When asked to contribute to this new W_Selection, I hoed and hummed to decide on what to write.  The brief was chillingly concise ‘whatever you want to write about’ and that encompasses artists, albums or even tracks that I happen to take a liking to.  So in view of my excitement at attending Dam Funk & The Gaslamp Killer’s gig this coming Friday (which will naturally be featured on Whiteboard), a write up on LA record label Brainfeeder records would be in order.

One gets the feeling that the traditional record labels are facing their slow deaths due to the colossus rise of Internet based distribution or even completely self released-albums by established artists (Radiohead being a case in point).  Yet if you’re a cheerleader for independently run business like myself, the fact that many creative artists are leaving traditionally run record labels and forming their own establishments is definitely something heaven sent. Labels such as Peanut Butter Wolf’s Stones Throw Records, Pedro Winter’s Ed Banger Records and Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder to name but three are growing fast and could probably tell us more about the future of record labels.

While I’ve mentioned Stones Throw numerous times in my previous articles and Ed Banger get their fair share of fan fare through the popularity of the DJ duo Justice, Brainfeeder needs a special mention. The label set up by Californian beat smith-cum-entrepreneur Flying Lotus -often described as ‘the next big thing’ in experimental hip-hop/electronic music- houses 15 promising like minded artists ranging from Daedleus, the pscyhedelia/dubstep/hip-hop masher that is The Gaslamp Killer, the spaced out Ras G, the self explanatory Dr. Strangeloop to off-kilter specialist Samiyam. Promotion seems to rely solely on the Internet with almost all announcements of gigs, new tracks and albums done through Twitter, Facebook or the Brainfeeder site.  Flying Lotus even posts his Gmail account on Twitter.

Going through the MySpace accounts of said artists will leave you either scratching your head wondering what the point was to all those weird, self indulgent beats and samples or like me, you go all giggly like a teenager and get super excited when you manage to secure concert tickets for one of those performers.  Either way Brainfeeder and other similar labels provide a blueprint for record labels of tomorrow. More like a community, less like a business institution.

The Gaslamp Killer – My Troubled Mind EP:

Destroy LA 2009 Flying Lotus Daedelus:

LA Nocture by Daedelus: