by David Wilikofsky
In a world of information overload, how can you reliably discover great new music? For us, the answer is record labels. Great labels act as a stamp of quality; for the best, any album they put out is well worth your time. Labels need our support now more than ever, so if you like what you hear please head over to their site and order some music!
For the better part of the last decade, Wharf Cat Records have represented the sound of the Brooklyn underground and beyond. Sporting a roster with some of todays most exciting experimental artists working today, Wharf Cat artists take conventional genre and twist it into any form they want. From the miniature pop deconstructions of Palberta to the industrial techno of Profligate to the (forthcoming) country sounds of Dougie Poole, any Wharf Cat release is worth getting excited about. Wharf Cat also sports an impressively international roster, repping bands from Ukraine, China, Estonia and beyond.
We’re presenting some of our personal favorites from their back catalog as a starting point. Please explore and head over to their label website or Bandcamp for more releases and to help support them
UNTITLED | WALL The first and only LP from the late, great Wall. A band that burned bright during its brief existence, this LP was released right as news of the band’s demise broke and encapsulates everything great about the band. Their dark, cacophonous take on post punk sounds timeless. Listen / purchase here.
MASCOT | BICHKRAFT Coming straight outta Kiev, Ukraine, Bichkraft’s sound sits somewhere between techno, rock and industrial music. From the beginning moments of Mascot you can feel the weight. This is heavy music in the best sense possible. Listen / purchase here
WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR DOG? | MACULA DOG Macula Dog make music thats sounds like the soundtrack to life in a post-apocalyptic wasteland; now seems as appropriate a time as ever for that kind of soundtrack. Pulling from Devo as much as from noise, every Macula Dog release is a wild ride. They’re as great live as they sound on this record (they’re known to perform with life-size puppets!). Listen / purchase here
PHANTOM RHYTHM | GONG GONG GONG Beijing based Gong Gong Gong come out the gate swinging on their debut album. Sung entirely in Cantonese, these songs (made only with guitar, bass and vocals) pulse with energy. It stands with some of the best desert blues music out there (think a band like Tinariwen or 75 Dollar Bill for a sonic comparison). Listen / purchase here
BYE BYE BERTA | PALBERTA A Palberta album is all short bursts of manic energy. Angular in the best sense, Palberta’s instruments careen over one another while vocals are sung or shouted by all members of the pand. They pack everything in quickly; most songs don’t last longer than ninety seconds. This is what the Raincoats might sound like if they existed today. For a particularly thrilling ride, listen to their take on the Bee Gee’s classic “Stayin’ Alive”. Listen / purchase here
Also check out some releases the label has in the wings (and consider ordering them if you like what you heard here).