So on Saturday, August 15 we're playing at Mango's (Westheimer @ Taft). It's our "CD release," which has turned out to mean an mp3 CD-R of all the new, unreleased and out-of-print stuff I've been trying to get out into the world for the last several years but didn't know how to. We'll also have our new EP, "Freshly Scrubbed and Still Weak in the Knees," for sale on cassette via Andrew Ortiz' new label, the name of which I should find out. It'll also be the first time we'll be selling copies of "We're The Mathletes, and We're From Houston, So How About That vol. 1, 2 and 3," which so far we've just given out to a handful of the bands we covered.

This is our last show as a band and I have no intention of playing any Mathletes shows afterwards. Jeff and Ryan and I might still play music together if they're into it, but more importantly I'm going to just focus on recording, which is how this all started and was all the Mathletes was for the first half-decade or so.

If you live in Houston, all this stuff and more will be available at Sound Exchange, the only record store with a consignment policy lax enough to let me put my stuff there (the rest apparently don't accept CD-Rs). If you don't live in Houston, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you since Asaurus went belly-up. The CD will be available from this site via Paypal.

I'll have scans of the mp3 CD covers up later on. Each one's hand-drawn/collaged, but you probably assumed that anyway. It's called "Unpronounceable Hieroglyphic." I promise it's really good.

Well then you should click here because that's where you can see that thing.

It's been awhile, MySpace. I have a lot of things to say sometime real soon.

Up on our MySpace player. All of it, in its entirety. Should be available to purchase for money from Bolinhas Records, someday maybe. Jeff played drums, Ryan played bass and sang, I played guitar and bass and keyboards and tambourine and sang and recorded everything in my living room using the same computer (Dell PC), microphone (AKG? something) and recording software (Cool Edit 2.0) that have served me exceptionally well over the years.

I think this is a very good collection of songs. I hope you like it. If you do and you have a record label, why not ask us to put out a record on your record label? We will probably say yes.

After nine years I finally got to see Max Tundra (at South by Southwest) and he was AMAZING. If he plays in your town make it a point to see him. So good.

Beats,

Joe Mathlete

Hey there 21st century, indeed.

I am pleased to announce that the Mathletes' newest full-length release (and something like our 28th CD overall) is now available from all your major online download retailers, just like the latest albums from Kanye West, Coldplay and your younger cousin's fifth-wave ska band, the Skautobots. It is better than at least one of those albums, and possibly the Skautobots album too.

There are twelve songs, up from ten from the CD version. Full-on tracklisting:

1. Hornless Unicorn Anthem
2. Opening Number (Hollywood Version)
3. ASTEROID!!! (live on KTRU)
4. That Stupid Grin On Your Face
5. Pinocchiobot Rock
6. My Record Collection
7. Will's Graduation Song
8. Half Of Two Times None Plus Me
9. Hey There 21st Century (Weak in the Knees Version)
10. Clumsy Little Symphonies
11. Doctor Doctor (Young Mammals cover)
12. Pinocchiobot (Awesome Version)

Theoretically I will someday put some long out-of-print Mathletes albums up for sale, but this one's sort of a grand experiment at the moment. Cum on feel the e-commerce!

So all copies of our hell of limited-edition (100 copies) new full-length, @$% YOU AND YOUR COOL, are pretty much gone forever. If you live in Houston and are hard-up for a physical copy right right right now, I suggest going down to the corner of Richmond and Hazard to Sound Exchange and checking out the All Star Power Up box by the counter; you might be able to find one of the remaining bologna sandwich versions.

Otherwise, sit tight: I'm happy to announce that in a couple of month, $@% YOU AND YOUR COOL will be available from most reputable online music download store website places, your iTunes and your eMusic and your nApster and what have you. With bonus tracks and everything. Hooray! Maybe I'll even get some more physical copies printed up, too, but damned if I'd know what to do with those-- I'm terrible at mailing stuff.

Also: the bologna sandwich doesn't read so well when you're looking at a jpeg, so I made new cover art. Yes, it has a duck on it. You're welcome.

More information, as always, forthcoming.

-Joe Mathlete

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Apologies to Future Blondes/A Pink Cloud, Rotten Piece, Concrete Violin, Richard Ramirez, Indian Jewelry (I guess?), Insect Warfare, Fist of Kong, and the rest of Houston's vibrant and exciting experimental/noise/improv scene. Also, thanks to whoever nominated us: I guess we fit that tag better than, uh, Best Traditional Mexican, but still I'm a little perplexed.

I voted for Hearts of Animals. I can vouch for either HoA or the Wiggins as vote-worthy. I'm going to refrain from posting a link, but I will say this:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Kevin, Kurt and Beau, the amazingly friendly and knowledgable employees and/or owners of Sound Exchange Records Tapes and CDs (though I don't think they sell many tapes anymore) have provided me with a bit of counter space by the cash register to put a small box I made filled with Mathletes CDs. With Asaurus Records' recent fadeout (RIP), this is now the only place to get Mathletes recordings (for money). If you were hoping to pick up a copy of JEST AND EARNEST, FORT AWESOME or $@% YOU AND YOUR COOL, or the extremely limited edition WE'RE THE MATHLETES, AND WE'RE FROM HOUSTON, SO HOW ABOUT THAT covers EP, the only firm chance you have is to go to Sound Exchange and look for a ratty shoebox-looking thing covered in yellow notebook paper and duct tape. Provided you live in Houston. If you don't live in Houston... Oops! We're working on it, but not very hard.

