“music is my savior” : Record Labels That Kept Me Afloat…2018-2020

“Music is my savior
I was maimed by rock and roll
I was maimed by rock and roll
I was tamed by rock and roll
I got my name from rock and roll” – Jeff Tweedy, Wilco from “Sunken Treasure”

Those lyrics have been a mantra for me since the first time I heard Wilco’s Being There back in 1996. Music has been my savior since I played KISS’ Dressed To Kill on my Fisher Price record player when I was 5 or 6 years old. And before that hearing Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Doors, Three Dog Night, Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent, Foghat, Van Halen, ZZ Top and AC/DC via vinyl and 8-track on my parents Pioneer Hi-Fi stereo. Music has always been that constant for me. Never sports or athletics and I was never seriously into art as a kid, with the exception of coloring books. Music, movies, and books in that order. Those three worked their way into my imagination like no other, making playing with Hot Wheels, action figures, and playsets all the more interesting and exciting. Through music and movies, I became more of a film director than average Midwest kid playing with toys.

Besides my DNA and how I was raised, music is what developed me into who I am today.

I look back on my life and remember things via what I was listening to. That’s my timeline. Before the 5th grade I listened to what was around, and mainly that meant what my older brother listened to. And he got his tastes from our parents, so it was mainly 70s hard rock. But then the early 80s hit and my brother branched out on his own, getting stuff like Def Leppard’s Pyromania, ZZ Top’s Eliminator, Quiet Riot’s Metal Health, and Ratt’s first EP that had their cover of Aerosmith’s “Walkin’ The Dog”(which was actually a Rufus Thomas cover.)

But the 5th grade hit and I had officially gotten the music bug. I wanted to own my own music. The first four cassettes I owned were Van Halen 1984, Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry, Quiet Riot’s Condition Critical, and Ratt’s Out of the Cellar. These were integral records from the 1984-1985 period, and each of these bands were all over MTV with popular videos. I didn’t have MTV, so I stayed up every Friday night to watch Friday Night Videos and would record the ones that I was excited about. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Julian Lennon, Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Prince, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Hall & Oates, and yes the king of pop himself Michael Jackson as important musical stepping stones for me in the mid-80s.

Toys were traded in for cassette tapes, music rags, and horror movie rags. Star Wars, GI Joe, and Transformers made way for carrying cases filled with cassette tapes, drawers filled with Metal Edge and Fangoria Magazine, and free time filled up with guitar practice. Music was my thing, and it has remained my thing ever since.

Over the last 10 to 15 years I’ve realized the true tastemakers in this time of media overconsumption in terms of music isn’t online rags like Pitchfork, Stereogum, and(insert ad-funded music sites here), but independent record labels. You had music fans deciding to become curators of sound, bringing together like-minded artists under one roof and gave fans of the not-quite mainstream to find what they were looking for. Back in the early 2010s I discovered labels like Captured Tracks, Mexican Summer, El Paraiso Records, Sacred Bones, Dead Oceans, Jagjaguar, Secretly Canadian, Thrill Jockey and Drag City. Their artists covered the gamut of post-punk to dream pop to psychedelic to 70s Berlin School to electronic to dark wave and synth pop/alternative. These were the worlds I was discovering and these labels were my guides to new sounds based in old vibes.

I was in music heaven.

There’s a lot to be said for record labels that took curating musical sounds seriously. One band would lead to another, which then you’d find yet another. It felt like being part of some exclusive music club, and you’d want to explore every band and album they provided. It was music fodder for both the musicphile and collector in me.

There’s too many record labels to jump into at this time that made an impact on me(and still continue to), so I’m choosing 2018 to 2020 as a time frame for some music label discoveries. These three labels and their artists are what come to mind during this pre-Covid and then Covid era. I’m going to talk about a couple albums from each of these labels that were huge discoveries for me. If you haven’t heard them, then maybe you can go discover them as well.

