At their best, record labels are idiosyncratic ventures, on the one hand defining – then exploring – a particular, if often growing, corner of the music world while on the other not turning a blind ey- or, umm, rather, deaf ear to the possibilities that might emerge from some heretofore unforeseen (unforeheard?) direction. It’s by definition a challenging remit that most eventually stray from if only from the sheer focus required to maintain that core principle, finding it easier to be distracted by the ever-tempting flavors of the day than to stick to what turns out to be a hard-won core philosophy. We have found that labels like Tapete, Tiny Global, Third Man and HHBTM are among the few current labels that have been able to resist the slide toward a, shall we say, blander accessibility by maintaining something approaching an almost zen-like discipline. We get it, one can hardly imagine a more exacting task, but at the same time we find a kind of offbeat inspiration not just in those mentioned but in the label that doesn’t only best fit those somewhat strict parameters but could reasonably be considered the ur-example: the Kramer-founded, seemingly unkillable Shimmy-Disc and it’s there … Continue reading STEREO EMBERS VIDEO PREMIERE – “Eldorado” from New Shimmy-Disc Release “POE – To One In Paradise (for Hal Willner)”