At the dawn of the 1980s, Corey Rusk was a student at Wilson High School in the Northwest quadrant of Washington DC. A member of the local "hardcore" punk youth, Rusk had friends in bands like the Faith, Iron Cross, and Minor Threat. Watching his friends' upstart record label, Dischord Records, grow from a novel pastime to cottage industry, Rusk was inspired to follow suit. A few years later, after relocating to Chicago, Rusk founded Touch & Go Records.
For those of y'all that don't know, Touch & Go is probably the finest record label on the planet. Though Dischord still holds more D.I.Y. cachet, T&G treats its artists with the same trust, mutual respect, and dedication to *ahem* Art, eschewing any the corporate shackles of contracts and big-money marketing. But far more impressive is the label's catalogue: though it once dealt strictly with Stax-on-steroids rhythm & chainsawed guitars, T&G is home to some of the most forward-thinking, genuinely artful yet raucous bands on the planet. When humour stabs pretense in the knee with a pencil in a nightclub, you'll find bands like...
!!!, TV On the Radio, Brainiac, Don Caballero, the Jesus Lizard, Rapeman, Shellac, Slint, Uzeda, Girls Against Boys, the Mekons, Enon, Black Heart Procession, Big Black, Blonde Redhead, and oh so many more.
After years of waiting for the fad to implode, T&G finally confessed that, maybe, the internet IS here to stay, and so they finally got themselves a proper website. The best feature about it is the phenomenal quantity of songs they have available for download, from every one of the bands listed above (and, naturellement, more). If you're looking to put some serious cut in your strut and blood in your eye, then head on over and get downloadin'.
"If you can find a better record label than Touch & Go, then I'll suck your dick." - Steve Albini
Sunday, April 17, 2005
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