Theoretically we'll be selling CDs at shows (like the benefit we're playing this Saturday at Avant Garden (WORST VENUE NAME EVER)) but who the hell knows, huh?

Look for more albums very soon in the future: a super-fancy expanded edition of our world-famous covers album, THE MATHLETES OWN OTHER PEOPLE'S SONGS, is totally not out of the question, and we are DEFINITELY working on a stupidly ambitious conceptual work about mythology and science and the end of the world set to be released as a long series of smaller pieces (tentative date for volume one: August). This is almost certainly a bad idea, and I am so excited I can barely wait. To say anything else would only serve to bother you.

Seriously: If you live in Houston and listen to music, you ought to go to Sound Exchange as often as your schedule permits. Even when I was a nervous high schooler just beginning to dip my toes into music that wasn't MTV-sanctioned, the staff was always kind and helpful (the Jack Black/High Fidelity stereotype of indie-record-clerk-as-unapproachable-elitist-asshole is, in my experience, remarkably inaccurate), and it's hands down the best place to find cheap and quality vinyl in Houston, not to mention local releases (you'll find the Mathletes box conveniently located next to the Dull Knife Records 7" display box, home to supremely supreme rekkids by Hearts of Animals and The Wiggins). Check it:

Sound Exchange
1846 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77098
(713) 666-5555
Holla

Just a couple so far, with plenty more to come:

http://joemathlete.blogspot.com/search/label/animals

Why would we want to win such an award? We have our reasons.

But why should you vote for us? Well, we cover a lot of songs, both live and on recordings. And we do it pretty well I think. And differently than pretty much any other band who'd probably want to be considered for this particular category. Maybe for starters, I could list all the songs we covered last year, like in a row... Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!

Okay, here's what I can remember:

Psycho Killer (Talking Heads)
She Don't Use Jelly (The Flaming Lips)
Needle in the Camel's Eye (Brian Eno)
Ex-Lion Tamer (Wire)
Summer Babe (Pavement - we also tried to learn Here but it didn't pan out)
Road to Nowhere (Talking Heads)
Dry the Rain (Beta Band)
Girls Want To Be With The Girls (Talking Heads)
Life During Wartime (Talking Heads)
Once In A Lifetime (Talking Heads - we played a hoot night as Talking Heads, if you were wondering)
One Hand In My Pocket (Alanis Morrisette - learned it fifteen minutes before we went onstage. I regret nothing)
Some Kinda Wonderful - Atlas - Rock and Roll Part 2 (Grand Funk Railroad/Battles/Gary Glitter - a "medley" or "mashup," if you will)
Doctor Doctor (The Dimes/Young Mammals)
Just Like Heaven (The Cure)
Hearts Break (Hearts of Animals)
Debaser (The Pixies)
Gigantic (The Pixies)
Here Comes Your Man (The Pixies)
Gouge Away (The Pixies)
In Heaven (The Pixies - we didn't play a Pixies hoot night, but The Dimes did and they were all in the Mathletes when we did these)
Terrapin (Syd Barrett)
Brimful of Asha (Cornershop)
Hey Ya (Outkast)
Divine Hammer (The Breeders)
Walking the Cow (Daniel Johnston)

See, that's a hell of a lot of cover songs. Especially considering we only played like a dozen shows. Oh, also: all of the above songs were FUCKING MINDBLOWINGLY AWESOME. In that completely reckless, seat-of-the-pants, implode-at-any-minute way that shamblingly badass rock and roll is made out of. Y'know, if you were wondering.

When you factor in the 100% stupendous, 100% free covers album we released on the internet (all over the internet... it was massive, we didn't miss a spot), the fact that we just stuck two new covers (Jana Hunter & Depeche Mode... together at last!) up on our MySpace player, the fact that we've got recordings of songs by Smokey Robinson, the Young Mammals, Hearts of Animals, the Magnetic Fields, Daniel Johnston, Bring Back the Guns, Cat Power and the Supremes just itching to get out in public and embarrass every other cover song you've ever heard... Jeez, you should seriously consider clicking here and voting for the Mathletes as best cover band in the 2008 Houston Press music awards.

Sincerely/shamelessly,

Joe Mathlete

Check out the little "About The Mathletes" section and you'll see a clip of us performing an acoustic version of "Harry the Hornless Unicorn" on PBS from last winter. We were asked to play on a locally-broadcast show (the name of which I didn't get, but I'm thinking "University of Houston Communications Majors Variety Hour" or something) that was only set up for handling bands that played acoustic. We never play acoustic, on account of loudness covers up mistakes, but what the hell, huh?

Here are all five of our reactions after being emailed the video:

Charles (viola): The Mathletes as guests on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest!!!
Briana (violin): that video is glorious!  i watched it with the sound off 'cause i'm at work and it looks like we could be a bunch of hippies back in the day singing about the joy of babies, all we need is matching fringes
Joe (guitar, vocals): I screw up a bunch and look like the guy who sells everyone else in the band mushrooms
Ryan (guitar, backing vocals): The only other video this guy has up is a personal interview with the former president of Mexico. That is a big WTF right there.
Jeff (tambourine): I couldnt watch.