Flunkie: “Pure Optimist”

Posted on May 23, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

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Here’s some music news that isn’t exactly local music news anymore – the solo artist “Flunkie” is formerly from Springfield but recently re-located to the Chicago area. This week she has debuted her newest release, Pure Optimist, 8 tracks and looks like there is a physical format for this one of some pretty nifty looking cassettes. You can check that out streaming on the bandcamp player embedded below. Head over to Flunkie’s bandcamp page to purchase the download for the album or to purchase the cassette.

Looks like this one even made bandcamp’s “picks of the week”!

Dumb Records (Physical Store) Opening Back Up In June (Limited Hours)

Posted on May 22, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

Here is our big announcement to let you know that now that our state is moving on to “phase 3” from the looks of things on May 29th (one week from today) where non-essential businesses can open back up, we are choosing to open our physical doors back up on Monday, June 1st. We plan on operating for all of June on limited hours of noon – 6:00 pm at our location here downtown at 418 E. Monroe St. Along with re-opening for June, we are limiting the amount of people allowed in our space at once to five. Face masks are strongly recommended.

Starting June 1st, we will stop doing our regular “Deals-of-the-Day” featured deals so we can get back to focusing on the physical store. We will, however, still offer free local delivery on records or t-shirts purchased from us in advance through online. You can still find our discogs page active right here, and our storenvy site online right here.

As for shows, we definitely aren’t there yet. We can not project at what point we will be able to have live music again, and we are not scheduling any events at any point in the future still. If things go as planned and our state moves on to “phase 4” later this summer or in July, we have some other exciting projects to debut before we get to the point of being able to host live music again.

Adam Maletich: “Cumulonimbus”

Posted on May 20, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

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Local singer/songwriter Adam Maletich has released a brand new track as well as announced that he has a new album on the way. The new track is called “Cumoulonimbus” and the upcoming album is called Turbulence. You can check out the track on the Youtube player embedded below, or head on over to Adam’s Youtube channel right here.

Adam released his last album Over The Edge a couple of years ago in 2018.

New Arrivals This Week at Dumb Records

Posted on May 19, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

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It’s another week at Dumb Records, and we feel we are probably coming nearer and nearer to the time when we can open up our physical doors to the world once again. Until then, we are still cranking out new records to add to our online store on discogs, and also slinging t-shirts and more on our storenvy page. This week we bring you a few new and used LPs, and a handful of 12″ singles and new CDs. Maybe it’s slowed down for us a bit because we are trying to catch up on so many orders! And be sure to check out facebook page everyday for those sweet, sweet deals-of-the-day!

New LPs
Ben Folds Five – Songs For Silverman
Howlin’ Wolf – Howlin’ Wolf
Gentle Giant – Gentle Giant
John Coltrane – Coltrane
Misfits – Static Age
Mort Garson – Plantasia
Propagandhi – Failed States
Stan Getz & The Oscar Peterson Trio

Used LPs
Altan – Horse With A Heart
Bachman-Turner Overdrive – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bernay’s Propaganda – Bernay’s Propaganda
Bikini Gospel – Happy Squid
Brick Layer Cake – Eye For An Eye Tooth For A Tooth
Charlie Rich – Take Me
Charlie Rich – The Sun Story Vol. 2
Chet Atkins – Street Dreams
Chopper – 4play
The Dirt Band – An American Dream
Doris Day – Wonderful Day
Eric Clapton And His Band – Backless
Henry Gross – Release
Jan & Dean – The Very Best of Jan & Dean
Jessi Colter – Mirriam
John Stewart And Buffy Ford – Signals Through The Glass
Jose -Melis – Tonight
Kansas – Audio-Visions
Kansas – Monolith
Kill The Capulets – The Stranger
Larry Elgart – New Sounds At The Roosevelt
Lynn Anderson – Sings About Love
Melissa Manchester – Melissa
Miles Davis – In Person, Friday Night At The Blackhawk
The Mystic Moods Orchestra – Cosmic Force
Neil Sedaka – Steppin’ Out
Neil Young – Hawks & Doves
Night Ranger – Midnight Madness
Roger Miller – A Tender Look At Love
The Screaming Blue Messiahs – Totally Religious
The Searchers – Silver Searchers
The Searchers – PYE File Series
Sir John Barbirolli – Sibelius
Talking Heads – Naked
Todd Rundgren – Something/Anything

12” Singles
Dynas – Game Huntin’
Kid N’ Play – Funhouse (The House We Dance In)

New CDs
A*Teens – Teen Spirit
Big Head Todd And The Monsters – Sister Sweetly
Bob James – Restoration: The Best of Bob James
Celine Dion – 1 Fille & 4 Types
Frank Sinatra – Come Swing With Me!
Joe Henderson – Double Rainbow
Julie Reeves – It’s About Time
Mariah Carey – Glitter
Molly Hatchet – Kingdom of XII
Tim McGraw – All I Want

Local Drags: “TP”

Posted on May 17, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

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We can all agree that these days the world needs more “TP.” Toilet Paper? Yes, maybe. But this “TP” that Local Drags is talking about today is Tom Petty. The local group, which is the project of Lanny Durbin, also of Starter Jackets, has just dropped a six-track release of Tom Petty covers. You can find that streaming on the player below. Also head on over to the Local Drags bandcamp page to download the songs at your own price.

Local Drags released a full length album of original material, Shit’s Lookin’ Up last year.

Activator Magazine / Crowdson Creative Present: Dexter Anodyne (Video Series)

Posted on May 15, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

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Activator Magazine has posted this month’s edition of their ongoing video series they have been putting together with Crowdson Creative. In the series artists perform some of their songs live on video, paired with video interviews. Check out the video embedded below, or right here on the Activator youtube channel.

Earlier videos Activator has also released as part of this series include last month with Bottom Bracket (right here), Vincent Sebastian right here, and Blushe right here.

Jessica Knight, Brandon Carnes Introduce “First Try Sessions”

Posted on May 14, 2020 by blacksheepspringfield

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Looks like amidst this global pandemic and stay at home order, some amazingly positive things are coming into fruition in our local music community. Earlier this week Jessica Knight and Brandon Carnes of the band Looming launched a new project called “First Try Sessions” with the goal of acquiring guitars for children ages 7-17 “and curate music lessons for them in hopes of encouraging a future full of knowledge and creativity.” Amazing! There isn’t a whole lot to the newly created Firsttrysessions.com but you can find their mission statement and a link to donate to the project there.

Along with announcing the project, the duo also released a 16-track album of covers up on bandcamp set to a name-your-own-cost download with the proceeds going towards First Try Sessions. You can also find that streaming below.

We are excited to report back with more news on this project later on and the positive things it may bring!