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↓ ↓ ↓ orderThe culmination of a year's worth of work with and for artists that we're so fortunate, excited, and thankful to be affiliated with. It's been the most surreal of years, but has also been one of the strongest in terms of musical output that our label has ever had. Catch up with everything we've released recently with our annual PWYW sampler! more info →
On music discovery:
When writing about a song or album, the convention is to use the present tense. A piece of music, although representative of and influenced by the era in which it was created, is ultimately always experienced in ~the present~. We built this website while pondering ways that we could, at every turn, focus on discovery by bringing music we released years ago relevantly back into the present, challenging how we collectively talk and think about “new” music. Discovering new music is exciting, but so is discovering music that’s simply
new to you.
It’s our hope that you'll enjoy digitally crate digging through this online home of ours, finding and connecting with the 231 albums we’ve released with 139 artists from all around the world over the last 15 years. Directly below are a few of our favorites to get you started.
However you’ve found yourself here presently, thanks so much for stopping by! We couldn’t do this without your support and enthusiasm.
Drawing on influences of jazz improvisation, minimalist composition, and punk rock ethos, the Boston-based band Really From dismiss traditional genre and formulae in favor of explorative, indie rock amalgamations. Since 2014, their ever-evolving sound has incorporat... more info →
Clair de Lunarette is a split EP release with Babe City records, and is the band's first foray into the spotlight since the dissolution of Gingerlys. Striving for release, both personal and communal, Lunarette lean into the pop sensuality of their polished, electronic world. Lush, swirling guitar layered over dynamic, jingling synth melodies fill the atmosphere of their debut EP. Harkening to late night drives, and the carefree sentimentality of future nostalgia, lead single “Austin St.” beckons listeners to swap the serious for a waking daydream.
Soft, layered, and at times raw, Alexia Avina’s "Unearth" is an exploration of what it takes to rebuild in the wake of a break-up. The songs capture the painful, yet revitalizing process of sifting through damaging emotions and emerging with something slightly new and familiar. Avina’s knack for weaving otherworldly soundscapes and thoughtful lyrical introspection shines
through, meditating on what it means to connect and detach. more info →
Led by the exuberant melodies of cross-tapping guitarist Marcos Mena, the LA duo Standards make meticulous instrumental math-rock whose effervescent riffs teem with sunny enthusiasm. On the band's debut full-length, Fruit Island, Standards deftly retool math-rock's unforgiving, challenging tendencies into a style that is both danceable and compositionally profound. Drummer Forrest Rice's boisterous chops complement Mena's unpredictable melodies, grounding the unusual self-dueling riffs and balancing the bright compositions with tasteful fills and immaculate syncopations. more info →
topshelf playlists
Just like our catalog, our playlists cover a lot of sonic ground. Check them out on apple music spotify
"I’m very excited to play these songs now, some of which will be for the first time, and solo acoustic, the way each was originally written. These songs are raw and I can’t wait to present them that way." read more →
"Take Your Pick" w/ Jer from Skatune Network
"That show lives rent-free in my head for the rest of my life." ~ hit a skank down memory lane with Jer from Skatune Network, as they pick 5 of their favorite Topshelf releases read more →
Get to Know: standards
An interview with Marcos Mena, guitarist of standards. We chat cancelled tours, favorite fruits, and stuffed animal companions. read more →
Really From Announce new Self-Titled LP
The innovative, new self-titled LP from Really From is out March 12, 2021 -- equal parts jazz improvisation, minimalist composition, and punk rock ethos. read more →