| title | art | genre + ffo | blurb | listen | home town |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSRS015: Topshelf Records - 2023-2024 Label Sampler |  |
bedroom pop
dream pop
electronic
emo
experimental
hardcore
indie pop
indie rock
instrumental
jangle pop
jazz-fusion
math rock
pop
pop punk
post hardcore
post rock
punk
r & b
rock
screamo
shoegaze
slowcore
curiosity and sonic exploration |
Our year in review: 18 tracks from 18 different artists spanning twitchy drum n bass, math rock, post rock, screamo, overdriven pop-shoegaze, progressive rock-skewed artpop, and everything in between. Available on CD, cassette, and digitally. | topshelfrecords.com/S015 | |
| TSR285: blue smiley - pond |  |
bedroom pop
indie rock
pop
rock
shoegaze
slowcore
My Bloody Valentine, Grouper, TAGABOW, Cocteau Twins, Tony Molina, and You'll Never Get To Heaven |
"pond" is the final unreleased song from the Blue Smiley vault. Originally intended to be on the now beloved album 'return,' "pond" was pulled from the tracklist shortly before release. The never before heard song will be released on late songwriter Brian Nowell's birthday, October 11. | topshelfrecords.com/285 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR283: Boyscott - Spellbound |  |
bedroom pop
indie pop
indie rock
jangle pop
pop
rock
Beach Fossils, Real Estate, Triathalon, Chastity Belt, Boy Pablo, The Drums, Vampire Weekend, Frankie Cosmos, Another Michael |
In the Spellbound sonic universe, enchanting hooks about friendship and growing up in New Jersey orbit driving verses that prize brevity, never laboring longer than necessary. On lead single “Rocky Road,” Boyscott explore the mental gymnastics required for a career in music, pulling on the threads of fear and excitement they experienced in their early tours. Such reflection is abundant on Spellbound: “Arthur Kill” refers to the peculiar beauty of a boat graveyard in the Arthur Kill tidal strait; where “Lima” interpolates a song that stuck with Hermo since high school. All told, Spellbound continues what Boyscott started with Goose Bumps, honing their pristinely arranged indie pop morsels into a fully realized sound that vindicates the near ten-year wait. | topshelfrecords.com/283 | Connecticut |
| TSR282: Gulfer - LIGHTS OUT |  |
emo
indie pop
indie rock
math rock
pop
punk
rock
Pup, Joyce Manor, Hotline TNT, Ovlov, resurgent sounds of alt rock mixed with noodly emo |
The final release from Montreal's Gulfer. | topshelfrecords.com/282 | Montreal, QC |
| TSR281: toe - NOW I SEE THE LIGHT |  |
experimental
instrumental
math rock
post rock
rock
Tortoise, Battles, Don Caballero, Pele, The Mercury Program, Explosions in the Sky |
NOW I SEE THE LIGHT (2024), toe’s fourth full-length album, is a bridge between the experimental restraint of their later work and the explosive abandon of their earlier output. From the opening tracks, toe balance serpentine passages against meditative repetition. On “LONELINESS WILL SHINE,” “サニーボーイ・ラプソディ,” and “NOW I SEE THE LIGHT,” Hirokazu reprises his role as part-time vocalist, breaking the band yet further from the instrumental work that formerly defined them. As a whole, NOW I SEE THE LIGHT closes the loop between early and late toe, giving them a clean slate for their new outlook. | topshelfrecords.com/281 | Tokyo, Japan |
| TSR280: Caravels - Caravels - Lacuna (10th Anniversary Mix) |  |
hardcore
post hardcore
post rock
punk
rock
screamo
Touché Amoré, Loma Prieta, This Will Destroy You, Russian Circles, Comadre, Frameworks |
Motivated by a recent mention in Brooklyn Vegan and the idea of giving new life to a mostly forgotten project, defunct Las Vegas group Caravels decided in early 2023 that their emotional, gripping debut LP Lacuna was worthy of a re-mix and re-master. Since 2013, the album has organically built up a cult classic status and has been considered a lost gem amongst close followers of the ever-evolving hardcore scene. The heart pounding rhythm section, sharp-cornered guitar riffs, and vocalist Mike Roeslein's brutally gorgeous scream-vocals still sound completely exhilarating ten years later. | topshelfrecords.com/280 | Henderson, NV |
