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NAKED RAYGUN, ELEVENTH DREAM DAY Live LPs to Launch via Laughing Bee

The releases draw from a Chicago tape archive documented in the film Melomaniac and covered by The New York Times.

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NAKED RAYGUN, ELEVENTH DREAM DAY Live LPs to Launch via Laughing Bee

Laughing Bee Music, a newly launched record label, has announced vinyl and digital releases of archival live recordings drawn from The Aadam Jacobs Collection, featuring NAKED RAYGUN's This Place Used to Be a Strip Joint (Live) and ELEVENTH DREAM DAY's By The Time They Got To Lounge Ax (Live), both set for release on September 18. Ahead of the release, the label has shared one single from each album: NAKED RAYGUN's Home of the Brave, recorded live in Chicago in November 1985, and ELEVENTH DREAM DAY's Testify, recorded live in Chicago in August 1991.

Documenting nearly forty years of the Chicago music scene, Associated Press recently said 'The growing Aadam Jacobs Collection is an internet treasure trove for music lovers.' Ahead of each albums' September 18 release, the announcement comes with one single from each release, Naked Raygun's 'Home of the Brave (Live in Chicago, November 2, 1985)' and Eleventh Dream Day's 'Testify (Live in Chicago, August 2, 1991).'

About The Aadam Jacobs Collection

The Aadam Jacobs Collection is a living archive of live music history, preserving thousands of rare concert recordings captured over four decades by Chicago taper and club staffer Aadam Jacobs. Documented in the film Melomaniac, and recently covered by The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Consequence, Paste, and many more, Jacobs' collection is now being carefully digitized, restored, and cataloged by a team of volunteers and made freely available through the Internet Archive's Live Music Archive. The collection documents performances from iconic artists alongside countless influential independent and local bands whose music might otherwise have been lost to time. In addition, a carefully curated selection of recordings from the archive is being restored and prepared for vinyl and digital release through the new Laughing Bee label, bringing historically significant live performances to audiences in a new format while supporting the archive's ongoing preservation efforts.

Laughing Bee releases from the Aadam Jacobs Collection will be co-branded as 'Dead Bird,' the label Aadam operated in the '90s, which released 7' vinyl from artists including Trenchmouth and Red Red Meat.

Eleventh Dream Day: By The Time They Got To Lounge Ax (Live)

Eleventh Dream Day's album By the Time They Got to Lounge Ax features 16 songs across two LPs drawn from four Chicago performances recorded between 1991 and 1994, capturing the band during a defining period of their career at the legendary Lounge Ax.

'Eleventh Dream Day had a long relationship with Aadam Jacobs and his tape player,' says the band's co-founder Rick Rizzo. 'Dozens of our local shows were captured on Aadam's gear. When Aadam asked for permission to set up his microphones, it was easy to say yes, as long as it was okay with the club and he didn't release anything without our knowledge. He always gave me a copy of the show. Forty years of tapes later, he approached us about putting out a record to document that relationship. I dove into the recordings to try to figure out exactly how to do that, and now here is the document to celebrate it all: Aadam's recordings, the best club in Chicago history, dear friends and great fans, and a band that just can't stop.'

Naked Raygun: This Place Used to Be a Strip Joint (Live)

The Naked Raygun release This Place Used to Be a Strip Joint (releasing on both colored and black vinyl) features an incredible live performance recorded on November 2, 1985, including two soundcheck recordings and documenting the band at a pivotal moment as they emerged as one of the most influential bands in the Chicago punk scene.

'I attended my first Naked Raygun show at age 17,' says Jacobs. 'It was amazing and I was hooked. After that I caught their shows as often as possible, recording many of them. The November 2, 1985 show on this album stands out; it was Pierre's first show, and their premiere of 'Rocks of Sweden,' a song he wrote with his former band. This show was Pierre's trial by fire, and that's why I've included the soundcheck on this album - it was his first time on stage with the band. This ended up being the only show I ever saw at the former Sheridan Theater. At the time it was operating as The Palace (Teatro El Palacio). Thinking about it now, I don't think I ever heard of that venue hosting another show. The noise heard at the end of the album is the audience ripping out the seats.'

The Aadam Jacobs Collection, built over nearly four decades by Chicago taper and club staffer Aadam Jacobs, has been digitized and cataloged by volunteers and made freely available through the Internet Archive's Live Music Archive. The collection has been documented in the film Melomaniac and covered by outlets including The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Consequence, and Paste. Releases through Laughing Bee will be co-branded as Dead Bird, the label Jacobs operated in the 1990s that released 7-inch vinyl from artists including Trenchmouth and Red Red Meat.

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