We're rampin' up for our 2014 vinyl reissues/repressings and we need to drum up some fun(ds). So, we've cracked open the ABT™/HHR™ vaults and dug out some more treasure for you to buy. Specifically, about 50 different Hydra Head Test Pressings© from the very early days up through the present moment. Included are titles from all your favorites and the favorite obscurities: Cave In, Khlyst, Botch, Buzzov*en, Converge, Khanate, Melvins, House of Low Culture, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Keelhaul, Xasthur, Neurosis, Big Business, Harvey Milk, etc, etc. Also included in the sale is the HHR TP Mega Pak with 87 different 7", 10", and 12" and 2x12" test pressings including such rarities as: Dillinger Escape Plan "Calulating Infinity", Goatsnake/Burning Witch split, Botch "We Are the Romans",  Cave In "Beyond Hypothermia", Hollomen s/t, Circle "Manner", Converge/Agoraphobic Nosebleed "The Poacher Diaries", etc. Just so you know what stuff we'll be spending your hard earned monies on if you buy treasure from this sale, here is a partial list of what we've got coming up in 2014: Khlyst "Chaos is My Name" LP, Cave In "Jupiter" re-mastered + bonus 12", Khanate "Things Viral" 3xLP, Jesu "Conqueror" 2xLP, Old Man Gloom - Seminars I-III, Botch "Unifying Themes Redux" 2xLP, Botch - vinyl box set,  Boris & Merzbow "Sun Baked Snow Cave" 2xLP, and whole bunch of other excellent music. So, head on over www.realtomatoketchup.com and click them buy buttons! Thank you.

So basically we had a stack of Here Come the Waterworks LPs from the original pressing sitting around because they were white labels and didn't have inner sleeves (although they do have jackets). We finally cranked out some photocopied inserts, and now you can finally get the album you should have had on vinyl all along in a limited (we're talking double digits), slightly lower-fi print version. Vinyl and jacket are both first press.
Order at RealTomatoKechup.com




Tour Dates:
8/05 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre w/ Torche, Thrones (Venue Link)
8/06 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s w/ Torche, Thrones (Venue Link)
8/07 West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour w/ Torche, Thrones (Buy Tickets)
8/08 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah w/ Torche, Thrones (Venue Link)
8/09 Scottsdale, AZ @ Martini Ranch w/ Torche, Thrones (Venue Link)
8/10 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad w/ Torche, Thrones (Venue Link)
8/12 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada w/ Torche, Thrones (Buy Tickets)
8/13 San Antonio, TX @ Korova w/ Torche, Thrones (Buy Tickets)
8/14 Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Torche, Thrones (Venue Link)
8/16 Tuscon, AZ @ Club Congress

Babies!

Where has the time gone? It seems like a year since the Biz have played any shows! That's because it HAS been a year since the Biz have played any shows. Why is that? Is it because they're lazy? High on the dope? Gout acting up again? Maybe all three, we'll never know.

What we do know is that sometime in that year (it was August) the men of the Biz gave birth to a BRAND NEW BAND MEMBER! His name is Scott Martin (400 Blows, Crom), he weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 170 pounds, LOVES his video games, and even plays a musical instrument. We don't know what instrument he plays, but we hope it's guitar as that's what he's playing in the Biz. We also hope he's not a crier. Coady, Jared, and Toshi could not be happier with their new baby. The Biz loves being a power quartet!

Come to Spaceland 10/29 (tonight!) in beautiful Los Angeles, California to see Scott strut his stuff with his new family. We reeeeeaally hope he doesn't disappoint us.

It has been quite a while since we posted a new Hydratube clip, mostly because Sugar Bear has trouble keeping up with his actual duties, and refuses to edit these for free in his personal time anymore. Also, neither Jeff or Ryo is at the office anymore, so this is clearly outdated. Also also, Wes has shorter hair and a moustache and his girlfriend will probably give him shit because she is visible in the video. This all went down during the aftermath of the Big Business Karaoke night at Vacation Vinyl, which is why Toshi is nodding along with the conversation.

1. Grand Canyon

2. Watching TV on computer

3. Smoking a ham for Xmas

4. Pizza

5. Acid

6. Snuff films

7. Losing a toe to my bookie

8. Cabo Wabo

9. The sound of my 6 kids bitching and moaning for more food

10. Getting my own reality show

Listen to Mind The Drift Here!

Big Business "The Drift" Music Video from Wesley Belak-Berger on Vimeo.

