An intimate collection of stories and music inspired by grandparents and an curated by Alexis Wolf, author of the zine Ilse Content. The zine features stories by Josepha Conrad, David Rivas, and music by Swift!, Alexis Wolf, and June Madrona.

"Ben and Bruno" is a group of songs based one character named Ben. After losing his mother at a very young age, Ben is abducted by a religious fanatic who has been living in the apartment above the family. Ben, during his trip while fleeing from the police, falls in love with the woman who has abducted him. The story continues after the capture of his new love and he grows older....marrying, having two daughters, divorcing his wife.

"Like a flightless bird that tries to fly again / somehow I want love so bad even though I don't want love." As in the cover art, Jenny reaches for the frosted cake of love again and again, undeterred by the obvious dangers of the flaming oven. She confronts the subject of love with bravery, brutal honesty and a cast of talented olympians including Derek Johnson (Le Ton Mite, Unwound), Andrew Dorsett (Lake), Jen Kliese (Superduo), and Vince Brown (Tune Stranglers).

Purrbot is nathan carter, somber post-apocalyptic queer folkster poet. changing the world by holding hands in plain view.

Susie Asado is a poem by Gertrude Stein. This Susie Asado is Josepha Conrad. She is not a poem although she likes to write them. She also likes Gertrude Stein. So much is apparent. You might know her from Crazy for Jane. You might know her from the park. You might have seen her in the movie Berlin Song. Josepha writes songs and she will sing them for you. Happily. Her songs are about geographic challenges about borders and border patrol about falling in love with border patrol and with countries and that is more than one country.

Tracks recorded by Yes Please last summer right before Lily moved to the bay area.

A massive musical lovefest featuring contributions from Kimya Dawson, Karl Blau, Eli Moore, Bob Schwenkler and like a zillion others.

This second offering from Ben Kamen features hand painted watercolor covers and a super cute 3" CDR format.

"You might just weep at the music of Anni Rossi. Her songs are about Minnesota tundra and emotional trauma, and she plays the viola like she's battling the minotaur. It's so wonderful and tragic you just might grow an extra set of legs and expire ingloriously."
-Only Magazine

Kimya Dawson and a bunch of young French kids singing songs about vampires and daring big-wheel stunts.

Home recordings by ashley eriksson of lake.

Many of these 8 track bedroom recordings serve as a basis for LAKE songs and provide a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of this prolific songwriter.

She's Aubrey Debauchery, and she regularly garners the kind of attention and popularity it usually takes local musicians years to cultivate. At her regular live gigs, her nervous-but-sassy stage presence sets an intimate tone for the personal, at times dark, songs of love, loss and partying like a 21-year-old, and whole lot of making out.

"ben and bruno" is a group of songs based one character named Ben. After losing his mother at a very young age, Ben is abducted by a religious fanatic who has been living in the apartment above the family. Ben, during his trip while fleeing from the police, falls in love with the woman who has abducted him. The story continues after the capture of his new love and he grows older....marrying, having two daughters, divorcing his wife.

This second offering from Ben Kamen features hand painted watercolor covers and a super cute 3" CDR format.

Chris Clavin runs plan-it-x records out of a bus. His songs are just as much stories as they are songs, and he sings them with passion and honesty.

The second of 4 planned CC releases. For this second act, our heart-broken troubadour locks himself in his room for a weekend of recording and writing non-stop. Most of these songs were written and recorded in 1 or 2 takes without editing. The result is a raw and confessional collection of songs.

Eric graced Olympia with an intimate living room performance on tour with "The Heather Show" from Sacramento. His voice and his sincerity drew me in along with the rest of the audience. Its funny how the same love stories told over and over again can still feel so fresh. Thats what a good songwriter like Eric can do.

