A Note Ahead of Liminal Hiss

There’s a funny thing about language*. This label was almost/coulda/shoulda been called Subliminal Inevitable (or Sub-Inev) Records. That’s a phrase/alias I’ve used on the internet for more than two decades, but instead I came up with Totally Real Records (the inspiration of my friend Travis Harrison and his label Serious Business is certainly at play…

Read More

Weekend Lovers. Pacing. old man of the woods x yfjesse.

Sometimes a song is enough. Here are three recent tracks that our artists Pacing, Weekend Lovers, and old man of the woods (x yfjesse) have put out that you may not have heard!  

everything was perfect until it was not (a note on somebody had to)

somebody had to by Tennessee-based artist phoneswithchords is a landmark release for many reasons. As The Alternative noted on Twitter, “phoneswithchords has been one of the most unique voices in the scene for a while, and this is his opus.” It also happens to be TRR040 (our cat number system is a bit flawed but…

Read More

A Note On Collarbone

Fair warning: this is – as always – an unauthorized account of a record created by somebody other than myself, making many assumptions and interpretations and imparting extensive personal perspective on a piece of art. Collarbone by Tim Lannen Tim Lannen has been on the periphery of my NYC rock world for a long time…

Read More

TRR Presents at Long Beach Brewing Co.

Thursday, March 9, 2023 Totally Real Records Presents @ Long Beach Brewing Co. in Oceanside, NY Girasoles + Brian Kish’s Lounge Pants + Comprador (PA) + Beat Radio + PHARMAKOS (DJ) $10 suggested donation, 21+ 7PM-11PM Live streaming in the metaverse provided by The Music District

a black metal album about becoming a father

A note from Cole Hill aka PHARMAKOS, on the release of Will We Ever Know How Much Is Enough? Also: Cole will be DJing our event on Thursday, March 9 at Long Beach Brewing Co. in Oceanside, NY Four years in the works, I’ve made a black metal album about becoming a father, which is…

Read More

Closing out the year with Shelf Life

Let’s close out the year with some headphone music. You know what I mean by that. Shelf Life is the third record from Mexico City-based bedroom folk duo of vocalist/writer Juliette Rapp and songwriter Chris Marks, aka Permanent Vacation. It’s a sort of surrealist meditation on the world, told thru a hazy sci-fi film playing…

Read More

Real Love

Real Love is a bold and auspicious title for an album (specifically, the 6th one from Bellmore, NY band Beat Radio, and their first with TRR). It’s about the feeling you get when you hear it. It’s what it will evoke in the listener. It’s what the songs and the stories within are about.  Before…

Read More

Press for Battle Ave’s I Saw The Egg

BATTLE AVE on SMALL ALBUMS 2022 Q1

The 6th record from Kingston, NY band Battle Ave has been out for over a week now, and the response has been amazing. Huge thanks to our partners Friend Club Records and Transmission Publicity for doing a great job getting this incredible record out into the world! Listen or purchase the album here. Here’s some…

Read More

Unglued by The Planes, then by ilithios

As we wrapped up 2021, Brooklyn indie rock guitar superstars The Planes delivered a fun vintage-tinged video for their excellent single “Unglued” from their sold out tape, Eternity On Its Edge. The song is among the slower paced tracks on their album, and has a bit of foreboding dissonance before launching into full on shoegaze…

Read More