Out on the Street: Post CMJ Music Marathon action, or lack thereof
Alabama Shakes were among highlights at CMJ 2011
Echoing the general impression during CMJ that the week was pretty light on worthwhile music this year, it seems as though there has been little activity post-festival in terms of new signings. But one band who did qualify for buzz status, and who just landed a deal, is the Red Light Management-repped Alabama Shakes. It was announced this past week that the southern band, of course hailing from Alabama (Athens to be exact) just signed to the esteemed Rough Trade Records for the UK and Europe. No word on a possible label home for North America yet.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Partisan Records – home to Deer Tick, Mountain Man and Middle Brother – inked a deal with Ohio’s Heartless Bastards. The band’s new album – due out in early 2012 – follows three released through Fat Possum Records. And speaking of Ohio, that state’s most famous musical sons (well, after Devo), Guided by Voices have unveiled details of a new single The Unsinkable Fats Domino, which marks both a return to their longtime home Matador Records (at least for this release), and also the return of their classic 90’s band line-up. Another artist jumping ship from their longtime label home, is noise-rock combo A Place to Bury Strangers, who recently departed Mute Records for Dead Oceans, with the first release due via their new label in early 2012.
And in news from the Pacific Northwest, there is a rumbling that Sub Pop - who surprisingly haven’t announced any new additions to their roster for a while (after spending the early part of 2011 signing what seemed like a new band every week), may be the latest label to start negotiating multiple rights contracts with new artists. While such 360 deals are par-for-the-course in the major label-world, they are still comparatively rare amongst the indies, who pride themselves on being anti-corporate and artist-friendly, so it seems such a move may well prompt a murmur of discontent regards the Seattle label.
10.11.11Indie labels Anti-, Sub Pop, Century Media, Daptone, SideOneDummy & more get behind TheNewRecord.com
Independent record labels have traditionally served as a kind of filter or barometer of new music for fans of the artists on their roster – a trusted source for discovering new music. That relationship is part of what inspired the creation of the TheNewRecord.com, a new digital music service created and launched by SideOneDummy Records co-founder Bill Armstrong along with 30 indie record labels including Anti-, Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars, Century Media, Daptone Records, SideOneDummy and many others… The site acts as a digital newsstand of sorts, where users are offered a free filtered environment to play and download new songs weeks in advance of release. Membership is free, and users can stream and download unlimited free MP3s, use a built-in widget to embed songs or playlists, create and swap customizable playlists with other users, and share new finds over Facebook, Twitter, email, or other social networks. Using the “Follow” feature, TheNewRecord users will have new music delivered to them directly from the record labels or artists of their choice before release date, and they can also follow each other, filtering new music through their friend’s tastes. For more details and to sign-up go to TheNewRecord.com
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Indie Dispatches: Independent Labels Face Uncertain Future Following PIAS Fire
The dominating chatter this week in the indie sector is the gut-wrenching news from the UK about the fire at the Sony DADC warehouse set during the London rioting, that destroyed most, if not all of the stock held there by PIAS distribution. The list of the labels affected, who lost massive quantities of LP’s and CD’s in the fire, is a veritable who’s who of the UK & US indie sector – 4AD, Sub Pop, Domino, XL, FatCat, Matador, Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar, Warp, Memphis Industries, Chemikal Underground, Ninja Tune, Rough Trade, Setanta, Soul Jazz, Wall of Sound, DriveThru and SideOneDummy just to name a few. In fact, it may be easier to compile a list of indies that didn’t suffer losses. And some of the figures coming through are staggering – Beggars Group head Martin Mills stated they lost over 750,000 units of stock, and labels like Memphis Industries claim all they are left with was the meagre remaining stock they had on hand in their offices.
