Friends of Heligator,

So far fundraising has been going really, really well. I am able to send over $50 a month (E500) to the camp free of any bank or transfer fees (minus the nominal 1.25 fee at the ATM). Next month I am flying out the Goldrush Music Festival in Denver, CO. I would like to represent Heligator at the record fair as well as print some t-shirts and buttons. In order to cover these expenses of the record fair fee and material costs for screen printing t-shirts and buttons I will need about $125 so as not to cut into the $50 dollars I am able to send a month the library. If you haven't donated, now would be a great time to do so. Head on over to http://heligatorrecords.bandcamp.com/and score on some great music if you haven't already. T-shirts and buttons will be available for purchase on the bandcamp Please share with your friends as well. 

Siyabobga kakhulu, 

Ryan.

New Single from SLC Artist Braeyden Jae and Major Expansion/New Paint Job!

We are really pleased to announce a brand new single from Heligator Records by SLC-based drone musician Braeyden Jae. His song "Switches" is a beautiful piece of build-and-release style melodic drone.

From Heligator Records "Salt Lake City based guitar-wrangler, Braeyden Jae, has graciously donated this slow-build track to the goodship Heligator. "Switches" looms  like a storm cloud in its third trimester, pregnant with expectation and static. When the storm comes it doesn't arrive with monsoon force, but rather, that cooling, giving rain that cuts the humidity in half and waters your garden for you. It breaks like that.

Beautiful washes of soft distortion worn smooth like river rocks.

Download the record here


As for work on the ground in Swaziland. Volunteer Head Librarian Jean Bosco and the Refugee Camp Allstars have been hard at work renovating and expanding the library to encompass another room next to it to make way for more book donations and a classroom to hold English/French language lessons to students living in the camp.  They also partnered with a local school to give the library a pretty rad new paint job. This is the visible manifestation of your donations. Keep 'em coming! Your donations go to supplies for the library, keeping the lights on and allowing the refugee volunteers to live/eat. Seriously, there is literally no other income these guys get. This is their 9-5. Their passion for the education and betterment of the refugees in the camp comes through in every whats app message we exchange. Here is what he has to say to donors:

"Dear Donors -

A refugee camp is sometimes a place where people, young or old, spend time doing nothing than turning negative thoughts in their brains, since they are unable to change their life or get any solution to their worries. But the library came as a place where to get friends, a kind of relief to those who can read.

We thank u and all donors for the good gift. It is like an oasis. A fountain in a plain desert for us. Thanks for keeping us in ur heart, may God bless your hands forever.

- Jean Bosco "

Here are the pics:

New EP from South African band Make-Overs on Heligator Records! New photos!

Make-Overs a psych-punk band from Pretoria, South Africa just released a new EP on Heligator Records. You can check out their brand of chaotic, rhythmic bedlam below. All proceeds from the purchase of the EP go directly to the library.

http://heligatorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/make-overs-ep

They will be touring the states this summer. They will be in Cincinnati from June 9th-25th playing several dates in punk houses and skateparks. Come on out!

In other news. Your donations have been going to great cause at the Library. They recently were able to purchase supplies to fix the electricity problem so that students and patrons can enjoy the library after dark. There were also several donations of new tables and chairs. Can't thank all you donors enough for making this happen.

Ryan and the Malindza Refugee Camp Library Staff

UPDATES! NEW PICS! NEW RELEASES!

I apologize for cramming everything into one mega-post but there is a lot happening at the Malindza Refugee Camp. So check it out.

New pics:

Jean Bosco sent me these pics of some new shelving, desks, chairs and computers the library has received. Now, the computers aren't up and running yet. But hopefully by the next post we will have some pics of students and pupils using them. For now, they are trying to figure out how to fix these "gadgets".

New shelving:

New desks, computers and chairs:

Volunteer Librarian Mudu enjoying the librarian desk:

In other news, Heligator Records has put out two new releases to help fund the library. They are by Morgantown, WV band The Furr (this is their debut release) and Mufreesboro, TN musician

Sparkling Wide Pressure

Check 'em out here. 

and

New Single by Dylan Golden Aycock

HELIGATOR 007: Dylan Golden Aycock - "Saints of Grace" 

We are more than thrilled to add the work of Dylan Golden Aycock to growing body of artists donating their music to Heligator Records. As you may or may not know, Heligator Records is Tome to the Weather Machine founder Ryan Hall's digital-only singles label established to raise money to support and maintain a library at the Malindza Refugee Camp in Mpaka, Swaziland. All money donated to Heligator goes to help the library out.

