For ten years, Matthew Sage has been running his Patient Sounds imprint decidedly outside “the music industry,” releasing a mess of enigmatic electronic/ambient/free noise music and small press publications as a DIY labor of love. It is with some summertime sadness to hear that Sage has announced that this year will be the last for Patient Sounds. A downer, for sure, but as some guy a long time ago once said, “you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.”
Turns out there’s a lot to be joyful about. Patient Sounds is having a stellar year and Sage has decided to end things on its current high kick rather than a potential future bum note. And there’s still lots to come from PS through the end of 2019, with a bunch of fantastic music releases (new tapes forthcoming from Julia Bloop, Hakobune, M. Sage and more) and two permabound books (“Pleasure as a Series of Objects” by Emma Wippermann and “Hard Palate” by Joshua Roginsky) planned to round out the final year. As far as the vast back catalogue is concerned, it will be unavailable as of December 31, so NOW is the time to stock up before the carefully-curated cassettes and presses are gone forever.
The beloved Chicago-based label will celebrate its end in style, with a show featuring Lake Mary, Lee Noble, and the man himself, M. Sage and Friends. “Still, Waiting: Celebrating 10 Years and the End of Patient Sounds” takes place August 21 at the Hideout Inn in Chicago. The night will also host screenings by Sammi Skolmoski, Willy Smart, and Anna Wolfe-Pauly. Tickets are available here.
August 21 will also see the release of a limited-edition mix CD containing works from a ton of experimental collaborators. Speaking about the mix, Sage says, “the vibe I painted to contributors is Waiting for Godot on webMD on the Internet.” It’s just the sort of thing we want to hear and just the sort of thing we want to share the day before, so keep your eyes and ears fixed here come mid-August.
Sage’s goodbye letter can be read in its entirety here. So let’s be joyous and celebrate the short future, but long history, of Patient Sounds. After all, it’s the end of something, not everything.
More about: M. Sage, Matthew Sage, Patient Sounds
