✨ IC Community Weekly #44
ft. IC Live Classes, a job at Mexican Summer, new Torres, Birthmark and The Umbrellas records, a Chastity Belt single, a Terry Allen reissue, KRS signee Brennan Wedl and more!
Hey and welcome to the latest edition of Community Weekly.
In the week where Just Like Heaven festival unveiled what could be the best single day lineup of the year, the IC community once again released lots of great music.
Keep scrolling for that, but first, some bits from us and the community:
We recently launched IC Live Classes - 25 minute demos and onboarding sessions happening alternating weeks. See below for the upcoming dates + sign up here - we’d love to see you there!
There’s just a week left to nominate your peers for Music Business Association’s Bizzy Awards.
Due to popular demand, the Music Week Awards have extended their entry deadline to 6pm January 31st. You can submit as many entries as you like, and there is no fee to enter. All the details on their categories, criteria, and key dates are here and you can submit an entry here
👋 If you’re an IC catalog and you’ve got news, releases, or other fun stuff you want us to include, just reply and let us know - this goes out to 2500+ inboxes every week!
🎓 IC LIVE CLASSES
Our team is friendly, knowledgeable, and streaming live from NYC, LA, Portland, or Nashville in two different iterations of live classes - a Software Walkthrough, where you can see what all the fuss is about, and an Onboarding Tutorial, where you can see the setup process in action.
Upcoming dates:
January 30th: Group Demo at 12EST
February 6th: Group Onboarding at 12EST
February 13th: Group Demo at 12EST
February 20th: Group Onboarding at 12EST
February 27th: Group Demo at 12EST
✨ SIGN UP ✨
JOBS IN THE COMMUNITY
🧑💻 Mexican Summer are seeking a Research & Development Assistant to help their A&R team in tracking down relevant artists / rights holders in the pursuit of licensing masters to release across the Mexican Summer and Anthology labels. The position is part time and entails two full days (14 hours) of research per week, paid at $16/hour. More details and apply.
NEW RELEASES
ALBUMS
🎧 Merge released What an enormous room, the new Torres record today, which “takes her eclecticism to fresh heights” (Uncut) and is “a confident declaration of rock-star ambition” (The Guardian).
The album is her sixth studio record (her third with Merge) and is supported by a world tour, which started yesterday. Grab tickets to that here.
🎧 Polyvinyl released the newest record from Nate Kinsella (American Football, LIES) and his solo endeavor, Birthmark. Birth of Omni is “…an exploration of fatherhood, marriage, and life through cascading pop and orchestrated harmonies” and is available now from their store on limited edition Mahogany in Clear vinyl.
🎧 Slumberland released Fairweather Friend, the latest “endearing and authentic indie pop” (Far Out) record from San Francisco based DIY pop band The Umbrellas, a co-release with London-based label Tough Love. Listen and get the limited edition Ferry Building Blue vinyl pressing here.
SINGLES
🎧 Suicide Squeeze released the latest from legends of the Seattle scene Chastity Belt. I-90 Bridge finds the band, known for their scrappy, clever noise pop packed with homages to the Pacific Northwest, reflecting on “…growing older amidst local change” The single is taken from forthcoming album Live Laugh Love, which is out March 29th.
🎧 Chapter Music released Nyun (Brother) the latest from Brisbane, Australia duo Yirinda, who combine ancient Aboriginal language with modern production to make music that’s “cinematic and sumptuous” (The Guardian). It’s the third single from their upcoming debut album and comes with an accompanying performance video. The self-titled album will be released on black vinyl and digital on 16 February 2024.
🎧 Carpark released One Call, That's All, the latest single from Los Angeles pop auteur Dent May. Co-written with Paul Cherry, the track “…slyly takes its name from the slogan of an ambulance-chasing Mississippi lawyer and uses it as a metaphor for unrequited love and phone-based ennui”.
🎧 H1 Massive released the latest single by Phoenix, Arizona band Vinyl Station, Why Do You Wait. It’s available now on Spotify.
🎧 Kill Rock Stars released Liar Liar, the new single from Chateau Chateau, the duo’s first release since their KRS debut Grow Up!
