Whatcha been up to?

[yourfriendclaire]

I'm working on a book (or trying to). Sewing weird outfits. Drinking a cup of PG Tips in the afternoon. Taking tennis lessons. Feeling liberated by the death of Twitter.

[m o l l y]

I co-run a country music label now! http://santeloisirs.com/xx.html
Now how about that?

[yourfriendclaire]

I think that's really cool of you

[m o l l y]

<3

[alex]

this is super cool! can we learn a little more? can it be its own thread? how did it start? what do you do, etc

[kmikeym]

Yeah, maybe this is out first AMA!

[yourfriendclaire]

AMA = Ask Molly Anything

[m o l l y]

Oops sorry, time. I got a backache.

The label is actually a bunch of labels; the main two being Cattle Records and Cowgirlboy Records, that an insurance salesman in the middle of Germany, named Reimar, put out in the 80s. It is unclear why Reimar kept creating new labels since all of them put out more or less the same style of music, which is country music from before 1955; before Elvis.
Flash forward to, I wanna say 5 years agoish?, a young French dude who is studying graphic design and makes wood cuts discovers the records due to their unique kind of punk-flyery aesthetic, but they are country records? From Germany?? What's the deal? He must find out more!
Young Eric sets out to find Reimar, who is now Dagmar and is in her 60s and this unexpected duo become fast friends. Dagmar is done with this business. Eric, do you want these records? Otherwise I'll throw them all out.
Eric has been running these labels for the past 4 years or so, and recently invited me to join his lonely team because, well loneliness?
So it is that kind of label I guess. It has not put out any more music yet. There are still quite a lot of records from Dagmar. I'll probably go out to Germany with Eric in the spring and meet Dagmar, and pick up another truckload of vinyl.
Ask me anything!

[yourfriendclaire]

so is it digital-only or are you shipping LPs? what's your favorite release!

[m o l l y]

It is actually LP only, though you can listen to chosen tracks on the website. There is a nice long playlist here http://santeloisirs.com/xxabout.html.

I really think it is possible that a sizable amount of Eric's past sales have been the long lost grand-nieces of an unknown Canadian fiddle players who were like, "I have been looking for a recording of my great uncle playing the songs of Lynn Russwurm! Thank you, Cattle Records!" So yes, we ship! You can buy through discogs https://www.discogs.com/seller/santeloisirs/profile. If you were to buy records from us, send a message if you want more than one or two. We'll cut you a deal.

I'm still getting to know the records. There are 150 something releases. I like Vin Bruce and Dexter Johnson. A lot of the guys sound too smooth, like a walking set of shining teeth. Bruce and Johnson sound a little more raw, like normal-toothed guys. Not that many ladies in the mix, sadly, but those are almost all great: Poe Sisters and Tabby West come to mind. Also, some of the vinyl is colored, which is fun. You can see which ones here http://santeloisirs.com/xx.html

[matthew]

i’m so into this

[richjensen]

Helping to run a cannabis company, trying to move a co-op through a long dysfunction, writing about how one might dream people into your life. Still meditating an hour a day. Getting ready for the baby to hear about her college options. Discovering the value of emotions. Working at being a worthy life partner.