Limited Releases are rare collections of demos, live or studio recordings,
brought to you by Moon Melody.

They are made available to the public as Free or PWYC releases,
as a digital download or handmade CD through the Suitcase Record Shop.

‘In The Mood For A Magnolia’

Here is an offering of live recordings from The Sun Harmonic, recorded at a cafe show in the dead of Winter, mid-January in Guelph. Featuring some known and some not-so-known and previously unreleased songs, including a Tom Waits cover as the finale jam between Kaleb, Mark and Myke. You can find the limited release only as a handmade CD in person or online in the Suitcase Record Shop, after the download was taken offline. Enjoy.

‘Coloured Sketches’ is the third installation of Demonstrations from Kaleb Hikele. The practice started in 2011 to capture off-the-floor demos of his unreleased songs- this collection moves from Demonstration #39 forward to #57. On August 31st, Kaleb ran through improvisational performances of his latest songs, travelling from the piano to the electric guitar to the acoustic guitar before disarray led to shutting off the microphones at 4:30 a.m- he finished recording the to-do list of 19 tunes in the basement on the afternoon of September 2nd.  A handmade CD  of Demonstrations #39-49 is available through the Suitcase Record Shop, and a digital download was offered during a listening party on September 22nd.

The Breaks: Live In Toronto
The guys released their debut record In Meetings at the start of 2012 and hit the stage right away performing rock n’ roll tunes in Toronto. Two shows, one at Rancho Relaxo and one at The Dakota Tavern, were caught on tape and six songs were thrown together to create a live disc. All songs are from the debut album, one of which, “Ugly Day”, was an acoustic song done in a busting rock form. Put it on in your car, really loud, while you’re driving around in the summer. It’ll be great. Videos can be found online, but this audio collection is only available in the Suitcase record shop on handmade CD.

‘The Eight of Hearts’ was a Digital 7 Inch made up of two songs to preview a work-in-progress called The Joker and The King (to be continued). Look further. The Joker and The King is a rock & roll collaboration between hometown friends. The on-going recording project included Kaleb Hikele of The Sun Harmonic, behind the microphone with friends Zack Buck and Paul Baughman to create new rock and roll recordings. Proceeds from the download of the Digital 7 Inch were put towards a yearly charitable donation from Moon Melody. The release was available as a download online and was in the suitcase as a handmade CD around the time of the release.

Carnival “In Concert”
A collaborative effort from Elder Sister Plum and The Sun Harmonic, Carnival, present a handful of live recordings as ‘In Concert’. Performed live by the duo at Toronto’s west end venue, Not My Dog, on December 15th, these songs are folky with intertwined harmonies and bar chatter in the background. Songs featured are original works written by Kaleb and Tanya, some unreleased and unheard at that point. This was made available as a digital download, before a takedown from the internet which left it to a not-so-frequent handmade CD in the Suitcase.

A Taste of Plum by Elder Sister Plum
A note from Tanya Semple (of Elder Sister Plum)… “During Autumn of 2012, I spent a weekend in the Townhouse Recording Facility & Sound Studio with Kaleb Hikele (The Sun Harmonic) recording five demos. Some of these recordings are being used as a reference for my upcoming full-length album (to be released this summer 2013), and others will only be heard on this collection of demos. So bring them into your ears and enjoy.” A Taste of Plum was online for Pay What You Can download and as handmade copies in the suitcase record shop.

Songs By Strangers by The Sun Harmonic
This is a collection of cover songs that The Sun Harmonic learned to thoroughly enjoy over the years. So, he recorded them so you could learn to love them too. Tunes by Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Dylan, Leonard Cohen, even some favourited high-school songs, all recorded off the floor on the acoustic piano in the livingroom of The Townhouse Recording Facility & Sound Studio in Toronto in February, 2013. Made available online and as handmade copies in the suitcase record shop.

Field Recordings: Vol. 2
To revisit the sentiment of Vol. 1, live recordings were taken from spontaneous public performance videos to be compiled into a limited release. This time around, Kaleb Hikele created remote videos in downtown Toronto with friend Emily Diana Ruth, performing a selection of unreleased songs and older material. The videos can be found online, and the free digital download was made available for a limited time.

