2024 In Review

There’s always been an ebb and flow to the quantity of yk Records releases. Some years are an avalanche of releases, some are hardly a trickle. I think it’s fair to say that 2024 fell into Avalanche territory. By my count we unveiled 29 distinct releases with 123 tracks across 4+ hours of play time. Not too shabby!

Below you’ll find a little bit of insight and reflection on each release from the year. Hopefully my ruminations are entertaining but there’s no better way to experience any of this than just listening to it. And in some cases, watching it. And in one case, trying to find a USB drive so you can do anything at all.

All that said, steer yourself towards this Ampwall collection, this Spotify playlist, this Soundcloud sampler or this YouTube gathering. Anywhere you can get your ears into some YK, get into it.

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As the album title implies, each track is a world in and of itself. A tiny self-contained soundtrack. Headphones and walking around are a delightful way to take it in.

Roger shot and edited this video himself, providing a delightful look into his Haptown studio and pulling back the curtain a little bit on how diverse of a player he is. He may be most well known for his production work but I’m excited that yk is playing a part in letting folks know he is a magically creative musician as well.

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At the start of the year, The Robe (Rollum Haas) told me he had plans to release new music throughout the year. The ideas were all mapped out, he just had to record them as he envisioned.

You’ll quickly note that he made good on his promise; delivering a fantastic batch of songs all year long. They are streaming everywhere but best experienced as a gathering. Here’s a handy playlist on Youtube and one on Spotify.

This inaugural single bridges the gap perfectly from his 2019 debut album; giving a little sonic hint back in time but unfurling into a dance-y blast.

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I’ll take a page from Rollum’s book and not reveal what I think the b-side, “The Handbook,” is about but I will say that paying attention to the lyrics is a treat.

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This cover is the first appearance of Valentine the cat but not the last.

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The band wanted more autonomy in the recording process and less downtime between releases. They’ve achieved both and have given themselves more room to grow creatively as there is less pressure to write & release 10 songs at once.

Drummer Jereme Frey also happens to enjoy a bit of filming and editing on the video front, so they’ve been diving into releasing videos for each song as well. They look great!

It’s great to hear the band embrace lavish harmonies and spill out memorable choruses while still being an angular post-punk band to a degree. Nobody does it like they do.

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Annie Williams
Visitor
May 2024

The release of Visitor was a bit of reinvention for Annie Williams. She moved to Nashville a decade ago through the invitation of a Christian hip-hop group,* released a few EPs but became disillusioned with it all. Over time, she found her people and cultivated these songs.

Visitor is often vulnerable and melancholy but I find there’s an undercurrent of optimism that finds its way through. Williams voice is powerful, full stop.

The vinyl run was a very limited run and I’m incredibly happy with how it turned out (at the time of this writing, I believe there is exactly one copy left in the first pressing). The release show at Soft Junk was a magical night.

*seriously, she tells the full tale on this episode of Morse Code

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We’ve landed on “Art Pop” as the genre signifier for The Robe but that’s a broad term itself. These songs are wildly diverse in their instrumentation and in their song arrangements but always memorable. Personally, I found these two songs to be incredibly good examples of What The Robe Does™ – one dance-y, one quite contemplative track.

As an aside, I also love this cover image.

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Where the prior single opened up General Trust’s pop tendencies, this one leans further into the more gothic side of things. Somehow every single one of these releases has found the perfect balance between the two, although the ratios may change between each release.

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Meadownoise
The Foam Alone
July 2024

The Nashville Scene provided a nice writeup for The Foam Alone and in doing so, spilled the beans on what exactly is going on with this album.

 There’s an entry for the LP on Bandcamp, but it’s not the actual album: You won’t hear “The Magnolia” here, but rather a recording of Eve Maret playing her clarinet in reaction to the song, and so on. To get your hands on the real Foam, you must “follow the crumbs.” Start by asking someone who you can guess might have heard it — perhaps send a DM to someone who recorded one of those clips for Bandcamp, or check the Meadownoise Instagram to find out when Glassmeyer is playing and approach him after a show. Are there upsides to frictionless listening? Sure. But Foam is a reminder that music is artistic expression, not just content to be consumed.

So, yes, what you hear on Bandcamp and streaming is not the actual album but, rather, a series of reactions to the album. If you become a subscriber to the Meadownoise Bandcamp, you will be given a copy of the actual album. Or you can just ask Matt Glassmeyer at a show for a copy – he’ll have one.