| TSR279: Ekko Astral - pink balloons |  |
indie rock
post punk
punk
rock
shoegaze
Sasami, Mannequin Pussy, Model/Actriz, Priests, fiery choruses in the depths of the mascara moshpit |
Ekko Astral are here to uplift, a mission exemplified by the frenetic and bewitching pre-release singles “baethoven” and “devorah,” cornerstones of pink balloons in both style and theme. The former serves as a reminder to keep your larger than life personality in a world that wants to downsize you, where the latter proclaims urgent solidarity with missing and murdered people. Such crucial messages of upliftment are the foundation of pink balloons, and, by extension Ekko Astral, whose thrashing debut leaves no stone of solidarity unturned. | topshelfrecords.com/279 | Washington, D.C. |
| TSR278: Weatherday - Hornet Disaster |  |
bedroom pop
emo
pop
punk
rock
Asian Glow, The Brave Little Abacus, Glocca Morra, The Knife, The Microphones, Modest Mouse, My Bloody Valentine, My Chemical Romance |
missing a blurb—pls ask us! | topshelfrecords.com/278 | Sweden |
| TSR277: Elephant Gym - World |  |
instrumental
jazz-fusion
math rock
rock
Hiatus Kaiyote, toe, Mid-Air Thief, tricot, American Football, CHON, Yvette Young, exploratory dreamworld math-rock infused with jazz, electronic, and classical |
World, a commemoration of their 10th anniversary as a band, expands on their signature elements, the combination of which Pitchfork describes “as close to jazz as rock: virtuosity not as a means of showing off, but approaching the sublime.” World also features a host of international and local collaborators, tapping the varied talents of Seiji Kameda (Tokyo Jihen) Shashaa Tirupati, ?te, YILE LIN, Hom ShenHao, and the Kaohsiung City Wind Orchestra. | topshelfrecords.com/277 | Kaohsiung City, Taiwan |
| TSR274: blue smiley - blue smiley on the kane konundrum |  |
indie rock
rock
shoegaze
LSD and the Search for God, Horse Jumper of Love, Duster, Slowdive, Alex G, Whirr |
missing a blurb—pls ask us! | topshelfrecords.com/274 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR273: blue smiley - happyyy |  |
rock
shoegaze
LSD and the Search for God, Horse Jumper of Love, Duster, Slowdive, Alex G, Whirr |
missing a blurb—pls ask us! | topshelfrecords.com/273 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR272: blue smiley - fishhh |  |
indie rock
rock
shoegaze
LSD and the Search for God, Horse Jumper of Love, Duster, Slowdive, Alex G, Whirr |
missing a blurb—pls ask us! | topshelfrecords.com/272 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR271: blue smiley - return |  |
indie rock
rock
shoegaze
LSD and the Search for God, Horse Jumper of Love, Duster, Slowdive, Alex G, Whirr |
missing a blurb—pls ask us! | topshelfrecords.com/271 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR270: blue smiley - ok |  |
indie rock
rock
shoegaze
LSD and the Search for God, Horse Jumper of Love, Duster, Slowdive, Alex G, Whirr |
missing a blurb—pls ask us! | topshelfrecords.com/270 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR268: Gulfer - Third Wind |  |
emo
indie rock
math rock
pop
pop punk
rock
Pup, Joyce Manor, Hotline TNT, Ovlov, atmospheric indie rock with hints of punkish pop |
While Vincent Ford and Gulfer’s other founding member, bassist David Mitchell, no longer contribute the majority of songwriting they once did, morsels of their original sound remain. Signature wistful vocals and oblique-yet-nimble guitars are still a fixture, as are thematic elements that touch on burnout, climate crisis, and losing touch with a difficult reality. But Third Wind’s stylistic turns are emphasized by deeper texture and simpler songwriting, influenced by the reemergence of 90s alternative and shoegaze. | topshelfrecords.com/268 | Montreal, QC |
| TSR267: Ratboys - The Window |  |
folk
indie rock
rock
Land of Talk, Wye Oak, PUP, Rilo Kiley, Soccer Mommy, Hop Along, Great Grandpa, Built to Spill, Waxahatchee |
The solidified Ratboys lineup stretched and expanded their vision in the studio, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys’ most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard—expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender—the sound of four friends operating as a single, cohesive unit. | topshelfrecords.com/267 | Chicago, IL |