Burning Witches Records

Burning Witches Records started out delving into the darker parts of late 70s/early 80s horror score vibes. From Carpenter to Frizzi…Goblin to Bernstein, the artists(as well as label runners Darren Page and Gary Dimes) were all about the darker sounds of synth-heavy electronic music. But they also made room for the lighter side of 80s synth pop as well. Harglow, Hunter Complex, Galactic Protector, Burning Tapes, All of Them Witches, Cory Kilduff, ISVISIBLE/ISINVISBLE, Graham Reznick, Deadly Avenger, Deathcount in Silicon Valley and Xander Harris are a few of the artists BWR worked with. Here’s a couple of my favorite releases from the era of 2018-2019 that are still played on the regular

Xander Harris : Villains of Romance

Released in April of 2018, Xander Harris'(aka Justin Sweatt) Villains of Romance came out at at time in Sweatt’s life when he was in dire straits. He’d originally envisioned this record to be a double LP, but he was struck by a car on his bike in New Orleans and was down for a while healing. He took what was ready and put together a leaner but still equally powerful LP. The result is a work of dark synth tracks; pulsating rhythms, seedy synth melodies, dance floor bangers, and 80s horror vibes into a classic of the era. “Mall Walk” and its accompanying video by Hauntlove remain high points of that musical era for me.

D.A.L.I : When Haro Met Sally

When Haro Met Sally dropped in May of 2018 it perfectly captured the kind of youthful freedom that came with the BMX and skate lifestyle of the early 80s. Conceived by musician/producer Deadly Avenger and visual artist Luke Insect, When Haro Met Sally made even non-BMX bandits and skate punks nostalgic for the era; Vans, Thrasher Magazine, catching air and feeling the spirit of belonging to a crew. Like-minded souls waxing ecstatic about the sport and the music that went with it. D.A.L.I. made a pivotal record in 2018, and a pivotal record for Burning Witches Records.

Cory Kilduff : When It All Gets To Be Too Much

Cory Kilduff’s When It All Gets To Be Too Much hangs in nostalgia and bittersweet melancholy. The music is described as “When It All Gets To Be Too Much is inspired by Ringwald’s roles in Hughes’ movies, specifically the moments when she can’t hold back the tears. With a few other references blended in for depth and breadth, the tears of Sam, Claire and Andie remain at the forefront for perfectly synthesized nostalgia, anchored in 1980s drama—think the train scene in Risky Business or the death in Less Than Zero—and tempered by the pure and true teen angst of Ringwald’s iconic characters.” – Cory Kilduff

The synth compositions take you to pivotal moments of love and loss in those 80s teen dramas, while also making room for your own 80s nostalgia trips. The awkwardness, excitement, and tragedy of first love and first heartbreak. It’s a stunning record that will always bring the feels.

Spun Out Of Control

I first came across Spun Out Of Control during Covid, and the first album I heard from them was Nevergrand’s Things That We Should Fear. It was an odd one to start out with as it is quite different from the rest of the catalog. It’s more Stevie Wonder and Jamiroquai than the horror/sci-fi based stuff the label was known for(Jan Borré has released sci-fi-leaning records under Grayson on the label.)

Spun Out Of Control was a musical smorgasbord, bringing everything from 70s exploitation scores to steely 80s cinema synth to slasher flick vibes and pretty much everything else in-between. It felt like a music club for the horror and sci fi cinephiles where we could wax ecstatic about electronic music and video nasties. Artists like Repeated Viewing, Correlations, Turquoise Moon(aka Andy Fosberry), Hawksmoor, Proto Droids(aka Neil Hale), Rupert Lally, and many others have offered up their versions of the 70s/80s synth-heavy soundtrack while also giving us something quite unique to dig our teeth into.

There have been so many great releases with Spun Out, but here’s three that made their mark on me and helped keep the brain from spinning out during the days of Covid.

Proto Droids : Cybernetic World

One of the highlights of the summer of 2020 was Proto Droids’ Cybernetic World. Proto Droids is one of the nom de plumes of British musician/composer Neil Hale. Hale goes full on 80s synth pop with Cybernetic World. It’s less an ode to sci fi or horror scores and more just a straight up electro-dance party in your ears. Electronic beats, buzzing synths, and dance floor excursions as if you were at a rave on one of the off-world colonies. It’s a record I revisit often and it never gets old.

