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Like a Bird: An Alex Schaaf Anthology (2010-2021) coming out on March 26th.
The Mistress Deluxe Edition out now, get the vinyl here
December 3, 2020
“The Mistress” 10 year anniversary
Hi everyone,
It’s been a while. how are things? what’s new?
TL;DR: There’s a new vinyl reissue of The Mistress (with 18 digital bonus tracks) and I’m doing a livestream performance of the album next week.
*Insert thoughtful paragraph about the changes that COVID has brought to all of our lives, and the collective trauma and stress that we’ve been dealing with for the last few months*Uh alright, so anyways — 10 years ago I put an album on Bandcamp that did pretty well. it was called The Mistress and it really kicked into motion the next few years of my life. A lot has happened since then, and I’m really proud of and excited by the work that I have done in the years since, but I sit here today, confident that I will go to my grave without anything surpassing “WHALE” as the “#1 song that people come up to me at the merch table with their own theory on what the lyrics mean.”
And it certainly made me set for life financially — hitting #9 on the college radio charts means you never have to think about money again. Sure, I’m currently working as an Instacart shopper, debating whether a certain customer would be okay with regular broccoli since the organic broccoli is all gone — but that’s mostly for laughs. I love seeing the look in people’s eyes when they realize their groceries are being delivered by a real-life rockstar, by someone whose music was once called “weird but cool” by our greatest living actor, Daniel Radcliffe.
But anyways — in celebration of the 10 year anniversary, we are doing two things.
First, I’m going to do a little livestream performance next week from my living room — I’ll play all of the Mistress, front-to-back, solo style. There may, or may not be, a few looped vocals. My computer may, or may not, get overwhelmed and crash at a crucial part of the show. But I thought it would be fun. The stream will be live on Thursday, December 10th, at 9:30pm EST / 8:30pm CST, and it will be up on Barsuk’s Youtube page, the YO Facebook and the Barsuk Instagram. You can RSVP here.
Second, in partnership with the great Barsuk Records, there is a VINYL REISSUE at last, coming out in the spring. The original vinyl was a small run, and it’s been out of print for years. Now there is a new version. It has a fresh 2020 remaster by legendary mastering engineer Huntley Miller, and it contains a slightly different mix than the original vinyl (that vinyl didn’t have Michael’s drums on it, the new one does, same as the CD and digital copies that have been around since Barsuk released it).
Along with the original album, there are 18 BONUS TRACKS for the reissue. You can get them immediately, right now, if you pre-order the vinyl - otherwise, they will be released digitally when the reissue comes out in the spring (exact date TBA, Covid has made things a little weird). The bonus tracks include the original three bonus tracks, four previously unreleased b-sides, an early alternate version of ‘WHALE’, and then ten covers that I recorded around the same time. Deep cut fans will recognize these covers from when I put them on Youtube early in 2010 when i was just a struggling student artist (pre-fame). Now they are all collected in one place.
Pre-order the vinyl on Bandcamp now, or at Barsuk.
Oh also, there miiight be some *cough*new music*cough* coming soon, but that’s all I’m legally allowed to say for now. stay tuned.
I sincerely hope everyone is doing alright out there, and are finding ways to cope with this shitty situation. we’re maybe possibly nearing the end of it! See you out there soon.
Alex