gina pensiero (umberto, the dumb and ugly club, burners and bombs), michael beauchamp (the dumb and ugly club), emily bate, travis bursik (simonnewcomb), angelina schmalzried (love, ange, zines by ange), sean lango, alexis jakobson, jerzy drozd, amelia black, ryan f.g., annie kopicko, ethan weinstock, katy shay
Influences
if elephant six and buyolympia had a bastard lovechild, i am janet! might just be it.
Sounds Like
ann arbor. atlanta. chicago. new jersey. new york.
i am janet! records is a small group of artists who banded together to create a whole greater than the sum of the individual parts. based in ann arbor, iaj!(r) includes musicians, songwriters, recordists, visual artists, illustrators designers, writers, zinesters, bloggers and fimakers. here they are:
musicians, songwriters + recordists
the dumb and ugly club
currently on hiatus, the dumb and ugly club formed in 2001. comprised of gina pensiero (umberto, the happy hills of bokonon) and michael beauchamp (king mob, ambitious brothers, descent of the holy ghost church), the duc were also the founders of i am janet! records. the band's music is heavily influenced by folk and indie rock.
their first album the dead in chicago ep was a sparse collection of their early songwriting together.
in 2005, the club released mars, 1967, a lush 60s themed space-rock concept album.
to hear more dumb and ugly club, check out:
www.myspace.com/dumbanduglyclub
umberto
umberto is the solo project of singer-songwriter gina pensiero of the dumb and ugly club. umberto is poppy, intelligent music with a focus on creative instrumentation and lyrical content.
umberto has released two albums; a four-track ep science takes time and the full length home-recorded there a somewhere lies. umberto is currently working on a new ep yellow cardigan and other light-hearted songs, which will feature songs of a humorous variety.
to hear more umberto, check out:
www.myspace.com/umberto
emily bate
emily bate is an aa folkstress with clever, clever tunes.
to date she has released one self-titled live lp, one ep ; and is currently hard at work on a new album.
to hear more emily bate, check out:
www.myspace.com/emilybate
simonnewcomb began as a solo project for travis bursik. after years of releasing cassettes and compact discs, simonnewcomb has morphed into a live band, focusing on such disparate projects as experimental noise, an a capella release, recorded mercury player-style radio shows, and soundtrack work.
to hear more simonnewcomb, check out:
www.myspace.com/simonnewcomb
love, ange tackles the light, the weird and the fun with lyrics and tunes by angelina schmalzried and heavy electro beats by umberto. subject matter ranges from a favorite dairy product to complicated love.
sean lango is a new jersey based jazz musician (guitarist) and recordist who enjoys pizza and playing with his analog synth. we expect many great things from him in the future.
visual artists, illustrators + designers
alexis jakobson is a visual artists based in ann arbor. she has most recently been published in a compilation of university of michigan artists edited by graphic novelist pheobe gloeckner called empty pockets.
for more on this project, check out:
http://www.woodenbook.org/emptypockets/pages/
jerzy drozd is a comic/graphic artist who is working on the web design for iaj!'s new site!
his website, which he designed himself, is here:
www.mlatcomics.com
amelia black lives/designs in chicago. she describes herself as "a performer, artist and organizing force of administration."
find her website here:
http://www.ameliablack.com/
katy shay is an artist who likes to draw awesome comics. just try and find someone who draws a giant squid or a strange monster better than her.
jess snyder, based in atlanta, is a visual artist who does fresh and exciting work that crosses genres and mediums.
writers, zinesters + bloggers
ryan f.g. is a writer, zinester and haiku aficionado. look forward to his new multi-illustrated zine about a neighbor boy and a tortured dog called wilmont.
annie kopicko, who currently lives in brooklyn, plans to start a blog about various topics. from ann arbor to new york city; from living with dumpster-diving political punks to attending cooking school, annie's writing is sure to entertain.
gina pensiero keeps a blog of graffiti and street art from various locales.
see it here:
http://burnersandbombs.blogspot.com/
angelina schmalzried has authored many beautiful zines of honest poetry.
check them out here:
myspace.com/zinesbyange
filmakers
ethan weinstock is a brooklyn filmaker and editor.
*** iaj!r catalog
[iaj!r 001] the dumb and ugly club//dead in chicago (EP)
[iaj!r 002] umberto//science takes time (EP)
[iaj!r 003] umberto//there a somewhere lies (LP)
[iaj!r 004] the dumb and ugly club//mars, 1967 (EP)
[iaj!r 005] emily bate//hiss and hum (LP)
[iaj!r 006] simonnewcomb//missouri compromise (LP)
[iaj!r 007] umberto//wilmont (SCORE)
[iaj!r 008] umberto//yellow cardigan and other light-hearted songs (EP)
[iaj!r 009] umberto//on halloween and other sincere songs (EP)
[iaj!r 008/009] umberto//yellow cardigan and on halloween special edition (DOUBLE EP)
g. awesome im excited to hear what youve done. did rydog tell you im coming to visit?cause i am. woot. any feedback on the songs on my site?hope you are well. much love
thanks for finding and adding us.
great stuff, not every one knows, but i (brookln) have a wandering eye and if that's not weird enough my wife's maiden name was ruth emily bate.
(sing the following to the melody of close encounters of the third kind)
do.do.do.do.do
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