Thrill Jockey 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 represente ...

established by former

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

History

Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while working at a

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,6 ...

, record store, and ran the label from her apartment in New York City.Pareles, Jon
It's Her Label and She'll Sign Who She Wants To

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

September 23, 1998 accessdate = 2007-05-09 In 1995, she moved the label to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where "rent and taxes are considerably cheaper" according to Richards, and the independent label found some larger success. Thrill Jockey offers full-length

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

of every song on every release in its catalog. "I believe if people can listen to the albums, they tend to buy them," Richards said in a 2006 interview with ''Chicago Reader''. Artists who have recorded on the label include Double Dagger,

Future Islands Future Islands is an American synth-pop band based in Baltimore, Maryland, comprising Gerrit Welmers (keyboards and programming), William Cashion (bass, acoustic and electric guitars), Samuel T. Herring (lyrics and vocals), and Michael Lowry (perc ...

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like othe ...

, The Sea and Cake, Bummer,

High Places High Places is a band originating from Brooklyn, New York, that subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, California. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson. Pearson and Barber met while Mary was comp ...

, Trans Am,

Mouse on Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and c ...

, ADULT.,

Bosse-de-Nage Bosse-de-Nage is an American band from San Francisco, California, United States, composed of four anonymous members. Considered as a part of the blackgaze scene, the band performs an experimental black metal style that draws from post-rock, shoeg ...

, Nobukazu Takemura, Bobby Conn,

Tom Verlaine Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television. Biography Verlaine was born Thomas Miller in Denville, New Jersey and ...

, Freakwater, The Zincs, The National Trust, Eleventh Dream Day,

Califone Califone is an experimental rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed. Roots & Crowns review AllMusic Califone has released an album and fe ...

, Chicago Underground Duo, Howe Gelb/

Giant Sand Giant Sand is an American musical group from Tucson, Arizona, United States. Its most constant member is singer-songwriter Howe Gelb. The group started as Giant Sandworms in the late 1970s post-punk and paisley underground scenes. They later ...

Mary Lattimore Mary Lattimore (born 1980) is an American classically trained harpist based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to her solo work and collaborations with fellow Philadelphia musician Jeff Zeigler, she has performed with prominent indie musici ...

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, Town & Country, Archer Prewitt,

Sam Prekop Sam Prekop (born October 18, 1964) is an American musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released five solo albums. Early life Prekop was born in London, but grew up in Chicago. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute. Career ...

, The Lonesome Organist, OOIOO, Pit er Pat, Marisa Anderson, The Fiery Furnaces, Angela Desveaux,

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved to ...

, Pontiak, and Golden Void amongst others. Artists on the label have often collaborated with other artists on the label to form spin-off groups.

Fifteenth birthday

In 2007, Thrill Jockey bands old and new recorded songs for a boxed set to celebrate the label's 15th birthday. Bands were asked to choose a song to cover by any other act on their roster. ''Plum 7" Box Set'' compilation was released in December 2007 on ten 7-inch vinyl singles. Some notable tracks include: Directions covering

guitarist Jeff Parker's "Toy Boat," while Pullman tackles the Chicago Underground Quartet's "3 A.M." Bobby Conn,

and Thalia Zedek all cover Freakwater songs, while the Sea & Cake reworks a version of

's "Spider's House."

covers Japanese artist Nobukazu Takemura's "Falls Lake," and ex-

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock music, rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

contributes a cover of the Fiery Furnaces' "Ex-Guru."Billboard.com - "Thrill Jockey Bands Cover Each Other On Boxed Set" By Jonathan Cohen
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References

External links

* {{Authority control American independent record labels 1992 establishments in New York City Record labels established in 1992 Alternative rock record labels Companies based in Chicago

History

Fifteenth birthday

See also

References

External links