guitar, vox, lyrics: Samm Severin bass, cover design: Olive Lynch drums: Jake Cook lead guitar: Stephen Wilkins Recorded at Mirror Mirror Recording by Graham Tavel Mastered by Jesse Mangum at The Glow photo: Lola Scott
From the dawn of music recordings until 2022, not a single musical recording entered the public domain due to copyright expiration in the United States. Musical recordings were protected under a patchwork of state laws and contracts, but explicitly they were not protected by copyright. This meant that most musical recordings were protected forever, and establishing the rights to a piece of music was very difficult. Congress passed a law called the Music Modernization Act which made this situation slightly better. In 2022 all recordings from 1922 and earlier entered the public domain. In 2023, nothing happened, and in 2024, all recordings released in 1923 entered the public domain.
Importantly, these compositions were already in the public domain, but the specific recordings were not.
Now, why 1923, and not some later year? Fear and greed, mostly. In 1923, we’re looking at the genesis of modern music, but we’re still dealing with very primitive acoustic recording technology and we’re really just looking at the roots of what will become modern music. The first blues guitar, the first jazz piano, vaudeville blues, dixieland. Over the next several years, we’ll get an Explosion of new music.
Next year, we’ll get the music from 1924. In 1924, we find the first widespread use of Electrical recording. It’s a watershed moment. We also get some of the earliest country music, and the first recording of Rhapsody in Blue in 24. By 1925, we’ll start to see more guitar blues, new styles of Jazz, and lots of other things.
But, for now, we have 1923, and there’s a lot to celebrate in the recordings of 1923.
Why 1928?
In 1998 the US Congress passed a law commonly referred to as The Mickey Mouse Protection Act. It paused copyright expiration for 20 years, for basically no reason other than to keep Mickey Mouse from entering the public domain.
This year, Mickey Mouse’s protection expires. As of today, Steamboat Willie is in the public domain.
But, so far at least, we’re not talking about animation, we’re talking about music. Due to the differences between how Recordings and Compositions were copyrighted, all published musical compositions from 1928 and earlier are in the public domain. You can’t do anything with most recordings made from 24 – 28, but you can cover those compositions and produce new recordings.
Hensleys are a 4-piece rock band based out of Atlanta, GA made up of POUNDS, G, LOG, and SNAKE. Call us punk, call us alternative, call us hyper-jazz rock, call us your friend. We’ll be there for you when you need it.
Michael Cera Palin, Atlanta-based emo/indie punk. Music for people who suck at parties, but kill it at kickbacks. Est. 2015
Michael Cera Palin “The Loose Ends of Act 1” vinyl pre-orders are open now! If you can’t wait for the vinyl release, sign up for cassettefor.me by December 15th to claim your CFM exclusive MCP cassette!
This will be a limited run of 50 cassettes and 50 CDs.
These exclusive Michael Cera Palin cassettes are hand-dubbed and assembled at Ellijay Makerspace. The combination of transparent case, j-card, and cassette make “The Loose Ends of Act 1” a real treat for Cassettes for Me subscribers. Be sure to hold it up to the light, they look like magic!
CASSETTES FOR ME SUBSCRIPTION
One new tape in your mailbox every month + digital download in your email. Free shipping in the US. (See other products for other countries.) Featuring artists from around the world, and tapes duplicated in Ellijay Georgia by the Fine folks at Analog Revolution and the Ellijay Makerspace.
We’re putting a special focus on Live recordings, previously unissued demos, and recordings that have never seen a wide circulation. There will be something to love for everyone, and if you do hate one of them, It was only $15.
Tapes ship no later than the 3rd of the month after you subscribe.
WARNING: This video may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised. Michael Cera Palin performing “Growing Pains” at the Ellijay Makepeace grand opening in January of 2022. Filmed by Cole Robertson.
All songs written, performed, and recorded by Michael Cera Palin. Mixed by Jon Buncic. Mastered by Jon Naclerio at Nada Recording. Cover shot and edited by Clovis Goss (IG: artbydtaurus)
RAT BABIES are a dark psychedelic, bass-heavy, guttural screaming, foamy-slobber spitting, sweat-stained, drum-n-bass, swamp noise, two-piece sludge/doom band out of Athens GA. Rat Babies have been around since early 2005. The current lineup features original members Mux Blank on bass/vocals/noise and T. Chodd on drums/percussion.
Side A: Medicine Drunk on Dreams Side B: Bury a Friend I Know Hard
You can listen AND watch RAT BABIES Live from Ellijay right now on New Ellijay TV.
What have others said about RAT BABIES?
“slow-churning, anxiously abrasive… self-described as “psychedelic-doom-noise,” and that’s pretty accurate, although I’d argue there’s a solid sense of melody in most of their stuff, even if it’s not laying right there on the surface.
