crows to burnaby

ARCTIC's new album, Today Brought Me Here, has just been announced. As anyone who's been reading this blog knows, Marcus Martin and I have been working on this album for quite some time, and it still hasn't sunk in that it's actually done and will soon be out there amongst people.

• How to hear it and how to get it: While the CDs are on their way, we've started taking pre-orders. Pre-ordered CDs will be signed and numbered, you can have mp3s of the album immediately, and orders of 3 or more CDs will include a free shirt. While pre-orders are going on, you can only listen to the tracks and pre-order the CDs if you're on the mailing list, which is a quick 'n' easy signup and as soon as you've confirmed you get a link to the page.
• Online liner notes: From the pre-order page you can also get to the online liner notes - along with tracks, there's lyrics and images and credits.
• Custom covers: You can also use our Cover Generator to create, arrange and print your own CD cover the way you like it, with the info you want. The possibilities are, well, not infinite, but pretty massive, and it's a ton of fun. Check out the image up top for some examples.
• Auction for the Arctic and ARCTIC: If having a signed and numbered CD just isn't special enough for you, we're auctioning off a master CD of the album. It's framed, along with a signed note and a NWT license plate from a truck Marcus drove while growing up in Yellowknife.

  Half of the proceeds will go to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to support their conservation efforts in the Arctic region. The remainder goes to offset our manufacturing and touring costs, so we do more of what we do.

  The auction starts on Sunday, September 9 at 8 PM PST and ends on Sunday, September 16 at 8 PM.

I can hardly believe that the CD is done. It's been quite a journey. Which is only appropriate since that's what this is all about: journeys and changes and where you find yourself, and how you got to where you are.

I hope you enjoy it.

When I was a kid, and getting colds fairly frequently, my parents used to joke that they should've bought stock in Kleenex because I could go through it so fast. I've always had a chronically stuffy nose, and like to have tissues on hand. And now I've got YET ANOTHER DAMN COLD and I really prefer Kleenex's super-soft tissues when my sinuses are exploding as now.

But my nose is going to have to settle for something less cushy now that I've learned that Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex and Scotties, only uses 100% virgin trees for the vast majority of their products.

Kimberly-Clark claims that their logging practices are environmentally responsible and that their customers do not seem to want recycled products. Only way they'll learn is if we tell them otherwise. So I'm sending them a note, and settling for something less cozy on my nose in the meantime.