There is no argument that this could deal a crippling blow to many companies, who are already finding it hard to keep the doors open due to the overall slump in the record business, and could even signal the death knell for a number of indie labels. There is reportedly insurance coverage, though with possible questions as to whether the underwriters will enforce the typical force majeure clauses in their policies to escape from their obligations, with back up legislation in place for government agencies to foot the bill as a last-resort, but such payments would only extend to actual cost of product (of a dollar or two), and excludes the additional margins a label would make. So chances are that won’t guarantee survival of some labels, who are suddenly faced with a lengthy period with minimal cashflow coming in from physical sales, compounded by the need to spend cash to replace the stock, with any funds from insurance estimated to take a minimum of six months. In the meantime there are artist payments, overhead, salaries, marketing costs to cover, and often the smaller indies get by on a month-by-month basis. Labels could also have paid significant sums for marketing programs that now are worthless due to a lack of stock to ship to retail, and bands won’t be able to purchase stock to sell on the road, not to mention the sheer length of time and difficulties in getting vinyl pressed… The list of ramifications are extensive. Larger companies like 4AD, Domino and their ilk will be able to weather the storm, and some US labels could benefit by having stock they could ship from this side of the Atlantic, but there is no disguising that everyone will be impacted to some degree, and it may well become the proverbial ’straw’ for any companies already teetering on the edge. And for a lot of the labels this week has constituted a double hit, after many, such as Sub Pop, lost money when Pinnacle Distribution went bankrupt two years ago. At that time, PIAS stepped in to partner with many indies that were caught up in the liquidation, the same indies who were just struck a body blow this week with the warehouse fire. Mind you, the elephant in the room is that for some companies it could be a blessing in disguise, as a warehouse full of dead stock (that they pay monthly storage on), which maybe was worthless and destined for the crusher, could suddenly be eligible for an insurance payout, recouping costs of manufacture – far more return than the label would otherwise receive. And of course an upside, if there is one, of the decline in the market for physical product over the last few years, is that at least the expansion of digital distribution has led to a viable alternative to the CD and LP, now accounting for a healthy percentage of sales, and the week’s disaster has not left labels with zero income opportunities. Ten years ago, that would not have been the case, and a tragic event such as this would more than likely have resulted in many more indie labels biting the dust.
- Cool Hand Luke
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Indie Dispatches: Legacy Incorporated
Among 4AD's preeminent releases
There’s no arguing that more than a few eyebrows were raised in the indie community recently, over the release of the debut EP from Inc. (formerly Teen, Inc.) on the storied 4AD label. Since 4AD is usually seen as a bastion of good taste, and the home of a remarkable and significant back catalog, the signing of the L.A. ‘crew’, who have played a minute number of shows in their hometown, and have not garnered any great number of glowing reviews, was seen as quite a surprise. Furthermore, when a band seems manufactured for the blogosphere, and even Pitchfork decides the band is not up to snuff describing them as “a total fucking disaster” , a “huh? what were they thinking?” response isn’t unexpected. Which begs the question of “legacy”. A band like Inc. definitely pales in comparison to prior generations artists of on 4AD – from the Pixies and Lush, to Dead Can Dance or the Cocteau Twins - and even more recent signings such as Deerhunter, The National and (love them or hate them) tUnE-yArDs.
But then no label can be seen as having a totally flawless roster, and every company has more than one clanger they have signed. Sub Pop may be lauded for Nirvana, Sebadoh, Sunny Day Real Estate or the Scud Mountain Boys, but the 90’s also saw them ink Teen Angels, Chixdiggit and The Yo Yo’s - acts that haven’t weathered the test of time all that well (and maybe were not universally embraced at the time either). Even recently the Seattle indie might want people to forget Tiny Vipers and Ruby Suns in lieu of Blitzen Trapper and The Head and the Heart. Or with Matador you may make the argument for Pavement and Sonic Youth over Bunnybrains and Esben and the Witch. While the majors have a history of actions like this – possibly tainting their legacy with a new generation of artists, especially when they are absorbed into larger music conglomerates – for example Atlantic, where Otis Redding & Led Zeppelin can be seen as far superior to Kitten, or 3Oh!3. Even somewhere like Elektra released some better-left-forgotten records before their golden years signing Love, MC5, Tim Buckley, The Stooges and Television, while Liberty (which later owned the Blue Note catalog) made their money with the hit Chipmunks records, and most recently the decision to hand the legendary Verve label over to David Foster – better known for producing schmaltzy elevator pop – has jazz afficiandos shaking their heads in dismay. So, when it comes to the music business, “legacy” can be a slippery slope. But to a large degree consensus seems to be that the independents exercise a deeper level of taste, and stay truer to their roots as a bastion of taste. So for the moment, while 4AD may have taken a baffling step with Inc., maybe the sands of time will show that the band, and their faux Prince-isms, were just a momentary lapse of reason, an embarrassing sidestep, swept under the rug as the indie regains its well-deserved reputation for their A grade roster.
- Cool Hand Luke
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Indie Dispatches: Arcade Fire Goes Deluxe; No Signing Blues for Sub Pop
Fleet Foxes release highly anticipated sophomore effort via Sub Pop
Oh dear. Just when you thought it was safe to venture back into indie-land, the idyllic utopian kingdom where labels such as Merge still offer 50-50 split profit arrangements with bands, 360 deals are an anathema, and folk like the Arcade Fire make a claim for the moral high ground, opting for ‘no film & tv licensing’ (except for charity), and playing benefits concerts and small club shows for fans. Then comes the recent news that the Montreal outfit are set to release a ‘deluxe’ version of their chart topping album, The Suburbs. The new edition is set to include 2 unreleased tracks, the Spike Jonze directed short film, and more. Which, if you look at it, penalizes those dedicated fans who rushed out to buy the album from the get go (and helped it hit that #1 spot!). They’re suddenly stuck with a version of the album that is inferior. At least, yes, in the digital world of 2011, fans can nab those new tracks from the iTunes store for minimal cost, instead of having to buy the whole album over a second time. But are those some dark clouds appearing on the horizon?
