I ran into an old acquaintance (well, "old") at SXSW this year, and she had some good news - she just got a new gig as the general manager for a new label which has some ties to Sub Pop but not really. It wasn't really a stretch because Sarah had worked for Sub Pop before this, but I was still intrigued because I hadn't heard of the label, Hardly Art. To make it clear, it's NOT an imprint label and it's technically a separate enterprise (I think), but, well, it is still connected to Sub Pop.
Hardly Art (which was officially announced the Friday before SXSW, explaining the sparse coverage) was started by Jonathan Poneman, the founder of Sub Pop. The label will be operated in the same office at Sub Pop's for now and will be distributed by Sub Pop and ADA. The label will be focusing on more underground artists for now and will only be releasing a few releases a year to start off. The first signing is Seattle duo Arthur & Yu, who will be releasing their full length album In Camera on June 19th. I'm enjoying what I'm hearing so far from this duo, reminds me slightly of Peter and the Wolf, The Magnetic Fields and Timber Timbre, and I think the vocals are a big part of their appeal. If this is the caliber of artists that Hardly Art will be signing, then count me a fan already.
Tracklist
1. Absurd Heroes Manifesto
2. Come to View (Song for Neil Young)
3. Birds
4. Afterglow
5. Lobby Lights
6. A Thousand Words
7. Lion’s Mouth
8. The Ghost of Old Bull Lee
9. Half Years
10. Black Bear
