No news is good news
May 6, 2008

I haven't posted a news update for a while. Mostly because there hasn't been much of anything going on since the release of the "Recycled Music" cassette on RRRecords. However, I do have a few minor things to report.

I have been in discussions once again with Epicene Sound Systems about releasing some Lavatory Rats material. I say "once again" because we have talked about doing this several times in the past 9 years, but nothing ever came of it. (See the History section for more information.) This time, however, it looks like it may happen. Epicene is planning to release the first two volumes of "Live at Bedroom" on a limited edition double cassette. I am supposed to be receiving some artwork samples in the near future. When that happens, I will post an update.

I changed the design of the home page last week. It used to look the same as all the other pages on the site. Now, however, it simply features a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer's essay "On Noise" followed by a link to enter the site. I think this is the design I am going to continue to use indefinitely, unless there is a major news announcement to feature on the home page.

Other than that, I have decided to be more tentative regarding the launching of my CD-R label Art, Not Product. I was hoping to start releasing CD-Rs this summer, but for various reasons I'm not sure that will happen. So for now, I'm going with sometime in 2009. That may change, however, and if it does, I will report it here. Stay tuned.

Lavatory Rats "Recycled Music" cassette released on RRRecords
March 17, 2008

Lavatory Rats "Recycled Music" cassette has been issued by RRRecords. This is the first official Lavatory Rats release. Technically, the release date for "Recycled Music" was January 28, 2008; the day that the cassette was listed for sale in the RRRecords catalog. Because I had been working on revamping the Lavatory Rats since late January, however, I am only now officially announcing the release.

(Photo by Ron Lessard)

"Recycled Music" is essentially a "best of" early Lavatory Rats recordings from 1998-2002. A few of these tracks had previously appeared on the Lavatory Rats MySpace profile. Some of this material will be reissued on the upcoming Lavatory Rats compilation "Birth of the Uncool." In addition, several tracks will be on "Live at Bedroom Vol. 2." Both of these are scheduled for release on my CD-R label Art, Not Product later in 2008. (Epicene Sound Systems may also release "Live at Bedroom Vol. 2" on a limited edition cassette in the near future. More details forthcoming.)

As cool as the RRRecords "Recycled Music" cassettes are, I don't particularly consider this a "definitive" Lavatory Rats release for a number of reasons. There are no song titles or credits, and the sound quality is less than stellar given that the album is recorded onto used, pre-recorded cassettes. As well, since the length of the tapes can vary considerably, they may not include the full program. In fact, on the seven copies I received, the final track on each side was cut off by several minutes, even on cassettes that were of sufficient length to hold the entire album.

However, I'm not complaining. I couldn't be happier for Lavatory Rats to be part of the fabled "Recycled Music" series on the legendary RRRecords. Many thanks to Ron Lessard for making it happen.

New Lavatory Rats website
March 17, 2008

The Lavatory Rats website has been completely revamped with an all-new design and added content, including:

• A brief history of Lavatory Rats
• Lavatory Rats discography
• All the Lavatory Rats music that is available for downloading/streaming
• Information on my work as DJ Can't-Scratch and Richard Heck
• Information about my CD-R label Art, Not Product

Within the next few months, there will be an archive of past news updates, a page for ordering Lavatory Rats and related music, and perhaps some other new sections. All revisions to the site will be posted here in the News Updates section.

I'm no master web designer, so the site is still very basic and modest. However, I think it is a significant upgrade over the previous version. I have taken the time to ensure that the pages are properly encoded using valid HTML 4.01 Strict, and thus should be viewable in browsers that are compliant with Web standards.