November is typically a month of change and transition. From the green leaves of summer to the colorful last smile of the trees, where they turn their most vibrant before falling to the ground and giving way to hibernation. For the eleventh installment of the White Label Series we have curator Janet Weiss, drummer for Sleater-Kinney and one part of the duo Quasi. She has chosen Kris Doty, Smoke In The Mirror, as her selection.     

"For those lucky enough to have witnessed Kris Doty wielding her upright bass like a two step dance partner, she clearly is an otherworldly performer overflowing with musical intuition. Her decades long collaboration with songwriter Drew Grow, positions her perfectly as his secret weapon, delivering repeated doses of melody, rhythm and vitality. Smoke In The Mirror however is Kris's solo record from her days in the Boise, Idaho music scene. It turns the spotlight squarely on her distinctive voice and unique songwriting, revealing underneath a compelling raw creativity."

We are sold out of this year's White Label Subscription Series, but you can buy the digital and vinyl from Kris directly on her Bandcamp.

The month of October is upon us and with it, our 10th installment of the White Label Series. We started this series in an honest attempt to bring forth, from contacts and friends, beautiful music that needed an extra push, or a helping hand if you will, someone to listen, care, then go through the motions of exposing it to more people who might like it. We are thrilled that prior to its official release through us, Tomberlin touched the mind and ear of Gold Flake Paint who wrote a beautiful review of the tracks here. 

Tomberlin came to us through Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, whom you might know from her solo work or her collaborations with Phil Elverum (The Microphones/Mount Eerie), Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs), and Tara Jane O’Neil, Khaela Maricich (The Blow). In her own words, she explains why she choose Tomberlin as her White Label pick:

"It was an out-of-the-blue text message from Owen P. "Can I send you some recordings by my friend Sarah Beth? I think you’ll really like them." And then I listened. It’s really not every day that an album of music falls into my lap in this way, especially one that I love immediately, that sounds at once so familiar and so new, that almost no one else has heard. How did the fates know that I had been tasked to find my new favorite album at precisely that moment? Found! It was meant to be. 

While passing through Louisville on tour not long after, Sarah Beth and I met up for tea. We talked about weird jobs, our families, music, life, and what it’s all about. It was all so perfectly mysterious and straightforward; the timing, the music, and Sarah Beth herself. I can’t wait to hear what comes next from Sarah Beth as Tomberlin, but in the meantime, we can all fall in love with these perfect songs."

While we have long sold out of our subscription for 2017 White Label Series, we encourage you to go to Tomberlin's Bandcamp and buy a copy from her directly!

Our September release for the White Label Series comes from Kelley Deal (The Breeders, R. Ring) with her pick, Cole Vargas. 

"Oh, you should hear my son,” says a good friend of mine, “He plays beautifully! Look at this video of him playing piano.”

Well of course you love whatever he does, I think to myself, You're his mother! But instead I say, ”Lemme see that.” I watch the video and it’s reeeeally lovely—I am genuinely impressed. I ask her what song he’s playing. She explains that it’s his own composition and then she tells me about her son, Cole Vargas.

Cole is a self-taught artist and musician. He just picks up an instrument and plays it. There was an attempt at music lessons when Cole was a child but they came to an abrupt end when the piano teacher proclaimed he was "unable to be taught." Cole has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome.

Working with him on this record has been a revelatory experience, observing how it affects his ability to write and perform his songs, both negatively and positively. After my first chat with his mom about his music, Cole and I exchanged contact info. Over the next few years he sent me his songs—old demos, roughly recorded piano pieces, and fully realized songs. He played, wrote, and recorded all the instruments. I was impressed with the range of his music, his smart lyrics, and unaffected vocals. I admire that he is not afraid to create from a position of vulnerability and is willing to let the listener hear it—which is something I always struggle with.

When Joyful Noise invited me to curate an album for their White Label Series, I felt this would be an opportunity to share Cole’s music.  He and I worked with Mike Bridavsky at Russian Recording in Bloomington, IN, giving sonic cohesion to this collection of dark birds. Drummer Ben Lumsdaine replaced Cole’s computer beats with a human groove, and my friend Jocelyn Hach played some gorgeous viola."

Cole has an artist page where he showcases his paintings. We are sold out of our copies but you can get an LP direct from Cole at his website or from Kelley. 

August is here and with it comes a new White Label Series pick. This month we have Greg Saunier of Deerhoof as our curator. Read on below as Greg describes why he chose Cole Palme and Heavy Friends - Trepans of Yore.

Cole Palme's songs just refuse to date. At least not in the 25 years I've been among the lucky few to know some of them. They're like a magical exotic species of onion with endless layers of meaning. Some of the onions are dark, some light. Some presented raw, some lightly sauteed, some deepfried. All uncannily delicious and addictive. In academia they complain that poetry is dead, but anyone who listens to hip hop or Cole Palme will know that whoever says that simply doesn't know what they're talking about.

-Greg Saunier

Our subscription copies are sold out but get in touch with Cole Palme to purchase a copy directly from him!