We realize that Big Business' most recent full-length, "Mind the Drift" came out over half a year ago... So yeah, maybe we, the record label in question, should have put together a music video for the titular track around the time of the record's release... Because, or at least it seems this way to us, record labels and bands make music videos primarily to increase sales of a record and that is never more effective than around the time of the release date... Right? Probably... but if you ask us, this feels like the perfect time to re-light a fire under this record's ass... A practice otherwise known in the music industry as "re-pulling the trigger..." Also, it turns out these things cost a bunch of money to make, so we had to find someone who was willing to create a video on a virtually non-existent, well more like fully non-existent, budget... We located a sucker by the name of Wesley Belak-Berger(www.wesbb.com)... Enjoy!

Long belated, here is the final installment of Big Business youtube karaoke. The boys go out with a bang, belting out "We Are the World." It brings tears to our eyes, which roll down our cheeks and into our beards, feeling cold on the unexposed skin. It's like looking into the future, Big Business is grey haired, but still full of life and inspiration. Wait, it's 2010, it is the future. We already passed a space odyssey, judgement day, and the original transformers. Where the hell are all the robots?

This week's Big Business Karaoke selection is the penultimate (second to last) in this weekly series. So before we get to the finale, here is the infamous internet meme "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, as sung by Big Business' bearded bassist, Jarred Warren. Now you can Rickroll your friends with a Big Business twist! Tell them it is a video of an attractive, scantily clad person, and delight in their chagrin when it is actually Jarred making laser sounds and doing high kicks with Toshi Kasai on tambourine.

Announce West Coast Tourdates * Halloween Show in Los Angeles!

Lets be honest with ourselves here: Big Business has got the entire nation's balls in a clenched fist, and the bulk of Europe ready to give up their dense historical lineage just to get in there... It's no secret, Big Business is an American institution that makes the American trope wear well and therefore, Big Business is good for America... Big Business, recognizing the serious responsibility representation of this variety entails, has scheduled a tour of the West Coast... both for your sanctity and or your pleasure! Dates below...

Big Business Live!

10/31 (Halloween) Los Angeles, CA @ The Nomad Gallery w/ 400 Blows and Tweak Bird

11/01 San Diego @ the Casbah w/ Melt Banana

11/02 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill

11/04 Portland OR @ Berbati's Pan

11/05 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon

For this week's installment Jared expertly butchers "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, and still manages to look and sound so good.


Coincidentally, the same song was featured this week on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as Sweet Dee drunkenly sang to the hitchhiker who was driving her new car on the Gang's road trip, just prior to her dumping her piss jar out the window, splattering Mac's face in the back seat. Did you know Dee and Mac are actually married in real life? Same with Charlie and the waitress. Crazy, right?

In this installment, Toshi takes on Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" (often mistakenly referred to as "Space Cowboy"). Mark Thompson occasionally blocks the camera with his tropical cap.

In this installment Jared croons "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh. Watch for cameos by Mark Thompson, Aaron Turner of Isis, Jay Bennett (the writer, not the dead guy from Wilco), and more.

In this installment, Coady belts out Kiss' "Beth." Enjoy.



Here are the Lyrics if you want to sing along:

Beth, I hear you callin'
But I cant come home right now
Me and the boys are playin'
And we just can't find the sound
Just a few more hours
And I'll be right home to you
I think I hear them callin'
Oh, Beth what can I do
Beth what can I do

You say you feel so empty
That our house just ain't a home
And I'm always somewhere else
And you're always there alone

Just a few more hours
And I'll be right home to you
I think I hear them callin'
Oh, Beth what can I do
Beth what can I do

Beth, I know you're lonely
And I hope you'll be alright
cause me and the boys will be playin
All night

You may have already seen this if you are subscribed to our youtube channel, but here is the Hydra Highlight reel of the Big Business Karaoke party at Vacation Vinyl.



Almost every Hydra Head staffer makes an appearance. Not Chel, he didn't show up because he doesn't do well in confined spaces, and not Cox because he is (almost) always behind the camera catching the rest of the crew's idiosyncratic mannerisms.
Also, Big Business is in it.

On August 4th, 2009 Big Business entered Vacation Vinyl on a mission: to placate a vinyl storefull of people wanting to hear them sing songs that are nothing like the head battering heaviness that they usually play while bathed in the cool glow of a television screen displaying lyrics. Here is their version of Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car, led by a guy named Preston.



We should have more clips soon.
Also, Big Biz totally destroyed last night at the free show with Torche. Just so you know.

...their 2008 slab,Meanderthal, was one of last year's best metal records, and one well-stocked with riffs that sound even better while slamming you in the face. These days the two core members of L.A.'s Big Business — bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis — spend much of their time as half of the Melvins. They've hardly left the home office to ruin, though; this year's Mind the Drift (their first with guitarist Toshi Kasai) is a sly post-punk winner.