C'est la Vie

Back in the late 80s/early 90s I edited a punk & comix 'zine with a bunch of other crazies in San JoHaze , Cali. We tracked down outré musick or were tracked down by weirdo bands & musicians. Through some twist of events, we came into communication with Woody Dumas of C'est la Mort. Some years later I had the pleasure to spend some time with M. Dumas after he had moved to Oregon. Cottage Grove is right on Interstate 5 just south of Eugene. Through some other twist of events, we were heading to Eugene, had a few days to kill, had found out Woody was living in Oregon & got his address from a friend of a friend of a friend kinda thing. I have to say we had a great time, listened to & talked about some great music. Woody Dumas was a fine, friendly, intelligent human being who is surely missed.

C'est la Mort Records was a small but influential independent record label that operated from the home of Woodrow Huntley Dumas in Baker, Louisiana. C'est la Mort specialized in ethereal, ambient, dream pop, & darkwave bands. ClM operated from 1984 until 1994.

According to liner notes included in the Dr. Death Vol. I LP compilation record, Woody Dumas began his Dr. Death radio show on KLSU in December of 1983. KLSU 91.1 FM is the student-run college radio station for Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The radio station is part of the university's Student Media Program. KLSU utilizes students as DJs & management staff. Thus began Woody's sojourn into radio.

The radio show led to a mail order business known as Deadly Records. That eventually led to the C'est la Mort label itself. In addition to albums released for individual acts, there were six Dr. Death compilation albums released.

Modeled after U.K.s 4AD, C'est la Mort released a number of albums influential to the Gothic & dream pop genres. Associated bands included: East Ash & Room Nine, who only appeared on ClM; bands such as Beautiful Pea Green Boat, Heavenly Bodies, The Arms of Someone New, & Area that went on to record for Third Mind & have seen re-release by Projekt on their Archive series; & probably the most well known, Controlled Bleeding who have appeared on such labels as Soleilmoon, Dark Vinyl, Sub Rosa, Third Mind, even Wax Trax! & who already had a string of releases on heavy hitters Inner-X-Musick, Dossier, & others when Woody landed them in 1989.

Born August 27, 1950, Dumas died on September 18, 2012 in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Little Woody, as he was known to friends & family, graduated from Baker High School in 1968. He attended Atlanta College of Art. He was a gifted stained glass artist who has works currently displayed in the OLOL Chapel & in several EBRP governmental buildings. As well as an artist, music lover, radio show host & producer, Woody also had his private pilot's license & was an avid stargazer. After leaving Louisiana, he resided in Cottage Grove, Oregon. There he ran a successful internet radio station, iPop Café.

Here are some of the treasures from Little Woody, starting with the very first, from Dr. Death hisself…

Various – Dr. Death's Volume I – Cette Enfant Me Fia Mourir, C'est la Mort CLM001, 1986.
all decryption codes in comments

Side 1 –

Faulter – Rash of Stabbings

Fish (different version than 4AD) – Throwing Muses

All My Eye & Betty Martin – Breathless

Family – The Kite

Afraid – Pat on the Back

Side 2 –

Angels Sing – Room Nine

Survival – Circle Confusion

Rain – M-1 Alternative

Find the Time – Lung Overcoat

Save – End Over End

Room Nine – Voices…of a Summers Day, C'est la Mort CLMLP002, 1987.

Side 1 –

Circus Floor

Revolving Door

Don't Look Back

Red Dog

Side 2 –

1000 Years

The Thorn

Mirage

Seas Without a Shore

White Summer

Psyche – Unveiling the Secret, C'est la Mort CLMNR004, 1896.

Side 1 –

Thundershowers

Caught in the Act

Lord Unleashed

Prisoner to Dersire

Side 2 –

The Saint Became a Lush

Black Panther

Taking Chances

Unveiling the Secret

Area – The Perfect Dream, C'est la Mort CLM/LP006. 1988.

Side 1A -

25

With Louise

I'll Gather Flowers

Surrender to the Wheel

Sympathy

Side 1B –

Why Should I Worry

Vigilant

Thread

Tunnel

As Thick as Thieves

The Arms of Someone New – Promise, C'est la Mort CLMCD008, 1989.