Regular readers here may have noticed a subtle ribbing of Sub Pop and the rapidly expanding size of their waistline (we mean their roster), as they seemingly announce a new signing every other day. But prompted by a slew of press releases in the past week about further additions to the label – Shearwater and Beach Fossils being the latest – it seems as though we’re not alone in making that assessment. And a general rumbling of “they signed more bands, how is that possible?” has been spreading around the music community. Of course the issue is not so much who and when they sign an act, but if the Seattle imprint has the resources to effectively manage and market a roster that is now rather gargantuan. Traditionally the appeal of the independent label is that they have the time to market the each band and every release – the old school concept of artist development – instead of operating as a conveyor belt. Rather than having 300 other projects vying for time and resources, such as at a major label, the indie can give each release the attention it deserves. But if the release schedule is suddenly overflowing, and a label such as Sub Pop is issuing 3 to 4 albums per month (or more!), do they have time to do the job properly? Of course, pity other artists on the label this month, as they released the much anticipated new album from hometown heroes Fleet Foxes, which looks to swamp everything else in its path. And while it is not going to follow the Arcade Fire to the top of the charts, the record, Helplessness Blues, is looking at a bumper debut week. Whether it is worthy of the the hype and acclaim, for a band that treads the Crosby Stills & Nash path a little too closely, remains to be seen, and there is no doubt that a claim by one of their hometown papers that the Seattle act “makes some of the most CRITICALLY IMPORTANT MUSIC (sorry for yelling) of this generation” (sic) seems just a tad excessive. And only time can tell whether Fleet Foxes will, like their peers in Band of Horses, The Shins and Iron & Wine, depart for the magical Majorlabel Kingdom, since their contractual commitment to Sub Pop has now (with the album released) reportedly been fulfilled.
- Cool Hand Luke
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The Head and The Heart Sign to Heavenly Recordings; Announce Debut European Shows
After inking with leading US indie label Sub Pop in late 2010, The Head and the Heart have followed up by signing a deal with UK-based Heavenly Recordings for (most of) the rest-of-the world ex-North America. Observers are praising the split territory arrangement as a wise move for the group, with kudos to consultant and Chords of Fame founder Jason Reynolds, who was instrumental in helping both sides set up a deal. Heavenly, which currently boasts The Soft Pack, Edwyn Collins, The Magic Numbers and hotly tipped newcomers Sea of Bees amongst its roster, has also been home to Saint Etienne, Manic Street Preachers, Doves and Beth Orton in a twenty year span as one of Britain’s leading record labels. After joint ventures with BMG, Sony and EMI, the label is currently part of the Cooperative Music group of labels, through Universal Music Group. Heavenly announced a release date of April 18th for The Head and the Heart’s debut self-titled album, along with the band’s first set of European shows later this month. For those keeping score, the Seattle-based sextet were the subject of an A&R frenzy that had numerous labels pining to land the indie/folk group in the latter part of last year.
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Indie Dispatches: Recent Signings, Free Agents and Year End Lists Begin
L.A.'s Active Child among Vagrant Records latest signings
Somewhere along the line in the last month or two, news of a few indie signings seemed to somehow slip through the cracks. Most particularly Vagrant Records, who has been busy adding much buzzed about LA combo Active Child to their ever expanding and diversifying roster, along with inking one bona fide legend, Polly Jean Harvey, for her new album – quite a coup. The LA label has done an excellent job of branching out beyond the emo niche it was once known for, and have developed an ‘A Class’ stable of indie rock acts that includes Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Hold Steady, STARS, School of Seven Bells, and of course Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. PJ Harvey’s new album Let England Shake hits stores February 15, while Active Child’s debut should look for a release in the spring.