Jordan 'O Jordan Smith couldn't stop raving about Christina so I asked him to write something about her. He hasn't finished it quite yet as he's leaving today on a Australia/New Zealand tour with Onyx of Olympia. So for now I'll just say that the song "love me for the things i do" has followed me around for the last couple of months, and I have a feeling that this album is just the tip of the iceberg.
- Ross

Crazy for Jane is a brother and sister duo. They sing about geographic dilemmas, some drama, shipwreck, rescue missions, and Jane. Their music is "a desperate serenade underneath your window".

Flowers From The Man Who Shot Your Cousin is essentially Morgan Caris. For a good many years now he has been writing and recording songs, some of which have been released on lps and compilations mostly in Spain and Japan, but Hapless is the first solo album of his to see the light of dusk.

"Froseph takes both an aggressive and soft spoken approach with the songs on "Deep Breath." ... coping with deep-rooted insecurities and confronting a long-avoided past of sexual abuse, denial and their affects on everyday interactions while simultaneously constructing a sense of optimism and buoyancy... Packaged with a plastic-free case that was hand-letterpressed in our garage."
-crimethinc.com

"all of the songs are about the trip that hannah and i took to europe in the summer of 2,000. it was not a tour, it was a traveling trip. we stayed for 90 days. we didn't have enough money. we didn't know anyone in europe. needless to say the trip was really hard and we learned a lot about life."
-Chris Clavin

"Like a flightless bird that tries to fly again / somehow I want love so bad even though I don't want love." As in the cover art, Jenny reaches for the frosted cake of love again and again, undeterred by the obvious dangers of the flaming oven. She confronts the subject of love with bravery, brutal honesty and a cast of talented olympians including Derek Johnson (Le Ton Mite, Unwound), Andrew Dorsett (Lake), Jen Kliese (Superduo), and Vince Brown (Tune Stranglers).

A long time member of the Olympia music scene, Jenny is one of those amazing musicians who for whatever reason never mnaged to hit the road or release an album. Jenny is doing plenty of both right now with several tours. Her first solo album tackles relationships, sex, and well, lots of sex.

When I met Joe at an open mic he had dreadlocks and a hit song about pants with only one pocket. Joe told me of his plans to move out of his jeep into this treehouse he was building. He built that treehouse, it still stands. Then he built an even more amazing cottage and lived in that for awhile. Joe knows how to build things that will last. These songs are no exception.
-Ross

"I love Jordan!" is a common phrase around Olympia. He plays banjo, he does cancer research, he wears costumes and writes you emails in rhyming couplets. Part Oscar Wilde, part Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jordan 'O Jordan will impress your mother and run off with your boyfriend.
"Jordan O'Jordan is a musical storyteller in the most fanciful way. His song stories sound like Southern Gothic renditions of slash fiction, about making awkward love to ghosts in creepy stone graveyards and frogs being friendly, and everything is strung through with banjo and wonderment."
-The Stranger

Recorded in a yurt next to chickens and a fountain. The song subjects vary from making out in the back of a car on the freeway, to feeling scared and hopeless after waking up to thunder rolling past you in the middle of the night.

June Madrona's fourth album. This lineup features Danielle Chiero on flute and Micah Ellison on melodica.

Themed and titled after a work of William Blake's, The Winged Life explores themes of love and control. This album is delivered in a hand-made booklet with a silk screened cover. The booklet includes sixteen pages of lyrics, drawings, and photos.

In the winter of 2001 Ross recorded a solo album on a cassette 8 track and made 50 copies to give to his friends. In the winter of 2003 Bob Schwenkler approached Ross after a breakfast show at Media Island and offered to record him. Waves with Nowhere to Break represents the best from these two early projects.

In "A Walk in the Shadows" Kendl experements with layers of voice and insturments. Comes with a 20 page booklet of illustrations, lyrics, and journal musings.