| TSR265: Bruiser and Bicycle - Holy Red Wagon |  |
experimental
indie pop
indie rock
jangle pop
pop
rock
The Fiery Furnaces, Animal Collective, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo, Alex G, progressive rock-skewed artpop |
Holy Red Wagon is a world to get lost in. Across nine elastic tracks, meticulously channeled freak-folk influence twists its way into Bruiser and Bicycle’s progressive rock-skewed artpop. Replete with rich imagery and burning affirmations for life, the Albany, NY group’s exploratory writing takes the form of grandiose song structures, call-and-response passages, and confrontations with the unfamiliar. | topshelfrecords.com/265 | Albany, NY |
| TSR264: Peel Dream Magazine - Rose Main Reading Room |  |
dream pop
experimental
indie pop
pop
Sufjan Stevens, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo, Crumb, Broadcast, Steve Reich |
Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in. | topshelfrecords.com/264 | Los Angeles, CA |
| TSR263: Fax Gang & Parannoul - Scattersun |  |
bedroom pop
electronic
experimental
pop
rock
shoegaze
Iglooghost, A.G. Cook, Hakushi Hasegawa, Soushi Sakiyama. blown-out, pop-forward electronica |
Scattersun expands on the heartfelt sibilance of Fax Gang’s prior output with Parannoul’s penchant for epic song structures and tumbling climaxes, layered with diaphanous vocals that oscillate between hope and despair. Lead track “Lullaby for a Memory” comprises elements of twitchy drum n bass and Parannoul’s overdriven pop-shoegaze, with pitch-corrected vocals interfixed through uptempo percussion, piano, and distorted layers of melodic atmosphere. | topshelfrecords.com/263 | Seoul, South Korea |
| TSR262: Parannoul - After the Magic |  |
electronic
emo
experimental
post rock
rock
shoegaze
Sweet Trip, Candy Claws, Have A Nice Life, Cornelius, Radiohead, Weatherday, My Bloody Valentine, The Microphones |
Across the album’s ten songs, Parannoul plunges yet deeper into his diverse pool of influences, coming back to the surface with a record that captures and extends the magic of its predecessor. Unexpected flashes of orchestral ambient and glitched-out electronica meld seamlessly with Parannoul’s signature passages of noisy, distortion-laden shoegaze, offering a real time glimpse into the maturation of one of indie rock’s most exciting artists. | topshelfrecords.com/262 | Seoul, South Korea |
| TSR261: Knifeplay - Pearlty (2024 Remaster) |  |
dream pop
indie rock
pop
rock
shoegaze
slowcore
Alex G, Red House Painters, My Bloody Valentine, shoegaze-inflected guitar rock |
Written during a time of immense inspiration, Strohmer was able to peel himself away from detached nihilism, uncovering the physicality and therapeutic powers of songwriting. Newly emboldened by this discovery and the talented community surrounding him, Strohmer channeled this revelation into his work, taking Knifeplay from a bedroom experiment that merely wrote songs to a more substantial project with a purpose. |
topshelfrecords.com/261 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR260: Knifeplay - Animal Drowning |  |
folk
indie rock
rock
shoegaze
slowcore
Slowdive, Duster, Neil Young, Alex G, Swirlies |
Though their sonic palette is vast, Knifeplay craft a cohesive aesthetic to carry frontman Tj Strohmer’s thematically heavy songwriting, which touches on loss of all kinds against the backdrop of a nihilistic world. | topshelfrecords.com/260 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSR259: Subsonic Eye - All Around You |  |
dream pop
indie pop
indie rock
jangle pop
pop
rock
Alvvays, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Snail Mail, snappy invigorating pop-rock |
The ten songs that comprise All Around You also comprise a space to sit with the complex feelings inspired by this intense world we inhabit. Rather than succumb to doom, Subsonic Eye relish the opportunity to meditate on these uncomfortable emotions to find their way to the ultimate realization that beauty is all around us. | topshelfrecords.com/259 | Singapore |