Email Cole Palme

The great month of July is here and we have another release for you in our year long White Label Series Subscription. This month, multi-instrumentalist Rob Crow (Pinback, Goblin Cock) is our esteemed curator. Read on below as he imparts some words on his connection and selection of The Jade Shader.

"I knew Jade Shader was gonna be great. I just didn't know in what way. A few things I knew for sure:

1. Terrin Durfey was in the band.

I knew Terrin (since before he was in Boilermaker) as an affable yet determined kid who seemed to enjoy making me uncomfortable in a cheerful way. The first time I met him, he snuck up to me in a local record store with a grey hoodie pulled over his head, and tapped me on the shoulder like he was gonna start some shit. "You know what I really like?" he asked gruffly, brandishing his Walkman like a concealed weapon and revealing the cassette inside to have the words Heavy Vegetable Demos scrawled on it.

"Thank you?"

As with anyone who ever met him, we became fast friends. It was instantly obvious that Boilermaker was going to be a big part of the wave of interesting music that was happening around then. I got to book their first show and was even in the band, briefly, till they realized my "style" was just a distraction from their true purpose.

Terrin's powerful voice and linebacker-style bass playing were a force to be reckoned with and those Boilermaker LPs were filled with innovative emotional gut-punching hooks that still hold up. My own sons have organically gravitated to those records, and often listen to them when they lay down at night.

2. Chris Prescott was in the band.

Not only was Chris the drummer of lunatic local band Fishwife (which later became Tanner), but he had also penned many monster riffs in Hemlock, a group in which he shared singing duties as well as sculpting amazingly perfect guitar tones.

I was at the old Casbah the first time I met Chris. He creeped out from the shadows of a nearby doorway with a grey hoodie pulled over his head, acting like he was gonna start some shit and said gruffly, “Hey, I really like your band.”

I swear.

Like Terrin, we made fast friends. Chris would often spend his lunch breaks at the apartment I shared with Travis Nelson and Elea Tenuta, all of us playing each other our current ideas and sharing new musical discoveries.

Fast forward many years to a night when I was playing the last show of a long US Pinback tour in front of one the largest, craziest crowds I’ve ever performed to. But the only thing I could think about was that after the show, Chris and Terrin were playing at the Casbah for the first time ever as The Jade Shader and I absolutely could not miss it.

Like I said, I knew it was gonna be good.

Thereafter, I never missed an opportunity to see them play. ABSIV and I eventually drafted both Terrin and Chris into the live Pinback touring band. I can’t tell you how excited I am to FINALLY HEAR THESE SONGS AGAIN after all these years. Terrin was one of the kindest and most inspiringly fun people I have ever known. When he passed, he left a lot of amazing memories behind for the rest of us, and now—somehow—he’s still creating new ones.

All right, for real now.

I'm sorry if the above description is too self-referential, but I was trying to think of a fun anecdote to draw away from how much of an incredibly emotional impact this album has had on me and sometimes it's difficult to write about something you really care about without sounding like an asshole.

It's curl-up-into-a-ball good.

I miss Terrin and they were such a fucking great band. It was an honor to sing on “From Above,” but I know how much better Terrin would have sounded. I gotta hand it to Allen Epley for putting his spin on there, yet nailing the context of the songs he sang on (“The Sky is a Sea” might be my favorite song on this album). I literally haven't gotten these songs out of my head since hearing the masters. They really do speak for themselves, even after all this time and all the work Prescott and company did to patch it all together into something tangible. It's so fucking good. I hope you hear what I hear."

Never be afraid to tell your friends you love them,
Rob Crow

Even though our copies have been sold out, Chris Prescott from The Jade Shader has copies you can grab!

The Jade Shader // Bandcamp

Follow them on Facebook.

The month of June is upon us and we have another wonderful pick for the White Label Series. This month's curator is non-other than Chris Schlarb. You may know his work as Psychic Temple, or as the varied and accomplished composer/arranger/producer that he is. Here is his statement on his choice for this month.

"I got a phone call from Eamon Fogarty in the Spring of 2016. We’d never met but I just finished producing an album for Brooklyn singer/songwriter (and Eamon’s roommate) Jay Hammond. Eamon was in Los Angeles on vacation but his girlfriend couldn’t make her flight. He decided to go surfing and record vocals for his new album, “Progressive Bedroom”. Jay gave him my number.

Eamon has a wonderful, confident voice. I’ve heard him make reference to Scott Walker on occasion but most young artists don’t realize how much they sound like themselves. I was so impressed that I called him back for a recording session on my album “Psychic Temple IV” (soon to be released on Joyful Noise Recordings!) before he could return to the East Coast. That summer I asked him to go on tour with me. He did.

My attraction to honesty is relentless. Eamon Fogarty has no guile. He is as true as a bird singing in the trees. His music, like life itself, contains the beautiful and the grotesque. Some artists demand love from their audience. I don’t know how or why it works but I love Eamon’s music. I feel protective of it. When something that powerful calls out... you should pick up the phone."

−Chris Schlarb

While the White Label Official Series might be sold out on our site, check with the artist for copies on his page Bandcamp and follow him on Facebook! 

