Archive for January, 2010

New Year’s Label Interview: Asthmatic Kitty

Asthmatic Kitty 2009>2010

OUR 2009>2010 LABEL INTERVIEW SERIES WAS SUPPOSEDLY OVER, BUT TODAY BEING THE LAST DAY FOR 2010′S NEW YEAR’S WISHES, WE COULDN’T BUT OFFER YOU THIS LATE YET WORTHY CONTRIBUTION FROM ASTHMATIC KITTY. I’M NOT SURE THE LABEL THAT RELEASED THE FINEST RECORDS BY MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND OR DM STITH, AND WHOSE CO-FOUNDER AND “MINISTER OF AESTHETICS” IS NO OTHER THAN SUFJAN STEVENS, NEEDS ANY INTRODUCTION, SO LET’S HEAR OF WHAT MADE 2009 A MEMORABLE YEAR FOR ASTHMATIC KITTY ACCORDING TO ITS A&R MICHAEL KAUFMANN.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Asthmatic Kitty?

I am not sure they would have been right for Asthmatic Kitty or not, but some of my favorite releases of 2009 were:

These Are Powers – All Aboard Future
Micachu & The Shapes – Jewellery
Serengeti And Polyphonic – Pterodactyl
Richard Swift – The Atlantic Ocean
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Julianna Barwick – Florine

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in  2010?

Julianna Barwick, Slothpop, and the Burnt Ones.

C) What are you the most proud of for Asthmatic Kitty in 2009?

Fol_Chen_Part_I_John_Shade_Your_Fortune_s_MadeDM Stith - Heavy Ghost

Hermas Zopoula - Espoir

Helado Negro - Awe OweOsso - Run Rabbit RunShannon Stephens - The BreadwinnerRoyal City

Sheer volume of releases, we put out more records in 2009 than we ever have. it was exhausting, but we are very excited to have expanded our roster with such lovely folks as Fol Chen, DM Stith, Hermas Zopoula, Helado Negro, Osso, Shannon Stephens, and Royal City.

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Fol Chen “The Believers”, from Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made

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DM Stith “I Heart Wig” (feat. I Heart Lung), from Braid Of Voices EP

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Osso “Enjoy Your Rabbit”, from Run Rabbit Run

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Shannon Stephens “In Summer In The Heat”, from The Breadwinner

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Continuing to be long term focused, investing in careers as opposed to buzz!

New Year’s Label Interview: Clapping Music

New Year's Label Interview: Clapping Music10 Years of Clapping Music, Paris, March 9-10LAST BUT NOT LEAST IN OUR 2009>2010 LABEL SERIES: PARIS-BASED CLAPPING MUSIC. NAMED AFTER THE 1972 PIECE BY STEVE REICH, CLAPPING MUSIC HAS ASSEMBLED A NICE CATALOGUE OF FOLK, INDIE ROCK AND LO-FI ELECTRONICS, RANGING FROM THE FINE ARRANGEMENTS OF ENCRE TO THE STRAIGHT-FORWARD MELODIES OF YETI LANE. BEFORE HE CELEBRATES THE LABELS’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY THROUGH A FESTIVAL IN MARCH, LABEL-MANAGER JULIEN ROHEL TELLS US OF THE RECORD THAT BLEW HIS MIND IN 2009, OF HIS FANTASIES, AND OF HIS NEW-YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR CLAPPING MUSIC.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on the label?

Sister Iodine - Flame Désastre (Editions Mego)There would only be one: “Flame Désastre” by Sister Iodine, which is the most brain-whirling stuff I got to listen to this past year. A ultimate blast of free-psych-noise-rock, just as furiously primitive as ferociously avant-garde. This record came out in vinyl only on the new label Premier Sang, and we considered releasing it as a CD on Clapping Music. I plagued them to do that, and right when I was about to achieve my ends, Editions Mego came in, and as they are better developed internationaly than us in extreme / experimental music networks, they eventually grabbed the deal. This is all the better for Sister Iodine, but it’s been a great disappointment for me as a “label manager”. I would have loved to release this album first and foremost because it’s an absolute killer record; besides it would have been a great opportunity to carry Clapping Music away towards new musical horizons, outside of the indie-rock/folk spheres -to make it short- which we have been known for lately. Better luck next time!

Listen to Sister Iodine’s Flame Désastre on Deezer.

Buy the album on Boomkat (now on sale for £7.95).

