Ecstatic Peace! is a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

based in Easthampton,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, founded in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

by American musician

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

. The label name is borrowed from a line in

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

's 1968 nonfiction novel ''

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test ''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' is a 1968 nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe. The book is a popular example of the New Journalism literary style. Wolfe presents a firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, ...

''. The label's releases are eclectic and often experimental or avant-garde. The premiere release was a split cassette featuring spoken word performances from

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of ...

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometim ...

and

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

. Ecstatic Peace! has released more than 200 LPs, cassettes, 7"s, and CDs, of both highly established and fledgling artists, including

Hush Arbors Hush Arbors is the primary musical project of American musician singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith Wood. His music uses traditional folk merged with elements of country and psychedelic music. Along with releasing solo material Wood is also a curr ...

be your own PET Be Your Own Pet (also known as BYOP) is a four-piece punk/garage rock group from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography The band formed in 2004, while all members were in high school at Nashville School of the Arts. Playing house shows and gigs at ...

Awesome Color Awesome Color was a musical trio formed in Brooklyn in 2004. They disbanded in 2010. History The band was formed by Michigan natives Michael Troutman (aka Michael Awesome), Allison Busch (aka Allison Awesome), and Derek Stanton (aka Derek Awesome ...

Black Helicopter The black helicopter is a symbol of an New World Order (conspiracy theory), alleged conspiratorial Military dictatorship, military takeover of the United States in the American militia movement, and has also been associated with UFOs, especiall ...

Free Kitten Free Kitten is an American alternative rock band formed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz. Originally performing as Kitten, they changed their name after receiving threats of legal action by a heavy metal singer perfor ...

Arthur Doyle Arthur Doyle (June 26, 1944 – January 25, 2014) was an American jazz saxophonist, bass clarinettist, flutist, and vocalist who was best known for playing what he called "free jazz soul music". Writer Phil Freeman described him as having "one o ...

Dredd Foole Dan Ireton (born February, 1950, in Camden, New Jersey), known professionally as Dredd Foole, is a vocal improviser and songwriter based in New England whose various collaborative backing bands have been known as The Din. Mission of Burma Din ...

No-Neck Blues Band The No-Neck Blues Band, also known as NNCK, is a seven-member free-form improvisational musical collective from New York City. Formed in 1992, the original band was of eight members (until John Fell Ryan left to join noise group, Excepter), and h ...

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex Cline, Alex, a percussionis ...

Notekillers The Notekillers are an instrumental avant-rock band based out of both Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The current line up consists of David First (Guitar), Stephen Bilenky (Bass), and Barry Halkin (Drums). The band officially began in 1977 and was closel ...

Magik Markers The Magik Markers are an American noise rock band from Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The members, Elisa Ambrogio, Pete Nolan and Leah Quimby started the band in their basement in 2001. The band gained wider recognition after opening for S ...

Tall Firs Tall Firs are an American, New York City based underground electric folk rock band, originally formed in 1990 by teenagers Dave Mies and Aaron Mullan in Annapolis, Maryland. Their album, ''Tall Firs'', was completed and released sixteen yea ...

Pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

, My Cat Is An Alien, Monotract,

Sunburned Hand of the Man Sunburned Hand of the Man are an experimental rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. They are a loose collective known for their frequent line up changes and large discography released on a variety of labels including Eclipse Records, Thurston M ...

Violent Soho Violent Soho were an Australian alternative rock band that was formed in 2004 in the Brisbane suburb of Mansfield, Queensland originally under the name of "showroom". For the majority of the band's existence, the line-up was composed of Luke Bo ...

, and many more. In February 2006, Moore signed a deal with

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

to distribute the label's albums. The label's website was hacked at some point during the latter half of 2012. Since 2015, the site's lone page says "Thanks for checking in. Have a good day." As of 2022, this was its last update. Ecstatic Peace! has released three records since 2014, all of which are Thurston Moore recordings.

References

A perfect partner: An interview with Ecstatic Peace’s Andrew Kesin
Saucer Like interview

External links

Official site
{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1981 Alternative rock record labels Record labels based in Massachusetts 1981 establishments in Massachusetts Indie rock record labels

See also

References

External links