| TSR258: They Are Gutting a Body of Water & A Country Western - An Insult to the Sport |  |
electronic
experimental
rock
shoegaze
slowcore
Swirlies, Horse Jumper of Love, Blue Smiley, Spirit of the Beehive, Pinback, Alex G, Machine Girl, Pachinko, Drop Nineteens, Astrobite |
An Insult to the Sport is a split offering from the genre-defiant groups They are Gutting a Body of Water and A Country Western. Elements of breakcore, shoegaze, and obtuse slacker rock find home on An Insult, at times with no bridge at all between the disparate styles. On paper, the combination of styles may read as cacophonous or incompatible, but the end result is instead a measured contrast of sounds, a reflection of the inescapable influence of our chaotic time and the groups’ environments. | topshelfrecords.com/258 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| TSR257: Subsonic Eye - Melt the Wax |  |
dream pop
indie pop
indie rock
jangle pop
pop
rock
Alvvays, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Snail Mail, snappy invigorating pop-rock |
On Subsonic Eye’s Melt the Wax, the Singaporean five-piece present a concise collection of their richly layered, quick-paced indie-pop. Over three songs which explore singer Nur Wahidah’s upbringing, Melt the Wax boasts Subsonic Eye’s penchant for snappy, invigorating pop-rock songs jangling with clarity and entrancing tone. | topshelfrecords.com/257 | Singapore |
| TSR256: Sweet Pill - Where the Heart Is |  |
emo
indie rock
math rock
pop
pop punk
punk
rock
Mannequin Pussy, Circa Survive, Paramore, Now Now, Forth Wanderers |
Philadelphia’s Sweet Pill write eruptive emo songs that embrace the edges of pop and hardcore. The kind of band whose members are fully immersed in their local scene, the quintet’s sound takes wide-spectrum influence from its environment. | topshelfrecords.com/256 | Philadelphia, PA |
| TSRS014: Topshelf Records - 2021-2022 Label Sampler |  |
bedroom pop
chiptune
dream pop
electronic
emo
experimental
folk
hardcore
indie pop
indie rock
instrumental
math rock
pop
pop punk
post hardcore
punk
r & b
rock
screamo
shoegaze
slowcore
missing ffo info—pls ask us! |
The culmination of a year's worth of work with and for artists that we're so fortunate, excited, and thankful to be affiliated with. It's been the most surreal of years, but has also been one of the strongest in terms of musical output that our label has ever had. Catch up with everything we've released recently with our annual PWYW sampler! | topshelfrecords.com/S014 | |
| TSR255: JYOCHO - Let's Promise to Be Happy |  |
math rock
rock
toe, Elephant Gym, The Polyphonic Spree, Standards, Tricot, Yvette Young, Uchu Conbini, Mass of the fermenting dregs |
JYOCHO’s music exudes pure emotion. It’s chaotic, non-linear, poetic, and gorgeous. When the opportunity to work together arose, it was an easy choice. Their peerless musicianship and body of work share many threads with the history of our label, so we’re simply thrilled to partner with them and help share their music with a wider audience. | topshelfrecords.com/255 | Kyoto, Japan |
| TSR254: Thanya Iyer - rest |  |
dream pop
electronic
pop
r & b
Stereolab, Helena Deland, Arcade Fire, Ada Lea, Julie Doiron, expansive pop with inflections of exploratory folk |
“rest is in many ways a reflection of myself, asking the question, 'who am I when it all stops?'” Being stuck at home indefinitely allowed Thanya to examine her relationship to rest on a more critical level. With this newfound downtime, she began to realize an active pursuit of rest, with deliberate and kind intention, eventually turning to back songwriting as part of her new practice. The resultant five songs that comprise rest explore Iyer’s mindful intentions through a graceful amalgam of tender pop with inflections of jazz, backed with orchestral experimentation. | topshelfrecords.com/254 | Montreal, Quebec |
| TSR253: Del Paxton - Auto Locator |  |
emo
pop
pop punk
rock
The Promise Ring, Jimmy Eat World, Braid, Colossal, Mock Orange |