Tracklist -

Jaqueline

No City Fun   

Hollywood     

Pirouette

Blue Rain       

Stars End       

Here Comes Everything         

Souvenir         

Beacon           

Another Heaven         

Every Seventh Wave

"Collage"       

The Sense of an Evening       

Everything at Once

Beautiful Pea Green Boat – Still Life, C'est la Mort CLMCD009, 1989.

Tracklist –

The Powerhouse

Hammers of Islam

Too Much

When Dreams Moved In

The Vase

Among the Ruins

Paper House

Danielle

Mirrors of Souls

The Screw

Nostalgia

And She Laughed Too

Friends of Ghosts – Realm of the Senses, C'est la Mort CLM010, 1987.

Side 1 –

Realm of the Senses

William the Scotsman

Hollywood Land

Sinister Daze

Eleven Boy

Windows

Side 2 –

Juju Digby Juju

Noël

Ciao Manhattan

Broadcast of Love

WMT

Heavenly Bodies – Rains on Me 12" EP, C'est la Mort CLMEP017, 1988.

Side 1 –

Rains on Me (extended mix)

Side 2 –

Rains on Me (short version)

Pure & Simple

Area – Radio Caroline, C'est la Mort CLMCD018, 1988.

Tracklist –

This One

Head Above Water

Sweet Revenge

Michael Writes His Parents

One Desire

Transmitter

Resistance

Long Faces

After the End

Crystal

plus –

Higher than Heaven

Sincerely Charlotte

Parachute

The Arms of Someone New – Every Seventh Wave 12" EP, C'est la Mort CLMEP019, 1988.

Side 1 –

Every Seventh Wave (intermix)

Every Seventh Wave (album mix)

Side 2 –

The Sense of an Ending

Everything at Once

East Ash – Crushing A Flood cassette, C'est la Mort CLMCS025, 1990.

Side 1 –

Dreams

Australian Beaches

Doesn't Know

Faceless

Wonderful Life

Side 2 –

A Flood

Funerals

Milk & Honey

The Disease

Courage of Lassie – Sing or Die, C'est la Mort CLM026, 1990.

Side 1 –

Ami Gans Cette Vie

Who'll Stop the Rain

Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down

Lonely Street

Big Town

Side 2 –

Sing or Die

Ophelia

Wild River

Down by the Salley Gardens

The Night Closes In

Handful of Snowdrops – Land of the Damned, C'est la Mort CLM028, 1990.

Tracklist –

Terroir I

When Comes Day Light

Gabrielle

A Miracle

Scream Cry or Fall

Face to Face

Terroir II

Land of the Damned

Various – Dr. Death's Volume IV – The Marvels of Insect Life, C'est la Mort CLM029-2, 1990.

Tracklist –

The Marvels of Insect Life Theme – M-1 Alternative

Dark Hour – Johanna’s House of Glamour

Two Clouds – Mumbles

Cut – Double Happiness

Vacation – Critical Mass

If God Is – Flower Sermon

Slumming – M-1 Alternative

Alone – Talisker Tale

Greeks & Romans – Psychic Surgery

Green Light – Area

Translator – Blackgirls

Athea – Leigh Gregory

Ragman – Halycon Daze

Delicate Balance – The Millions

Crowd of Drifters – The Magnetic Fields

Salty Sea – Future Neighbors

Whale’s Belly – And Siamese Urbain

Now, Then, & Forever – Handful of Snowdrops

Johanna’s House of Glamour – Farewell Street, C'est la Mort clm030-2, 1990.

Tracklist –

Losing Ground

Now

Pretty Promises

Cosmic Dancer

Another Page

Fell into You

Blue Noon

River of Change

Half Light

Do You Hear Me When I Dream?

Blue U

When I Loved You

Next December

Farewell Street

Eyes of the Night

Area – Fragments of the Morning, C'est la Mort clm031-2, 1990.

Tracklist –

Puzzle Boy

The One Year

Express

Green Light

All Souls

Larger than Life

About Time

At Arms Length

Subway

Dead Feather Years

Lifeline

All Souls (acoustic)

Express (extended)

East Ash – Ellie, C'est la Mort CLMCD033-2, 1991.

Tracklist –

Northpole Butterfly

The Alone Song

Breal Your Back

Epic Sex Bombing

Funk Opera

Strangers on a Train [Part 1]

Green Chevy

Nobody

Virgil Who?

No. 1 Man

Push

Strangers on a Train [Part 2]

Such is Death,

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