Anyway, April 6th sees a digital-only release of 3 songs recovered from the 1993-1996-era Propagandhi vaults. The Recovered EP features two cover tunes and one original (featuring a member of the Weakerthans on vocals — relax, it’s not Steve Carroll) found amidst the rubble of the How To Clean Everything and Less Talk, More Rock sessions. Accompanying the release is a 19-page digital booklet in which Chris drones on endlessly about recording techniques or some shit.

All net proceeds benefit the Partners In Health organization, so quit whining about the fact that it’s only 8.5 minutes long and plunk down your cash.

No, this doesn’t mean that we’ve come out of label hibernation. It just means that Chris blackmailed me with compromising photos of Lierre Keith, Michael Pollan and myself enjoying a “humanely-raised” steak dinner. Naked. Wearing nipple-clamps.

Why? Because by making a small donation to one of three of said organizations, you can download “Supporting Caste” and “Humane(e) Meat” — two stellar tracks off of said forthcoming opus — in high-quality MP3 format right now.

But wait, there’s more … as of today you can also place a pre-order for the new album, and receive an amazing 18″ x 24″ colour poster, plus a link to download the entire album on the release date. This offer only stands until March 10th, so take your fingers out of your nostrils, place them on your keyboard and mouse respectively, and get to it!

Supporting Caste holds 12 new laments, reveries and extrapolations from 4 visibly-aging … aw fuck it, just read the press release here.

I will, however, say the following about Supporting Caste:

• it features amazing cover art by the great Kent Monkman;
• it is being released thricely: digital download (via this here website, and all the other usual suspects), CD (digipack), and double LP (gatefold);
• we are co-releasing the album with our buds at Smallman Records (and by “co-release” we of course mean “they do everything”);
• it presents a bold, delicious proposal to end the long-standing vegetarian/meat-eater conflict.

Stay tuned for info on when and how a preview MP3 will be made available.

Oh, and the boys will be on tour in Australia, the US, the UK and Europe for much of February, March and April.

CDs which we currently have in stock continue to be available for sale in our online store until that stock runs out. We will not be manufacturing any more CDs in the future.

Now that that clarification is out of the way, I may as well update the curious on the latest with G7-affiliated peoples …

Propagandhi are currently in the studio recording their new album. It is tentatively titled “Not My President” and is rumoured to contain new songs played by the members of the band. It will be released at some point in the future, in some format which will allow you to listen to it, via a method that is yet-to-be-determined.

Greg MacPherson has at this point written a few albums worth of new songs, and is planning to record in the near future. Please email him and ask him to enlist me to play drums on his new record. He won’t return my phone calls.

The Subhumans have just released a compilation of out-of-print 7″s on a CD/LP called Death Was To Kind. It’s out on Alternative Tentacles right now.

GFK are also working on a new album, which will “surprise most of you with a new trash metal sound colored with breakdowns.” I, for one, am also surprised by breakdowns in hardcore songs. Said album is expected to reveal itself by the end of next year. Plus, Jessy is apparently a dad now. I actually don’t have any sarcastic comments to make about this news, as he is the only member in the band that does not scare the shit out of me in the role of “daddy.”

Declan De Barra, formerly of Clann Zú, has a new album entitled A Fire To Scare the Sun which will be released shortly. He also has a giant mop of hair now, which is funny.

Lee Raback, former MC of the still-amazing warsawpack, has a few songs available to check out on MySpace under the name Lee Reed.

Norman Nawrocki continues to tour with his educational and hilarious sex shows, and is publishing a series of books called the Brain Food Trilogy (the first of which, Breakfast for Anarchists, is available now.) If poetry does in fact feed your brain, as opposed to hurting it (like it does mine), then you imght want to check it out.

I think that’s about it for now folks. We’re trying to keep the tour dates on this site relatively up-to-date as well, but you’re probably better off to follow the bands’ sites more closely for the most current dates.

One last note to American readers — Barack Obama is just the figurehead of one of two pro-war, big-business parties in your country. He will not save the world. Unicorns will not frolic in the streets upon his (likely) inauguration.

He will, however, probably write a really great memoir after his time as president is done, in which he will reflect on — and maybe even apologize for — all the mistakes he made in bombing innocent civilians in his new, amped-up war in Afghanistan (and wherever else his administration takes the U.S. war machine in the years ahead.)

At first we didn’t know why his music was so bizarre and eccentric. He was, after all, from Boston, home of such clearly non-eccentric luminaries as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn. But then we found he was now living in Sweden and it all made sense. Those people are freaks (see examples.)

Speaking of old Zinn-meister, here’s what he had to say about This Time It’s Personal:

We just listened to your wonderful new CD [sic] — it is as you want it to be — up-front and very powerful, with the words coming at you, entering into your consciousness. It is a really important thing you’ve done. Each one of the pieces is great.

The man certainly has a way with words, doesn’t he? And who are you to argue with him — he wrote the fucking People’s History of the United States!

Download This Time It’s Personal today – and also check out the recently-posted video for I Won’t Run (which, if viewed cynically, could be interpreted as endorsing suicide bombings. But we’re not cynics! And we don’t endorse suicide bombings. Nor do we endorse F16 aerial bombings. Unless you’re blowing up an F16 with a suicide bomb, that’s OK.)

You can also find the album on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon and other inter-web locations.

But that’s all about to change.

Instead of pretending that we’re actually still interested in the practice of accepting submissions and hunting for, then filtering and sorting, then negotiating and paying for, then promoting and distributing and accounting for music … instead of pretending that we like and are happy doing all THAT … we are doing the opposite. And opposite, is opposite.

No more. I’m going on 58, Chris is pushing 65, and Brent … well Brent’s only 34, but he spends half of his time in the drunk tank and the other half in the dunk tank, so he’s a write off.

Point is … well, let me illustrate. Go to the kitchen, open the drawer … no, not that one, it’s all full of old twist ties and plastic bags … no, one to the left … no no, the OTHER left … OK, good, that one … now get a fork. No, that’s a foon. THERE we go – now THAT’S a fork! OK now, what was I saying? Oh right – now stick that fork in us. Because WE’RE DONE.

All G7 releases will remain available in their current high-quality digital form into the foreseeable future. Watch for Chris’ forthcoming retrospective on the history of G7 from AK Press next year?

It’s been a slice dickwads.

“This Time It’s Personal” is available from the G7 download store and purveyors of digital music everywhere on May 6th. In the meantime, we suggest checking out the MP3 for “Proud to be an American.”

It is funny.

Instead, you’ll have to settle for Propagandhi’s short stint in Japan, and The Rebel Spell’s jaunt across Western Canada with The Flatliners, who I’ve never heard of. Oh wait, they’re on Fat Wreck Chords, that must be why. Aaaah, hahahaha.

See tours here.

But guess what? …THAT’s what! haha, got you! That’s twice in under 5 seconds. You’re a loser!

No but seriously, guess what? (insert above joke 14 more times)

We’ve launched a new G7 Video Podcast, which will feature never before seen footage of G7 bands! Why? I don’t know! Subscribe to see Episode 1 now (iTunes) (or here’s a link for your own choice of podcast aggregator). Up first is the pride of Brooklyn, Hiretsukan with a cover of Hiretsukan’s “Barrell Roll” which i believe was filmed at Carnegie Hall by James Cameron!