Somewherecold Records (formerly Somewhere Cold Records) is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

established in late 2004 by Jason T. Lamoreaux. The record company was founded in Lexington, Kentucky, but is currently headquartered in Shelbyville, Kentucky. It releases ambient,

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

slowcore Slowcore is a subgenre of alternative rock and indie rock. The music of slowcore artists is generally characterized by bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos and minimalist arrangements. Slowcore is often used interchangeably with the t ...

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

and

drone Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

music, with an international roster of artists spanning from the early 2000s to the present. Somewherecold Records has released music on

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...

compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octobe ...

, compact cassettes and

digital audio Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...

formats, with global distribution through The Business.

History

As Somewhere Cold Records (2004–2006)

Prior to founding Somewhere Cold Records, Jason T. Lamoreaux was a university professor and a

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

at the Somewhere Cold

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...

(later renamed Somewherecold). The online music magazine had been founded on March 1, 2002 by Canadian journalist Brent Diaz, and became a source of information, with news, reviews and interviews, on the

and

music scenes. Lamoreaux was at the time residing in Lexington, Kentucky and joined the blog in March 2003 during its one-year anniversary. After two years of interviewing bands and reviewing records, Lamoreaux ventured into the music releasing industry, appropriately naming his new company Somewhere Cold Records. Somewhere Cold Records' first four releases were all co-financed by and co-released with Republic of Texas Recordings, a record label based in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas operated by Lamoreaux's friend Travis Graham. Somewhere Cold Records launched with the release of

Starflyer 59 Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band h ...

's 12-inch vinyl

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

The Last Laurel Starflyer 59 is an American alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band ha ...

'' on March 9, 2005. The EP was released on a single-sided clear vinyl featuring the music on one side and a silk-screened design on the other; the silk-screened side came in four different limited and numbered variations: red, black, light blue or dark blue ink, and was packaged in a thick plastic sleeve. This was followed by

Hammock A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, resting. It normally consists of one ...

's second release, the extended play '' Stranded Under Endless Sky'', released on July 16, 2005 on select limited edition black and clear 12" vinyls. A compact disc version was released through the band's own record label,

Hammock Music Hammock Music, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the label imprint owned and operated by the band Hammock. The label is distributed by Secretly Distribution. In 2015, Hammock Music signed Slow Meadow, an ambient music project by Matt Kidd, to ...

, ten days later. In October 2005, Somewhere Cold Records released

Joy Electric Joy Electric is the brand label for a series of electropop/synthpop productions by Ronnie Martin. Martin began producing music under the Joy Electric name in 1994, after the demise of Dance House Children, a band Ronnie was in with his brother ...

's full-length album ''The Ministry Of Archers'' on a choice of two limited edition colored 12" vinyl records: bright orange with mint green splatter or bright orange and mint green split. A CD version had been released through

Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a Christian rock record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington where it is situated today. It is home to many well-known musical acts, including Underoat ...

on August 30, 2005, but the vinyl edition came with two exclusive bonus tracks. After three successful vinyl releases, Somewhere Cold Records released its first compact disc in late November 2005: Herbert Grimauld, Jr's project The Sound Gallery's sophomore album ''Phos''. On June 23, 2006, Somewhere Cold Records opened the ''Somewhere Cold Mini-Shop'', a webstore selling the record label's releases, with plans to additionally distribute releases from other shoegaze, dream pop and post-rock bands and record labels. The only non-Somewhere Cold Records release that ended up distributed through the webstore, however, was Living with Hermits' self-released ''Apropos'' CD EP, a release by Lamoreaux friend. Despite moderate success with Somewhere Cold Records, Lamoreaux decided to put the record label on an indefinite hiatus in late 2006, shortly after relocating to

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, Texas. The Somewhere Cold webzine continued successfully for the next two years but slowed down considerably in 2009, with a final post on September 23, 2009; by the summer of 2010 the domain was expired.

As Somewherecold Records (2016–present)

On September 15, 2016, after a ten-year hiatus from the record label, and a seven-year hiatus from the webzine, Lamoreaux decided to resume Somewhere Cold's operations. With Lamoreaux taking over full ownership, Somewhere Cold was officially renamed Somewherecold; both the webzine and the record label adopted the name change. A new company logo was designed by Paul Lewis and was unveiled in February 2017. Somewherecold Records was officially re-launched on March 28, 2017 with the release of The Beremy Jets'

compilation Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

''EP Collection I''. The limited edition release compiled two The Beremy Jets extended plays (''Alchemy Attack EP'' and ''Backup Friend EP'') on a single

compact cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...

, one EP per side, and was also made available digitally. That same year, Somewherecold Records also released Yellow6's album ''13 Loops'' on a limited edition cassette tape and digitally, Ummagma's EP ''LCD'' on a limited edition compact disc and digitally, and Mis+ress' self-titled debut album on a limited edition compact disc and digitally. The record label also published three releases by Lamoreaux's own project The Corrupting Sea: the albums ''Samatta'' and ''Symphony of a Radical'', and the ''Resist'' EP, on an array of compact discs, cassette tapes and digital formats. Somewherecold Records finished off the year with

Aidan Baker Aidan Baker (born 1974/75) is a musician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who has released numerous records both as a solo artist and as part of various side projects, including Nadja, ARC, Caudal and Mnemosyne. He has also written several books ...