Stefan Bachmeier : THE STRANGE WORLDS OF STEFAN BACHMEIER 

An absolute joy of an analog/modular synth record is THE STRANGE WORLDS OF STEFAN BACHMEIER, released as a compilation of records from the mysterious composer and synthesist Stefan Bachmeier, this album brought together Bachmeier’s works in a long form compilation of heavy synth bliss. Analog sound -rich in texture and melody- take us in a sonic world of 70s/80s music. Polypores’ Stephen Buckley “discovered” these tapes and remixed and remastered these lost works into a heady, dense, and rapturous round of heavy synth bliss. It’s a joy to drop the needle on every time.

Turquoise Moon : The Sunset City

Turquoise Moon makes the kind of moody, 80s-heavy electronic music that feels equal parts Jan Hammer, Tangerine Dream, and Wang Chung’s To Live and Die In L.A. soundtrack. Slick synths bringing melancholy and contemplation front and center, you can almost feel the glow of the neon nights of 80s L.A. or the seedy streets of NYC. Musician/producer Andy Fosberry who remastered from the master tapes of Turquoise Moon’s Terry Ferrello and Frank Heisenberg recorded in 1985. I’ve never been able to locate any other information on Turquoise Moon, maybe Andy Fosberry had more to do with this project than what is mentioned. Regardless of who is behind Turquoise Moon, this one is an all timer.

RIYL 80s synth pop, electronic scores, or just generally have great taste in music.

Holodeck Records

I’m not quite sure when I discovered Holodeck Records, the Austin-based label that catered to fans of both heady synth excursions and electro pop majesty. From Krautrock like Sungod to the electronic masterworks of Thousand Foot Whale Claw to the Komische-leaning Jake Schrock to the synth pop bliss of Lou Rebecca, Holodeck had your flavor of synthesis on the menu.

The label was run by members of S U R V I V E, Troller, and Thousand Foot Whale Claw giving Holodeck Records a wide swath of sonic landscapes. Here’s three(out of sooo many) records that made a massive impression on me.

Jake Schrock : Tropical Depression

I cannot express how much this record means to me. It’s one of those magical albums that feels like a time machine, taking you back to some built from memory 1980s. Analog machines making emotional musical worlds to get lost in. There’s an island vibe with the songs, as if scoring some existential space flick where the action takes place on some distant planet’s rocky shore, overlooking a double sun sunset. Easy, breezy, and such an easy record to get lost in, Jake Schrock’s Tropical Depression was such a pivotal album for me that even after buying it on cassette, there was no way I wasn’t going to buy it on vinyl when they reissued it. It’s on the turntable right now. It was one of my favorite albums of 2018.

Majeure : Mass Flashback

AE Paterra dropped the last Majeure record on Holodeck Records back in September of 2019. Mass Flashback is yet another stunning electronic album from the drummer extraordinaire of prog synth duo Zombi. Paterra gives us one of his most varied, singular works with Mass Flashback, a moody and intense record that brings to mind everything from Tangerine Dream’s early 80s score work to Brad Fiedel to Michael Mann’s musical cinema, all the while remaining steadfastly Majeure. A definite highlight of 2019 for me.

Holodeck Vision One

As far as musical samplers go, there is none greater than Holodeck Records’ compilation record Holodeck Vision One. A sprawling 29-track album, Holodeck Vision One covers all the sonic territory this record label covered. Much like the sprawling big sky country of Texas, this comp seemed to lay out for days with a steady flow of vibe, heft, and sonic landscapes that would fill any starving listener’s musical cravings. There are too many highlights to name here, but Jake Schrock, Michael Stein, Drab Majesty, Sungod, Dust Witch and Troller do not disappoint. To this day I wish Dust Witch would give us a full-length record based on “Sister Planet” alone.

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There were plenty of record labels that curated some serious mental health for me in those years, including Azure Vista, Waxing Crescent, Library of the Occult, El Paraiso Records and Behind The Sky, but I wanted to highlight these three first. After writing this out, I might just have to make this a series as there are plenty of records from the Covid-era that helped me keep it together during lockdowns and isolation.

To be continued…