Rich Mattson and the Northstars "Out There" Available November 4th 2022!!

Out There: Rich Mattson and the Northstars
  • Out There: Rich Mattson and the Northstars

Out There: Rich Mattson and the Northstars

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$20.00

”OUT THERE" is the 6th album from Rich Mattson and the Northstars. Their 5th, "SKYLIGHTS" was released in February of 2021, so if you follow the timeline, this is their true "pandemic" album. From top to bottom these songs go through the whole experience with grace, humor and a skewed perspective only Rich Mattson can conjure. And it rocks. Living

”OUT THERE" is the 6th album from Rich Mattson and the Northstars. Their 5th, "SKYLIGHTS" was released in February of 2021, so if you follow the timeline, this is their true "pandemic" album. From top to bottom these songs go through the whole experience with grace, humor and a skewed perspective only Rich Mattson can conjure. And it rocks. Living in the northwoods of Minnesota in a converted church/recording studio has its benefits and charm, but being “out there” with no visitors and nowhere to go for 2 years proved to be a challenge. Mattson came up with some crackpot schemes; YouTube videos, 3 per day for 60 days. Sparta Sound hoodies and t-shirts. Recording new songs to a click track and emailing them to bandmates Keely Lane and Kyle Westrick to add drums and bass, respectively. As things started to open up and more folks started coming back to Sparta to record music, Rich met and became friends with a tasteful piano player from Duluth by the name of Dan Anderson. Dan offered to play on anything, join up with the band, whatever, and after a few sessions adding to these tunes, he went ahead and did in fact “join up with the band.” Mattson’s partner through thick and thin, Germaine Gemberling, added her exquisite harmonies as the epidemic wore on and the songs piled up. Suddenly noticing there were over 16 songs to deal with, they whittled it down to a succinct 10 for this LP record. Rich finished the mixing in May of 2022 (it takes a full 6 months to get vinyl product) and assigned the cover art duties to the amazing and prolific Duluth artist supreme Jay Whitcomb. Mastering was handled by former Prince protege and Sparta Sound go-to mastering wizard, Tom Garneau. This is what you call rock and roll, I suppose, with indie rock/alternative rock influences as well as some americana and folk rock information..it’s a wide umbella..see, Rich Mattson kicked off his musical education with John Denver and went from that straight to KISS. Neil Young taught him how to play guitar and he came to age in the 1980’s playing U2 and REM tunes in various new wave bands before diving headfirst into the storied Minneapolis music scene just as Husker Du and the Replacements were selling out. He survived grunge and watched the anglophile and swing fads come and go, staying true to his blend of guitar driven American rock and roll. A good friend told him this new stuff reminded him of the Glenrustles..of course, this is funny because Rich was not only IN the Glenrustles, he wrote all the songs. So it goes..so it goes..after all these albums he keeps on keeping on, never running low on ideas..high beams on, following the muse

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Social Media Anxiety Disorder Vinyl

Dan Israel

12" Vinyl Version of Dan Israel's acclaimed 2019 album "Social Media Anxiety Disorder." Pressed on medium BLUE vinyl! Contains lyrics, and liner notes by Peter Himmelman - only 300 LPs pressed!

Look around you. Who do you know that’s actually following their dreams? There are plenty of people who sit around waiting for the time, or the

12" Vinyl Version of Dan Israel's acclaimed 2019 album "Social Media Anxiety Disorder." Pressed on medium BLUE vinyl! Contains lyrics, and liner notes by Peter Himmelman - only 300 LPs pressed!

Look around you. Who do you know that’s actually following their dreams? There are plenty of people who sit around waiting for the time, or the inspiration, to get to the things they’re most passionate about. But not many work it, not many dive into the marrow of it and revel in the day-to-day grind of making their dreams manifest. Not to mention how few people possess the capacity to wage the endless fight that goes on inside their own minds: “Who am I to think I can become a rock star?” Yeah, who are you to think you can become a rock star?

