Best New Micro Label: Leaving Records (Download Free Oscar McClure Sampler, Lots More)

By Chris Martins Fri., Oct. 2 2009 at 9:30 AM

Categories: Locals Only, MP3, Off the Record

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In honor of this week's 'Best of Los Angeles' issue, West Coast Sound is offering a week's worth of items that haven't been included in the print issue. Expect a string of additional Bests throughout the week.

Quietly psychedelic electronic music? Warm beat-ish ambient dronescapes? Hip-hop concrète? It's not easy to put a name to the music that's been trickling out of the young label run by Dublab/Calling All Kids co-conspirator matthewdavid, but it's pretty fun to try. Leaving Records is technically a digital imprint of Alpha Pup (also home to Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label), but its small constellation of artists and releases thus far seems to imply a universe unto itself. Found sounds are given equal footing to drum loops, arranged tones, and desirable tape static -- generally speaking -- making for wide-open (but never meandering) compositions that invite the listener to come and stay awhile. Which of course is at odds with Leaving's handle, but such mysteries only make for a better mythology to build upon.

That there image above is an example of the physical wing of this digital label: a hand-painted floppy disc repurposed to hold a CDr of matthewdavid's audio explorations. They also have a love for cassettes. Leaving's next official release (due late November) is from an instrumentalist by the name of Oscar McClure. A cursory search of the Internets reveals little about the man, but the label gives us this, an exceptionally fluid, coyly jazzy 10-minute sampler from McClure's as-yet untitled debut.

Oscar McClure - Augusting (MP3)

And just for kicks, here are some other promising nuggets from the Leaving family.

DAK - GOBTWEEN (MP3)
DAK - fortheSUN (MP3, cassette-only B-side)
*From Leaving's first official release, DAK's Standthis.

matthewdavid - side A (MP3)
Dank Chamber - side B (MP3)
*From Leaving/Poo-Bah Split Cassete, released by Poo-Bah Records

matthewdavid's Leaving podcast for Poo-Bah (MP3)
*Playlist to be found here.

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