It has been busy lately.

We have been wrapping up production of 2 new great cd’s. Global Seepej and Nadamucho.com Present: Sounds from the Seattle Underground, and At the Spine’s 4th album, “Vita”

1. Global Seepej Records and Nadamucho.com Present: Sounds from the Seattle Underground. This great new summer compilation has come together after several years of Mike kicking this idea around with Nada captain Matt Ashworth. 17 great local songs compiled from over 300 Puget Sound area submissions. bands include At the Spine, The Tea Cozies, Head Like a Kite, Hazelwood Motel,The Lonely Forest, Pufferfish, Amateur Radio Operator, Chris Klepac, The Wastelanders, WhoTheHells, Iceage Cobra, Eastern Grip, C-Leb & A-Bro, The Endeavors, Spaces, Katherine Hepburn’s Voice, and Elder Mason. A stellar line-up. Look for a cd to be in stores July 1 and check out the upcoming CD showcases where all attendees will get a free advance copy of the compilation:

Thursday, 6.26.2008 @ Mars Bar/ Café Venus, 609 Eastlake Ave E., Seattle, WA,. Global Seepej 12th Anniversary Party Kickoff for NadaMucho.com’s/GSR compilation: Sounds from the Seattle Underground! FREE!
11 p.m. C-LEB & A-BRO www.myspace.com/ceeleb
10 p.m. Hazelwood Motel www.myspace.com/hazelwoodmotel
9 p.m. Chris Klepac www.myspace.com/chrisklepac
7 p.m. Listening party and happy hour. 9 p.m. Show FREE!!!!
www.cafevenus.com/indexa.html

Friday, 6.27.2008 @ Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave., Seattle, WA. Night 2 of Global Seepej 12th Anniversary celebrating NadaMucho.com’s/GSR compilation: Sounds from the Seattle Underground. Details TBA.
12 a.m. ELDER MASON www.myspace.com/eldermason
11 p.m. The Lonely Forest www.myspace.com/thelonelyforest
10 p.m. Eastern Grip www.myspace.com/easterngrip
9 p.m. Pufferfish www.myspace.com/thepufferfish
9 p.m. $8. ALL ATTENDEES GET A FREE COPY OF THE CD!!!
www.sunsettavern.com/

Saturday, 6.28,2008 @ High Dive, 513 N 36th, Seattle, WA. Night 3 of Global Seepej 12th Anniversary celebrating NadaMucho.com’s/GSR compilation: Sounds from the Seattle Underground. At the Spine with Ice Age Cobra, The Tea Cozies and Who The Hells.
12 a.m. ICEAGE COBRA www.myspace.com/iceagecobra
11 p.m. The Tea Cozies www.myspace.com/teacozies
10 p.m. At the Spine www.atthespine.org
9 p.m. WhoTheHells www.whothehells.com
9 p.m. $8. ALL ATTENDEES GET A FREE COPY OF THE CD!!!
www.highdiveseattle.com/

2. At the Spine, “Vita”. Here is the lowdown:

Vita is the fourth album in five years for the Seattle born and based band At the Spine. This album was mainly written in Europe after main ATS songwriter Mike Toschi (Toe-skee) left the states in the final days of 2006. Having grown increasingly disenchanted and frustrated with the political “conservatism” of the country and the continual corruption of industry and government, Toschi secured a six-month work permit for the UK and left to explore music, culture, people, and politics of Europe, unsure if he would return.

On New Year’s Eve of 2006, a few days into his visit, Toschi was jumped by five males (claiming to be from Iraq) after a trivial verbal exchange near Trafalgar Square in central London. After a few days of recovery, he began working as a privatized substitute teacher in a stretch known as “Murder Mile” in the Hackney section of London. Flashbacks of teaching in the South Bronx were constant and depressing. He found the same poverty, segregation, and failing state school system, but in a country with less armed citizens where kids would call you “sir” while treating you like dirt.
As an “American” during an unpopular war and president, teaching children in England’s class stratified system was not a pleasant situation. But as London was not a cheap place to live, he plugged onward in various teaching assignments, taking advantage of all school breaks and the strength of the British currency to explore the rest of Europe and write songs.

Like life everywhere, there were good times and bad times: beauty, ugliness, lust, love, sex, kind hearted strangers, thugs, and thieves. The isolation and loneliness of being an “immigrant” away from the lifelines of home. Hitchhiking into the mountains of Emilia Romagna to search for and find relatives in a village of 100 people. Spending a week in Barcelona, or a day passing through southern France. Struggling to crack into the London/EU music scene. An occasional night homeless or stranded in the middle of nowhere. Loving, hating, thinking, and reflecting. “Vita”, Latin and Italian for “life”. Sometimes sour, sometimes sweet.

After seven months struggling to find a drummer in London, Toschi returned to the U.S., reconstituted the At the Spine and began experimenting with and polishing the songs written abroad. Re-joining him were drummer Chris Croft and guitar wizard Richie Parish. Adding some new blood and ideas on bass, guitar, and organ was an old Seattle skateboarding and music friend from his youth, Doug Starcevich. The album was recorded in Portland, OR with longtime friend and engineer Rob Bartleson (Wilco, Pink Martini, Pond, etc.) at Haywire recording in Portland, OR, with additional tracking done in Seattle.