Altsounds - Big Scary Monsters Records mark 50th release with special MP3 compilation CD

Completely against the run of play, Big Scary Monsters Records have made it to 50 releases! The half-century came as a bit of a shock to everyone but we prefer to think of it as one in the eye for the music industry Grim Reaper, rather than blind faith and an outstayed welcome from this little independent label.

Started on an adolescent whim amidst wide-eyed dreams of rock n roll stardom, Kevin Douch awoke one morning with Melody Maker-grubbied fingers and decided to start a record label. No contacts - who needs them? No money - A part-time job at the local supermarket will soon change that. No previous experience - hey, I've been listening to Steve Lamacq and starting fights on music forums for nearly a year now. No clue - No problem... How hard could it be anyway?

Seven years, many premature grey hairs, enough empty boxes to start a cardboard revolution, a constant humming in the left ear, more old CDs then a desserted branch of Fopp, an overflowing email account, a slightly jaded, sometimes snobbish view of the industry, a series of awkward and accidental blips in the learning curve and a hefty roster of bands vying for love, attention and the knowledge that their recorded output is in safe hands. Oh, and did we mention 49 releases squeezed somewhere into that time? Forty-bloody-nine! Plain saling, it wasn't. The super market job was the first victim.

So as we approached the big five-oh we needed to mark the occasion, and it seemed only right that it be with something a little out of the norm. '50 Not Out' is a compilation CD made up of 50 MP3s (are you spotting the numeric pattern yet?) from past, present and future associates of the label - including a couple you might not realise are family just yet - along with a whole heap of our favourite others. With debut releases from the likes of Jeniferever, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Secondsmile, Meet Me In St Louis, My Awesome Compilation, Yndi Halda and many others sitting triumphantly in the back catalogue, it's no surprise to see their names included right alongside This Town Needs Guns, Tubelord, Pennines, House of Brothers and the rest of the new kids on the block, meanwhile Maps and Atlases, Jonah Matranga, Rolo Tomassi and others, as well as a selection of treats from the Alcopop (BSM's sister label) roster make up the friends numbers. It's like a big, happy Christmas gathering... In April... On a CD... Which won't play in your stereo.

Here's to fifty more!

'50 Not Out' is available to purchase rder from Big Scary Monsters Recording Company or free with any purchase from the website. It will also be available in selected indie stores in early May. See site for details.

Look out for new releases from Secondsmile, This Town Needs Guns, Tubelord, Pennines and loads more in 2008, as well as a number of BSM parties and our second 5-a-side football tournament, taking place in London this July. Blog Scary Monsters is your eyes, ears and occasional nose.

Tracklisting:

01. Anathallo - Kasa No Hone
02. Audrey - Views
03. Blakfish - Merry ****ing Xmas
04. Cats And Cats And Cats - Brilliant The Brilli Ant
05. Chariots - Friends Forever
06. Copy Haho - To Balance A Diet
07. Cut The Blue Wire - The Race To The King
08. Data.Select.Party - So Long Sweet Lime
09. Days Ago - Where No Measure Refracts
10. Emotive Exposed - Russian Bride
11. Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire - Disaster! Disaster!
12. Fang Island - Curuga
13. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Whitewash Is Brainwash
14. Hikikomori Broadcast - Three Cheers For Other Peoples Poems
15. House of Brothers - Lose Yourself
16. Hush The Many (Heed The Few) - In Bloom (live)
17. Itch - Sleeping Lions
18. Jacob's Stories - Dear Mr Pearson
19. Jeniferever - You Only Move Twice
20. Jonah Matranga - Not About A Girl Or A Place
21. Jonquil - Thick Mugs
22. Lucy And The Caterpillar - I Don't Want Your Stupid Crisps
23. Maps and Atlases - Every Place Is A House
24. Marvin's Revolt - Deliberate Deeds
25. Meet Me In St Louis - Ein Zwei Drei Hasslehoff
26. Mimas - Cats On Fire
27. My Awesome Compilation - Our Lives: The Sequel
28. My Favourite Co-Pilot - Cadence And Close
29. Nathaniel Green - The Hardest Man In The World
30. Outcry Collective - New Franchise Mess
31. Pennines - Open Closed Open
32. Richard Walters - Elephant In The Room
33. Rolo Tomassi - Beatrotter Remix (Please Will)
34. Sam Isaac - A Cinematic Low
35. Secondsmile - Years
36. Settlefish - Summer Drops
37. Shoes And Socks Off - Yeah, But
38. Stapleton - From Wood To Ridge
39. Tera Melos - When Worms Learn To Fly
40. The Campaign For Real Time - Rachel Says
41. The Dudley Corporation - Safety Shot
42. The Family Machine - Reminds Me Of You
43. The Next Autumn Soundtrack - Lost.Fondly
44. The Remarkable Rocket - I Only Count In Tens
45. The Sound OE - Party At The Moontower
46. This Town Needs Guns - If I Sit Still
47. Tubelord - Half Man Half Amazing
48. Wintermute - Shark Vs E-boat
49. Yndi Halda - We Flood Empty Lakes
50. 4 or 5 Magicians - I'm In The Band

50 Not Out Links:

CD Sleeve - http://www.bsmrocks.com/products/50n...sleeve-big.jpg
Promotional video -
50 BSM images ('02 - '08) - 50 Not Out - a set on Flickr
Pennines - 'Open Closed Open' MP3 - http://www.bsmrocks.com/50notout/pennines.mp3
Tubelord - 'Half Man Half Amazing' MP3 - http://www.bsmrocks.com/50notout/tubelord./mp3

BSM Links:

Big Scary Monsters website - Big Scary Monsters Recording Company
BSM Myspace - MySpace.com - Big Scary Monsters Records - Oxford, UK - Alternative / Emo / Indie - www.myspace.com/bigscarymonsters
Blog Scary Monsters - Blog Scary Monsters
Tubelord 'Feed Me A Box Of Words' video -
This Town Needs Guns '26 Is Dancier Than 4' video -
Meet Me In St Louis - 'All We Need Is A Little Bit Of Energon' video -
BSM St Patrick's Day Party video -

BSM Press Quotes:

"We should celebrate daily that BSM exists to continually discover such thrilling bands" - NME

"The DIY ethos is alive and kicking and BSM is one of the finest purveyors of underground music right now" - Rock Sound

"Without doubt, one of the most reliable and consistently challenging independent labels in the UK" - Drowned In Sound