's full-length album ''Aberration'', released on December 8, 2017, on a limited edition compact disc and compact cassette, as well as digitally. In 2018, Lamoreaux moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, Kentucky, relocating the record label back to its home state. On June 22, 2018, Somewherecold Records released ''Resistance: In Support of the Southern Poverty Law Center'', a digital Various Artists compilation for the benefit of the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

featuring In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

fourteen exclusive songs from such artists as Tears Run Rings, Pia Fraus, The Beremy Jets, Orange Crate Art, Beatastic and The Corrupting Sea. On July 27, 2018, The Beremy Jet's first full-length album ''Careless'' was released on a limited edition compact disc and digitally. The year also saw limited edition releases of Neiv's album ''Canyon Dreams'' on compact disc and digitally, Zombie Girlfriend's album ''Wind'' on compact disc and digitally, Thee Koukouvaya's album ''Το παρελθόν περιέχει το μέλλον'' on compact disc and digitally, and a reissue of Sciflyer's extended play ''The Age Of Lovely, Intimate Things'' on cassette tape and digital formats. 2018 also saw four releases by Lamoreaux's The Corrupting Sea project, including the digital-only ''Live On KOOP 91.7 in Austin, TX on Fade To Yellow With Tam Laird - Feb 8, 2018'', ''Live At Three Links in Dallas TX- Moon Sounds Records Showcase 3/11/18'' and ''I Love You Over the Moon EP'', along with the full-length ''Reflections'' on cassette tape. In 2019, Lamoreaux relocated again, this time to Shelbyville, Kentucky; a suburb town located halfway between Louisville and Frankfort. The year proved to be bountiful for Somewherecold Records, with a total of 25 new releases, through which Lamoreaux introduced several original limited edition series One of these, the Frostbite Series, releases CDs packaged in brown cardboard sleeves and placed inside squared coloured envelopes with stickers; they differ from the rest of Somewherecold Records' CD releases which are usually housed in

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

sleeves. Another, the Icebox Series, releases

Mini-CD Mini CDs, or pocket CDs, are Compact Disc, CDs with a smaller diameter and one-third the storage capacity of a standard 120 mm disc. Formats Amongst the various formats are the *Mini CD single, a small disc. The format is mainly used fo ...

s (8cm discs) packaged in black cardboard boxes with bonus record label merchandise, like stickers, pins and collectible toys. The last, the Avalanche Series, is used to release multi-CD releases (normally 3xCD releases), packaged in special brown cardboard sleeves with a simple single-sided printed insert. Somewherecold Records' highlight releases of 2019 include Tombstones in Their Eyes' album ''Maybe Someday'', which was released on 12" vinyl and compact disc; Blue Unit's self-titled debut EP, which was announced as the label's final cassette tape release (though this was retracted in 2020); Droneroom's sophomore release ''I'll Make it Up to You, I Swear...''; Outward's album ''That's Life''; Anders Brørby's album ''Kill Count'' and split with The Corrupting Sea ''Trilogy I;'' The Warm Jets' debut full-length ''Here We Come''; Blanket Swimming's album ''Perpetual Seeds for Fleeting Time''; and two A Journey of Giraffes full-lengths: ''Hour Club'' and ''Kona''. 2020 was another prolific year for Somewherecold Records with a total of 45 new releases. On March 4, 2020 Somewherecold Records announced a

global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

deal had been signed with American company The Business. On July 3, 2020, the record label released ''Resistance Compilation II: In Support of the ACLU'', a digital Various Artists compilation for the benefit of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, featuring thirty-four exclusive songs from such artists as Anders Brørby,

, Tape Deck Mountain,

Robert Scott Thompson Robert Scott Thompson (born 1959, California) is a composer of ambient, instrumental and electroacoustic music. He earned the B.Mus. degree from the University of Oregon and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, San Diego. ...

, Yellow6 and The Corrupting Sea. Some of the year's other highlight releases include The Microdance's album ''Our Love Noire''; Tombstones in their Eyes' two compilation albums ''Collection'' and ''Demos, Vol. 1''; Vision Eternel's EP ''For Farewell Of Nostalgia''; Tristan Welch's album ''Ambient Distress''; Wolfredt's album ''Tides''; Backwards Charm's album ''Nevergreen''; Giacomelli's album ''Cosmic Order''; and Droneroom's compilation album ''Blood On Blood''.

Artists

This is a partial list of artists who record for Somewherecold Records. *

* Anders Brørby *The Beremy Jets *The Corrupting Sea *Droneroom *

*David Newlyn * North End * Pia Fraus *

* Tape Deck Mountain * Tears Run Rings *Tombstones in their Eyes *

*Ummagma * Vision Eternel * Margus Voolpriit * Wolfredt *Yellow6

References

External links