CIA Records Houston / Starvation Dance Productions

CIA Records Houston / Starvation Dance Productions 4 decades of transgressive art and music from Houston and beyond. C.I.A.

Records is an independent label originally founded in 1978 by members of the Houston, Texas punk band Really Red. It emerged organically from sounds performed and recorded in people’s garages, back yards and warehouses, nurtured by strong friendships, a vibrant underground music scene, single-room strip mall record stores and a handful of non-commercial radio stations. In the late 70’s and early 8

0’s, the label filled an urgent need to confront institutional violence perpetuating a culture of fear that dominated Houston at the time. Over four decades it's grown into a platform for musical experimentation and risk-taking that continues to uphold a broad range of ideas, experiences and perspectives today. It has been, is now, and always will be a vanguard for transgressive music from Houston and beyond.

..on Bandcamp and streaming platforms - this Friday, July 11. Tim Muddiman has written a reconciliation, in gorgeous mod...
07/07/2025

..on Bandcamp and streaming platforms - this Friday, July 11. Tim Muddiman has written a reconciliation, in gorgeous modern blues, with a former self, an identity that forever burns in the soul, yet remains just out of reach. CIA Records is proud to be putting it out into the world for anyone in listening range!

Pre-save it at https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/timmuddiman/shaking (link in bio)
.and watch this space for the bandcamp link!

Came home the other day to a package neatly hand addressed to , care of yours truly, by someone in Saginaw, Michigan. Bo...
06/25/2025

Came home the other day to a package neatly hand addressed to , care of yours truly, by someone in Saginaw, Michigan. Bob gave me permission to pry it open, and inside were several 5x8” zines, all lovingly copied and pasted, old school style. They were filled with reviews of books, other zines, and records, including 6 (!!) CIA Records albums, from the “Teaching You the Fear Again” Really Red Tribute compilation to Scott Ayers’ Geltab album.

How cool is that?! Thank you Mr. Stan Boman. I’d tag you but I can’t find you on the “metaverse” (good for you ✊😉). You can order a copy by writing him at PO Box 6061, Saginaw, MI, 48608.

Today I randomly decided to Google CIA Records Houston (which, believe it or not, does not occur so frequently.. call me...
06/12/2025

Today I randomly decided to Google CIA Records Houston (which, believe it or not, does not occur so frequently.. call me an incredibly lame PR person.. shrug). 5 entries down I encountered this fabulous cheer for our beloved Bob Weber.. https://www.neilaquino.com/houston-democracy-project-blog/cia-records-a-great-houston-label-check-them-out

Thank you, Neil Aquino and the Houston Democracy Project!

​ This past Tuesday evening, I went to see The Damned at the House of Blues here in Houston. Above you see a picture from the show. The Damned are a great punk rock band. They've been around...

Got the LP orders out and had a great time hanging out with Mr Ensminger (ex-drummer for the Texas Biscuit Bombs, Peter ...
06/11/2025

Got the LP orders out and had a great time hanging out with Mr Ensminger (ex-drummer for the Texas Biscuit Bombs, Peter Case, No Love Less, The Hates, and more). Super healthy vegan, he found some goodies in my stash of 7"ers.
This is the same t-shirt I bought when we went together to see Joe Keithley and D.O.A.
Hardcore!

TOMORROW!! Bandcamp Friday, y’all. With every Psychosis to Song vinyl purchase, you get a free copy of Antiquated Views ...
06/05/2025

TOMORROW!! Bandcamp Friday, y’all. With every Psychosis to Song vinyl purchase, you get a free copy of Antiquated Views of the Future! Exquisitely engineered and on orange translucent vinyl. Dan Workman collaborated with Steve Silverstein to write, perform, record and engineer the music, all composed on vintage synths - and Dan designed the cover too. The object itself is gorgeous enough on its own!

This offer is valid tomorrow only, 6/6/25, from 12am - 11:59pm, at https://ciarecords2.bandcamp.com (link in bio).

