✨ IC Community Weekly #51
ft. jobs at Omnian and GRADUATION*, music from Naum Gabo, Soosan Lolavar, Cola, Gregor, Horse Jumper Of Love, a Knifeplay reissue, IC product updates, shows, tours, events, and more!
Hey and welcome to the latest edition of the IC Community Weekly!
In a week when a major labels’ bid to buy up yet another indie distributor/label services company was called “gravely concerning” - we’re optimists, but we agree! gravely concerning! - the IC community released lots of great music and announced new signings, tours, and more.
Keep scrolling for that, but first, the news from IC HQ…
🆕 This Week in IC! We show you how to easily merge and move tracks and releases within the Catalog Manager (drag and drop bb!).
March is the final month of our Q1 Special sale - get a free trial now and sign up to get 30% off your first three months of IC, or check out this month’s IC Live Classes to see IC in action first!
…and the community:
Topshelf and Austin For Palestine Coalition took part in the No War Profiteers Showcase as part of Anti-SX Fest, which ran all day yesterday at Austin’s City Hall Plaza and featured Horse Jumper of Love, they are gutting a body of water, Squirrel Flower and Ekko Astral.
TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson and Music Business Association President Portia Sabin discuss and dissect the results of the 2024 BE THE CHANGE: Gender Equity in Music Study which surveyed over 3,000 global respondents from across the music industry. Get yourself a free ticket to the event, which takes place on March 21st, to discover the key findings and learn about concrete strategies to enact change.
Merge launched High Frequency Zone, a limited-run IPA from Ocelot Brewing in collaboration with guitar god Mary Timony and also announced that single day tickets for Merge 35, its summer music festival commemorating the label’s 35th anniversary, are available now.
Polyvinyl put together a guide to their partner labels Double Double Whammy, Keeled Scales, and Father/Daughter Records - check it out here and use the code PVFAM324 for 15% off in all four label stores through March 18th.
👋 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!
JOBS IN THE COMMUNITY
🧑💻 GRADUATION* are looking for a passionate and data driven Streaming Manager to join their fast growing independent label and artist partnership company.
The ideal candidate will have previous experience in a streaming role, strong industry relationships and be keen to lead multiple international and domestic campaigns. This is an ideal role for someone who is looking for a new challenge or next step in the music industry. More details here. To apple submit a covering letter & CV to careers@thegraduation.co with the subject line ‘Streaming Manager Application’.
🧑💻 Omnian Music Group are looking for a Part Time Digital Coordinator to work from their Brooklyn Office 1 day a week. They’ll perform ad-hoc tasks as delegated by the label group’s Community Manager; create content and assets for social media, including vinyl unboxing videos, music video clips and basic social graphics; monitor and research social media trends and influencers; and update the labels’ weekly playlists with input from the wider team. Apply Now.
NEW IC CATALOGS
A very warm 🤝 to…
Paradise Music Group, a label and services company run by Connor Lehman to help artists “reach more fans, develop their sound, and finalize their personal image”.
Sunlit Records, a dance label based in Adelaide, Australia with a radio show, podcast, events and merchandise all in the works for 2024.
NEW RELEASES
ALBUMS
🎧 nonclassical released Girl, the debut portrait album from composer Soosan Lolavar, orchestra Ruthless Jabiru and conductor Kelly Lovelady. The record places “…diasporic experience at the centre of a uniquely personal soundworld”, and strives to "…create new forms which are tied to western and Iranian traditions, but not defined by these practices nor reduced to these elements alone."
🎧 DFA Records released the new Naum Gabo record F. Lux last week, which mixes “…cavernous ambiance, pummeling industrial techno and barren, windswept synthscapes” and features cover artwork by Scottish painter Andrew Cranston and layout design by Silvio Waser.
SINGLES
🎧 Fire Talk released Bitter Melon, a brand new track from Montreal band Cola, formed by ex-Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy, and Evan Cartwright who has played with U.S. Girls and The Weather Station, among others. The flexi is housed in a zine and only available at participating record shops - find the nearest one on the map here.
🎧 Lights and Lines released Watch Me Walk the new track by Plymouth-based blues rock/folk singer-songwriter Gozer Goodspeed.
🎧 Ransom Note released Grow With The Flow by Wave Arising, the second single from their upcoming debut album (The) Rooted Sky.
🎧 Chapter Music released The Sparkle by Melbourne, Australia pop eccentric Gregor. The track is the first to be taken from upcoming fourth album Satanic Lullabies (released May 10th) and “…builds with subtle production elements and reflective lyrics into a work of ephemeral, affecting beauty”.
🎧 Earth Libraries released Android Hymn, the new single by DIY touring art pop band Summer Like The Season. It’s the final taste of incoming record Aggregator, which lands on April 5th.
🎧 Run For Cover released the new Horse Jumper Of Love single Gates of Heaven. The latest track from the New York trio is an old song they’d been sitting on since 2015, written after after the band’s Dimitri Giannopoulos had experienced a painful breakup and a death of someone close to them.
