March Madness keeps us up late into the night every year. But this year, we were staying up later than usual, planning with a wide array of Carpark artists to celebrate the label's sixteenth anniversary. One way we're celebrating is with this far out basketball-themed picture disc 12" featuring nine exclusive, full-length songs and 19 locked grooves by artists from all across the Carpark catalogue. The line-up on this team is stacked. We're putting everyone on the court for this game. All offense, all defense, and while we're here we'll pick up some nachos at the snack bar.
The full-song team picture sounds like this: We've got party-starting, confetti-blasting jams from Young Magic and Skylar Spence. There are the groovy three-pointers from Montag, Ear Pwr, Memory Tapes, and Dog Bite. An intimate demo of an older classic from Speedy Ortiz ("Basketball," naturally). A brand new tale about an epic game from TEEN. GRMLN goes in for the slam dunk with "Buzzer Beat." We are ridiculously fortunate to be working with these talented players.
Looping for hours on end (or seconds depending on your taste) in the locked groove department, there's a crunchy blast from new signee Chandos and the delightful drone of Carpark veteran So Takahashi. Light Pollution frontman Jimmy Whispers swoops in on feather-light feet to pay tribute to Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues. Safety Scissors throws us "Orange Roughy" before Cloud Nothings members Jayson Gerycz and Thomas J Duke run down the court. Jason Urick of Wzt Hearts tests the ref's patience with "Double Dribble," but we think it's fair and proper. Dan Deacon and Greg Davis skitter about the floor as Adventure claims to say "Ewww," but it seems like an exclamation of awe. If you wanna slam, turn to the somewhat solemn "Space Jam" by Toro Y Moi. Also offering a loop with a filmic theme is Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz on "Theme from Babadook." This all-star team sees crucial assists from number "1" Jake Mandell and foundation player Signer. Lowt Ide (featuring Mike Falcone of Speedy Ortiz) knows the value of sharing. Tying everything together with a right-on time score is graphic designer Rob Carmichael of SEEN, sending us home with some psychedelic picture disc imagery. All proceeds go to the Little Kids Rocks non-profit, which is "dedicated to ensuring that all public school children have the opportunity to unlock their inner music makers" by investing in schools, teachers, instruments, and children around the U.S. The vinyl 12" does not include a digital download.
