Homepage: Fourth Of July photo by Pre Sense Form.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the "Before Our Hearts Explode!" release shows, bought the CD and t-shirts and pre-ordered the vinyl. I hope you'll agree this record's pretty special. It's the culmination of so many things: a relationship, a recording and mixing marathon, a phase in Lawrence that shook things up with Dri moving to SF and Say My Name leaving the band to work on his music. It's hard-won, this record, and it feels freeing to finally share it.

I Heart Local Music had a nice recap of the Lawrence release show, with video of each act, on Lawrence.com. And reviews are out on the Fire Note, Atlas and the Anchor, Dots and Dashes and Ink KC.

What next? Patrick's blast-from-the- past music video for "Friend of a Friend" and another Fourth Of July show, Friday Sept 17th at the Taproom. That and the eagerly-awaited arrival of the vinyl...

CD's are up on the Webstore and more t-shirts will be up soon.

We're trying to catch our breath real quick before the release next week of the next White Flight single, a banger called "Children of the Light". It will be up on iTunes with a b-side "Thunder Over Thunder" on Tuesday, the 14th. Make Mine in the UK is doing a "Panther"/"Children of the Light" 7 inch set for late October. And Neil Krug is finishing up an incredible video for "Children of the Light" shot on location with White Flight in Kauai.

Yeah. Stay tuned.

Zaguar

Homepage: a riff on Pre Sense Form's "Fourth Of July" t-shirt design

"Before Our Hearts Explode!" Vinyl is up for Pre-Order HERE. Should ship this weekend. We'll provide a link to the mp3's for all vinyl orders (same with the Say My Name EP). Digital release is Tuesday, August 31st.

Release Shows are this Thursday (KC) and Friday (Lawrence). Great line-ups: on Thursday, the 26th, Fourth Of July plays with the Caves, the Dactyls and Hidden Pictures at Crosstown Station, downtown Kansas City; and on Friday, the 27th, they play with our man Conchance from Omaha and Mansion at the Jackpot in Lawrence. There's a new run of two cool Pre Sense Form t-shirts we'll have for sale at the shows, + CD's.

Fourth Of July guitarist Brendan Costello, aka Styles, shot a video for "Self Sabotage" which you can view HERE.

Present Magazine had a nice "Before Our Hearts Explode!" review. And @BARRR got some of the boys together for an A.D.D. podcast.

If you're in Lawrence for the show on Friday, it's also the first "Final Fridays" Lawrence art walk. Swing by and say hi to our friends at Wonder Fair. And don't miss Zaguar's mirrors-and-monitor installation "Security" in the Hobbs Taylor Building, 8th and New Hampshire - one night only!

Zach

Homepage: Zaguar

Surfing right through the Summer... B)

I know the trend is to rush a record out before the release date, but we actually genuinely needed another week to get things done, so we've pushed the release date for Fourth Of July's "Before Our Hearts Explode!" to August 31st.

In the meantime, "Friend of a Friend" and "L Train" you can hear HERE; "Moving On" is on MySpace; and "Crying Shame" is up on Fuck Yeah Go Team! There will be vinyl for this release - a limited pressing of 500 - Pre-Order will be up soon at the Range Life Webstore. And if you're in Kansas City or Lawrence, please join us for the "Before Our Hearts Explode!" Record Release shows, Thursday, August 26th at Crosstown Station in KC (w/ the Caves, the Dactyls and Hidden Pictures) and Friday, August 27th at the Jackpot in Lawrence (w/ Conchance and Mansion).

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the Say My Name EP on vinyl. It is HERE and it sounds like the future on the phono. For real. You can pick it up at Love Garden in Lawrence or through our Worldwide Webstore. If you didn't see it, this Q & A with the Wayward Blog was a nice little snapshot into the workings of Say My Name. Potholes In My Blog had a cool review. And Zaguar put together a Puerto Rico and Lawrence splicefest video for "Stop Snitching". Check it!

September 14th is the new release date for the next White Flight single, "Children of the Light". Neil Krug has a music video for it, his first for us since Dri's "Two Are One". Have you seen the stills? Can not wait!

The Range Life kickball team is in the Semifinals this Sunday (the 22nd), playing the always-tough-but-have-you-heard-of Love Garden at Holcolm Park at 5PM. No Emo Allowed. Go Team!

Summer in Lawrence and the living's busy easy... B)

Zach

Homepage: Detail from a Say My Name portrait by Kenneth Kupfer.

The Say My Name EP is OUT NOW on iTunes. If you want to test-drive it, try racing it around the Soundcloud track. The vinyl is delayed until August 10th. Why? Well... because we fly by the seat of our pants and the vinyl manufacturing industry flies by the seats of their pants. Ultimately there'll be a beautifully designed, expertly cut, undulating analog disc to throw on during "Back to the Future" nights at the club and late-night, lamplight-glow gatherings of cooled-out-kids at the crib. I guess you could say it all works out.

For anyone ordering - or pre-ordering - the vinyl, yes we are providing a link to download for free the Say My Name EP MP3's.

In other Say My Name news: check out a new track, "Screwdriver", he put up on Soundcloud; check out his Midsummer-night's-dream remix of Hospital Ships' "All the Drugs in the World"; check out the Shout-Outs from Atlas and the Anchor, Friendship Bracelet, Potholes In My Blog, No Modest Bear, and Wayward Blog; and expect to see some Music Videos for the EP soon, lord willing.