Del Paxton’s mix of nostalgic references aims to serve as their primary tool for exploring the contemporary, resulting in a post mortem of the American Empire. | topshelfrecords.com/253 | Buffalo, NY |
| TSR252: Sobs - Air Guitar |  |
bedroom pop
indie pop
indie rock
pop
rock
Kero Kero Bonito, Crying, Hatchie, sugary sweet guitar-pop |
Dedicated to the power of pop music, Sobs are Singapore’s premier indiepop propagandists. A thirty-minute trip for the post-Internet consumer, Air Guitar calibrates inventive pop hooks for the indie rock lover, instantly accessible yet intricately arranged. | topshelfrecords.com/252 | Singapore |
| TSR251: Record Setter / Home Is Where - dissection lesson |  |
emo
hardcore
post hardcore
rock
screamo
early Touché Amoré, HIRS, Jeromes Dream, Respire, thrashful hardcore-indebted screamo |
Already a fan of Record Setter and heading in a heavier direction, it was an easy choice for Home Is Where to decide on doing a split release with the Denton, TX-based hardcore band. “[We] wanted to make something unabashedly trans. Two trans bands. Songs about trans issues. Cover by a trans artist. We wanted to make something for the girls to pop off to,” explains Home Is Where’s Brandon MacDonald of dissection lesson’s genesis. | topshelfrecords.com/251 | Denton, TX |
| TSR249: Lunarette - Aislamiento |  |
indie pop
pop
The Cardigans, Mia Joy, introspective and shuffled guitar pop |
For many, relearning how to socialize after the extended isolation of quarantine can feel like an insurmountable task. It’s no different for Lunarette, who channel this specific anxiety on the final track of their trilogy of one-offs, “Aislamiento” (Spanish for “isolation”). Over upbeat, shuffled guitar pop, Lunarette illuminate the dark corners of pandemic-inspired depression and anxiety with a bright melodic arrangement. Originally written by Brian Alvarez at the beginning of quarantine in 2020, and later embellished with vocal arrangements by Colin O'Neill and a shuffled groove by Kevin Doxsey’s choice sampling, “Aislamiento” was ultimately completed in a group setting, with the band retreating together to a quiet cabin environment in upstate New York to apply the finishing touches. Although wildly different from pandemic isolation, the cabin retreat recalled those initial feelings, creating a new, shared experience of isolation from which the band drew the needed inspiration to finish “Aislamiento”. | topshelfrecords.com/249 | Brooklyn, NY |
| TSR248: Lunarette - Low Sky |  |
indie pop
pop
The Cardigans, Jon Secada, hi-fi hopeful pop with hues of the 90s |
“Low Sky” is the second in a series of three standalone singles by Lunarette. Originally begun by Brian Alvarez in 2017, “Low Sky” found new life during quarantine with the addition of vocals and melodic touch by Lunarette bandmate Jackie Mendoza. At the center of “Low Sky” is a gorgeous Queens sunset in which Alvarez found the song’s initial inspiration. Interpreted with clean bubblegum production and Mendoza’s sage optimism, the song is awash in ultraviolet vocal layers set to an upbeat Jon Secada-inspired groove—a subtle but effective injection of bygone feels that is a staple of Lunarette’s songwriting. In the final chorus, Mendoza asks and answers, “what’s the meaning of life? / there is no question”, a confident and instructive punctuation to the lavender evocations of “Low Sky”. | topshelfrecords.com/248 | Brooklyn, NY |
| TSR247: Gulfer - End of the World |  |
emo
indie rock
math rock
punk
rock
Oso Oso, Joyce Manor, Algernon Cadwallader, melodic and inventive rock with technical flourishes |
End times be damned, “End of the World” is decidedly more melodic than punk, with hooks that demonstrate the band’s ability to write songs on any part of the experimental rock spectrum. Its keenly constructed rhythms keep Gulfer’s compositions unpredictable and inventive, perhaps a figurative mirror in which the band can optimistically see a way out of the impending end of the world. | topshelfrecords.com/247 | Montreal, QC |
| TSR246: Mal Devisa - Kiid |  |
experimental
hip hop
indie rock
r & b
rock
Mitski, Xenia Rubinos, Karima Walker, Noname, Tune-Yards, Yves Jarvis |
