I think it was in the summer of 2010 that I first talked to Bradly James Palko from Dedicated Records about the compilation he was putting together. VE hasn’t been part of many compilations, but that’s not due to lack of tracks but more of lack of willingness on my part to find those random record labels that will use those songs. He told me of this huge three-part compilation he was going to do based on a story and poems he had written. This would be released in three different parts, at three specific times and each would contain various illustrations, poems, stories, songs, etc. And a very limited run of CDs were to be made, specifically for each artists that had contributed material. This was also going to be labeled differently from regular various artist compilations. Instead of just having an album name, this compilation was also going to have a band name. So it would be “Great Messengers – Palms”. I was stoked about this, and was looking forward to being on a compilation with Anna Rose Carter and Bunrage. I had in mind some sort of output in the style of Second Language Recordings.
I had a couple b-sides from the latest ep at the time, “Abondance de périls”, one of which was “Thoughts as Consolation”. I had rearranged the two left over songs that I had first written for this album back in late 2007 and made it into a single song. I was very pleased with the outcome, and so was Brad. He set the first date of release as August 2010. A few months passed by and I read that he had decided to close down the record label! I talked to him for a few days and convinced him to release the compilation as a farewell of sorts (he ended up continuing to put out releases after this compilation anyway). Finally August came and a lot of things had changed. First of all there were no longer going to be any CDs made. Second, the compilation was just going be released all at once, all in one album, but they were somehow split into three parts still. Also, he was retitling every song to what he felt was appropriate for the story. My song ended up being called “Start from the Beginning: The Accident”. Finally it wasn’t going to come out in August because he was still waiting on a song from certain bands. I assume he never got those songs he was waiting on anyway, because two of the bands on the compilation have two songs featured on there. Now the release date was going to be for Christmas 2010! I had just recorded a video interview for VE announcing the song on the compilation for release in late September, so there was looking like an idiot. Finally in early October, he released the compilation quietly on bandcamp, with no promotion.
August 25th 2010 post on APR Twitter “news, news, news! read the blog on out myspace page! http://www.myspace.com/triskalyon/blog?bID=538571052”
[at least one of those news was the Dedicated Records compilation. another news probably was Silence Is Also A Sound posts. Possibly another news could be the split?]
August 27th 2010 post on APR Twitter “an unreleased VE b-side has been selected to be on a long awaited compilation by Brad from Dedicated Records. Our… http://fb.me/HN4kyDAS”
changed the song name without my permission. in fact he changed all of the song’s name, to titles he came up with. I’m not sure if any of the bands were aware of this.
when released it on Bandcamp he didn’t have any credits for any of the bands that sent it songs. He had it titled as if Great Messengers was the band name (his own band) and Palms was the name of the album. I begged him to put the artists credits but he always refused.
he was really trying to pass this off as his own creation, his own band, his own recordings.
he was supposed to come up with a story for it but he never did. he was also supposed to do some artwork but also never did.
he did NO promotion for it whatsoever. He put it up on Bandcamp but never even wrote about it on Facebook. Not a single post anywhere.
Then in December, after some of the bands had promoted it themselves, he took it down from bandcamp without telling anyone.
then a year later he added it back on Bandcamp but again didn’t tell anyone.
then in 2012 he shut down his entire bandcamp page thus deleting every release he ever “released”.
one of the most unprofessional person I have ever dealt with.
Original artwork by Pat Brennan
Palms artwork front cover
- Bunrage – Brace Yourself
- Lost with the Racoons – Young Love
- Anna Rose Carter – A Million Terrifying Ideas at Your Doorstep
- Ornitology – Wet Cement
- Snowmobile – While You Still Can
- Vision Éternel – Start from the Beginning: The Accident
- Heinali – A Sense of Loneliness: An empty Room
- Savium – Pressure: Breathe Slowly, Think Clearer
- Álfheimr – Talk: Forming a Voice
- Alex Leach – The Road Ahead: The Journey Unfolds
- Message to Bears – At the End of My Rope
- Lena Lou – This Feels.. / White Light
- Dual at Dawn – I Am
- Savium – (Only An) Ocean in the Sky
- Cinik – And I’m No Longer Here
- Yawning – Powerless
- Heinali – The Moonlight Shines Down on the Surface
- Moose Jaw – And I Reflect
- Clem Leek – I Am (Reprise)
compiled by Bradley James Palko
artwork by Pat Brennan
recorded May 2009-January 2010 at Mortified Studios (MTL2, MTL3)
released by Dedicated Records (dedrec026)
released on October 3rd 2010