Save the date! This coming Friday, June 6, we’re offering up a free vinyl copy of Thread Count’s “Antiquated Views of th...
06/02/2025

Save the date! This coming Friday, June 6, we’re offering up a free vinyl copy of Thread Count’s “Antiquated Views of the Future” with every physical purchase of the recently released compilation, “Psycholis to Song”. The offer starts at 12am and ends at 11:59pm, on CIA’s Bandcamp at ciarecords2.bandcamp.com (link in bio).

“Antiquated Views of the Future” is a collaboration between master producers Dan Workman and Steve Silverstein, who each have a love for vintage synths, keyboards, and drum machines. Their shared professional background includes work with artists across countless genres, with relevant examples including sideman gigs with Jandek and Rubber O Cement, and mastering for 75 Dollar Bill. Steve and Dan met in the mid-2000s and realized they had very similar musical passions and very dissimilar musical resumes! A collaboration was discussed and finally took place over several years, recording, mixing, and mastering at Steve’s studio in Brooklyn.

Thread Count is the result of that collaboration – a meticulously recorded collection of short tracks inspired by the possibilities and limitation of the instruments that all pointed to a future that never really arrived. The duo’s sound honors the promise of that musical future, by stretching the sources used, whether obvious or obsolete, to their least-logical extremes. The pieces evoke an angular sense of nostalgia that delights and intrigues.

Give it a listen at https://antiquatedviewsofthefuture.bandcamp.com/album/thread-count

Le me see...We're having fun now! David Schall finishing a 5K in his CIA t-shirt. Then the guru of the Anarchitex syncob...
05/28/2025

Le me see...We're having fun now! David Schall finishing a 5K in his CIA t-shirt. Then the guru of the Anarchitex syncobeats, Torry Mercer. Danny Kamins playing his short horn in a different setting than the El Mantis trio (photo by ZONKER last night). Ralf Armin & Tom Tryptophan at the Fitz way back a bit (not sure why I threw that one in except we have been thinking about an Introverts reissue).

Hey Friends - throwing a plug out there for CIA's website, which has grown into quite a beast over these last few years....
05/13/2025

Hey Friends - throwing a plug out there for CIA's website, which has grown into quite a beast over these last few years. There's a satisfyingly long list of bands and projects, each with its own page, releases, etc. The newest addition is a brand new video page with highlights from collaborators; it's not comprehensive, but if you there's stuff you like, head to CIA's YouTube page and consider subscribing. Because more is on the way :)

Cheers everybody!

VIDEO & VIDEO & TREASURED MOMENTS FROM CIA RECORDS’ YOUTUBE PAGE Vulturcide ThemeMusic and video by Vulturcide, May 2025 Sea Shells Music and video by Tim Muddiman, April 2025 Ink by Popeboy CollectiveVideo by Kristin Harris, March 2025 Psychosis by Can’t Take a PictureVideo by Heather L. Johnso...

Hey everybody - in case you missed it, we've got CIA's Living Art interview available now on our website at https://www....
02/07/2025

Hey everybody - in case you missed it, we've got CIA's Living Art interview available now on our website at https://www.cia-records.com/news/cia-on-living-art-show-kpft-houston ..

We talked about "Psychosis to Song"'s emergence from the hearts and minds of 13 artists, and Drs Nikki Hune and Dan Workman - as well as "Unsound" by Dr. Daniel Garcia of the MendCenter, a brilliant documentary about the project (we'll be announcing more screenings of that soon!). We discussed CIA's history, which dovetails nicely with George L. Shea's awesome DJ prowess. And we mentioned Mydolls Music's upcoming show, at Axelrad April 4, with Night Court (Canada), Municipal Bats (HTX), and others (we'll share more details here when they come up).

Enjoy, and bonne weekend!

CIA Records on KPFT Houston’s Living Art show - Feb. 5, 2025

Address

POB 816
Marfa, TX
79843

Website

https://ciarecords2.bandcamp.com/

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