http://www.matadorrecords.com

Matador Records

Almost since the moment Chris Lombardi founded it in his New York apartment back in 1989, Matador has been pretty much the hippest indie label on the planet. Onetime Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy joined Lombardi in 1990 and together the duo oversaw the growth of a small musical empire that has become universally admired for its unflagging commitment to artistic freedom and diversity. Matador's offices in Manhattan's Soho district were one the hottest spots in independent music during the '90s, serving as the dissemination point for the music of Pavement, Yo La Tengo, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Guided By Voices, Pizzicato Five, and countless others. In recent years, Matador has further extended its reach by establishing offices in London. The label has also expanded its scope beyond indie rock to include hip hop, electronic, and experimental music. In plain English: Matador puts out some damn fine music -- and plenty of it.

Aereogramme
Scotland's Aereogramme is one of the more unexpectedly eclectic bands around, yo-yoing without warning between overwrought emo bombardment and hushed acoustic simplicity. Oh, but wait -- they also try their hand at electronic washes and string-laden indie chamber music. Surprisingly, it all seems to work.

A Story In White - 2001


Arab Strap
Scotland's Arab Strap makes some of the saddest and most beautiful music you can ever hope to hear. With claustrophobic guitars, gloomy synths, and drowsily cynical vocals, they sketch out pictures of anguished weary souls in repose.

Cherubs EP - 1999
The Red Thread - 2001
Monday at the Hug & Pint - 2003


MC Paul Barman
Ivy League-educated MC Paul Barman writes witty narratives that will make you laugh out loud. Rap nerds the world over, say hello to your new leader.

How Hard Is That?


Belle and Sebastian

With lyrics that are often dark and heartwrenching (disastrous relationships, muggings and religious skepticism), Belle and Sebastian rarely take themselves too seriously, subverting serious subject matter with playful bouncy music. Quirky, intelligent, and sometimes insightful, the group typifies what has become the "Glasgow sound."



The Life Pursuit - 2006


Cat Power
Over the course of a half-dozen albums, Cat Power has mesmerized and haunted her ardent fans. With a languid, smoky, Southern vocal style, a challenging lyrical style, and a knack for beautifully unconventional compositions rooted in blues and country, she has established herself as one of the most significant singer-songwriters around.

You Are Free - 2003
The Greatest - 2006


Cornelius
Everyone's favorite Japanese genre-hopping mischief-making hipster continues to turn out some of the most dazzlingly strange and virtuosically acrobatic records around.

Point - 2002


Dead Meadow
Washington DC's Dead Meadow makes some of the heaviest rock you'll find, but they mix the brutality with an enchanted beauty the likes of which you've never heard before.

Shivering King and Others - 2003


Graeme Downes
Former Verlaines frontman Graeme Downes has gone solo after nearly two decades with the band, taking the Verlaine's symphonic guitar pop in an increasingly solitary and intimate direction. A tremendously talented rock singer-songwriter.

Hammers and Anvils - 2001


Early Man
New York duo Early Man leads the new wave of independent metal acts with a throbbingly loud and stripped-down attack.

Closing In - 2005


Guided by Voices
Dayton, Ohio's finest, and one of indie rock's most important and influential over the last decade. Headed by schoolteacher-turned-rock star Robert Pollard, Guided By Voices epitomized the offbeat, lo-fi aesthetic that came to define underground pop music in the mid '90s. Ever restless, continuously evolving, the prolific ensemble continues to build their impressive discography.

Isolation Drills - 2001
Universal Truths and Cycles - 2002
Earthquake Glue - 2003


Richard Hell
Richard Hell was one of the most pivotal figures in the '70s New York rock underground, playing bass in no fewer than three seminal groups, Television, the Heartbreakers, and his own band, the Voidoids. Later in life Hell became an accomplished poet and author.

Time - 2002


Interpol
A young and upcoming group from NYC, Interpol has been releasing music and traveling Europe for some time. Now they've signed to Matador Records and are beginning their trek into the U.S. The droning dark moods are unceasingly melodic, invoking the shoegazing classics of the '80s.

Interpol EP - 2002
Turn On The Bright Lights - 2002


Jega
Jega's Dylan Nathan creates complex yet melancholic electronic landscapes that take the listener on intense musical journeys. Now you can expand your mind without the use of psychotropic drugs.

Geometry


Large Professor
Ex-Main Source member Large Professor is a legend in the rap world for his superlative MCing and production skills. He has worked with everyone and their mother, including Eric B & Rakim, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and A Tribe Called Quest.

