Astral Spirits Records is an independent
record label
"Big Three" music labels
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
specializing in
free jazz
Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...
,
improvisation
Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...
, and
experimental music
Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
.
Based in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, the label was founded in 2014 by musician Nathan Cross, who started Astral Spirits as a platform for "the new wave of heavy free jazz"; as the breadth of the label's offerings expanded, imprint Astral Editions became the home for its more experimental releases.
Astral Spirits has been featured in ''
Bandcamp Daily
Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epi ...
'',
''
All About Jazz
''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...
'',
the ''
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...
'',
''
DownBeat
''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
'', and the ''Free Jazz Collective'';
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' has called the label "crucial" and "enormously prolific"; and in 2019, ''
Tiny Mix Tapes
''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...
'' included Astral Spirits among their favorite labels of the decade.
History
In the early 2010s, Cross began to consider starting a record label or a live-recorded series as a way to stay involved in music without touring extensively.
He spoke with Morgan Coy of
Monofonus Press while in the early planning stages, and Coy encouraged him to start a label under the Monofonus umbrella.
Cross named the label after a recurring song title in
Joe McPhee
Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who plays the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, the flugelhorn and the valve trombone. Although born in Miami, Florida, McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, ...
's work: the first "Astral Spirits" track appeared on McPhee's ''
Trinity
The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
'', recorded in 1971, and he continued to use the name on later releases (e.g., ''
Oleo'' and ''
In the Spirit'').
Astral Spirits began as a cassette-based label, but later expanded to include vinyl and CDs.
All albums are also available as digital releases, but the catalogue is not available through low-revenue streaming services such as Spotify.
Since the label's inception, Cross has handled most logistics––aside from artwork and layout––himself, including curation, press, and shipping.
Astral Editions
Cross launched Astral Editions in 2019, initially intending to make it a digital-only offshoot.
The imprint began carrying physical products in 2020, distinguishing itself instead by a greater emphasis on experimentalism outside of the jazz continuum.
The Astral Editions Bandcamp carries the tagline, "a primer on some of the best unheard experimental music being made today by names you don't know yet, but should".
Art and design
The Astral Spirits logo was designed by Mason McFee, who also chose the label's signature Cooper Black font; for the first two years, McFee created all tape and LP artwork.
Jaime Zuverza later took over design, eventually developing a template for the label's distinctive visual aesthetic; he listens to, and creates artwork specifically for, the majority of Astral Spirits releases.
Roster
References
{{reflist
Experimental music record labels
American jazz record labels
American independent record labels
Record labels based in Texas
Noise music record labels
2014 establishments in Texas