The Orchard & Frenchkiss Records to launch new label group
Independent distro company The Orchard in partnership with Frenchkiss Records and label founder Syd Butler, announced today the formation of the Frenchkiss Label Group, which will serve as a potential new home for developing labels, in spirit similar to indie powerhouse Secretly Canadian. “Playing music and operating a successful music label is what I know and love. The Frenchkiss Label Group presents an opportunity for developing labels to learn from my achievements and mistakes,” says Butler. The formation of the new label group comes after The Orchard recently expanded its relationship with Frenchkiss Records, home to acts like Local Natives, Les Savy Fav, Passion Pit and The Hold Steady, by adding physical distribution duties to an existing global digital deal. The group’s daily operations will be headed by Jordy Trachtenberg, formerly of Gammon Records. FKLG is currently accepting label submissions.
11.5.10Indie Dispatches: Recent Signings & the Who’s Who of What’s Next
New Jersey's Real Estate
The post-music conference landscape has always been a game of snakes and ladders – who is getting signed, who bombed out, whose star is on the ascent, and whose isn’t – and this year is no exception in the weeks after CMJ. Though in fact the last six months or so has been a busy one for the independent label sector.
CMJ or not, possibly top of the heap in terms of allure for indies, is New Jersey band Real Estate. Coming off the back of a highly rated 7″ single via everyone’s favorite hipster label, True Panther Sounds, the band has a veritable who’s who of top shelf indies in the hunt. You name it, they’re probably there. And also garnering a lot of buzz is JEFF the Brotherhood. The Nashville combo of course feature former members of buzz band Be Your Own Pet, which only heightens the interest. There may even be some major labels sniffing around.
Much beloved Scottish noisemongers Mogwai recently announced a switch from one premiere indie to another – departing their long-time home at Matador Records for Sub Pop, oddly enough, a full twelve years or so after the Seattle label first approached the band about signing them. But Mogwai are another in the list of what seems like 320 new bands that Sub Pop has signed recently, which also includes Northwest hip hop crew Shabazz Palaces – a baffling move considering the label’s lack of success when it comes to anything outside their traditional indie rock fare. And supposedly, after remaining aloof for a long period of time, word on the street is that Sub Pop may have entered the fray surrounding buzzy Seattle six piece The Head and the Heart. And even their sub-label Hardly Art seems to be busy, signing San Francisco’s Hunx and his Punx and possibly sniffing around Australia’s Circle Pit.
Though pundits will be aghast if hilariously awful LA group Teen, Inc sign with XL, as has been rumored, the list of bands newly inked to indies continues… LA’s Pepper Rabbit joined the roster at Kanine Records (of course original home of Surfer Blood and Chairlift), with the band releasing its debut album Beauregard in October. Meanwhile old skool punk rockers OFF! (with a line-up including Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks, Steve McDonald of Redd Kross and Dimitri Coats of the Burning Brides) inked with Vice, Pittsburgh’s 1,2,3 made French Kiss Records their home after doing a 45 for UK’s tastemaker Chess Club label and husband and wife duo Tennis joined the ever expanding (and diversifying) list of bands on Fat Possum. And totally flying under the radar, balladeer Sean Rowe reportedly signed with Epitaph’s Anti imprint.
One free agent though, who should be on the top of everyone’s shopping list, is LA combo White Sea (featuring sometime M83 member Morgan Kibby). If the debut EP (which can be found for free here) is any indication, maybe it wont be too long before they become another addition to the ‘newly inked’ column.
- Cool Hand Luke
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Indie Dispatches: Straight From the Chart
Sharon Jones' New Album Enters Top 200 Its First Week
Last week saw another independent label release break into the ‘big boy charts’ with the Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings album I Learned the Hard Way scoring a #15 spot in the Billboard Top 200 with over 20k in sales in its first week. The interesting twist to the story is that the album is on Daptone Records, a label that could be seen more as a cottage operation rather than one of the more storied independent labels. The big winner for the year so far in the indie-label chart story however, has been Merge Records, which has had not one, but two new releases hit the top five in 2010. First with the Spoon Transference album back in January and most recently She and Him’s Volume Two. And that list doesn’t include the highly anticipated third album from the Arcade Fire that is reportedly due out this year. Could that end up being the North Carolina label’s first ever number one album?
Less than a decade ago the thought of an indie release cracking the charts in general, let alone the Top 10, was a pipe dream. Even pre-eminent artists on labels like Sub Pop or Matador in the 90’s barely scraped into the Top 100 – a reason for great celebration at the time. It seems like up until recently the only ranking an independent release could have was in Heatseekers or the tinpot Billboard Indie Chart, but all that has seemingly changed when even the Local Natives album on tiny Frenchkiss Records can hit the Top 200. While it is true independent label sales have seen a slump, and it is as hard as ever for the indies (like majors) to sell records, the drop has in some ways not been as cataclysmic as that of the Big Four. Maybe it can be attributed to the indies’ dedication to their community of buyers, where the fans seem more invested in the artists, or maybe it has just been a policy of good releases and reasonable prices. But most likely it is the fact that many independent labels have simply continued to consistently put out great music. Whatever the reason, it seems like in 2010 the kids are alright…
- Cool Hand Luke
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