sad cactus
Crimson Blue "Limiter" out friday 5/20 + stream "Gut Spiller" now

hello! extremely excited here to be annoucing that we're releasing Crimson Blue (Sam Brivic of Eieieio and Tundrastomper)'s newest solo effort Limiter this Friday, May 20th. This record is an absolute delight, full of unexpected moments and genuine beauty, and an honest document of a moment in Sam's life. It is fun and weird and a true joy to listen to.

The first single "Gut Spiller" is streaming now - you can listen here:

Sad Cactus Records · Crimson Blue -- "Gut Spiller"

Sam on Limiter:

Limiter is my companion to the spring in Hadley, MA. Written and recorded from February to June 2020, pretty much anything I saw in the world was a welcome and immediate excuse to make music: the cardinal that ceaselessly pecks my roommate's car, an old-fashioned doughnut on the table, or the otter (was it an otter?) that glides along the CT river.

While previous Crimson Blue releases were whittled from an array of recordings in my computer's nooks and crannies, the sound and chronology on Limiter is more focused. I had recently picked up a saxophone—my first time since retiring from middle school band. Though I had largely forgotten how to play, my excitement for the “new” instrument led to a different musical approach that relied more on loops, programmed drums, and driving bass lines. Suddenly I felt like a bar mitzvah DJ fussing about, summoning the mundane to the dance floor. I know, I know, but hey, it kept me entertained! All in all, Limiter is no different than any other Crimmy album: goofy and occasionally gloomy tunes about minutia and more.

Limiter will be out digitally Friday, to purchase on the Crimson Blue bandcamp here: https://crimsonblue2.bandcamp.com/

and streamable anywhere streams are strum.

Posted on May 16th, 2022
Fitness remix EP "Fuller Weller" out 5/6 + new demo

we're so very excited to be releasing Fuller Weller a remix companion of Fitness' incredible 2021 record "Full Well". Featuring reworkings from Maxshh, Microcosmic Worship Hour, Brick Road, pseudo-antigone, Fuller Weller is a truly delightful reimagining of Fitness' transcendent songs.

Are you fully well? How fully well do you fare? Do you want to be fully weller? To fill up your well?

1. Theme II - Maxshh Remix

Phase 1 is intended to provide fast-acting, immediate relief of high-low surface tension. Remixed by Hadley, Massachusetts-based expert scientist and Sad Cactus Records labelmate Maxshh, phase 1 is an exercise in jittery collage. Assembled from the ruins of Full Well track Theme II, phase 1’s avant-pop leanings are sure to make you grin fuller and feel weller almost instantaneously

2. Fingernails - Brick Road Remix

Phase 2 is designed to ease the listener into the flow of the patented timed-release technology. Phase 2 is produced by Edmonton pensive tinkerer and free-jazz connoisseur Brick Road. Full Well number Fingernails reimagined as downtempo psychedelia, phase 2 is a slow-burner that places the listener in a meditative mode of contentment and seamlessly transitions the listener into the exuberant joy of phase

3. Coal Miner - Pseudo-Antigone Remix

Phase 3 is an ebullient wave produced by Edmonton’s hyperpop queen Pseudo-Antigone. A master of analysis and deconstruction, Pseudo-Antigone dissects Coal Miner into its constituent elements before reassembling it into a joyful real-estate anthem guaranteed to assuage even the most persistent of ailments. The effects of phase 3 mirror the methods implemented in its conception; it induces in the listener the sensation of being deconstructed and reassembled Fuller, Weller™.

4. Knowing - Microcosmic Worship Hour Remix

Phase 4 provides the sonic massage necessary to consolidate and encode the wellness data of the previous 3 phases into your ROM. This phase is akin to an auditory baptization. Conceived by Kaunsel (of, among others, Zebra Pulse and Soft Ions), phase 4 is perhaps the most ethereal of the 4 phases, abandoning the regular rhythmic pulse of previous phases for an enigmatic ablution of non-wellness.

5. Fitness - Exchange

The final phase of Fuller Weller™. A return to basic wellness, if you will. Initially conceived as a part of Full Well but incorporated into the phased release of Fuller Weller™ to allow for maximum retention of the release’s unique effects. Titled in homage to, incorporating ideas from, and overall deeply indebted to Rae Armantrout’s poem Exchange, phase 5 is a coda that is sure to maximize the collection’s wellness effects so you can feel Fuller Weller™ for longer.

Posted on May 4th, 2022