“Songs For Her” is the second installment of “Demonstrations” by Kaleb Hikele, first attempted in 2011 in an effort to document Kalebs songs in their early, or nearly completed, but unreleased stages. 26 demonstrations were released in July 2011 and “Songs For Her” is a collection of 13 new recordings (#27-38 + “A Song For Her”) of  hidden and unreleased music by Kaleb at that time and place. This music was shared only on CD through the post to the mailbox of a handful of people and may be made into a download at some point in the next few years?

Field Recordings: Vol. 1
Kaleb Hikele went to his hometown in the winter of 2011 to shoot some remote videos performing a selection of songs. Some new and unreleased songs, some older and revisited songs. The videos can be found online, and the free digital download was made available for a while afterwards.

“Demonstrations” was a collection of 26 off-the-floor performances of unheard music by Kaleb Hikele. A majority of those songs had never been heard by anyone in any venue at that time. The recordings were in their most vulnerable and natural state, being played on one instrument with a live vocal, and mixed in a single channel ‘Mono’ sound at a low Mastering volume to preserve dynamics. Some songs were unfinished, where you could hear the shuffling of papers, explaining, coughing and refraining verses to translate the songs as they were when recorded on the weekends of May 7th and June 4th of the year 2011. The 26 recordings were available free for 26 summer days.

“The In Retro Session”
On January 20th, 2011, In Retro magazine and radio host visited the Townhouse facility to interview Kaleb Hikele and film three performances. They spoke for 25 minutes of the past and the future, and he played newly written and released songs in the studio. The unedited interview and songs were made available for free download for a very short time.

“october twelfth, two-thousand ten” Live Recordings
On October 12th, 2010, Kaleb Hikele played at Hugh’s Room in Toronto, one of his first piano-only concerts as The Sun Harmonic. The set list covered original contemporary/classical pieces, The Capitol material and new piano works. This show was videotaped by a handheld camera and the audio was taken and made available as a free digital download in early 2011. Video footage can be found online of this concert if you start digging.

Far From Freedom by The Capitol
Far From Freedom band members went in opposite directions and the group disbanded in 2005. After Zack and Kaleb played with good friend and musician Bob Ward at a talent show in late 2006, the three formed a band with guitar, piano and drums (no bassist?). Original songs were shared and put together into the one and only album The Capitol made, aptly titled ‘Far From Freedom’ and released on limited handmade CD in 2007. The band broke up in 2008 before members carried on with other musical projects. Handmade CD’s can be found in the Suitcase. (or, Download)

2005
After a year of jamming on the stage and in the basement, Far From Freedom drove up the highway to London to record again at The Sound Oven, this time through ongoing and what seemed like never-ending sessions, to put together a multi tracked 4-song EP in 2005. Handmade CD copies were handed out all over St. Thomas and London, cities where the band went to Grade 10 during the day and played in dive rock bars late at night. Listen to another year go by, with unreleased basement instrumental demos included, from St. Thomas’ screaming rock group Far From Freedom. Handmade CD’s can be found in the Suitcase. (or, Download)

2004
Four friends entering highschool joined forces to put together a punk rock EP in late 2004. Zack, Jordan, Ryan and Kaleb called themselves Far From Freedom. They booked an off-the-floor daytime recording session down the road in a London studio, soon to be released as a 4-song limited run CD. The recordings were rough, the music was youthful, and the shows were slightly out of control. Hear the adolescent energy on this EP by St. Thomas screaming rock group Far From Freedom. Handmade CD’s can be found in the Suitcase. (or, Download)

You can also dig through unavailable selections of Locked Limited Releases.

If you visit the Suitcase Record Shop and purchase a mail-order CD, you are invited to choose one free selection from the handmade Limited Releases to include with your order.

Or, for $25.00 you can order the homemade Limited Releases Box Set, including a copy of 15+ handmade CD’s from the Moon Melody Limited Releases collection (an example of this below).

Enjoy your handmade rarities!