Both the primary record and the reaction record are fascinating bits of work. I hope the former makes it way online one day and I hope you give the latter a proper shake, despite the duplicity.

Shoutout to G. Seth West for being a real creative partner on this one a well.

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“River in the Ocean” does not fall under the same umbrella of sound but it does serve as yet another expansion of The Robe palette. Without giving anything away, I’ll also say it’s always a good idea to read the liner notes.

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Tower Defense
“Repeat” / “Girl U Want”
August 2024

When Tower Defense first approached me about releasing a series of singles instead of EPs or LPs, they outlined that they had four releases in mind. With “Repeat,” that cycle is now complete. Looking back at “Sea Ranch”, “Running Out” and “Friendly Factions” it is clear how much the band evolved in that short time. Not to mention how much their video production work grew as well (I mean, look at this video! Remarkable!)

“Repeat” is a song about an earworm of a song that is itself an earworm of a song. Once again, the band’s embrace of soaring harmonies while still maintaining their post-punk vibes is an absolute pleasure. With that in mind, the Devo cover is particularly perfect for them – another band that understood combining pop with progressive musical ideas.

The band has one more release in 2024 with the Holiday Sampler but I look forward to whatever the next era of Tower Defense contains. I suspect it’ll be right up my alley.

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“Shattery” is the first single featuring Fetching Pails as a trio. Guitarist Dillon Smith and drummer Andrew Core have joined in on the recording and performing process, bringing a new perspective to the sound but not an altogether seismic shift. It’s a nice, gradual, change into new territories.

There’s more Fetching Pails in store for 2024 and for 2025.

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Singer Dave Paulson informed me that in 2023, the band had recorded two brand new songs and were looking to release a Best Of record to commemorate the occasion. I jumped at the opportunity and we started in on the process of compiling, remastering, making artwork, pressing vinyl and coming up with a promotion plan.

The YouTube playlist above contains the announcement trailer, the two new songs and two of the remastered songs. It’s a nice introduction to the band if you’re unfamiliar and a great re-introduction if you are.

The artwork is a collage of the prior releases. Paulson was kind enough to supply a large amount of ephemera from the bands past to create it and the easter egg laden inner gatefold. I think it turned out quite nicely.

The band played a reunion show at The Basement to a fully packed room. The Scene wrote up a nice review of the undertaking and the photos really send home just how enjoyable of a night it was.

Will there be more new music from The Privates? Only time will tell! Dave jokes that they are “like cicadas.” Maybe we’ll see them again in 13 years.

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“Mantra” is a trip-hop dancefloor anthem promoting immense positivity. I love how self-reflective and confidence boosting it is while also serving as a tool for others to do the same. “Miracle” is just a downright sweet ode to a partner, whomever they may be.

I am particularly proud of the videos for this release. The “Mantra” video was shot and directed by Jereme Frey (of Tower Defense) and required a great deal of editing to create that cyberpunk world; a perfect fit for the song. I collaborated with Maret on the “Miracle” video create a moving version of autostereograms (aka Magic Eye). I documented the process over here but the TLDR is, I got to learn a lot about depth maps, PHP image processing and video editing. I’m thankful to Eve for trusting me to make the dang thing.

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“Animal” is an absolute explosion of a song. In fact, I’d venture to say that even if you’ve heard it, you have yet to fully appreciate the unfurling that takes place. Give it a listen again, absolutely crank the volume and really embrace the layering of sound that is coming forward.

“Suddenly Last Summer” features the return of J.B. Bennett from The Jason EP! Bennett has such a unique voice and it, clearly, pairs quite well with the musical inclinations of The Robe. We’ll hear more from him again later on in 2024.

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Along with the cassette (more on that below), we released the official music video for “If I Could Change Your Mind” – directed by Casey Pierce and edited by Jane Fitzsimmons. It’s a conceptually simple video but the end result has such a great vibe to it, apropos for General Trust.

We made cassettes and had Risology Club print the j-cards. It’s hard to tell online but the printing texture is unique with every tape. It looks great. I believe the only way to obtain one at this time is to see General Trust live. Keep an eye on his website for upcoming dates.

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Talking with Hands
Organic Machine + 3
Oct 2024

Another massive project that is incredibly difficult to give its proper due in a summary of the year. Talking with Hands released his third full-length album Organic Machine machine in late October. It was preceded by three singles – each with multiple remixes and a music video.

