So, we’ve mentioned the imminent release of No Great Lost: Songs, 1979–1985, which restores to print some really influential, important music by Atlanta new wave alchemist Kevin Dunn. We weren’t old enough to experience the Atlanta pop underground that birthed this stuff – but it’s worth checking out Jeff Calder’s wonderful writings on the subject here. Similarly, it’s worth investigating the Calder-produced reissue of the Hampton Grease Band’s masterpiece Music to Eat, which is out of print but still not hard to find. Glenn Phillips wrote a great liner note for it. Needless to say, there’s a wealth of great music from this era and area that begs to be rediscovered. We have a few seven-inches and LPs here in the office, but if anyone out there has any cool recordings of any of the bands Jeff mentioned, e-mail us at Atlantamusic[at symbol]casanueva.net.

We digress. Back to the matter at hand. We here at Casa Nueva have put out records before – of our own bands, of friends’ bands, of artists when we worked for other labels, etc. We have a good idea of how it works. But something like this was a challenge, and we thought it would be fun to detail the steps that brought it about. Hopefully you can learn from our mistakes and reissue your own favorite recordings!

It all started, basically, when Brad was in high school. He – like most of us – was obsessed with Ira Robbins’ Trouser Press Record Guide, and still has most of the damn thing committed to memory (try to stump him some day). It was in that tome that he read about Kevin Dunn and the Regiment of Women’s The Judgement of Paris LP. He bought one at a record fair, where grizzled individuals pass battered doo-wop 45s between their clammy, trembling palms. He’s been obsessed with the record ever since, it intersecting a lot of his interests: one man pop records, southern outcasts, off-kilter lyrical gist, cool analog synths and drum machines, way-out guitar (from surf-twangy to Fripp-melting), etc…

Around 1999 or 2000, near the 20th anniversary of that great recording, Brad got in touch with Jeff Calder – Atlanta underground archivist and leader of the most estimable Swimming Pool Q’s – and, in the course of other business, inquired about Kevin Dunn. Jeff said that a reissue of The Judgement of Paris was being planned to coincide with the upcoming anniversary. That was not to be, however…

When we started Casa Nueva, Brad had a mid-fi home-burn of The Judgement of Paris on his iPod. We listened to it once. We listened to it again. It was on regular rotation in the office before long (and still is). When we started to cast about for our second project, it ranked high on the list. So we picked up the phone and called Jeff Calder, just out of curiosity…

More to follow…stay tuned.