We have — very silently — “released” our latest album.

After something like 5 years of very, very, very slow progress, we are proud to announce that Papercuts is now publicly available for download in mp3 format only. Please see the front page of paperbag.net for links to all the songs.

Jamie is currently shopping around and trying to finalize the logistics of getting it mass-produced. Shortly after that is taken care of, we will be making our new store-front available for online purchase of *all* our albums (and maybe other stuff too!)…

Why would you want to *pay* for the albums from us when you can download almost everything in mp3 form? There are really only 3 reasons I can think of, but you may have others:

1. Sound quality – The copies of the albums that you get from us are in original, uncompressed, audio format. Though many people don’t realize it, mp3 compression reduces the sound quality. On the other hand most people don’t notice it. I do.
2. The package (That’s what *she* said) – You just might want our original printed covers, or the brown paper bag gimmick from our second album, or Jamie’s hand-numbered serial numbers from the first album, etc… Or not.
3. The cost – We’re only going to charge for the shipping and handling, really. Basically the cost of the postage, the envelope, the cd, the case, etc. We’re not Metallica for pete’s sake….

Anyway, the process of creating Papercuts has been tedious at times, tumultuous at others; but make no mistake, underneath it all, it is always something we deeply enjoy doing. It is something we *need* to do…

…and, we have already begun experimenting with new material for our next re-birth…

So thanks for listening out there, and thanks for being who you are. The fact that our music is downloaded the world over (I can see the stats in the logs… you people are out there…) is a wonderful feeling for us home-bodies and introverts. We come together to make music that is first-and-foremost pleasing to us, and fortunately enough, apparently pleasing to some of you. It means the world to us.

I want to point out that there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that the band Diamondstar is made up predominantly of the members of Paperbag.

I’d also like to point out that the members of Paperbag will not be in attendance Friday night, October 24th, when Diamondstar performs at the Token Lounge in beautiful Westland, Michigan. It’s the Halloween show, and we, Paperbag, are far too civilized for such nonsense.

We will in no way be playing all of the Diamondstar hits you have come to know and love over the many years that Diamondstar has been together, since we are not them. We will also not be playing two surprise cover songs, that equal — and perhaps, surpass — the je ne sais quoi of Diamondstar. Who, we are not.

For more details on who we are not, please visit myspace.com/diamondstarband for more details…

We had a GREAT time at Chris’ B-day show on the 23rd.

We saw an absolutely amazing metal band play first, called Battlecross… my god man, they tore up the stage and demolished the place. If you like powerful, complex, angry metal (like I do), these guys are for you… http://www.myspace.com/battlecross

Next came our long-time friends Wound, and they sounded better than ever, and I loved the new Beatles cover…

Then, to the stage, came little ol’ us. We did whatever it is we do…   By the way, the secret song for Chris (mentioned in the last post) was “Quote Unquote (Travolta)” by Mr. Bungle. We liked it so much we just might play it again sometime… We had Chris attempt to sing it, and even though he claims to be the world’s biggest Bungle fan, he isn’t really familiar with that album and song… oh well.. so he stood there most of the time holding a lyric sheet…

…Well, we got the whole thing on video, so maybe someday we’ll post something from it for your enjoynishment… or you punishjoy…?

Next show is around Holloween at the Token… like the week before or something… we’ll keep you posted, right here….

…was interesting for two main reasons:

1. We spent most of the time working on our “birthday gift” cover song for Chris OD (from Wound, see getallwoundup.net). You see, every year, we play at Chris’ birthday party at T.C.’s Speakeasy in Ypsi. This year I think it will be August 23rd (if I’m wrong I’ll clarify later), and all are welcome. I won’t tell what song the “birthday gift” is, but I can tell you it wasn’t easy to learn… but we *love* playing it… Come out to the show and see it…
2. For the first time since I’ve been playing in bands — and that is *alot* of years — we were shut down by an angry neighbor. And the guy is like my age. And I’ve jammed in neighborhoods of senior citizens. So who is too loud, and who is too old? I’m not sure anymore…

Toodles for now…

In the software industry, when they are about to release the new version of the software, and they make test-pressings of the disks, they call it a “Gold Master”.

I’m holding in my hands, the “Gold Master” of the new Paperbag album, “Papercuts”.

Last night, Scott, Jamie and I got together and put the final cut master together, and now we are just listening to it for digital imperfections before sending it off to the mass-producers….

So, barring any problems, (and I don’t forsee any), the official “release” of the new album should be just a couple weeks away!!! Can you even believe it?!?!?!

Thanks to the guys in Euphoric Haze, and the guys in Wound, for having us all together on one bill at the Token Lounge, last Friday night (May 30th, 2008)…

We had a great time, drank a bunch, and oh yeah… played some rawk musik…..

We’ll try to keep you posted about future appearances.. right here at the ol’ paperblog…

Well, folks, this is it. The brand-spanking-new news section. The new news is that no new news has happened other than that the new news section is new.