Brassland Records

Last updated
Brassland
Founded2001 (2001)
Founder Alec Hanley Bemis, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner
Distributor(s)Current: ADA, The Orchard, PIAS, SEED — Former: Southern, Hostess Entertainment
GenreRock, pop, art pop
Country of originU.S.
LocationBrooklyn, New York City
Official website www.brassland.org

Brassland is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Alec Hanley Bemis, Aaron Dessner, and Bryce Dessner.

Contents

History

In Brassland's early years, Bemis worked as a freelance journalist for LA Weekly and The New York Times. The Dessners are twin brothers who are also musicians. Aaron is a producer and songwriter, while Bryce is a guitarist, composer, and curator. Both are songwriters for The National, while Bryce is equally known for his collaborations with Sufjan Stevens and Bang on a Can All Stars. Brassland is based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has close ties to Ohio, where the Dessner brothers were raised. All five members of The National are from Cincinnati, Ohio.

The label's first two releases were debut albums by The National and Clogs. Brassland has also released albums by Thomas Bartlett aka Doveman, Jherek Bischoff, Buke and Gase, This Is The Kit, and Baby Dayliner — and licensed music by Nico Muhly and The Gloaming. The label considers itself an intentional community, making collective A&R decisions based on the tastes of both its founders and the interests of the artists involved in the label, actively encouraging collaboration and a sense of community among its roster. "Art is a way of life," Dessner has been quoted as saying. "We don't think in isolation, we exist in a community with each other." [1]

In a 2015 profile in the Irish Times , Bemis said, "We give bands and musicians a level of infrastructure, but without putting on the pressure that if they don't sell 20,000 records they're going to be out of luck. That said, it's probably more of a corporate experience than they had before we found them. But Brassland is not trying to become a major label. It's as much about interaction between the different musicians as it is about whatever audience will be for them." [2] For example, founding Clogs member Padma Newsome contributed regularly to The National's music after the band signed to Beggars Banquet; onetime label artist Erik Friedlander performed on Clogs' "Stick Music" while Pela included a guitarist, Nate Martinez, who frequently acted as a substitute guitarist during The National's earliest years. Thomas Bartlett has worked as a player and producer with Muhly, Sufjan Stevens, and The National.

On its 10th anniversary, The Guardian called Brassland "the centre of New York's other music scene." [3] Pitchfork called it a "venerable art-pop boutique label." [4]

Current artists

Inactive artists

Artists previously on the label

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Reed Parry</span> Musical artist

Richard Reed Parry is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums, celesta, keyboards, and accordion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The National (band)</span> American indie rock band

The National is an American rock band of Cincinnati, Ohio natives, formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1999. The band consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Carin Besser, the wife of Matt Berninger, is not a band member but has written lyrics for the band alongside her husband since its 2007 album Boxer.

<i>Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers</i> 2003 studio album by The National

Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is the second studio album by indie rock band the National. It was released in 2003 on Brassland Records. This is the first album on which the band worked with Peter Katis, who would produce the band's next albums Alligator and Boxer.

<i>The National</i> (album) 2001 studio album by The National

The National is the debut studio album by American indie rock band the National, released on October 30, 2001 on Brassland Records. Recorded prior to guitarist Bryce Dessner's full arrival into the band, The National was produced by both Nick Lloyd and the band itself. Now-bass guitarist Scott Devendorf performs both guitar and backing vocals on this album, with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dessner on bass guitar and guitar duties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shara Nova</span> American musician

Shara Nova is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers Sarah Kirkland Snider, David Lang, Steve Mackey and Bryce Dessner have composed pieces for Nova's voice. She has recorded as a guest vocalist with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Jedi Mind Tricks, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Stateless as well as extensive collaborations with visual artists Matthew Ritchie and Matthew Barney. She was formerly the frontwoman of AwRY. On March 3, 2016, Shara legally changed her last name from Worden to Nova after divorcing her husband, to whom she had been married most of her adult life.

