✨ IC Community Weekly #23
ft. new releases from Strange Ranger, Allegra Krieger and Big Joanie, Molly Burch and Squirrel Flower announcements, Disability Pride Month, Double Double Whammy signee Al Menne, tour dates & more!
Hey and welcome to a jam-packed new edition of IC Community Weekly!
In the week where Wiz Khalifa threw out the first pitch at the Pittsburgh Pirates game while high on shrooms you, as usual, released a lot of great music.
Keep scrolling for that as well as new signings, upcoming gigs, industry events, and more!
Some news from the community first though:
AIM announced the first wave of nominees for the AIM Awards 2023.
RAYE and Shygirl lead the pack with three nominations each, while Ezra Collective, Obongjayar, Kelela and Jessica Winter all have two nominations. The Best Live Performer award is a public vote with nominees including Alvvays, Big Thief and Phoebe Bridgers: VOTE NOW
A2IM has been highlighting the great work of the organisation RAMPD, in honour of Disability Pride Month - more on that later!
Nonclassical re-launched their Associate Composers Scheme as Nonclassical AiR. Apply now to be one of four Artists in Residence, receiving paid commissions, recording and release opportunities and much more
The latest IC-sponsored Other Record Labels podcast How Do Record Labels Break Even came out and you can check it out in all the usual places
Mexican Summer are holding their annual Summer Sale, which runs through August 31st. In celebration of 15 years of Mexican Summer, you can get 15-30% off Mexican Summer & Anthology music, books, and merch
Ramp Local are having a summer sale too with up to 50% off, as well as giveaways with physical orders!
- Adam & the Infinite Catalog crew
If you’re an IC catalog or creator and there’s anything you want to be sure we mention next time, just reply and let us know - this goes out to 2000+ inboxes every week!
NEW IC CATALOGS
A very warm 🤝 to…
Broken Complex Records, a San Fernando Valley based indie label, studio & brand, founded in 2003 by Lee Gresh aka DJ Hoppa.
NEW RELEASES
🎧 Fire Talk released the new Strange Ranger record Pure Music today. Check out the latest from “…one of the most compelling rock bands in America” (NME) here
🎧 Double Double Whammy released the new Allegra Krieger album, I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane, today. Get yours here and see why she “…fully deserves the draw of a parallel to Joni” (Paste)
🎧 Mexican Summer released the self-titled Natural Wonder Beauty Concept record, a team up between ambient artist Ana Roxanne and reggaetón innovator DJ Python, last week - buy/stream
🎧 Paradise of Bachelors released the first-ever reissue of the final songwriter record by Mike Cooper. He wrote Life and Death In Paradise, “a suite of gloaming glam-rock anthems performed with a spiritual jazz trio” while living on the Costa Tropical of Granada, Spain and released it in 1974. Buy/check out the record and its “…beautiful, fucked-up mid-70s rock that’s really not like anything else” (Byron Coley) here
🎧 Chapter Music released the back catalogue of cult Hobart, Australia duo The Native Cats onto streaming services for the first time ever - check them out here
🎧 Kill Rock Stars released a deluxe version of the Big Joanie track Today (from their album Back Home) with added Kim Deal vocals! Available now exclusively on Bandcamp and YouTube
PRE-ORDERS
🎧 Captured Tracks shared the news that Molly Burch will release her new album Daydreamer on 29th September. The ten-track album comes co-produced by Jack Tatum from Wild Nothing, who previously worked with Molly on 2020 track Emotion. Pre-order the record + get a taste of it now with new track Physical:
🎧 Joyful Noise announced that they’re re-issuing Strange Tourist, the 2010 solo album by Gareth Liddiard, best known for his work with Tropical Fuck Storm and The Drones. The record, full of “stories of tightrope walkers, down-and-outers, suicidal Japanese salarymen, and suburban radicals” comes out August 25th and you can pre-order it on limited edition vinyl here
🎧 Polyvinyl announced Tomorrow's Fire, the newest record from Chicago artist Squirrel Flower, which you can pre-order here
🎧 Keeled Scales announced the new record from Rae Fitzgerald, a self-described queer midwesterner “who writes autobiographical songs that drift between ethereal wanderings and intimate confessions”. Say I Look Happy will be released September 1st - pre-order here
🎧 Merge announced Jenny from Thebes the new album by The Mountain Goats their return to west Texas, is out worldwide October 27th. Pre order it here in limited yellow & black Peak Vinyl, CD, or cassette. Visit the band’s store for a band exclusive white & custard vinyl, too!
DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH
July marks the celebration of Disability Pride Month, an occasion to celebrate people with disabilities, honor their inherent dignity and inalienable rights, promote their visibility, and applaud their achievements (Human Rights Watch), as well as a chance to remind people that more should be done before we live in a truly inclusive world. We wanted to use this opportunity to amplify a couple of organisations doing great work towards this goal, specifically within the music industry, as well as highlight some excellent tracks by musicians with disabilities. Keep your eyes on the A2IM instagram too for a new RAMPD-curated playlist coming soon!
RAMPD is an award winning network of recording artists and music professionals with disabilities, working with The GRAMMYs, Netflix Music and others to amplify inclusion in the industry. Find out more about their work here
Just Call Me By My Name, is a new record label for musicians with disabilities. Set up by Daniel’s Music Foundation and distributed by The Orchard, the label will release compilation albums timed to key disability awareness dates throughout the year. Find out more
Attitude is Everything, a UK-based charity who have been supporting industry professionals and organisations to understand and improve access to music and live events. Find out more here
+ in honor of the occasion we’re highlighting five tracks by some amazing artists with disabilities we think you should know:
Congolese musicians Staff Benda Bilili (which translates loosely as ‘Look Beyond Appearances') and their lovely track Marguerite
Gaelynn Lea, who won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016, and her haunting love song Someday We’ll Linger In The Sun,
Dandy and their song In Their Shoes, about the experiences of disabled people under the UK welfare system
Denver-based Wheelchair Sports Camp who appeared on Kimya Dawson’s anti-folk anthem Thunder Rolls (with its plea to make the world more accessible: “There's a stairway to heaven, so how the hell we gonna get in”)
Never Take Me Out The Game from rapper TapWaterz, which was released earlier this year by RAMPD.
To check out more organisations that advance disability arts and culture, head over to the Disability Arts Online Directory
NEW SIGNINGS
✍️ Double Double Whammy announced that Al Menne (the lead singer of Seattle grunge pop band Great Grandpa) has joined their family and will be releasing their forthcoming solo debut LP, Freak Accident, on September 22nd - pre order
Check out the video for lead single Kill Me, directed by Chris Farren below:
SHOWS, TOURS + EVENTS
🎪 If you’re at Pitchfork Festival this weekend (or watching the livestream) be sure to check out these Polyvinyl artists | TICKETS / LIVESTREAM
🚌 Molly Burch (Captured Tracks) is touring her new album Daydreamer later this year | TICKETS
🚌 Shamir (Kill Rock Stars) is touring the UK in October! TICKETS
🎤 A Great Big Pile Of Leaves (Topshelf) announced their first NYC headlining show since 2015 at Music Hall of Williamsburg | TICKETS - Presale is now live - use code: ITHINKYOUSHOULDLEAVES
📆 UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS
+ check out the newly public 🎟 Events Directory for more conferences, festivals, record fairs, webinars, etc!
July 21st - 23rd ‣ Pitchfork Music Festival (Chicago, IL, US)
July 22nd ‣ Visions Festival (London, UK)
July 27th - 30th ‣ Calgary Folk Music Festival (Calgary, Canada)
July 27th - 30th ‣ Camp Bestival (Dorset, UK)
July 28th - 30th ‣ Newport Folk Festival (Newport, RI, US)
July 31st - August 3rd ‣ VenueConnect (Pittsburgh, PA, US)
August 3rd - 6th ‣ Lollapalooza Chicago (Chicago, IL, US)
August 4th - 6th ‣ Newport Jazz Festival (Newport, RI, US)
August 7th - 10th ‣ DJX (DJ Expo) (Atlantic City, NJ, US)
August 8th - 10th ‣ Record Store Day Summer Camp (New Orleans, LA, USA)
That’s all for this one! Stay safe and we’ll catch you next week for more.