RE-ISSUES
🎧 Paradise of Bachelors announced the release of Gonna California by Terry Allen, which imagines an alternate reality where his long-lost first studio recordings, captured with a full band in LA in 1968, saw a proper release (instead nearly the entire pressing was destroyed by a fire set by the so-called “Hollywood Arsonist” and remaining copies were repurposed in artworks.)
This first-ever (re)issue edition, limited to 500 copies, features recently rediscovered and remastered early (and superior) mixes of both songs; the original liner notes by Allen; an excerpt from the book; a lyrics insert; and Allen’s contemporaneous visual art in an arresting gatefold jacket. Pre-order.
PRE-ORDERS
🎧 Captured Tracks announced the forthcoming release of angeltape, the new record by Leeds-based art-punk experimentalists Drahla. It comes out April 5th and is “…a sonic journey through five years of transformation, grief, and artistic renewal.” Watch the video for/listen to the fiery first single from the record, Default Parody, here.
🎧 Fire Talk announced One Million Love Songs, the new record by Chicago musician Bnny (the solo project of Jessica Viscius), will come out April 5th.
On this, her second album, Viscius “…looks love square in its many eyes and describes, with self-awareness and humor, not only what she sees, but what it makes her feel… Like a sheet being draped over a clothesline, channeling Mazzy Star and mimicking the soft, gauzy, fresh feeling of realizing you’re able to begin it all again with a new person.”
Watch the video for new single Good Stuff and pre-order the record.
🎧 nonclassical announced their next release – Tape Reworks, Vol. 2. by Langham Research Centre. It features remixes by electronic music pioneers Kara-Lis Coverdale and Beatriz Ferreyra and comes out on vinyl and digital on April 19th - preorder your copy.
NEW SIGNINGS
✍️ Merge added Previous Industries to their roster, a trio comprising Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave and STILL RIFT. Their first release, the double single Showbiz / Braids is streaming now, with a light gray marble limited-edition 7-inch also available in the Merge store.
✍️ Kill Rock Stars welcomed Brennan Wedl to their family and released 2 Dollar Pistol, their debut single + video, which “…sets out an entreaty to believe in yourself on your own terms and to shoot for your dreams.”
VIDEOS
🖥️ Earth Libraries released a video for the new track Online by The Juniper Berries. The single is the second taste of forthcoming LP Death and Texas, which lands April 19th and is now available for pre-order.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
🖥️ The latest outing of a section where I'll choose a video I love from YouTube’s treasure trove of music videos, live performances and curiosities.
With the very sad news that folk icon Melania Safka passed away this week, it’s a fitting time to revisit her excellent BBC In Concert set from 1972 and marvel at the emotional rawness and vocal intensity on display in that and in her 1970 masterpiece (and my personal favourite track) Leftover Wine.
SHOWS, TOURS + EVENTS
🚌 Sun June (Keeled Scales) and Wild Pink (Royal Mountain) are heading out on tour together, starting in March | TICKETS
🚌 Chastity Belt (Suicide Squeeze) are touring North America and Europe in support of new record Live Laugh Love | TICKETS
🎡 Son Rompe Pera (ZZK Records) are playing Coachella this April. Rest assured the desert will never be the same. | TICKETS
🚌 Laura Jane Grace (Polyvinyl) shared newly announced May headline dates, plus a special Chicago record release show at Sleeping Village | TICKETS
📆 UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS
+ check out the 🎟 Events Directory for more conferences, festivals, record fairs, webinars, etc!
Jan 25th - 28th ‣ The NAMM Show (Anaheim, US)
Feb 5th - 7th ‣ Sync Summit (Los Angeles, US + Online)
Feb 6th - 8th ‣ Pollstar Live! (Los Angeles, US)
Feb 8th - 10th ‣ Durango Songwriters Expo (Ventura, US)
Feb 10th ‣ The Brit Awards 2024 (London, UK)
That’s all for this one! Stay safe and we’ll catch you again next week for more of the same.
- Adam & the Infinite Catalog crew