"Kickball are everything that is vibrant and exciting about DIY music. Their fourth release, Everything Is a Miracle Nothing Is a Miracle Everything Is, is an indie gem, equally melodic and danceable, that captures the endearingly awkward energy the Olympia trio bring live to living rooms and small clubs across the country."
-The Stranger

Exactly the same as the cd minus a short secret song but plus all the sweetness of 10" white vinyl.

In their second album, Kickball starts to let loose a bit. While still a showcase of Jacob's songwriting, you can hear the moments when the band starts to break out and explore.

Apparently "Little Things" is a dance hit in Barcelona. I believe it. Recorded at Bicycle Studios, Kickball's 3rd release is full of rip, energy, and tight arrangements of bass guitar, guitar, drums, and Jacob's voice.

Karl Blau and Lake spent a week recording in Anacortes just as this dynamic project was getting off the ground. LAKE takes a large ensemble of multi-instrumental songwriters and makes it all work somehow. If I gave this band a label it would be post-classic rock.

Choral vocal harmonies, layered percussion and ambient electronic loops expand the aural palette of LAKE in their second release. This cassette release was recorded on a 8 track at Chez Puget in Olympia and represents a giant step forward for Lake both in songwriting and in arranging.

A split 7" on green vinyl featuring 4 collaborative recordings of LAKE and Typhoon.

Liarbird graced stages up and down the west coast for the past few years. Now the band is no more, leaving two albums gorgous albums of country-tinged folk in their wake.

There are only a few of Liarbird's hand-letterpressed first releases to be had in this world. In "Burn Down Town" Kanako Wynkoop croons about a series of arsons that happened one summer in Olympia. Later she talks about one of her heros in "Johnny Cash". "Bombs" is another standout track; a funeral waltz that builds with layers of bass, guitar, and violin, building to the chilling realization, "The war of men will never end".

Lusty Leaf is a collective of musicians founded in Eugene, Oregon who have since spread throughout the US and into Canada. Their music evokes hot summernights, forests lit by moonlight, and hair smelling of campfire smoke.

Madeline's first album, recorded when she was like 17 or 18. The singing Chris from plan-it-x records had this to say: "... Madeline is awesome, that's all I can say. A voice to rival any country songwriter goddess, and great songs too."

This is a repress of the split album that was put out on shake got the beets records in Athens, GA. The Madeline side has some of her best recordings including the "Uncle Songs". Dead Bird is also a really good band featuring members of tilly and the wall and theo zumm."
-Chris Clavin

Home recordings of Olympia musician Mike Merker. This is a full length recording dedicated to the art and creative life of a close friend named Tabor Sabin.

An airtight two song single featuring "Come on Mona" and "The Way you Show your Love" plus a secret track that is... well I guess we shouldn't say since its a secret.

The second single from The Mona Reels. It features the songs "Pick Up The Phone" and "Dissapointing".

"...All in all the lyrics are like something taken from torn out pages of a diary, and when combined with neatly orchestrated surreal pop the result is one dreamy record. Put this one under your pillow."
-Whats Up!

Palisades' second release, with Bicycle's own Bob Schwenkler taking up the bass duties. Owl Baby has to be one of my all time favorite Eli Moore songs. Every inch of these recordings has been layered and scrutinized. The result? Pop heaven.
-Ross

The is The Pasties first album, released in 2004. The original lineup features Joe Cappocia, Kendl Winter, Judd Wasserman, Ross Cowman, and Harald Fuller-Bennett. The CDRs are hand stenciled and packaged in recycled jewel cases.

"Jordan O' Jordan, Miss Spindleheart, and Onyx of Olympia are all Pacific Northwest musicians, but their band started oddly, in New Zealand in January. THe three decided they wanted to tour New Zealand The three decided they wanted to tour to New Zealand, so they took a couple day to learn each others' songs, contacted to one person they knew in New contacted the one person they knew in New Zealand to set up shows and by the end of Polka Dot Dot Dot's first tour, the New Zealand equivalent of NPR had noticed it. Which stands to reason. The group is awesome."
-local cut

Purrbot is nathan carter, somber post-apocalyptic queer folkster poet. changing the world by holding hands in plain view.

