Peenko Blog is Four Years Old Today: Vinyl Postcards

 It was four years ago today that the first ever Peenko blog post went up, now that might not mean a lot to you, but for me it's pretty massive. When you hit so called milestones like this, it makes think back on how much has happened over the past four years. I am not going to sit here and blow my own trumpet too much, but prior to starting this site, doing this such as running a record label, putting on gigs, managing bands, etc, etc, were just pipe dreams. Seeing as I have no musical talent to speak of whatsoever, this blog has allowed me to fulfil a much longed desire to be involved in the music industry in my own little way.

For quite a while now I have been thinking about doing something special to celebrate my blogs 4th birthday, for the blogs 1st anniversary I gave away Peenko badges, in year 2 I released an EP with I Build Collapsible Mountains and last year I launched my ill fated podcast (finding the time to record it put paid to that). This year though I am extremely proud to say that I have come with something pretty damn awesome.

What with the recent trend of artists releasing their music on formats which were deemed to be defunct, such as cassettes, VHS tapes, etc. I had been looking to find something that was even more unique and you know what, I only went and found it. So here's the back story about what I came up with...

At the start of the year I contacted four of my favourite artists, that would be:
Randolph's Leap (Fence Records)
The Son(s) (Olive Grove Records)
RM Hubbert (Chemikal Underground)
Behold The Old Bear (Gargleblast Records)

...to ask them if they'd be up for recording a song for me that had to be no longer than two minutes long,  which I would then release exclusively on a vinyl postcard. That would be a postcard that you can play on a turntable, just like a record!

Aren't they pretty!

Anyway, surprisingly enough to me they were all up to challenge and now after many many months of planning and organising I am very pleased to be able to share with you my first ever releases on vinyl postcards!

Each postcard is limited to just 20 copies. The tracks will not be made available anywhere else and there will be no re-press, hopefully making them a bit of a collectors item (or at least that's the plan).

YOU CAN BUY THE POSTCARDS NOW BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK

Just to prove that they actually work, here's a wee video of The Son(s) postcard doing it's stuff (wait until about 20 seconds in for the song to start).

In case you were wondering the songs are all under two minutes long so that they fit on the postcards. I could have paid extra to have more space, but I liked the idea of giving the artists a bit of a challenge. The postcards are priced at £10 per card or £36 for all four, now that might seem pretty steep, but even at that price I won't be breaking even. I like to think of this as being the Scottish equivalent of Blue Monday, so if you feel like moaning about the cards being too expensive please don't!

Here's a bit more info on the cards:

C403 by Behold The Old Bear was recorded by Raindeer in the comfort of his own bedroom.

This Ain't It by Randolph's Leap was recorded by Roy Froude at Stow College. 

Heisenberg by RM Hubbert was recorded by Charlie Ward (aka King Post Kitsch) in his living room.

All My Days Are Shorter by The Son(s) was recorded by KP Son at 13 Leopold Place, in Edinburgh in the spring.

All of the songs were mastered by Jonathan Huxtable of Small Fish Recordings.

The postcards were designed by Kris Ferguson (Mitchell Museum/Miaoux Miaoux)

For those of you who are interested in finding a bit more about where I got the postcards printed, I used a company in Austria called Vinyl Postcards. They're quick, friendly and I can't recommend them highly enough!

BUY THE POSTCARDS