Mississippi Records is a record store and label. It was founded by Eric Isaacson in 2003 in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. It also houses a café, equipment repair shop, and the
Portland Museum of Modern Art. The Mississippi Records motto is: "Love over gold."
Brick and mortar store
The Mississippi Records store is currently located at 5202 N Albina Ave,
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
.
The name Mississippi Records originates from Isaacson's original store location at 4009 N Mississippi Ave,
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
.
Isaacson started Mississippi Records in 2003, opening the store with "5000 dollars saved up" and 500 records.
According to a video interview by the documentary project 12 Inches of Sound, Isaacson--a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
native who moved to Portland in 1999--recognized that
North Portland
North Portland is one of the six sextants of Portland, Oregon.
North Portland is a diverse mixture of residential, commercial, and industrial areas. It includes the Portland International Raceway, the University of Portland, and massive cargo faci ...
lacked a record store.
Isaacson worked previously as a manager at
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
's now-defunct Saturn Records.
History of record label
Alex Yusimov, an employee of the brick and mortar store, was among the first to release recordings under the Mississippi Records aegis, using the store address and the name for a personal pop record release.
As such, according to Eric Isaacson, "the first 5 Mississippi releases had nothing to do with me."
For many years Isaacson ran Mississippi Records from
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
with co-founder/co-owner Warren Hill.
Isaacson and Hill have been friends since they were teenagers.
Isaacson is historically taciturn about speaking on Mississippi's background: "I haven't really found a way of finding great joy in sharing this information because the records are a better messenger for my ideas than anything I could say and a lot of times when you talk about stuff it just loses a lot of its power."
Mississippi Records co-founder Warren Hill has cited The Origin Jazz Library,
Smithsonian Folkways
Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...
,
Arhoolie Records
Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded b ...
,
Sublime Frequencies
Sublime Frequencies is a record label based in Seattle, Washington that focuses exclusively on "acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers," mostly from Southeast Asia, North Africa and We ...
, and Herwin as sources of inspiration for Mississippi Records compilations.
Many of the Mississippi Records compilations have been mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk, who owns Stereophonic Mastering in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
.
Warren Hill formed his own record label Little Axe Records in 2011, also based in
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, "when the original Mississippi Records label split."
On January 1, 2019, filmmaker Cyrus Moussavi and musician Gordon Ashworth became the new owners with Isaacson working as a label project manager. Mississippi Records relocated to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. In 2019, Mississippi Records went on a national tour.
Mississippi Records Tape Series
The Mississippi Records Tape Series is an ongoing open-edition mix tape project. Mississippi Records store employee Karen Atunes originally suggested the idea for a low-price mix tape to Eric Isaacson, with the first tape appearing in 2005. According to
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
, the Mississippi tapes "are often personal statements of theme, emotion or subject by Eric Isaacson, his friends or employees at the shop."
Most of the tapes in the series contain a hand-drawn, black and white aesthetic, xeroxed
J-card
A J-card is the paper card inserted in the plastic storage case of most audio cassette releases, as well as being latterly wrapped around the outside of many Blu-ray and DVD steelbooks and similar special editions. The J-card usually contains an im ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
list of Mississippi Records Tape Series releases - https://www.discogs.com/label/345965-Tape-Series?page=1
* Little Axe Records - https://www.littleaxerecords.com
* Timothy Stollenwerk's Stereophonic Mastering - https://www.stereopho.com
2003 establishments in Oregon
American independent record labels
Oregon record labels
Record labels established in 2003
Music of Chicago
Companies based in Chicago
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