I first got into the band For Against after stumbling across their review in the Trouser Press Record Guide. Jack Rabid wrote the review, although I didn't know him back then. One day in 1994, on a whim and a paycheck, I decided to investigate the mysterious For Against. I called IPR (the band's label) and they sent me a catalog.
When the catalog came I was so impressed with it that I ended up ordering a ton of stuff: two For Against CDs, a For Against tape, two Savage Republic CDs, several records (and I didn't even have a record player), and an IPR sampler tape. I don't know why I bought so much... I just fell in love with the packaging and the music and the overall FEEL of IPR. And after my first order was an even larger second order, and a third...
Anyway, that IPR sampler tape was awesome. I played it over and over and over again while waiting for my next Big Shipment. This was the first bunch of American music I really liked (being a long time musical Anglophile)! Even today, IPR is the only label that I really keep up with. There's such a caring, high-quality feel to everything they're involve ind. I know it sounds sappy, but they have the Midas Touch as far as I'm concerned...
IPR released some very attractive and description-rich mail order catalogs back in the early 90s. They have since (much to my dismay) discontinued their mail order department, so unfortunately, those lovely catalogs no longer arrive at our doorsteps.
It is my goal to resurrect that precious IPR catalog experience by putting together an online IPR catalog. I will be taking excerpts from the old printed catalogs that I got from IPR, as well as the new digital catalogs from Parasol (the current supplier of IPR mail order merchandise), and putting them together on one set of web pages, which you see here.
In the interest of thoroughness (and at the possible expense of accuracy), I have included the originally quoted prices of each release to give you a feel for how much each item costs. However, a warning: Parasol's prices are susceptible to change, and as I said before, you can no longer order items through the mail from IPR, so their prices have little value.
Getting all the old catalogs online will take probably take weeks to months. Also, IPR continues to release new music, so managing these pages will be an ongoing project. I can therefore use help (though I am not dependent upon it); if you'd like to assist by providing discographical information, reviews, and release descriptions, please contact me.
Thanks for your interest and patience, and I hope to hear from you on Tempe Times!
Travis