Meanwhile, what seems like ages ago (and probably was!), blog favorites DOM from Massachusetts signed on with EMI-offshoot, Astralwerks, with a re-issue of the band’s Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP slated as their first release in early 2011. And now split from EMI and back in the ranks of indie, Mute Records announced that the first artists to sign to the new version of the label include Yeasayer, Londoners S.C.U.M., and Texan singer songwriter Josh T Pearson. Meanwhile in the past week, Sub Pop announced what seems be the 50th new signing for the year, indie-rock supergroup (with members of Man Man, Modest Mouse & Islands/Unicorns) Mister Heavenly… And what of the free agents out there? Rumors are looming of an announcement about The Head and the Heart signing to a certain Northwest indie (which seems public knowledge but still hasn’t officially been announced)… Will Odd Future sign with XL Recordings, who appear to have been laying out the red carpet for the controversial LA hip hop collective (including reportedly flying their entire posse to the UK)… What will become of Bright Eyes? This past week details of their forthcoming album The People’s Key (due February 15) were announced. Following the record, which is their last for Saddle Creek, will the project be done, or will Conor Oberst follow the path of his solo projects by bringing Bright Eyes to Merge? Or will it be another indie (such as was the case with Monsters of Folk)? And slowly emerging (and pricking up people’s ears) is the fact that critically acclaimed Seattle singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes (and the Sweet Hereafter) is in the market for a new label home, after a number of much beloved releases on Seattle’s Barsuk. Sykes supposedly has avid fans at both small and large labels, indie and major, and a with a new record in the can, chances are she won’t remain unsigned for long.
Of course, since we are now in the waning days of 2010, most of the news in the music media concerns the ubiquitous year-end lists – one of the first being NME’s top 75 albums. There is no disputing the UK rag’s choice for their album of the year – These New Puritans Hidden – was baffling, and has had more than one pundit scratching their heads (possibly even the band’s label), but hats off to Domino Records for nabbing that top spot… Subsequent lists from Spin and Rolling Stone (and surely many others) have been released, and as to this column’s picks for the year’s favorites? Well, that will just have to wait until next time…
- Cool Hand Luke
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Indie 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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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap – Ping, MySpace’s New Content Chief & Mulve
Is Mulve digital downloading's "nightmare scenario"?
It’s been almost a month since Apple revealed iTunes 10, which included Ping, the new ’social’ feature that connects iTunes Store users through fan and following features. While the addition of artist profiles to Ping was slow-going initially, things have picked up, but the reason for the sluggish start may have been that the labels weren’t given details about the new feature until the very last minute, as reported on Fast Company this week. Indie aggregators like CD Baby and Tunecore are also now getting in on the Ping artist-profile action too, with limited abilities to submit artists into the program as well… Following the recent launch of an American Idol audition platform on MySpace for the upcoming 10th season of the show, it was revealed yesterday by the Hollywood Reporter that MySpace is also getting a new content chief in Andy Marcus, who will oversee the company’s entertainment initiatives, including the new Idol partnership… Sub Pop has a new distribution deal with Australia’s Inertia, a result of financial woes for the Seattle label’s former distro partner Stomp, an inevitably tipped by our own Cool Hand Luke in a recent missive from down under… And many people are talking about Mulve, the new entrant into the digital downloading arena. But what is it? It’s not P2P, it doesn’t pull song-files from search services and it’s not BitTorrent based. Whatever kind of creature it is, people are interested, as the site crashed shortly after reports of the service first surfaced – as of this morning, it appears to be back up…
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Indie Dispatches: Wavves, Woodsist Festival & Vaselines Reunite
Nathan Williams, the central figure in San Diego lo-fi noise combo WAAVES, has seen the bottom, one could argue the very bottom. He played what seemed to be a set of uniformly derided shows at SXSW 2009, was embroiled in an ongoing spat with the Black Lips, where the two camps peppered away online like kids in a schoolyard (before ending up in a physical confrontation in Brooklyn) and then there was the much publicized meltdown on stage at the Primavera Sound Festival in Spain. But just to show there is only one way to go from the bottom, WAVVES released a new track online this past week that has been getting quite good reviews. The single, “Post Acid,” was released for free via Green Label Sound, and is 2 minutes and 9 seconds of great west coast fuzz pop. The track is a sample from the band’s album King of the Beach, due out on Fat Possum August 3rd.
After the success of Waved Out earlier this year, the Echoplex/Echo park complex once again plays festival host this week with the NY Woodsist label (who first released Wavves debut album) bringing their Woodsist Festival to Los Angeles. Featuring the cream of the label’s roster, Woods and Real Estate, as well with Kurt Vile, locals Abe Vigoda and others, the festival will hit the Echo Park venues today (June 15th). Word has it that the much blogged about Real Estate are currently free agents, and on the hunt for a new label.
And in the legends-of-the-Grunge-era-reform-to-release-new-album-in-2010 stakes, the Stone Temple Pilots have just been ousted from the top spot by UK favorites The Vaselines. After reforming to play a series of shows to support their retrospective Enter the Vaselines on Sub Pop, the duo of Frances McKee and Eugene Kelly, of course notable in counting Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain as a major fan, entered the studio to record a new album, Sex with an X. The full-length doesn’t come out until September 14th , but in the interim head to the band’s website to download an early free teaser, “I Hate the 80’s”. Look forward to a live tour in the fall – the last set of dates were a riot, with the onstage banter between Kelly & McKee worthy of a finalist slot on Last Comic Standing.
- Cool Hand Luke
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