Greetings friends of Asian Man Records. Hope you are well this Friday as we embark upon a beautiful weekend here in sunny California. If you live somewhere cold, I'm SORRY. Soon the weather will become increasingly hot and then you'll be wishing for the cold again? Probably not. Anyways, here's some news going down.

A few months back I had written about the sad news of my friend Lynette Knackstedt's untimely death. Her family asked if I could help set up a memorial show where we could donate the money to a charity. I wanted to shoot over some info. to those who might be interested in this event:

The show is on Saturday April 19th @ 924 GILMAN in BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA. We will be donating the proceeds to the Ohlhoff Recovery Programs, 601 Steiner St., San Francisco, CA for drug awareness and recovery. Donations may also be made by calling (415) 626-9782 or online at http://www.ohlhoff.org I will be playing an acoustic set, but also will be dusting off my saxamaphone and playing a SKANKIN' PICKLE set under the BRUCE LEE BAND moniker. MONKEY will be backing me to provide the SKA sounds. I practiced for the first time on Wednesday and it's sounding pretty good. Well, good considering I've picked up my saxophone once in 5 years. But yup, it was fun to play some old old songs. If you have friends or family in the bay area of good ol' N. California, then please spread the word about the show. Would love to have a big turnout for this celebration. We'll also be bringing tons of cookies and snacks for free, so yeah...just trying to make this a fun time for all.

Our brothers in NO TORSO will be making their way to the UNITED STATES for the first time ever. Hailing from OSLO, SWEDEN the boys will venture out on a DIY tour booked by an intern at ASIAN MAN. His name is Sean and man....all I have to say is this guy rules. Here's their routing thus far. If you can help out with flyering and such, then please get in touch with sean@asianmanrecords.com

06.20.08 - PA, Philadelphia @ TBA
06.21.08 - NY, Brooklyn @ Sealab 187
06.22.08 - NY, Syracuse @ Westcott Comm. Center
06.23.08 - CT, New Haven @ TBA
06.24.08 - NJ, Haddon Heights @ TBA
06.25.08 - PA, West Chester @ TBA
06.26.08 - MD, Baltimore @ TBA
06.27.08 - VA, Richmond
06.28.08 - NC, Raleigh @ TBA
06.29.08 - TN, Knoxville @ The Longbranch Saloon
06.30.08 - AL, Birmingham @ TBA
07.01.08 - FL, Gainesville @ TBA
07.04.08 - LA, New Orleans @ The Higher Ground
07.05.08 - TX, Plano @ The Rock Steady
07.06.08 - NM, Albuquerque @ TBA
07.07.08 - AZ, Phoenix @ TBA
07.08.08 - CA, Los Angeles
07.09.08 - CA, Riverside @ TBA
07.10.08 - CA, Long Beach @ DiPiazza's
07.11.08 - CA, San Luis Obispo @ TBA
07.12.08 - CA, Santa Cruz @ TBA
07.14.08 - CA, Berkeley @ TBA
More info can be found at myspace.com/notorsoska

Things continue to be busy as we launch into the re-presses of a lot of vinyl and the first breath of air for tons of releases that never got the vinyl treatment. Here's a list of what we plan on putting on wax:

ALKALINE TRIO-S/T(first time on wax)
ALKALINE TRIO-MAYBE I'LL CATCH FIRE(re-press)
BIG D AND THE KIDS TABLE-GOOD LUCK(first time on wax-DOUBLE GATE FOLD)
THE BROADWAYS-BROKEN STAR(re-press)
THE BROADWAYS-BROKEN VAN(first time on wax)
LAWRENCE ARMS-GUIDED TOUR(first time on wax)
LAWRENCE ARMS-GHOST STORIES(first time on wax)
LAWRENCE ARMS-COCKTAILS AND DREAMS(first time on wax-DOUBLE GATE FOLD)
MIKE PARK-FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC(first time on wax)
MIKE PARK-N HANGOOK FALLING(first time on wax)
MATT SKIBA/KEVIN SECONDS-SPLIT(re-press)
SLAPSTICK-S/T(re-press)

But yeah... It's a lot of work, but we're slowly getting to these records. And of course all the new releases will all be coming out on vinyl. FUN FUN

Also, if any of you are interested..A group of us are going to the A'S game this Sunday in Oakland. They have a new section called ALL YOU CAN EAT. Yeah, you heard right...We know going into this that we're gonna eat horrible food and probably feel like crap afterwords, but yup... email me if you want in at mikeasianman@aol.com.

Peace, mike park