Download Here:

A few notes on Dylan Golden Aycock. Dylan is the founder/proprietor of the Tulsa, OK based record label Scissor Tail Editions and is responsible for some of the more beautiful music to come out of the American (and Intl.) West including a Lake Mary/Padang Food Tigers split 7", Bruce Langhorne reissue and newest Robin Allender album.

Dylan performs these sonorous acoustic guitar under his given name as well as under the moniker Talk West and The Doldrums and the projects Angel Food and Mohwak Park with fellow OK resident and legend Brad Rose.

Aycock's composition for Heligator is a remarkable piece of music. A laid-back finger-picked composition straddling the line between Western balladry and neo-classical explorations of droning, sustained tones. The result is something distinctly...American. Something distinctly expansive and unhedged. Like the long corridors connecting town to town on long drives through Oklahoma, the beauty of this composition is found somewhere in those middle passages between distinct notes where the reverb hangs heavy in the air and just floats for a while: all suspended and golden.

Not very often does your excellent taste extend beyond yourself. Here, it does. Every cent spent on this track goes to the Malindza Refugee Camp Library in Mpaka, Swaziland. Your donation ensures the continued maintenance of the library, a small stipend for the refugee volunteer librarians and keeping a beacon of hope and literacy alive and functioning for hundreds of displaced refugees from all over Africa. To learn more about where your donation goes please visit:

Malindza Refugee Camp Library Blog

Thanks for your time,

Ryan Hall

A thank you note from the librarians to donors

(Andrick, one of the refugee youth at the camp, during the library's official opening)

Dear Donors - 

I wanted to pass along a note that librarian Jean Bosco sent to me concerning your 2013 donations to Heligator Records. The purpose of this e-mail is to express our gratitude as well as give you an idea as to where your money is going. The maintenance of the library is 100 % funded by Heligator Records. At the refugee camp, unless you are a child or infirm, food is not provided. Water is available but often scarce due to poor maintenance of pipes bringing the water in from a nearby town. Most refugees struggle to find employment in a country with 60 % unemployment and most lack the necessary documents to work in country. Your donation goes a long way here to provide some income to two librarians, Jean Bosco and Mudu, who volunteer day-in-and-day-out to help the camp become a more hospitable place and to help spread the empowering gift of literacy and education. Thanks again for donating in 2013 and making this possible! Another big shout out to the musicians who graciously donated their music for this project.

Donate to Heligator Records/get awesome music at:http://heligatorrecords.bandcamp.com/

Dear Donors -

Thanks and thanks again for the donation to Malindza Library and two librarians. 80 % of the money you sent was shared among librarians for food and 20 % helped in buying one mop, soap, broom, and two padlocks for the library. We wish later to buy curtain as the sun disturbs our clients while reading. May God help you for every effort you make to make our library the best and helpful. We appreciate the good job you did for us.

Jean Bosco

(Jean Bosco, Amnesty, Peace Corps Volunteer Ryan Hall (Heligator founder), Qibho, Sandizo, Andrick during the library's official opening)

December Updates

Big news! Heligator Records has pulled in over 120 $ since it began in late September. In the following day I will send over a disbursement of 50$ (E500) to the Malindza Refugee Camp. I will keep the disbursements around E500 for the time being to make sure we are covered over lean times. This will increase as time goes on. After the funds are received I will start updating this blog to show you pictures of where that money goes. Thanks so much for everyone who has donated thus far. Also, a HUUUGE thanks to the artists who have contributed their singles thus far. Thanks to Lake Mary & Nathan Wheeler (Denver, CO), J. Torena (LA, CA), Problems That Fix Themselves (Chicago, IL), Quantum Creep (Denver, CO), Kurva Choir (St. Louis/Alaska) and Dura (Brooklyn, NY).

To all those reading. Feel free to donate. It only takes a few minutes but has long-reaching impact.

Ryan