Story
XLR8R
September 2006
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Twenty-four-year-old Matt Kimmel gets a rush from discovering obscure bands. But he’s noticed that even in a hyperlinked world, deserving artists go unappreciated–hence the inspiration to start Melted Mailbox, a new psychedelic singles club. “It’s a low-tech solution to the modern problem of finding out about new bands,” says Kimmel. “If you like experimental music, and you like your mailbox, there’s no reason not to sign up.”
Becoming a Melted Mailbox member may seem expensive–$70 for U.S. addresses, $90 for the rest of the world–but it’s a bargain for those craving out-there audio. Special records are shipped roughly twice a month–each 12″ has art and etching on one side and a single (unavailable outside the club) from the likes of Keith Fullerton Whitman, Brooklyn noisenik Carlos Giffoni, or Ariel Pink (who submitted a 15-minute freakout recorded immediately after he found out about 9/11) on the other side.
Membership has other rewards, including surprise CD-Rs, a poster, unique artwork, and a handmade storage box for the vinyl. The first series, which started June 25, ends this month, but sign up soon for the second wave of this mind-melting sonic attack.