sockets « Klangverhältnisse

plattenlabel_sockets

What’s the full name of your label? Which city is the home of your label? Do you run any sub-labels?
The full name of the record label is Sockets Records. It is located in Washington, DC. At this time, there are no sub-labels.

Why did you choose that name? Which meaning do names of labels have for their work?
To me, a socket wrench is a symbol of building. It’s a tool to create. And I wanted to have some sort of symbol that captured the idea of building something, like a music community in Washington, DC. I think it is really important to have thought through the name of a label. It’s something you might have to live with for a while.

When did you start the label? What where initial motivations, what the initial idea?
The label began at the end of 2004. It sprung out of a weekly radio show in Washington, DC that hosted live sessions with new DC bands. These bands were interesting and needed to be documented, so Sockets started as a CDR label issuing 25-50 editions of these recorded sessions.

How many people do work for the label?
Sean Peoples founded the label and runs the day-to-day operations. At any given time, there are a few interns who help with label.

What criteria decide about whether you release a record or not?
Sockets works mainly with Washington, DC bands, but also releases a youth hip-hop series from Brooklyn as well as bands like ZS, EXTRA LIFE and LITTLE WOMEN who are all also from Brooklyn. The criteria behind releasing music on Sockets are usually based on existing relationships with artists and musicians who have been in the label sphere. But bands that are really experimenting with the pop framework always intrigue me. In many ways, if I really like the music that is sent to me, I will see if there’s a way to release it.

Vinyl, CD or MP3? And why?
At this point, Sockets has released music on vinyl, CD, tape and MP3. Some releases make better sense on one format over another. But the label is transitioning to, in the next few years, only vinyl and digital releases.

Which record from your back-catalog represents the label best, aesthetically, ethically and musically?
In 2009 THE CORNEL WEST THEORY released “Second Rome”. Featuring Dr. Cornel West, the band released an album that deftly combined hip-hop, experimental soundscapes, a punk ethic, and their own strident politics. The band has been in existence for nearly 5 years and the musicians have all known each other and played in one another’s projects over the years. Each of the members was born in Washington, DC and the music both celebrates what Washington, DC is and can be, but it also warns against what the city may become if we let the politics of fear to grab hold.

Buildings – Be Here (“Endless”: SCKTS007)
Imperial China – Go Where Airplanes Go (“Phosphenes”: SCKTS011)
The Cornel West Theory – Duritos Revenge (“Second Rome”: SCKTS008)

www.socketsrecords.com

Kommentare Tags » hip hop, indie, mp3, post-hardcore, post-punk, sockets, united states, washington dc

imperialchina_band

Drei Herren aus Washington, DC, die in Dissonanz und Sperrigkeit ihr musikalisches Heil suchen – da scheint es beinahe umöglich etwas zu schreiben, ohne das Wort Dischord zu erwähnen; erst recht, wenn diese sich ähnlich kratziger Gitarrenriffs und sprech-singenden Vokalbeiträgen bedienen, wie das Indie-Flaggschiff FUGAZI, die vertonte Ethik von Dischord Records. Während Ian MayKayes Label in den letzten Jahren aber eher mit der Verwaltung und Aufarbeitung der glorreichen, längst vergangenen Blütezeit beschäftigt war und wenig neue spannende Sachen zu Stande gebracht hat, scheint jetzt mit Sockets ein Label bereit zu stehen, den Indie-Sound der US-Hauptstadt neu zu bündeln:

Preparing to catalyze a genuine movement again, they have amassed a strong roster featuring some of DC’s most exciting and ambitious music makers (notably BUILDINGS, and HUME). All of their acts seem to be mindful of striking that careful and electric balance between experimentalism and accessibility, as well as being painfully aware of the Dischord void. [via]

Das aktuellste Release aus dem Hause Sockets ist nun “Phosphenes” von IMPERIAL CHINA (Socket, SCKTS011, 14.Feb 2010). Zugegeben, es fällt nicht sonderlich schwer diesen ominösen DC-Sound (den manch einer herauszuhören, aber niemand zu erklären vermag) in die fummelige, schrägakkordische Musik des Trios hinein zu hören. Erschöpfend wäre eine solche Beschreibung aber mitnichten; die neun Album-Songs sind mehr als gesichtslose Replikate eines etwas angestaubten Bezugsmaterials. In lauten Momenten sind IMPERIAL CHINA nah am rhythmusbetonten, sehr perkussiv-ruppigen und beizeiten gar garagigen Sound von Bands wie BATTLES und DON CABALLERO (“All That Is Solid”) oder auch FRODUS (“Invincible”), während andere Momente etwa Dancehall/Reggaeton-Anteile (“Bananamite”) oder eine schrullige, flimmernde Schrägheit und schwirrende Tonverknotungen a la ANIMAL COLLECTIVE (“Go Where Airplanes Go”) offenbaren. IC versuchen sich daran, sperrige Grobheit und wabernder Weichheit passig zusammen zu bringen. In diesem Syntheseversuch, der weniger auf Effekt, als auf Subtilität abzielt, erinnert mich das Washington-Trio wiederholt auch an YOUNG WIDOWS. Ähnlich wie die Louisville-Rocker sind IMPERIAL CHINA unglaubloch vielfältig und schaffen es bei weitmöglichster Experimentalität Zugänglichkeit zubewahren – und klingen dabei wohltuend frisch!

Imperial China – All That Is Solid (“Phosphenes”: Sockets, 2010)
Imperial China – Invincible (“Phosphenes”: Sockets, 2010)

Hinweis: Der hervorragenden Audioblog Aural States bietet einen kompletten IC-Gig (@ the Ottobar, Baltimore, MD, 22.Dez 2008) in halbwegs passabler Soundqualität zum Download an.

socketsrecords.blogspot.com | myspace.com/imperialchina

Kommentare Tags » audio, math, mp3, post-hardcore, post-punk, sockets, united states, washington dc