Twisted Nerve, Finders Keepers, Delay 68 Are B-Music

Brain number one is Twisted Nerve, the record label fronted by DJ/producer/graphic designer Andy Votel and Badly Drawn Boy Damon Gough. Numbers two and three are the labels Delay 68 (which Votel runs in conjunction with Cherry Red Records) and Finders Keepers, both UK-based reissue labels. Together, the three imprints, with the help of Votel-recruited DJ/designer Dominic Thomas, have developed an umbrella company, B-Music, which will put out music from all three in the U.S. So, soon we'll be able to buy stuff like the Prog Is Not a Four Letter Word, Folk Is Not a Four Letter Word, and Welsh Rare Beat compilations without paying astronomical import prices.

September 5 will see B-Music's first fruits: the recently unearthed psych gem Paint a Lady by Susan Christie, as well as Serge Gainsbourg collaborator Jean-Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches. According to B-Music's publicist, late 2006 will bring a "rhythm heavy femme-fronted Polish full-length" and "rare Turkish psych gems," as well as "wild guitar Krautrock jams" from Rick Tomlinson.

Further down the line, B-Music plans U.S. versions of the Four Letter Word comps and Welsh Rare Beat, both with new tracks, as well as Yamasuki's Le Monde Fabuleaux des Yamasuki ("another psych bizzaro soundtrack from the early seventies"). Records will come out at a rate of roughly two to three per month, with an emphasis on reissues of obscure classics and compilations.

To celebrate B-Music's American launch, the collective has put together a series of shows, set to take place in New York City tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday. B-Music's head honchos will spin records, and friends like Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals and Wendy Flower of Wendy & Bonnie will perform. The latter two lineups both have yet to announce their "very special guests," but we do know this:

June 1 - Tonic:

Gruff Rhys
Wendy Flower
Jane Weaver
Voice of the Seven Woods with All Traps Set
DJs Dom Thomas + Mahssa

June 2 - APT:

David Holmes
Andy Votel + Dom Thomas
Jazzman Gerald
Duane Harriott
Mahssa

June 4 - Rubulad :

David Holmes
B-Music DJ crew: Andy Votel, Dom Thomas, Mahssa
Egon
Jazzman Gerald
Duane Harriott
Gerald McBoing Boing + Small Change