Well, Dan Israel must have stopped “thinking” about it a long time ago. He must have traded mulling for action. And as he’s bored into the craft of songwriting, he’s learned, record by record, song by song, how to make an impression on his listeners. His writing is deceptive. He makes you think that anyone can write a song; he democratizes the process, makes it look effortless. But isn’t that the deeper skill of all the masters? Isn’t that the sleight of hand that all the greats have used? Maybe you’re thinking perhaps it’s a bit hyperbolic of me to have used those two words: “masters” and “greats” in such close succession. Maybe so. But after listening through "Social Media Anxiety Disorder" a half-dozen times, I don’t think I’m too far off — at least in terms of Dan’s mastery and his nudging ever-closer to “great” as a pop songwriter. Dan has been assisted on this strong recording (his best, in my opinion) by the adroit and imaginative production of two other masters, Jon Herchert and Steve Price — surely two of Minnesota's musical treasures.

Dan’s contended with the same stuff we all go through: the absence of love, of youth, and of quantitative success. And when we hear songs like “Just Can’t Take it” and “Still I’m Lost,” we are listening to our own struggles. To listen to Dan’s music is to feel joyously, that we are part of a larger whole. His songs reinforce the sense of unity that many of us feel is there, but often just can’t seem to find.

Amidst the Beatle-esque ebullience of Dan’s “125” we hear this refrain… “Stay Alive.” Sometimes, that’s the best we can do.

Peter Himmelman

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Skylights - Vinyl

Rich Mattson and the Northstars

Rich Mattson and the Northstars - "Skylights"

Release Date: February 5, 2021

"Great spirit, a lotta spunk, terrific songwriting and it's beautifully produced. This'll definitely be getting lots of airplay 'round here! "

Peter Jesperson

"Holed up in tiny Sparta, Minn., Mattson and his romantic and musical partner Germaine Gemberling bust out in a

Rich Mattson and the Northstars - "Skylights"

Release Date: February 5, 2021

"Great spirit, a lotta spunk, terrific songwriting and it's beautifully produced. This'll definitely be getting lots of airplay 'round here! "

Peter Jesperson

"Holed up in tiny Sparta, Minn., Mattson and his romantic and musical partner Germaine Gemberling bust out in a big way on their latest and loudest effort under the Northstars moniker"

Chris Riemenschneider - StarTribune

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On the hi-fi: Vinyl
  • On the hi-fi: Vinyl

On the hi-fi: Vinyl

In cart Not available Out of stock
$10.00

Debut 7" EP from SNICKERS

"Really special record...strange,unearthly, disembodied vibe.

Richard Youngs

"Parts could have been recorded underwater, then sent into submarines via broken transmitters"

Byron Coley - The Wire

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Crickets: Vinyl
  • Crickets: Vinyl

Crickets: Vinyl

In cart Not available Out of stock
$10.00

Debut 7" EP from Smallertide

"Crickets meanders and breathes, birds whistling in the background, the guitars pulsing with your breath and with life in general. Soothe your desire for a full length with this wonderful 7".

  • Norman Records

The guitar pieces are more about texture than coherence, but they have a lovely drift (not unlike early San

Debut 7" EP from Smallertide

"Crickets meanders and breathes, birds whistling in the background, the guitars pulsing with your breath and with life in general. Soothe your desire for a full length with this wonderful 7".

  • Norman Records

The guitar pieces are more about texture than coherence, but they have a lovely drift (not unlike early San Agustin), and bend time as easily as some bands bend forks.

Byron Coley - The Wire

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All Along The Northern Evening: Vinyl
  • All Along The Northern Evening: Vinyl

All Along The Northern Evening: Vinyl

In cart Not available Out of stock
$20.00

First Full Length offering by smallertide

"This album holds an extremely special locale in my heart. It's the porch light you leave on for your memories to find their way back to you when you think you can't remember them on your own. Its subtle and delicate yet earnestly forthright and becoming. After 1 spin you discover you've found not just a

First Full Length offering by smallertide

"This album holds an extremely special locale in my heart. It's the porch light you leave on for your memories to find their way back to you when you think you can't remember them on your own. Its subtle and delicate yet earnestly forthright and becoming. After 1 spin you discover you've found not just a new acquaintance but friend from a past life with a fun deliberate accent that only speaks like this to you and you alone.

Steven De Taeye - Aural Tethers

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