February 2018 White Label
February is upon us and this month our curator is Kid Millions, drummer extraordinaire of Oneida. His pick for this month is Weirding Module, A Newer Age. Read his full statement below.
There was a time when Weirding Module had an active website. When you clicked on the “contact” button you were taken to a page that simply said, “Do not contact us. We will contact you with our music.”
I happened to know the person behind this music, but no one else did and it’s likely that no one cared. I was going to change all that.
Back in the late oughts I ran a label through Jagjaguwar called Brah. It was the Oneida arm of the business; a place where we released albums of high quality and low sales potential. We were the metaphorical canary in the coal “mind.” We were having trouble selling records before everyone else was! I stand behind all of those orphans btw. If you haven’t checked our catalog - you should. They can all be had for cheap and none of it will disappoint.
But in the meantime Brah soldiered on. I would talk with the powers that be over at Jagjag corporate and I would get the green or red light for albums that I really wanted to get out there. I knew the business as well as anyone - what I mean is that I knew that there were no shortcuts and no miracles. But at the same time - for some insane reason - I still believed that quality would rise to the top and people would hear the music, and they would love it and Brah would have our big break. That break never came unfortunately.
We passed on Deerhunter. I thought they were too disorganized. I wasn’t allowed to release a Hella record. For some reason I decided that releasing a Wolf Eyes comedy record wasn’t quite the right move. All of these things are true.
In general we were allowed to release anything else we wanted. Weirding Module “A Newer Age” was gonna come out. I absolutely loved this fucking album. I listened to it constantly as I worked in the IT salt mines. I was a manager by day, and a life idiot by night. Music was my only salvation. It actually saved my life on a daily basis. I was so depressed. . .those days just floated away in a fog of corporate gibberish. But I would spin this Weirding Module album and be freed from the nightmare of my job. All the clichés were true for me then. Music was saving me and I believed in Weirding Module.
In a way I think it’s the best album that Brah never released. You are holding a masterpiece in your hands. You might not realize it yet - but it is. WM saw the darkness and paranoia that we are living in now and he made the soundtrack. This album is a headphones trip. It will DEFINITELY take you to another place. Do people put on headphones, shut the door, turn off the phone, lie back and listen anymore? Is that a thing? Are you that person?
I think the days are long gone for albums to be re-discovered. Everything that is made from now on is forever lost into the digital dustbin. It’s something like, “What was that thing I heard that one time? Well I can’t remember the name and there’s been a deluge of slop released since so forget about it.” That’s music now.
But thank DOG for Joyful Noise and this series and thank DOG for you, dear listener. I believe that you will actually listen to this record. I totally trust that you are a true believer. I can’t wait for you to listen to this thing and be transported to A Newer Age. It’s darker, more vibrant, more paranoid, more harsh and well, kind of more hopeful. This is a true journey. It’s an actual album. It’s all gold on this platter folks. It’s happened - you’ve been contacted.