Mal Devisa is the songwriting, liberation, and poetry project of multifarious artist Deja Carr. Starting in 2014 and breaking through with 2016’s Kiid, Mal Devisa’s work spans a selfmade spectrum of sound from gravitic, soulful rock to soliloquy to unabashed hip hop. | topshelfrecords.com/246 | Amherst, MA |
| TSR245: Gulfer - Greetings / Barely |  |
emo
experimental
indie rock
math rock
rock
Oso Oso, Joyce Manor, Algernon Cadwallader, melodic and inventive rock with technical flourishes |
The contrast of “Greetings” and “Barely” succinctly represents the overarching spirit of Gulfer, now in their tenth year as a band whose proclivities range from rousing punkish anthems to technical and exploratory indie rock. | topshelfrecords.com/245 | Montreal, QC |
| TSR244: Gulfer - Neighbours |  |
math rock
punk
rock
Oso Oso, Joyce Manor, Algernon Cadwallader, raucous punk with technical flourishes |
When Gulfer guitarist and vocalist Vincent Ford sets out to write a song, the words often come before the music–and even then, the overarching meaning isn’t always clear until the song is complete. “Neighbours”–a frenzied and raucous one-off rife with technical flourishes–is no different. Ford says that the song was written specifically about processing his experiences with a loved one diagnosed with schizophrenia, but that he only realized when the song was done. Between its noodly, punchy transitions–a signature staple of the band’s songwriting–Ford explores what it must have been like to live with schizophrenia and not know it. Musically, “Neighbours” speaks to this mentally debilitating experience with tact and precision: frantic, stop-on-a-dime passages set a punkish, animated backdrop for Ford’s ruminations, giving him an appropriate setting to unpack his and his loved one’s experiences. | topshelfrecords.com/244 | Montreal, QC |
| TSR243: supernowhere - Gestalt |  |
indie rock
math rock
rock
slowcore
Radiohead, Stereolab, Women, Modest Mouse, slithery and arpeggiating indie rock |
supernowhere juxtapose entrancing midtempo composition with slithery, arpeggiating melodies backed with melodic drumming. Bassist and singer Meredith Davey is at the forefront of most songs with their lilted voice that seems to glide effortlessly over the syncopated phrasings of their bandmates Kurt Pacing (guitar, vocals) and Matt Anderson (drums), with Pacing occasionally taking over vocal leads with a delicate, hushed voice that further enriches supernowhere’s atmospheric articulations. | topshelfrecords.com/243 | Seattle, WA |
| TSR242: Elephant Gym - Dreams |  |
instrumental
jazz-fusion
math rock
rock
Hiatus Kaiyote, toe, Mid-Air Thief, tricot, American Football, CHON, Yvette Young, exploratory dreamworld math-rock infused with jazz, electronic, and classical |
The 12 songs that constitute Dreams, the third full-length from the Taiwanese trio Elephant Gym, explore the deep spacetime continuum that consciousness cannot capture. Beyond the trio’s staple instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drumset, Dreams blends in wind instruments, traditional drums, and Taiwanese narrative. |
topshelfrecords.com/242 | Kaohsiung City, Taiwan |
| TSR241: Lunarette - Tangerine Spritz |  |
bedroom pop
indie pop
pop
The Cardigans, Lorde, bubblegum trip-hop with a variety of synth patches |
Songwriter Kevin Doxsey explains feeling completely uninhibited during the writing process for Lunarette’s newest single “Tangerine Spritz”, a bubblegum trip-hop one-off that stands in intriguing contrast from the rest of the band’s nascent catalog. Singer Jackie Mendoza‘s enchanting voice guides the song with flavorful imagery, conjuring thoughts of youthful innocence and hot summer nights spent with friends in the city. The depth of production reflects these conjurations with a cosmopolitan darkness—a diversity of synth sounds and auxiliary percussion fill out the unique, almost maximal composition, flashing dynamically like an urban oasis. “Tangerine Spritz” feels ambitious with its pop-focused production, and undeniably catchy in its rhythmic adventurousness. | topshelfrecords.com/241 | Brooklyn, NY |
| TSR239: Gregory Uhlmann - Goosebumps |  |
folk
indie rock
jangle pop
pop
rock