Other things: the next White Flight single, "Children of the Light" isn't going to make it's August 3rd release target - but it's on the way and it sounds reeaalllllll good. And - cue the Pep Band - the sophomore Fourth Of July record, "Before Our Hearts Explode!", will be out August 24th! That's August 24th 2010. We start the launch for it next week.

Vrooooooom!

Zaguar

A quick update on the Say My Name release: digital (iTunes) will happen tomorrow, as scheduled, while the 12" vinyl EP is running slightly behind. All orders for the vinyl will ship on or before Tuesday, August 10th. Sorry for the delay! We'll get there. If you pre-order vinyl, we'll send a link for the mp3 version.

Zaguar

Homepage: Zaguar.

So: Say My Name.

You may know Say My Name from his work on Dri's "Smoke Rings" - he produced the beats for "Two Are One", "Indria", "Inspiration", "Hot As Hades" and "Goodnight, Baby". You may have heard his wallflower-crushing club remix of White Flight's "The Condition"; his haunted-prairie remix of Suzannah Johannes' "Horserider's Smile"; or his woozy, wonderful take on Hospital Ships' "The Shots I Drank". You may have seen him playing guitar in Fourth Of July. Or sipping Chandon in the jacuzzi in the back of his white stretch limo. Or sitting courtside with Beyonce at Jayhawks home games.

Whether you know Say My Name or do not, his S/T "Say My Name" EP should be a revelation - a window into his world, shattered and glued back together as a glassy quartz. It's 8 tracks in 13 1/2 minutes, cross-faded to work as one. Found sound, samples, broken synthesizers, billows of smoke all cut-and-pasted, dotted and looped, late-night in Lawrence while JetBlue flights pass high overhead and stars shimmer untouchably.

You can stream the EP HERE - if you're in the mood, I urge you to listen start-to-finish. I've had the fortune of getting to listen over and over to this EP the last six months and I still can't stop. It's a gift that keeps on giving. A soundtrack to the bric-a-brac, anxiousness and random, startling, moments of bliss that somehow streak our lives.

So stoked to be putting this out! Pre-order vinyl HERE. Release date: July 27th!

Zaguar

Homepage: Zaguar

As you may or may not know, Dri moved out to San Francisco last year and started a new band called Extra Classic. The vibe of Extra Classic is Roots/Reggae/Dub, an in-the-pocket exploration of the shifting planes and ringing echos of Jamaican music, with all of the vocal-layering and wise-woman presence from "Smoke Rings". She and her partner (and Extra Classic bassist) Alex deLanda have been recording all analog-to-tape a full record we can't wait to hear. For a taste, check out the Extra Classic MySpace. For a full helping, don't miss the three Extra Classic shows this weekend: Friday, July 9th at the Taproom in Lawrence; Saturday, July 10th at the Czar Bar in Kansas City, Mo (Early Show!); and Sunday, July 11th at the Slowdown in Omaha, Nebraska.

If anyone takes any pics or video, put a link in the Comments!

Light us up, Extra Classic!

Zaguar

Homepage: Zaguar.

Well, this happened.

Thanks to Pre Sense Form, Chris Dickinson and a loving, supportive family, we've got a fresh new site to sail into the Future.

A Future so bright: White Flight, Fourth Of July and Say My Name all have new music soon to drop. The Say My Name EP (digital and vinyl) is set for July 27th. The second White Flight "White Ark" single, "Children of the Light" is scheduled for August 3rd. And the sophomore Fourth Of July record, titled "Before Our Hearts Explode!", will be out August 24th. Just typing this I need shades!

A lot of effort has gone in to making this version of the Range Life site more comprehensive. We've tried to sum up the past with links while keeping the present fresh with show listings and a comment option on the News. We've mined our iTunes for remixes and made a ton of tracks one right-click away from being entirely yours. Music Videos can be watched on-site, while the Store pops up our Big Cartel page where you can order CD's, posters and T-shirts - at last. So dig in, dig around, click the Album covers and, if you feel like it, let us know what you think.

This new step wouldn't be possible without all the people who helped us first get on our feet. Matthew Eastwood was the catalyst for our first site and helped us in every way. Andrew Myers and Mike Prittie programmed the site that has defined us for years. Matt Jozwiak fixed us up when we needed it, which we inevitably did. Beyond the site, our friends at Saddle Creek gave us an enormous opportunity by sub-distributing Range Life releases. For now, we're back to being on our own, back to our original vision of releasing music digitally with limited runs of CD's and vinyl available via shows and mail.

More to come, of course. For now let's just marvel at the fact that we've navigated the Bermuda Triangle of Lawrence and are setting sail again, compasses intact.

And It feels great.

Zaguar

Homepage: Zaguar.

Coming up next: the second White Flight/White Ark single, "Children of the Light". + Say My Name's EP (digital and vinyl). + a new revamped Range Life website.

+ You'd be happy to know that we have a Mastering date for the sophomore Fourth Of July record, which means it will be out this Summer!

Here's Video of Brendan from Fourth Of July playing a new (non-album) song, "Fall in August".

1,000,000 Light Years has a few shows coming up: Sunday, June 6th at the Granada, opening for Caribou. And Saturday, June 12 at the Lawrence Arts Center "Street P'Arty".

Neil Krug has a hot new site up!

Sound of the Summer, so far.

C'mon fireworks!

Zaguar