Usually when we hear about business mergers, the sky gets a little darker, and humanity has to pretend that our political institutions aren’t playing second fiddle to the behemoth conglomerates that secretly also own the “local” dog-walking services.
But in decidedly less ominous news: Northern Spy Records recently acquired the NNA Tapes imprint, and this particular merger happened after years of both labels fostering distinct musical aesthetics. Toby Aronson and Matt Mayer turned their Burlington-borne fetus into one that loved cassettes, cassette cover art adhering to a template, and some of the best experimental music with which you hadn’t yet shaken the hand. TMT’s interest in the Brooklyn-based Northern Spy dates back to at least our shared appreciation for Zs, so who’s gonna complain about this joining of forces? Free market capitalism is officially 100% redeemed!
Aronson and Mayer have amicably handed the baton to Caitlin Pasko, who’s now the label manager at NNA. NNA will also now be run from Northern Spy’s Brooklyn offices; and the goal, according to Northern Spy heads Adam Downey and Tom Abbs, is to maintain a demarcation between the two imprints, while hopefully growing them both beyond their present reputations. The autonomous NNA-sponsored Guerilla Toss’s Smack The Brick EP in 2014, and now the two outfits have gotten reacquainted for the sake of GT’s new EP, What Would The Odd Do?, out November 15.
Check GT tour dates here and a track of typical danceability (“Plants”) below. Pre-order the new EP here. I’m getting even more of an 80s vibe, idk.
What Would The Odd Do? tracklist:
01. What Would The Odd Do?
02. Plants
03. Future Doesn’t Know
04. Moth Like Me
05. Land Where Money’s Nightmare Lives
More about: Guerilla Toss