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

I will already get down to following and supporting those we have already signed who will have news in 2010: Clara Clara, Karaocake, Red, My Jazzy Child, King Q4, Yeti Lane… this will be quite nice already! Apart from Sister Iodine, I don’t see any artist I would have liked to sign recently, other than in our biggest fantasies: Animal Collective, Sunroof!/Skullflower, Portishead, Broadcast, Mark Hollis, Converge, Steve Reich, Gargouillax, John Coltrane, Domotic & O.Lamm, Captain Beefheart

Yeti Lane – “Lonesome George”, directed by Antoine Lepoutre.

C) What are you the most proud of for the label in 2009?

“Proud” might be exaggerated as there is still much to be done, especially regarding international distribution. There is still much work to accomplish before we can boast. But I’m simply happy to have released such good records by Lauter, Centenaire and Yeti Lane and happy to have given them some exposure, even if in this regard too, the margin for progress is still huge. That being said, I think our label’s catalogue is really starting to look nice :)

Clapping 2010 preview

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Make it through the winter, release new albums by Clara Clara, Red, Karaocake and My Jazzy Child, put up a nice festival in Paris on March 9 – 10, sell more records despite a more and more disastrous situation in the industry, widen the label’s audience, develop our international distribution network… 2010 promises to be the most important year for the label since it started 10 years ago!

Visit the Clapping Music festival in Paris with Lauter, Karaocake and Reveille at L’International, and Clara Clara, Yeti Lane and Centenaire at Point Ephémère, on Last.fm: March 9 / March 10 and Facebook: March 9 / March 10.

Previously in our new year’s label interview series: Collectif Effervescence, Own Records, Bella Union, and Erased Tapes Records.

New Year’s Label Interview: Collectif Effervescence

Collectif Effervescence - 2009 > 2010 New Year's label interview

COLLECTIF EFFERVESCENCE IS A FINE YOUNG TEAM FROM NANTES WHO’S BEEN DOCUMENTING THE UNDERGROUND FOR ALMOST A DECADE. WITH A ROSTER NOW INCLUDING PAPIER TIGRE, LA TERRE TREMBLE !!!, THE PATRIOTIC SUNDAY, PERCEVALMUSIC, AND MY NAME IS NOBODY AMONG OTHERS, THE COLLECTIVE HAS PICKED UP QUITE A FEW OF THE MOST INTERESTING FRENCH ACTS IN INDIE ROCK TODAY. ALONG WITH 2 OF HIS PROTEGES, MY NAME IS NOBODY, AND OUR PERSONAL FAVORITE LA TERRE TREMBLE !!!, EFFERVESCENCE HEAD JULIEN LOOKS BACK AT 2009 AND UNVEILS SOME OF THE LABEL’S PROJECTS FOR THIS NEW YEAR.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Collectif Effervescence ?

Julien:

Effervescence is not the kind of label that is always after THE discovery. This perpetual discovery-game can get very boring and is merely a journalistic pretext. Most artists are actually discovered quite late and have already been recording and touring for a while before they are brought into light. I’d rather keep a close eye on a few selected artists for some time than get all excited on the « new stuff ».

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)Mansfield Tya - Seules au bout de 23 secondes (Vicious Circle)Dominique A - La Musique (Cinq 7)Alexandre Desplat - Un Prophete OST (Naïve)Clues - Clues (Constellation)That being said, I think Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective was a brilliantly exhilarating record. I have played it a lot this year…

On the French scene, Mansfield.Tya’s second album Seules au bout de 23 secondes was striking with sensitivity, and texts so dark they are almost ineffable. And yet they were recorded… I have also been following Dominique A with special care -especially since his album “Remué”- and once again his latest “La Musique” is just another great achievement. Such mastery of the French language in writing is quite rare, even in France. I have nothing against French artists venturing into English – and we are not in the right place to decry it – but if some of them learned how to handle their mother tongue, they might not need to turn away from it. I fear storytelling is getting lost in translation.

I also enjoyed the tense strings in composer Alexandre Desplat’s soundtrack to Jacques Audiard’s Un Prophète, and Clues‘ 11 hyper energizing tracks on their Constellation Records self-titled album.

My Name Is Nobody:

Vic Chesnutt - At The Cut (Constellation)Vic Chesnutt - Skitter On Take Off (Vapor Records)Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (Drag City)Lee Fields & The Expression - My World (Truth & Soul)Vic Chesnutt At The CutandSkitter on Take-Off“. Two albums in two-month time. The first, much orchestrated, with the dream team of Guy Picciotto and Silver Mount Zion. The other, produced by Jonathan Richman, more minimalist… He was not in great shape, but still had the same quirky tone and realism that I enjoyed about him. I was very sad on earring about his death on December 25.