Instagram / Twitter Handle: @eeaammoonn

Our May White Label Series curator is Toshi Kasai, music producer and sonic extraordinaire. You may have heard his work with legendary acts such as The Melvins, Big Business, Dale Crover, and many more. We asked him to choose a lesser known band to highlight and here is his statement. 

"Have you been looking for some new, unusual music? Then you’ve come to the right place!

I have been very fortunate to produce so many innovative, eclectic bands from all over the world.

Let me introduce you to this one from “down under”... the inimitable Godswounds!

Their sound is a combination of alternative, metal, classic rock, and cartoon inspired tunes, spiced with an 8-bit sound. Imagine that!

Death To The Babyboomers is one of the best albums I’ve ever worked on, and it deserves much more attention since its initial release in 2009.

Are they too different? Are they way ahead of their time? Too experimental? No! They are simply superb! They’ve got an extraordinary style, coupled with remarkable musicianship and ingenious songs.

Thanks to Joyful Noise Recordings for giving the world an opportunity to rock out to this album. Those with great taste will enjoy it and become instant fans of Godswounds."

−Toshi Kasai

Follow GODSWOUNDS on Facebook!

April's White Label Series brings us The Warm Hair. Read about Curator Doug Martsch, lead singer and guitarist for Built to Spill, on his pick for this month. 

"This record is a compilation of songs that I picked from the ten or so Warm Hair albums I have heard so far. Not even The Freebird knows how many Warm Hair records there actually are. He writes and records songs, and before he is able to release them, he has written a new batch of songs. He loses interest in the already finished material before anyone else ever gets a chance to hear it, and it gets stored in a closet. In the last few years he has remedied this to some extent by making several LPs available on Bandcamp. He is currently working simultaneously on six LPs of brand new material."

You can follow The Warm Hair on bandcamp and on Facebook @therealwarmhair

Our March pick comes from Tim Kinsella of Joan of Arc. Here is what he had to say about HIDE.

"HIDE materialized fully realized, their first shows shocking as your friend giving birth to a teenager. The music, the visual identity, and the immersive live experience were all in place from day one, each an essential component of a singular vision. Though thick with a heavy and austere aesthetic, the political messages were as unmistakeable as they were irreducible.

It’s pitch black except for shocking strobes, and these flashes reveal only flesh in motion. The duo hides in the dark, in smoke, their faces masked or hooded. And this skin, glimpsed and faceless, become like an animal hide.  

It’s such a perfect single syllable—hide: starting off soft as unobstructed breath, gliding into a casual greeting—hi—and landing with a hard click of the tongue at the back of the teeth. But HIDE umbrellas such multiplicities, and collapses so many apparent paradoxes with that simple syllable. The beats are machine sounds, stripped of all ornamentation, triggering an instinctual response. And coupled with the hypnotic image of the pulsating flesh, the audience is reduced to their animal selves, anonymous and free. 

It’s Body Music, not escapism, but basking in confrontation. The aesthetic is the political."

'Black Flames' can be purchased through HIDE on tour and at 606 Records in Chicago. Check out their Bandcamp and connect on Facebook for more from the artists. 

Lou Barlow picks our February Artist - Waveless from Minneapolis, MN

"My wife Adelle is a Twin Cities (Minneapolis-Saint Paul) native and she reads their weekly 'City Pages' online. Like, the one in every big city with the snarky reviews and doom-y articles about local politics. We were hanging out post-dinner one night and she thought it would be interesting to listen to some of their picks for Best Local Music. One of them was this band called Waveless. We clicked on a link, plugged in the Bluetooth speaker and out came "Nausea". It sounded like it was recorded in a warehouse, a similar sound to the first Hüsker Dü 7-inch, "Statues b/w Amusement". (I like to force comparisons with artists from the same city. It's fun and totally unfair. Also, it probably wasn’t recorded in a warehouse.) Even more than early, early Hüsker Dü, it reminded me of the great heyday of New Zealand noise-pop in the late 80s and early 90s. The big, rainy, echoed sound of Bailter Space and other bands on the Flying Nun record label. Shranging guitars with male and female voices floating in the din.

Waveless trigger a lot of nostalgia for me but I don’t think anyone could have hit these chords quite like this 30 years ago. The guitar is in a unique tuning, and the drums pound in such a way that you don’t hear much beyond "heavy" music. They are definitely of their time and, because of that, somehow, I don’t think many people have processed how great they are just yet. Although youngsters continue to gravitate to the sounds of the 90s,, the bands that embody the best aspects of the era often go under-appreciated.

I downloaded (purchased!) this EP immediately from Bandcamp and have listened to it regularly since, more than any other new music. I am not sure why this record wasn’t released on vinyl (or even CD... they did self-release it on cassette but I refuse to count that).Their second EP did make it to vinyl recently and it’s every bit as good (or better!?) than this baby. Weirdly, it’s on a label that seems to specialize in 80s style hardcore. Waveless are lovely though. Sweet comfort for my ringing ears."

Check out Waveless on Bandcamp! Connect with them on Facebook!