Do you ever just lie on the ground in a deep depression, fantasizing about murdering Zooey Deschanel and wishing you had something more to look forward to than your own death? Just me? Well, at least I can postpone therapy for now while the stars have aligned and gifted me with one last treasure to anticipate. Brooklyn-based Northern-Spy Records has officially existed for one year and are accordingly throwing a one-year anniversary festival in celebration of their first 16 releases. The melancholia-lifting event will be held October 1-2 at Shea Stadium and Zebulon Cafe in Brooklyn and features the label roster (Zs, Bird Names, Colin L. Orchestra, Spanish Donkey, etc.) together for the first time in one place.
Northern Spy Records was founded by former staff of innovative jazz imprint ESP-Disk’ and has dedicated its first year as a diverse, artist-run label to releasing cutting-edge, boundary-pushing music from free improvisation to no wave to popular music.
Along with incredible performances, the festival will feature Northern Spy’s recurrent pop-up record fair program, which has worked collaboratively with New York area vinyl collectors and underground labels to bring rare stock to special locations around the Northeast. This edition will feature over 2,000 pieces of vintage vinyl titles, a host of local underground label titles, limited-edition tour merch and back catalog titles from the Northern Spy roster, including rare test pressings of NS 001-016. Holy shit! Between this and Neon Marshmallow fest, I’m going to be busy in October, which means Deschanel is safe for now.
Also, please mark your calendars for another great event that Northern Spy is presenting on September 22 at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn with free-jazz saxophone legend Arthur Doyle and His New Quiet Screamers. And don’t forget the Diamond Terrifier record release show on September 17!
Spy Music Festival lineup:
Saturday, October 1, Shea Stadium:
Bird Names
Colin L. Orchestra
Dan Melchior und das Menace
Neptune
Eleven Twenty-Nine
Haunted House
Tickle Polyester (DJ set)
Weyes Blood (DJ set)
Sunday, October 2, Zebulon Cafe
The Spanish Donkey
Hubble
Angels in America
Weyes Blood
Zaïmph
Tickle Polyester (DJ Set)
Heavy Hymns (DJ Set)
• Northern Spy: http://northern-spy.com