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. I liked the preceding one, in which he almost sounded happy. He sounds sulkier now, but better than never at songwriting and arranging. We are lucky enough to be playing with him next February, during our tour with our friends Pillars & Tongues.

Lee Fields & The Expression My World, I bought it following the advice of my super record dealer in Nantes, and Lee Fields’ soul music is now warming up my home through the winter.

Also, The Jesus Lizard at Villette Sonique in Paris last May was simply the best gig of the year!

La Terre Tremble !!!:

Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor (Drag City)Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (Drag City)Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea - Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli)Jim O’Rourke The Visitor, in which he visits and reunites the infinitely large and the infinitely small.

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, a record with a soul, which is rare.

Hayao Miyazaki Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea. Yeah, we know, it’s a movie… But it is like some sort of harmonic dreams we used to do when we were kids, somewhere between anguish and appeasement. We still do this dream.

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

We are looking to Battles next release, to Thee, Stranded Horse new full-length album, to Marvin that should inspire many rock bands to come, and to the next Silver Mount Zion as well…

C) What are you the most proud of for Collectif Effervescence in 2009?

La Terre Tremble - Travail (Collectif Effervescence)

Let’s start with our newcomers La Terre Tremble !!! Even though we had already discovered them with their first work, we had lost contact, and crossed path again by chance. I am happy with what they have accomplished this year. Travail has reached out to a new audience, and has allowed them to join in some of the top music festivals in France: “les Transmusicales de Rennes” and “la tournée des Trans”, but also “Musiques Volantes” in Metz, “Nuits d’Hiver” in Marseille, and “SuperSounds” in Colmar… But let’s not misunderstand: they are not a « super festival band ». Quite on the contrary, I think smaller stages bring out the wilderness in their performing.

The Patriotic Sunday - Characters (Collectif Effervescence)

Characters by The Patriotic Sunday was also a key release this year. Four years after the first album, it was not easy for Eric Pasquereau to come back with a totally different follow up. “Characters” is fully autobiographic and very intimate. Production took almost a year and involved a lot of people from the recording sessions to the final mastering. Eric being also a member of Papier Tigre, and has been very busy touring in the past two years. We had to find the right time to introduce this record to the audience and, we were a bit scared that the production effort would no more sound up-to date… But in the end it was very well received by professionals and new listeners alike, and I’d like to reassure his audience: you will not have to wait for another four years for The Patriotic Sunday’s next release.

Percevalmusic & Laurent Chomette - Axes (Murailles Medias / festival Scopitone)We are also very proud of Percevalmusic who collaborated with video and graphic artist Laurent Chomette on “Axes”, a half-sculpture, half-concert installation, a multimedia work that obviously cannot compare with a standard release. It was screened for seven days in a nave of the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany in Nantes, during the Scopitone festival. I find it magic to see an artist you know well under a new light and see his work involved in a new space, approached from a different angle.

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

We’ll start the year with a format on the verge of extinction, namely a vinyl, with 2 songs by My Name Is Nobody, recorded in a few magical takes in Chicago as a souvenir from their major tour in the US where they had been invited by the American trio Pillars & Tongues.

As for all labels, the big challenge will be to ponder the relevance and significance of a full length release nowadays, after all that’s been said on the so-called death sentence of the album as a concept. But in the end, let’s look at things from the bright side. It will be more challenging for artists to gather their work in one big piece so we may be gifted with stronger albums, more generous and exciting.

In 2010 we will release Faustine Seilman’s second LP and possibly The Patriotic Sunday’s third full length, which we were not expecting that early. Stuntman 5’s Akolabuzi remixes are almost ready for a digital EP release. Something new from Papier Tigre maybe, if they take a break away from their endless tour to work on some new material.

We will also try and find the time to build a new website and stop lingering on 2.0 pages…

Previously in our new year’s label interview series: Erased Tapes Records, Bella Union, and Own Records.

Coming next: Clapping Music…

New Year’s Label Interview: Own Records

Own Records New Year's InterviewLUXEMBOURG-BASED OWN RECORDS, ALREADY RESPONSIBLE FOR INTRODUCING EUROPEAN AUDIENCES TO THE EVOCATIVE SOUNDS OF GREGOR SAMSA, UZI & ARI, OR TAUGHT ME OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, HAVE HAD THEIR BUSIEST YEAR SO FAR. NO LESS THAN 6 ALBUMS WERE RELEASED IN 2009, MOST OF THEM BY ARTISTS WE HAD BARELY HEARD OF A YEAR AGO: SQUARES ON BOTH SIDES, TROUBLE BOOKS, CHARGE GROUP, TALONS’, FIREKITES, AND THE GREEN KINGDOM. AFTER ERASED TAPES AND BELLA UNION, UNKNOWN-SOUND-TREASURE-HUNTER HELIO CAMACHO FROM OWN IS 3RD IN OUR NEW YEAR’S LABEL INTERVIEW SERIES.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on the label?