🎧 Captured Tracks released the latest single by Leeds-based art-punk experimentalists Drahla, Grief In Phantasia. It’s taken from angeltape, their long-awaited sophomore album, which comes out April 5th.
🎧 Royal Mountain released Close, the “tense and excellent” new single by Brooklyn art punk band Gustaf.
RE-ISSUES
🎧 Topshelf released a remastered version of Pearlty by Philly band Knifeplay, which finds them “somewhere between dream-pop influenced shoegaze and lofty slowcore, never fully committing to one or the other in its insistence on creating an immersive, organic world.” Originally released in 2019, the band’s vivid debut documents the early adulthood of songwriter Tj Strohmer, in what he describes as “the journey from innocence to experience.” The reissue is available now on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital.
PRE-ORDERS
🎧 Father/Daughter announced the sophomore album by NYC-based singer-songwriter Steven Raekwon Reynolds—who makes music under the moniker S. Raekwon. It’s called Steven and is out May 3rd. In the meantime check out new single Old Thing, a vulnerable and contemplative track which finds him pondering what it means to feel defined by a long term relationship.
🎧 Polyvinyl announced the newest of Montreal album, Lady On The Cusp, will be out May 17th. Made in the months before Kevin Barnes was preparing to leave their longtime home of Athens, GA, the latest record is “a rapturous synthesis of most everything of Montreal has ever done”. Pre-order & pre-save the album and grab tickets here to see them on their North American tour this summer.
🎧 Paradise of Bachelors announced that instrumental duo James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg are back with All Gist, the long awaited follow-up to 2015's Ambsace. Their latest album of instrumental guitar recordings “…pushes their sinuous compositions into labyrinthine new shapes, interlocking and interlocutory” and is out April 12th. Check out Buffalo Stance, their lovely deconstruction of the Neneh Cherry classic in the meantime.
🎧 Slumberland announced the forthcoming release of the debut album by New Jersey power pop band Lightheaded. It’s called Combustible Gems and is out May 17th and up for pre-order today! Check out new track from it, Dawn Hush Lullaby, ahead of that.
🎧 Kill Rock Stars announced the return of Brooklyn experimental pop band Habibi, who will release their new record Dreamachine on the label on May 31st. They also unveiled lead single from it, On The Road, which gives a taste of the album’s themes of “desire and escape, love and surrender, rebellion and reality.”
NEW SIGNINGS
✍️ Double Double Whammy announced that This is Lorelei is joining their family. Since 2012, New York City singer-songwriter Nate Amos (Water From Your Eyes, My Idea) has recorded and self-released hundreds of songs under the This Is Lorelei moniker and new record Box For Buddy, Box For Star (out June 14th and available to pre-order) marks their first attempt at a traditional, intentionally written full-length album.
INTERVIEWS
🎙️ Mini Trees (Run For Cover) spoke to Flood Magazine about the main influences on her music including Charli XCX, Baths and A. G. Cook.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
🖥️ Where I choose a video I love from YouTube’s treasure trove of music videos, live performances and curiosities.
This week: Influential anti-folk musician Diane Cluck with a mesmerising, vocally dextrous performance of i'm yr here-i-am from her 2002 record black with green leaves, recorded at Galapagos Art Space, formerly located in Brooklyn.
SHOWS, TOURS + EVENTS
🚀 nonclassical are celebrating the launch of the new record by British Iranian composer Dr Soosan Lolavar with a free launch party tonight at Close-Up Cinema in East London | 🆓
🎛️ Slumberland Records is hosting a party tonight at 4 Star Theatre in San Francisco with DJs Dusty Shores and Kid Frostbite | TICKETS
🚌 Big Joanie (Kill Rock Stars) are playing three EU shows with Bikini Kill this summer | TICKETS
📆 UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS
+ check out the 🎟 Events Directory for more conferences, festivals, record fairs, webinars, etc!
Mar 15th - 17th ‣ Lollapalooza Chile (Santiago, Chile)
Mar 15th - 17th ‣ Rolling Loud California (LA, CA, US)
Mar 17th - 20th ‣ MUSEXPO Creative Summit (Burbank, CA, US)
Mar 20th - 24th ‣ Treefort Music Festival (Boise, ID, US)
Mar 21st - 23rd ‣ Future Echoes Conference 2024 (Norrköping, Sweden)
Mar 22nd - 24th ‣ Lollapalooza Brazil (Sao Paulo, BR)
Mar 22nd - 24th ‣ Ultra Music Festival (Miami, FL, US)
Mar 24th ‣ 53rd Annual JUNO Awards (Halifax, Canada)
Mar 28th - Apr 13th ‣ Savannah Music Festival (Savannah, GA, USA)
Apr 1st ‣ iHeartRadio Music Awards (LA, CA, US)
Apr 2nd - 6th ‣ Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival (Nashville, TN, US)
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