(Paradigm) Good Records Recordings, the independent label co-owned by The Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter and Julie Doyle and their longtime associate Chris Penn, has been relaunched as a label focused on releasing one song at a time from its stable of artists, in both digital and vinyl formats. Each track will be available two ways: a high-quality download (with a choice of MP3 or lossless FLAC) or as a limited-edition, colored, collectible vinyl record with custom artwork and a surprise B-side not available elsewhere. Additionally, artists will create a music video for every track they release.
The relaunch sees the release of new music from DeLaughter and Doyle's two bands, The Polyphonic Spree and Preteen Zenith, as well as a previously unreleased outtake from DeLaughter's previous band, Tripping Daisy. Also on the roster are music from New Fumes and Sweet Lee Morrow (the alter egos of former Polyphonic Spree members Daniel Huffman and Jesse Hester, respectively), as well as the Texas bands Pilotdrift (who released their acclaimed debut "Water Sphere" on Good in 2005) and Binary Sunrise. And later this fall, the label will release new music from former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle. Each month will feature new song releases from various GRR artists. See below for details on the initial round of artists and songs.
"We want to be clear: we're not anti-album by any means," says the GRR mission statement. "When one of our artists has an album-sized statement to make, we'll release an album. But we're encouraging our artists to present their songs to you at the speed of creativity, which doesn't always mean waiting until you've finished writing and recording 10 or 12 or 15 songs before you release any of them. We're removing the artificial parameters from the dual experiences of creating and listening, to enhance both."
Binary Sunrise - "Five Minutes" | The project of Dallas musician Kenneth Kemp. Binary Sunrise's music features elements of punk, brit-pop, disco, weird-soul, and new-wave.
New Fumes - "Teeth of the Sun" | Dallas's Daniel Huffman, the creative force behind New Fumes, is a longtime Polyphonic Spree guitarist and has also toured and collaborated with The Flaming Lips; his psychedelic pop calls to mind Brian Eno and MGMT.
Pilotdrift - "All These Things At One Time" | You could compare Texarkana's Pilotdrift to Radiohead and Muse, or Stravinsky and Schoenberg for that matter, but the most apt comparisons might be cinematic: the off-kilter visual poetry of Tim Burton and the Coen Brothers.
The Polyphonic Spree - "Bullseye" | The first new music from the Spree since 2007. This is a story about the awkwardness of stumbling thru life as a human being. Moonbot Studios and The Polyphonic Spree together have created an interactive, character-based narrative music video which is also available as an iOS app.
Preteen Zenith - "Breathe" | Preteen Zenith is the new band featuring Tim DeLaughter (The Polyphonic Spree, Tripping Daisy) and Philip E Karnats (Tripping Daisy, Secret Machines, Ike Reilly). "Breathe" is the first song released by the band, which also includes Tim's Spree bandmates Julie Doyle and Evan Hisey (who trade off bass and keyboard duties), as well as guitarist Dylan Silvers (The Crash That Took Me, The Polyphonic Spree) and drummer Jason Garner (The Paper Chase).
Sweet Lee Morrow - "Yellow & Grey" | Singer-songwriter Jesse Hester toured the world as a member of The Polyphonic Spree's choir for the band's first five years, before leaving the band in 2004 and moving to Austin two years later. He performs as a solo act, and sometimes with the accompaniment of an array of instruments, from pedal steel to glockenspiel.
Tripping Daisy - "The Tops Off Our Head" | A previously unreleased, 22-minute studio jam from the sessions for the band's penultimate album, Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb (1998, Island Records).