Ruth just moved to Olympia from Anacortes, WA. Her songs make me think of those messages from the dream-world you can almost remember when you get up in the morning. This album is full of breath and atmosphere which we at Bicycle like very much.
-Ross

"I saw Sedan play Yeah! Fest! at the Eagle's Hall a few years back. I remember how everyone sat quietly in that room, and the feeling of those piano melodies rolling over each other and listening to Dan Sasaki's drumming and thinking, "Holy shit, He's playing melodies too!". Sedan still amazes me, its the kind of music I can listen to over and over and never get sick of."
-Ross

Manresa Castle captures love at its best and at its most damaging with an album that is both a chronicle of recovery and a confession of vulnerability.

Chris Schiel of June Madrona recorded this in his bathroom with a hand-held cassette recorder. Amazing. Hopefully Chris doesn't have to pay the repair bill for that cello.

Secret Therepy is a 27 track time capsule record of three talented musicians recorded in 99/00. Jenny Jenkins and Jen Kliese founded Super Duo in '97 to be joined later by Kelly Coyle. This is their heartfelt-pop legacy.

Susie Asado is a poem by Gertrude Stein. This Susie Asado is Josepha Conrad. She is not a poem although she likes to write them. She also likes Gertrude Stein. So much is apparent. You might know her from Crazy for Jane. You might know her from the park. You might have seen her in the movie Berlin Song. Josepha writes songs and she will sing them for you. Happily. Her songs are about geographic challenges about borders and border patrol about falling in love with border patrol and with countries and that is more than one country.

In Swimming's second offering, Michelle Lamanet's haiku-like songs are treated to tasteful arrangements by olympia musicians, Eli Moore (LAKE), Jacob Wilson (Kickball), and Heather Hall.

A series of 24 preludes for solo piano in every key major and minor.

Tracks recorded by Yes Please last summer right before Lily moved to the bay area.

A massive musical lovefest featuring contributions from Kimya Dawson, Karl Blau, Eli Moore, Bob Schwenkler and like a zillion others.

Produced by the best producer in the world, Karl Blau. Recorded at Dub Narcotic Studios in January, 2006. There are more than 30 awesome musicians on this thing. It kicks ass.

This is the twin record of New Ocean Waves. Produced by Karl Blau. Recorded at the same time as New Ocean Waves at Dub Narcotic Studios in January, 2006. It is a rock opera with Karl Blau, Laura Veirs, The Black Cat Orchestra, and the Your Heart Breaks band. The art was done by Meghan Hanlon, who also made the art for New Ocean Waves. The records belong side by side. It is epic.

Lo-fi home recordings inspired by the works of Shel Silverstein, featuring kimya dawson, yes please, ciel, ghost bear, and many others...

A split cassete release of intimate home-recordings by Lindsey and Eli of Lake.

This compilation features a generous cross-section of the paris folk-scene. Performers include: David-Ivar Herman Diine, Julie Doiron, Flowers from the Man who Shot your Cousin, Pokett, Paloma, Tchalrz, Rivkah, Cowbird, Shantu, Loons, and many more.

A Split featuring The Pasties and The Hail Seizures from Olympia, Washington. Both bands play fast-paced punk music entirely with acoustic instruments. This approach has allowed them to take their performances into public spaces that don't otherwise ever get to see a rock show like the artesian well downtown, Camp Quixote, or even underneath the 4th Ave bridge. In "Fuck the New Park on West Bay, I Like It the Way It Is", The Pasties expose the counter-productivity of city development that destroys places that are already loved and used. This sense of rebellion permeates the songs of both bands as they eschew the conventions of the punk industry to bring their music straight to the people.

A zine of photos, lyrics, guitar tunings, and chord changes spanning "A Long and Ugly Road", "The Winged Life", and "Battlegrounds".