Jodi, Little Kid, delicate art-folk with calm gurgling synth |
The one-off single “Goosebumps” from LA’s Gregory Uhlmann is an art-folk number about the elasticity of our perception of time. Depending on your mental state and what’s happening in your life at any given moment, time seems to move faster or slower. Uhlmann deftly reflects this perception with a composition that seems to subtly stretch the time between its softly strummed guitar, Uhlmann’s delicate lilt, and trotting drums. Atop meticulously placed auxiliary percussion, a tremolo’d, gurgling synth appears in the song’s climax as if to pull listeners in another direction and accelerate their experience of time, pulling them from the slow, repetitive lull of lockdown. | topshelfrecords.com/239 | Los Angeles, CA |
| TSR238: Zenizen - P.O.C (Proof of Concept) |  |
hip hop
r & b
Tune-Yards, Liv.e, MICHELLE, Nick Hakim, Bernice, Santigold, KeiyaA, Jamila Woods |
“This record is a representation of everything that has led me to this point. It’s been a long, bizarre path,” says Zenizen’s Opal Hoyt of both her life and her journey to make this record. P.O.C is a record that blooms in beauty over time—the kind of record that you can take anywhere in any season, as any version of yourself. | topshelfrecords.com/238 | Brooklyn, NY |
| TSR237: supernowhere - Skinless Takes A Flight |  |
experimental
indie rock
math rock
rock
slowcore
Mothers, Great Grandpa, Duster, Palm, florid indie rock |
The majority of the nine slithery songs that comprise supernowhere’s Skinless Takes A Flight were originally cuts that didn’t make their debut Gestalt. But after collectively moving across the country from Burlington, VT to Seattle, WA, the scrapped tracks transformed substantially into florid, at times entrancing compositions. | topshelfrecords.com/237 | Seattle, WA |
| TSR236b: cool original - another second, a whole lifetime |  |
bedroom pop
electronic
indie pop
indie rock
pop
rock
Stephen Steinbrink, Primal Scream, George Clanton, Spirit of the Beehive |
another second, a whole lifetime is the last in a series of expanded universe material from cool original, in honor of their recently released album outtakes from “bad summer”. another second opens with the downtempo “The Crying Hour”, a downcast pop number that expands on the spirit and style of cool original’s recently released album. “1-800-1-SECOND”, a rework of the album’s “i just need a second”, carries a similar pace, a lofi and subtly glitched alternate version that steadily adds elements both repurposed and new, before finally offering a moment of repose. The final track, “Stuck”, a cover of Alien Boy – known peers, collaborators, and friends to cool original – flips the original on its head and takes the shape of a longing summer anthem. Behind Sonia Weber’s introspective lyrics, “Stuck” features a sun-beckoning riff, the warmth of atmospheric synth, and upbeat percussion. | topshelfrecords.com/236b | Portland, OR |
| TSR236a: cool original - u and me both remixes |  |
bedroom pop
dream pop
electronic
experimental
indie pop
pop
missing ffo info—pls ask us! |
cool original’s Nathan Tucker has a distinct production style well suited for remixing. His combination of disparate sounds and palettes lends itself to further exploration and interpretation. On these two remixes of “u and me both”, a song off cool original’s recently released record outtakes from “bad summer”, fellow peers in Bellows and Hollow Comet present two divergent takes on the song with reinterpretations that span a spectrum from Bellows’ synth-and-sax-forward bedroom pop to Hollow Comet’s unclassifiable beat-centric flip. The Bellows version, closer to the original song than its Hollow Comet counterpart, sees Bellows brainchild Oliver Kalb imprinting his signature gauzy, vocoded vocals over a diaphanous expansion of the source composition. Hollow Comet however, the solo production moniker of Strange Ranger's Isaac Eiger, take an opposite approach on their side, blowing up the source arrangement into something entirely new, awash in clever sound design and reconfigured, upcut “u and me both” fragments. | topshelfrecords.com/236a | Portland, OR |