Troubleman Unlimited Records was a

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

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and similar genres. Founded in 1993, the label was based in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

and owned by Mike Simonetti.Loud New Jersey – New York Times
/ref>

History

The label started as an offshoot of a fanzine called "Wanna Communicate?", releasing 7" singles. The label grew significantly in the 2000s, releasing full-length albums by many groups who are regularly reviewed in media outlets like ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' and

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

. The label focused on

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

, including releases from

Black Dice Black Dice is an American experimental noise music band based in Brooklyn, New York and consisting of brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland along with Aaron Warren. Formed in 1997, the group was initially inspired by hardcore and noise rock, but s ...

Wolf Eyes __NOTOC__ Wolf Eyes is an American experimental music group from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1996 by Nate Young. Currently a duo, Wolf Eyes are a prominent act within contemporary noise music. They have collaborated with a variety of artists fro ...

and Hair Police. Troubleman Unlimited was named "Best Label" by ''New York Magazine'' in 2005.The Best in Pop Music – New York Magazine Culture Awards 2005
/ref> In the 21st century, Simonetti started a dance label,

Italians Do It Better Italians Do It Better is an independent record label based in Portland and West Hollywood. It was started by Johnny Jewel and Mike Simonetti on July 20, 2006, to focus on Jewel's projects Glass Candy and Chromatics and later Desire, Symmetry an ...

, with Johnny Jewel of

Glass Candy Glass Candy was an American electronic music duo from Portland, Oregon, formed in 1996 by vocalist Ida No and producer and multi-instrumentalist Johnny Jewel. The band is part of the Italians Do It Better label. While the band's early work blends ...

Band roster

The following artists have made at least one release through Troubleman Unlimited or Italians Do It Better. *

The Album Leaf The Album Leaf is an American musical project founded in San Diego, California, in 1998 by Jimmy LaValle. He is known for his use of electronics, synthesizer, and Rhodes piano. His performances often feature projected visual art. History Inc ...

*American Heritage *

Blank Dogs Blank Dogs is an American post-punk project from Brooklyn. It is a monicker for multi-instrumentalist Mike Sniper, who had previously played with DC Snipers.Boris *Bride of No No *

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...

*Chariots (America, North) * Chromatics *Currituck Co. *Death Comet Crew *

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

Devendra Banhart Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. ...

* Elizabeth Elmore * Enon *

Erase Errata Erase Errata was a band from San Francisco, California. History Erase Errata formed in Oakland, California, in 1999, and quickly earned national attention after the release of their first eponymous 7-inch single, and via tours with electro- rio ...

*The Fisticuffs Bluff *

The Flying Luttenbachers The Flying Luttenbachers are an American instrumental noise rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser and producer Weasel Walter. The Flying Luttenbachers have created a body of work focused on musical extremity and disson ...

Growing Growing may refer to: * Growth (disambiguation) * Growing (band), an American noise band * ''Growing'' (Rina Chinen album), 1998 * ''Growing'' (Sleeping People album), 2007 * ''Growing'', a 1961 autobiographical book by Leonard Woolf See also ...

* Hair Police *

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised i ...

Hepatitis Youth Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pai ...

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

Jana Hunter Jana Hunter is an American songwriter and musician based in Baltimore. Early life Hunter was born in Texas. His family is Catholic, but he no longer follows Catholicism. Recording and band membership Hunter was signed to Gnomonsong, a reco ...

Karp Karp may refer to: Places * Karp, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-east Poland * Karp, Lublin Voivodeship, in east Poland People * Karp (surname) * Karp Khachvankyan (1923–1998), Armenian actor and director Other uses * KARP-FM, a radio statio ...

Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of p ...

*The Lack (Columbus, OH) *

Les Georges Leningrad Les Georges Leningrad were a Canadian experimental rock and punk rock group based in Montreal, Quebec. Les Georges Leningrad were known for their extravagant stage costumes, including masks in particular.Lotus Eaters *Measles Mumps Rubella *

Meneguar Meneguar was an indie rock band whose members had previously played under different arrangements and names but reached its current form in 2004 in Brooklyn, New York. The group released the albums ''I Was Born at Night'' and ''Strangers in Our ...

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...

* Milky Wimpshake *Mouthus *

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

* Nuzzle * One AM Radio *

Orthrelm Orthrelm is an American avant-garde band from Washington, D.C. Biography Orthrelm is a duo composed of Mick Barr on guitar and Josh Blair on drums. Their songwriting style is mostly experimental, and shows the influence of avant-garde music ...

* Robert Nanna * Panthers *

Prurient Ian Dominick Fernow is an American experimental music, experimental musician, poet and multimedia artist. He is best known for extreme music released under the stage name Prurient, as well as numerous other aliases including Vatican Shadow, Rain ...

* Pussycat Trash * The Recoys * Red Monkey *The Red Scare * The Rogers Sisters * Rye Coalition *

Sean Na Na Sean Na Na is the Guitar-pop, guitar pop project of Sean Tillmann (who also performs as Har Mar Superstar). The project started as a solo outlet for Tillmann's songs that did not quite fit with his noise band Calvin Krime in 1993. Since then, t ...

* Shotmaker * Tamaryn *

Tara Jane O'Neil Tara Jane O'Neil (born November 22, 1972) (surname sometimes written as "ONeil"; sometimes credited as TJO) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, audio recording engineer, and visual artist based out of Los Angeles, California, Unite ...

The Six Parts Seven The Six Parts Seven is an American post-rock band from Kent, Ohio. The band was founded in 1995 by brothers Allen and Jay Karpinski (playing guitar and drums, respectively), who had earlier played with Old Hearts Club. In 1997, guitarist Tim Ge ...

Titus Andronicus ''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'', often shortened to ''Titus Andronicus'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first t ...

Tracy + The Plastics Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

* Tussle *

Unwound Unwound () is an American post-hardcore band formed in 1988 in Tumwater and Olympia, Washington. It presently consists of vocalist-guitarist Justin Trosper, bassist Jared Warren, drummer Sara Lund, and guitarist Scott Seckington. Originally ...

*Vegas Martyrs *

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

The Walkmen The Walkmen is an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The band consists of Hamilton Leithauser (vocals), Paul Maroon (guitar, keyboards), Walter Martin (musician), Walter Martin (bass, organ), Peter Matthew Bauer (org ...

Zola Jesus Nika Roza Danilova (born Nicole Rose Hummel; April 11, 1989), known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, ...

References

External links

Mike Simonetti bio
-Support Agency
Pitchfork interview
{{Authority control American record labels Experimental music record labels Indie rock record labels