1st Class - 2002


Live Human
San Francisco-based sound merchants Live Human are known for fusing jazz, hip hop, breakbeat, and turntablism in a unique improvised setting. Their original and highly palatable sound has been released on Matador in the U.S. and Fat Cat in the U.K.

Elefish Jellyphant


Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
As you all know, Stephen Malkmus's old group, Pavement, was among the most original and influential American bands of the '90s. While Pavement is no more, Malkmus continues to go strong under his own name, recording charmingly elliptical and eclectic songs with his new backing band, The Jicks.

Stephen Malkmus - 2001
Pig Lib - 2003


Matmos
John Fahey meets Aphex Twin? Autechre at a banjo contest? These are just two of the images that jump to mind upon hearing Matmos's beautifully perverse digital reconstructions of acoustic music.

The West - 1999
A Chance To Cut - 2001
The Civil War - 2003


Mogwai
Glasgow-based Mogwai creates lush and complex builds with a mixture of multiple guitars and dynamic instrumentation. While similar to Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Mogwai's sound is often more melodic and celestial.

Mr. Beast - 2006


Mount Florida
Glasgow duo Mount Florida oversees a heady collision of different musical aesthetics, including minimal techno, cut-and-paste experimentalism, dubby atmospherics, and drum and bass futurism.

Strut


New Pornographers
This esteemed British Columbian power pop outfit has an awesome ability to craft perfect pop confections that are sweeter than sugar but never seem to get stale.

Electric Version - 2003


Pavement
Stockton, CA's Pavement may well have been the second most influential rock band of the early '90s (after Nirvana), ushering in a new era of convoluted musical structures and rock and roll irony.

Slanted & Enchanted: Luxe & Reduxe - 2002


Preston School Of Industry
Former Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg -- aka Spiral Stairs -- ventures out for the first time as a frontman, with his new band, Preston School of Industry. Many aspects of Pavement's lo-fi slacker ethos remains, but the song structures are move conventional, the songs themselves more steeped in twangy Americana.

All This Sounds Gas - 2001


Pretty Girls Make Graves
Seattle's Pretty Girls Make Graves features former members of the Murder City Devils, Kill Sadie, and The Death Wish Kids. With their refreshing energy and satisfying mixture of hardcore and post-punk, they're one of the best new bands in recent memory.

Self-Titled EP - 2001
Good Health - 2002
The New Romance - 2003


Red Snapper
Having created two new genres (fuck-off jazz and dance punk) with as many albums, Red Snapper has befuddled the critics yet again with their latest creative output.

Our Aim Is To Satisfy Red Snapper


The Soft Boys
The seminal jangle-pop quartet that launched the career of whimsical neo-psychedelic bard Robyn Hitchcock has returned after a two-decade hiatus with crisp and joyful new material that compares favorably with the classic albums they recorded at the beginning of the '80s.

Nextdoorland - 2002


Solex
Q. I have an eclectic little record store in Amsterdam specializing in kitschy esoterica, an eight-track, a vintage sampler, a restless kind of creativity, and a great sense of humor. Who am I? A. Solex!

Low Kick And Hard Bop - 2001


Techno Animal
Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick become depraved "technological animals" through their brilliantly dark production of distorted and mechanical beats. Their punishing bass and beastly noise is somehow all mixed into the same sonic space with a parade of wacked-out MCs from the camps of Warp, Matador, and the nearby nether regions.

Brotherhood of the Bomb - 2001


Mary Timony
Ex-Helium mainstay Mary Timony keeps the pop magic realism coming hard and fast with impenetrable yet fascinating medieval rock tunes that play like pages torn from a child's fairy book.

The Golden Dove - 2002


The Wisdom Of Harry
A heady dish of ambient pop and cinematic experimentation. By turns ethereal and quirky, the Wisdom of Harry is British popsmith and former Weather Prophet Pete Astor's newest medium for musical exploration.

House Of Binary


Yo La Tengo
One of the many fine musical products of the Garden State and one of the most consistent performers in all of pop music, Yo La Tengo is America's preeminent group of indie rock intellectuals, with nearly two decades worth of buttery noise pop gems and engaging rock experimentation to their credit.

Nuclear War EP - 2002
Summer Sun - 2003


Thalia Zedek
Like a female Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave, accomplished songwriter Thalia Zedek shapes spare, spacious, lyrical rock-derived torch songs that find the beauty in the suffering. A veteran of numerous noteworthy groups including Come and Live Skull, Zedek began recording under her own name for the first time in 2001.

Been Here and Gone - 2001