it just comes out…

…and I’d forgotten that they spoke to me about it, so it came as some surprise when I did my usual “so, how did you hear about this shop” thing” and was shown this scrap of paper…

…retail tourettes as a marketing tool?…

…I’m getting quite good at it.

 

…(opposition record shops names & addresses destroyed courtesy of iPhoto!).

Sad

Peter Gutteridge

1961-2014

…my cups half empty today…and Pete’s never got filled…

…eating his favourite New World Supermarket loose buns for morning tea at Too Tone…

…(yes, there were 4 before the photo was taken)….

…miss you buddy.

…(a link to Grant’s obit’, as mentioned in the comments below….

http://publicaddress.net/speaker/in-tribute-peter-gutteridge-and-the-hypnotic/

…)….

….(check the link in the comments section below for a radio show Pete did with Spencer Hall some time back on Radio 1)…

…(…and the Dunedin Public Library library has a display up…it could use some flowers…just saying….

….).

Far From What The Title Suggests

…”Temporary” will be a benchmark in Dunedin music for a loooong time…

…I’ve been waiting for this release, trying not to fidget and go “is it here yet”, since I heard the test press in store, aaaages ago…

…it’s fucking brilliant…

…a perfect snapshot of the woozy, jangly, alt-pop that has been coming out of a very talented group of Dn musicians for the past couplathree  years…

…wonderfully informed by, but not at all similar to, all those crusty old farts from 25 yrs or so ago…

…and lovingly put together by Mr. Henderson at Fishrider records…

http://www.fishriderrecords.com

…if you can’t come to Too Tone to buy one, go forth and bother your local record shop or seek a digital copy (thru legal channels of course!!)…

…this is the shit.

I Think I Was At Sammy’s

…to see my good friend Dee’s musical collective, Tiny Pieces Of Eight, perform…

…and perform they did…from free noise to country to funk to wall-of-sound-folk-a-delica…

…they sound awesome, go see ’em…

…then I went thru this door here…

 

…and found way too much beer…

…of course Mr H. was the only thing in focus after awhile…

…sometimes, no matter how messed up you get, you push the button and it works…

…and sometimes…

 

 

 

…not so much…

…thank you for another wonderfully boozy night, LoR…

…my head hurts.

The Emperors New Hat

…Pete went to a charity tea-cosy auction the other day & came away with this stylee new “hat”…

…it’s a beehive!….

…and has a bee on the top…

 

…now you can identify Pete at a distance…

..which will give you ample time to come up with a witty complement for his new chapeau.

 

…(I already used the one where you point out that it’s interesting to see what’s under the Beehive – New Zealand’s parliament building).

All Cleaned Up

…went to Chicks Hotel on Saturday…

 

 

 

…blagged a freebie for me and my good friend Dee…so stood at the back to let the paying punters get the good views…that and the beer are wholly responsible for the quality of these pic’s… …Bill Direen was awesome…haven’t seen him play for years…love the back-porch presentation of old favourites….very warm, welcoming & homey…Hamish Kilgour on Drums was a treat but almost obscured from view….

….big ups to Kane Strang for his set…beautiful voice, nice guitar and great stories in his songs….

…thought I’d get a better view watching thru someone else’s phone…(once watched a football match on TV thru binoculars, for a “live” feel….quantities of booze were involved with that as well)…

 

…thankfully David Kilgour is tall enough to be seen from the back of Chicks without the aid of social networks…(although they do obscure the top of his head)….

 

…Robert Scott is another matter…standing on one leg and leaning to the left I managed to click his hat & nose…
…Matin Phillips jumped in to perform keyboard duties on “Tally-Ho”…

 

…and Pete Gutteridge glowed in the dark for several tunes…

 

…I’m glad I could almost see Hamish when he played with Bill, couldn’t even see the the tips of his sticks during the Clean…

…my good friend Dee played with the buttons whilst Stephen & /or Tex were looking the other way….

…thank you to The Clean for letting me in for free & playing an inspiring set…thank you to Bill & Kane for great sets as well….thank you Tex & Stephen for the perfect sound…first time for ages a live gig hasn’t made my tinitus a prob’ for days afterwards…and thank you Chicks Hotel for continuing to be a damn fine venue…

…and an especial shout out to my good friend Dee who drove there & back …thus enabling me to get rather drunk!