Gordon Lamb, Flagpole Magazine
“sludgy bayou animosity in the vein of Melvins with a Halloween Town, stumbling from the graveyard with an armload of shovels, feel. The rhythm is slow and the lyrics are dark and repetitive battles with depression and substance addiction– driven home with a plodding and brutal momentum and a bass distorted to Jackson Pollock fog. Think of Atrayu pulling futilely at the reins of Artax as he sinks ever lower into a Swamp Of Sadness where lilly pads sprout hypodermic needles and the sun falls brown through soot stained clouds. A personal apocalypse with every track”
Borrowed Time/Bush comes bursting through your speakers like a hijacked TV broadcast, with equal parts righteous indignation and infectious grooves. And if it sounds like a threat, that’s because it is.
Borrowed Time/Bush kicks off with I Am, a washed-out horseback ride through the depths of space and time, before fading into the A-side single, Borrowed Time. The first of the two title tracks, Borrowed Time is an Ecclesiastical warning about the futility of wealth and earthly treasures, in a surf-y, psychedelic package. Side A ends with Abraham Lincoln, Bearded Freak, a thundering sample of still-unreleased material from the Goop vault, laced with quotes from the Trial of the Chicago 8 press conferences.
Side B rolls in like a gentle tide with Atlantis, Full of Cheer, a watery, melancholic jam from the dark depths of the ocean. The heavy bass of Bush then shatters the stillness of the ocean depths with pounding bass and relentless drums. If Borrowed Time is the Ghost of Christmas Present in its warning to rich oppressors, Bush is the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come. Layered with sampled news clippings and revolutionary polemics, Bush is an avant-garde soundscape that calls workers and oppressed people all over the world to arms. The record closes on I Am (Reprise), darker and more ominous this time, riding out of sight into the further reaches of the universe in search of new sonic frontiers.
Connor, also known as noms de guerre Goop, Burnett Down, and others we can’t disclose without putting him at risk of rendition by the CIA and Mossad, also serves as the keyboardist and explosives specialist in Doctor Deathray’s Implements of Destruction, Analog Revolution’s crown jewel band and one of the world’s pre-imminent blues-punk outfits. His hobbies include compiling documents pertaining to US Imperial policy and letting the air out of Tesla tires.
Sara Elliott (vocals) Ben Barron (guitar & vocals) Larry Hogan (bass) Mike Gruwell (drums)
CDS FOR ME SUBSCRIPTION
One new CD in your mailbox every month + digital download in your email. Free shipping in the US. (See other products for other countries.) Featuring artists from around the world, and tapes duplicated in Ellijay Georgia by the Fine folks at Analog Revolution and the Ellijay Makerspace.
We’re putting a special focus on Live recordings, previously unissued demos, and recordings that have never seen a wide circulation. There will be something to love for everyone, and if you do hate one of them, It was only $15.
Tapes ship no later than the 3rd of the month after you subscribe.
One new CD in your mailbox every month + digital download in your email. Free shipping in the US. (See other products for other countries.) Featuring artists from around the world, and tapes duplicated in Ellijay Georgia by the Fine folks at Analog Revolution and the Ellijay Makerspace.
We’re putting a special focus on Live recordings, previously unissued demos, and recordings that have never seen a wide circulation. There will be something to love for everyone, and if you do hate one of them, It was only $15.
Tapes ship no later than the 3rd of the month after you subscribe.
Cassettes for Me is excited to announce that we have CDs now!
It’s just like Cassettes for me, but it’s CDs!
All CDs will come with a digital copy, so you don’t have to wait for your CD to arrive to start listening.
Receive one new CD in your mailbox every month + digital download in your email. Free shipping in the US. (See other products for other countries.) Featuring artists from around the world, and tapes duplicated in Ellijay Georgia by the Fine folks at Analog Revolution and the Ellijay Makerspace.
CDs ship no later than the 3rd of the month after you subscribe.
Eli Pop – It’s All Around will be our first release for CDs For Me!
Originally released on Burger Records in 2014, Eli Pop’s It’s All Around is a stellar example of psychedelic surf, and we’re stoked to release it on CDs For Me!
It’s All Around is Eli Pop’s psychedelic-surf album, and we’re happy to release it on cassette for you to enjoy! This groovy, 16-track cassette is filled with the perfect vibes to kick off the summer! Sign up by the 15th of July to get this tape, out of print since it’s original release on Burger records circa 2014.
As it just so happens, Analog Revolution now has a pre-order up for a 14-track vinyl release! You can check that out here.
It’s All Around!
These vibes are sure to carry you through as you list away. We can’t wait for you to enjoy Eli Pop as your summer jams!
CASSETTES FOR ME SUBSCRIPTION
One new tape in your mailbox every month + digital download in your email. Free shipping in the US. (See other products for other countries.) Featuring artists from around the world, and tapes duplicated in Ellijay Georgia by the Fine folks at Analog Revolution and the Ellijay Makerspace.
We’re putting a special focus on Live recordings, previously unissued demos, and recordings that have never seen a wide circulation. There will be something to love for everyone, and if you do hate one of them, It was only $15.
Tapes ship no later than the 3rd of the month after you subscribe.