Martin Herterich - Silent FieldsHélio: We really cannot complain, since we released all the records that we wanted to and that we could possibly release in 2009. We would not have had the time and energy to release any 7th record. But if I had to pick one record, I think I would choose “Silent Fields” by Martin Herterich on Kalligrammofon/KESHHHHHH.

B) Which artist you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

Mombi, who aren’t much known yet… (Captn’s note: very little information to satisfy our curiosity indeed on this Denver, Colorado band)

C) What are you the most proud of for the label in 2009?

We have succeeded in releasing 6 records that we are proud of. No matter their style, they all have a kind of common aesthetic which will sound obvious to the “sensitive souls”

“Autumn Story” by Firekites, from “The Bowery – Chalk animation by Lucinda Schreiber.

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?

Chihei Hatakeyama - Ghostly Garden 5Own Records, Feb 2010)Go on releasing records that move us despite of our busy schedule, starting with Chihei Hatakeyama in February.

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Chihei Hatakeyama – Voices II, from “Ghosty Garden”, out Feb 1, 2010 on Own Records.

Happy new year!

Feel free to have a look at Hélio’s personal 2009 playlist.

New Year’s Label Interview: Bella Union

New Year's Eve Label Interview: Bella Union
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Bella Union) MORE THAN A DECADE AFTER IT WAS CREATED BY THEN COCTEAU TWINS MEMBERS SIMON RAYMONDE AND ROBIN GUTHRIE, ENGLISH LABEL BELLA UNION HAS KEPT PRETTY BUSY LATELY ON THE FOREFRONT OF INDIE ROCK, POP AND FOLK ADVENTURES, WITH 2009 RELEASES INCLUDING ANDREW BIRD, WAVVES, VETIVER, ABE VIGODA, AND J. TILLMAN OF FLEET FOXES‘ FAME, WHILE PETER BRODERICK‘S 2008 “HOME” REMAINED ONE OF OUR MOST PLAYED RECORDS THIS YEAR. AS THE NEW YEAR HAS ALREADY STARTED, MANY OF US ARE EAGERLY EXPECTING THE FORTHCOMING ALBUMS OF BEACH HOUSE, LAURA VEIRS AND MIDLAKE. SIMON TELLS US WHERE HIS OWN EARS HAVE BEEN WANDERING IN 2009 AND WHERE THEY ARE HEADING TO NEXT.

A) Which records released in 2009 do you wish you had released on Bella Union?

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino) Fever Ray - s/t The Antlers - Hospice

Simon: I loved Fever Ray’s album and Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” but I wasn’t so bothered about them not being on my label.
I tried to sign The Antlers“Hospice” but couldn’t work it out in time.

B) Which artist(s) you wish you had signed will you keep an ear on in 2010?

Simon: I don’t have regrets really but I won’t be signing Beth Jeans Houghton and I will be keeping an ear on what she does.
I will be listening for Mai’s new album, Kira Kira, and anything new from Loney Dear.

C) What are you the most proud of for Bella Union in 2009?

Beach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop/Bella Union, Jan. 2010) Laura Veirs - July Flame (Raven Marching Band Records/Bella Union, Jan. 2010)Simon: Having such great people working for me, Mark and Luke, continuing my working relationship with Duncan who looks after all our press (he has since 2000) and still working with our bands like Dirty Three, and re-signing Beach House after our deal expired, deciding to work again with Laura Veirs, and starting to record again myself with my band snowbird.

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Beach House – Norway (from “Teen Dream”, Sub Pop / Bella Union, Jan. 2010)

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Laura Veirs – “July Flame” teaser (Raven Marching Band Records / Bella Union, Jan. 2010)

D) What are the label’s challenges for 2010?
Simon: Just getting better at what we do, promoting more events, making more special one-off packages, box sets, improving the quality of the packaging and vinyl, offering better online services, and staying in business another year!

Visit Bella Union’s blog to read the full list of the label’s staff picks of 2009.

Read our New Year’s Eve interview with Erased Tapes Records.