Thomas Bartlett, also known as Doveman, is an American pianist, producer, and singer. He has released four solo albums as Doveman, four albums as a member of The Gloaming, duo albums with the composer Nico Muhly and the hardanger d’amore player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and "Shelter," an album of solo piano compositions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryce Dessner</span> American musician

Bryce David Dessner is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, as well as a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother Aaron is also a member of the group. Together they write the music, in collaboration with lead singer / lyricist Matt Berninger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Dessner</span> American musician, songwriter, and record producer

Aaron Brooking Dessner is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big Red Machine, teaming with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon; and a collaborator on Taylor Swift's studio albums Folklore and Evermore, both of which contended for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the former winning the accolade.

Scott Devendorf is an American multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the bass guitarist for the American indie rock band The National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Devendorf is also a member of the indie rock project LNZNDRF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Devendorf</span> American drummer

Bryan Devendorf is an American drummer. He is best known as a founding member of the indie rock band The National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Devendorf is also a member of the experimental rock bands Pfarmers and LNZNDRF.

MusicNOW is a contemporary music and arts festival founded in 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Chamber Music Cincinnati. President Audrey Luna and guitarist and composer Bryce Dessner curated this inaugural season. It was originally held at the Contemporary Arts Center and later moved to Memorial Hall, a small historic theater located in the city's historic Over-the-Rhine district. Festival performers have included contemporary music advocates Bang on a Can All-Stars and Kronos Quartet as well as indie rock groups such as Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors and The National. Two annual elements of the festival have been the inclusion of visual art, including installations by Karl Jensen, and new music commissions.

<i>High Violet</i> 2010 studio album by the National

High Violet is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010 in Europe and on May 11, 2010 in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on their previous albums Alligator and Boxer at their own studio in Brooklyn, New York, and at Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.

<i>The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton</i> 2010 studio album by Clogs

The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton is an album by Clogs, released in March 2010. This is their first non-instrumental album, featuring several guest singers, including Shara Worden, singer and songwriter of the indie rock band My Brightest Diamond, Matt Berninger, lead singer of Clogs' sister band the National and Sufjan Stevens, a prominent indie folk singer/songwriter.

Alec Hanley Bemis is a writer and manager of cultural projects who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Ears Festival</span>

The Big Ears Festival is an annual music festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, created and produced by AC Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Is the Kit</span> British folk rock musician

This Is the Kit is the alias of British musician Kate Stables, as well as the band she fronts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sufjan Stevens discography</span>

American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has released twelve studio albums, thirteen extended plays (EP), fifteen singles, eight promotional singles, and eight music videos. Through his record label Asthmatic Kitty Records, Stevens released his first two albums A Sun Came and Enjoy Your Rabbit in 2000 and 2001, respectively. For his next two releases – Michigan (2003) and Seven Swans (2004) – the singer partnered with Sounds Familyre Records for the distribution of both releases. Seven Swans was supported by Stevens' debut single "The Dress Looks Nice on You". The same album was reissued in 2009 and included the new single "I Went Dancing with My Sister". His fifth album, Illinois, was his first release to enter record charts, where it reached the lower positions in several countries and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 500,000 copies. The Avalanche, a compilation album consisting of outtakes from Illinois, was released in 2006 and also reached various charts internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buke and Gase</span> American musical duo

Buke and Gase is a Brooklyn-based musical duo named after the musical instruments invented and built by founders Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez; the buke is a six-string former-baritone ukulele and the gase is a hybrid guitar-bass.

<i>Planetarium</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly and James McAlister

Planetarium is a collaborative album featuring Bryce Dessner of the indie rock band The National, drummer James McAlister, contemporary classical music composer and arranger Nico Muhly, and singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. The album was released by 4AD on June 9, 2017. The group announced the recording on March 26, sharing the album's track listing along with the song "Saturn".

"Saturn" is a 2017 single by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and James McAlister, featured on the collaborative album Planetarium. It was officially released on March 27, 2017, although it had previously been performed as early as 2012 as a part of the group's original Planetarium performances.

References

  1. ↑ Crawley, Peter (May 7, 2015). "Bryce Dessner harnesses Cork's creative potential'". Dublin: The Irish Times. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  2. ↑ Clayton-Lea, Tony (January 7, 2015). "Brassland label mixes spirited music with 'the elusive tonic of personality'". Dublin: The Irish Times. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ Snapes, Laura (June 16, 2011). "Brassland: the record label at the centre of New York's other music scene". London: Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  4. ↑ Hart, Ron (March 1, 2016). "LNZNDRF: LNZNDRF". New York: Pitchfork. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.