all catalog features misc premiere roster tour video
Every post we've ever made going back to 2006 has been meticulously tagged and archived here for you. Use the 'by artist' dropdown or the filters to show posts that're more specific to what you're looking for, or just scroll down to peruse things chronologically. Thanks for reading!
 
 
an illustration by Madeline Dowd, showing whimsical people enjoying music in various ways i illustration by Madeline Dowd of Crisman.

feature posts:

2023 release guide + moving sale

We're having a moving sale to lighten the load for our move to our new Portland location! It's a celebration of not only the label's 2023 release output, but also of simply overcoming the challenges of the last year, once again regaining full control of our physical inventory. read more →

 

Thanya Iyer's Montreal Community // scene report

The Montreal music scene is AMAZING! There are so many incredible artists making innovative and creative music that sounds like no other! I’m really grateful to be a part of such a nourishing and nurturing community. read more →

 

bad summer inspiration // a cool original playlist

Nathan Tucker, the voice behind cool original, put together a playlist of 30 tracks that inspired the new album outtakes from “bad summer”. It’s a tracklist of absolute TUNES (much like the album itself). read more →

 

Bellows // Five Inspirations Behind the Art of "Next of Kin"

"On the back cover of the album, I’ve dramatized this idea to a petulant extreme: NEXT LOVE, NEXT FRIEND, NEXT DOG, NEXT FAMILY, NEXT BELIEF, etc. Like, I think I wanted to extrapolate outward about the limits of the future-oriented model for life, always impatient for the next thing – is anything so important there can be no next of it? No replacement?" read more →

 

2021 Titles Guide

Our End of Year Sale runs through December 31! ALL 2021 Titles on ALL formats are 21% off // Here's a little guide to everything we put out this year. read more →

 

Lunarette // Behind the Album Art

"Going with Beya was a very easy and unanimous decision. The brilliance of her color choices, the soft textures and the amount of detail that spans the entirety of all of her pieces were so alluring." read more →

 

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Zenizen

"I hate locking in a recording that is gonna be how people hear the songs permanently, because we do it different all the time, there’s so many things that it could be." read more →

 

Bandcamp Friday // we share our recommendations!

Will, Sarah, Kevin, and Mack share what we've been picking up on Bandcamp recently <3 read more →

 

Gulfer // Behind the "Neighbours" video

"Big shouts to the OJ for letting us do our thing." read more →

 

Record Setter // The Best Little Disc Golf in Texas

Please enjoy this recap on what Record Setter has been up to, accompanied by 22 minutes of joyous video content wherein they play disc golf and make me laugh out loud a lot. read more →

 

Olivia Kaplan // Behind the Album Art

"Maybe someone will stumble upon this record and find it rewarding in some way, like finding a mermaid tail where they thought they’d find a wet sock." read more →

 

Ten Years of Ratboys // A Timeline

"Happy Birthday, Ratboy" celebrates 10 years of Ratboys - use this timeline to get familiar with the band's full history, accompanied by some adorable archival photos! read more →

 

In Photos // Ten days touring Japan with Ratboys

Back in 2018, Ratboys embarked on a short tour of Japan's Honshu island and Kevin tagged along. We gave everyone cameras to document the trip, and now present this gallery with some rousing anecdotes. read more →

 

"Take Your Pick" w/ Loraine James

"I remember just always listening to it on repeat when I was on the bus as a teenager." 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 →

 

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standards

An interview with Marcos Mena, guitarist of standards. We chat cancelled tours, favorite fruits, and stuffed animal companions. read more →

 

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Crisman

"Creating is a way to get out of my head, so I like to keep an open mind and try not to hold myself to any specific plan or boundaries." read more →

 

2020 Music Videos in Review

I thought it would be fun to look back on this year in music videos, thinking we must have had a hand in releasing 9 or 10..... little did I realize that my fragile grasp on time has erased large swathes of the last year selectively (is this relatable?) read more →

 

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Harry the Nightgown

"In 5th grade my friends and I started our first band My Noisy Neighbors. It was nine girls and we all played guitar and covered The Jonas Brothers." Learn more about the playful origins behind this avant pop duo read more →

 

Bellows // Quarantine Bookclub with Oliver

My favorite story in this collection, “Real Women Have Bodies”, revolves around a mysterious plague that makes women become incorporeal — certain women wake up to find they’ve become slightly translucent and then gradually lose their physical bodies before just disappearing into thin air... Animation by Sarah Alvarez read more →

 

Record Setter // Curated Playlist

"Nick Harmer is my favorite bassist of all time. Everything I write is basically a failure to write a Nick Harmer line." read more →

 

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Gulfer

"This might be a bit cheesy but I think the local DIY band to have the biggest influence on me wanting to write music is Gulfer (long before I joined)." read more →

 

Thanya Iyer // A Virtual Home/Studio Tour

Thanya Iyer hosts a virtual home/studio tour, showing off the spaces where her latest record KIND came together read more →

 

Ultimate Centering Practice // Get to Know: Alexia Avina→

Alexia Avina “I am always losing and finding myself again, but I've learned that the point is the process of the return, or the art of coming back to oneself.”      

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Thanya Iyer

"Thinking of KIND, I think of the amazing music/artistic community of friends that came together to make this possible. I love that “DIT” doing-it-together vibe and how such beautiful things come about from creating a space that people feel free to express their artistic vision." read more →

 

addy // Film Photography Gallery

"Golden hour, taking photographs on the lawn...red stained heels, from stepping on strawberries, we laid down until our backs turned green" read more →

 

Textures Laced Together with Intangible Thread // Get to Know: Flung→

Flung "By sampling, we hold our influences legible and bring them into dynamic conversation, forging active collaboration with the archives of the past and warping linear time."      

Del Paxton // "Bedtime" video & BTS photos

We premiere the new video for "Bedtime" from Del Paxton, and give you a behind the scenes look including film photos & lots and lots of s'mores read more →

 

Second Look // Dusting off our favorite overlooked songs in our catalog

We combed through the thousands of songs in our catalog and came up with these 21 tracks we think didn't get enough shine when they came out and warrant a second look. read more →

 

A Message From Thanya Iyer

​"Keep learning and growing and have an open mind as we all figure out how to create actionable steps towards reconciliation. Here are some organizations and initiatives to get to know and learn about"​ read more →