The YouTube playlist embedded above has all of the videos, including those that were released after the album was available.

It was a massive undertaking that involved a lot of incredibly creative people lending their skills via video editing or remixing or mastering to make it happen. We did a similar thing for sugar sk*-*lls album Star Time and I can confidently say that the amount of work involved is worth it.

The album is a conceptual look at AI, creativity, the music industry and how they all intertwine. It manages to do that while still providing memorable bangers. It’s a dense but rewarding album.

I’m particularly proud that we landed on some artwork that could be animated and fit with the theme of the album. Most platforms can’t support GIF for cover art but if you’re reading this, you know that the official cover is moving.

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Moment of Bleakness is exactly what I’d hope to hear from a full-length release from Trash Man and I’m overjoyed to have played a part in releasing it. The production is a step above the prior singles but not so polished that its unrecognizable. The songs are a hair longer than the prior releases but still embrace a kind of punk ethos of stopping well before they’ve overstayed their welcome. The songs are also introspective and melancholy while being explosive and catchy.

Alex made this lyric video for “Ruin It” that simply shows him cooking a pizza at home. Conceptually he told me he just wanted to make a video that would be something that he would watch, music video or not. May we all be so brilliant in our ideas!

I am confident there is more Trash Man in the future, tho specifics are nebulous. Whenever it happens, I’m on board.

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Within the first six seconds, you get a touch of that Pelham vocal holler and then a taste of what he’s been up to since The Features went dormant in 2016. There’s a lot more of this music to share in 2025 but I’m so happy we got to break the seal in 2024. It’s a familiar sound thanks to Pelham’s voice but, musically, he’s exploring new territory.

As an added bonus of delight I’d like to note that Rollum Haas plays drums on this track, Edith Pelham (one of Matt’s daughters) did the artwork and the band played their first Nashville show opening for The Privates.

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As with every prior release, I’ve no idea what either song is about or what inspired them. I know that they continue to explore new aural territory while still feeling cohesively united in some impossible-to-articulate way.

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It’s an appropriately ominous song to be released in October and, lyrically, incredibly spot-on. The track is moody but still kicks in some dancey goth vibes; a combo that (in my opinion) is undeniable.

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Bennett and Haas are a fantastic pair and, as with the solo Robe work, continue to expand their palette. When “N as in Nina” takes a turn about halfway through, it’s a surprising delight. “In Panorama” finds the duo stretching out into vast expanses.

This is not the final track from The Robe for 2024 but it is the final standalone release. If prior write-ups did not make it clear, my adoration for the work of The Robe is immeasurable. These songs were not crafted at one time but hearing them together is as rewarding of an experience as hearing them as they emerged into the world.

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Various Artists
YK Records Holiday Sampler 2024
Dec 2024

Back in December of 2023, Tower Defense told me they had penned a new Christmas song. In January of 2024, they nudged me to think about a compilation. I put out some feelers and over the course of the year, put together these twenty tracks.

I can’t begin to express how happy I am with the results. There are original holiday songs, beautiful covers of classics and surprising contributions. The feedback as been overwhelmingly positive and I am so proud of all involved.

We used the compilation as an opportunity to raise money for the non-profit CASA Nashville and came up with over $1,500 in contributions. That may not seem significant to a full-sized operation like CASA but every bit helps; I’m proud of that.

I built a little mini-site for the release showcasing the music, the three music videos that came with it and all of the original art I put together to promote it. Start to finish, top to bottom, a total success.

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That’s obviously being a bit extreme but I always felt that “Cool Christmas” deserved its due. Birdcloud had released a 2xLP called Singles Only in 2016 but it omitted one of my favorite songs, albeit an outlier in their catalog. Pairing “Silent Night” with “Cool Christmas” was the perfect opportunity to get the classic track on vinyl and get a new recording out into the world.

The 7″ is pressed to a “Honeybaked Ham Picture Disc in a Hologram package” – an audacious description that is also entirely accurate!

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Along with the 29 releases outlined above, we also redesigned our logo. After 15 years of having a mark that said “yewknee records,” it was time to have one that finally says “yk records.”

If you’ve made it here to the end, thank you! That’s a tome of a blog post and a helluva year for the label.

My gratitude is immense. 2025 already has a hefty lineup of surprises I can’t wait to share with the world. Thanks for your continued attention.