Truckstop Records
The Truckstop Audio Recording Company is a little Chicago label whose releases range from elegant singer/songwriter efforts to more twisted and experimental fare.
Truckstop is actually a subsidiary of Chicago avant-jazz/experimental label
Atavistic.
Simon Joyner
An addictive downer without the side effects. Simon Joyner sings stories of lost souls, faithful and forsaken lovers, misfits, mourners, and dispossessed seekers. Listen if you like Townes Van Zandt, early Randy Newman, Leonard Cohen, or Nick Drake.
The Lousy Dance
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1999
Michael Krassner
Boxhead Ensemble maestro Michael Krassner goes solo with surprisingly straightforward, candid, piano-based fare. Nostalgic, melancholy, and beautiful in a lonesome kind of way.
Michael Krassner
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1999
The Lofty Pillars
The Lofty Pillars are a beautiful, feathery, orchestral pop outfit with a lot of country twang. They're led by the always-busy Boxhead Ensemble maestro Michael Krassner. Treat yourself to some simply lovely American melancholia.
When We Were Lost
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2000
Matt Marque
New kid on the block Matt Marque is a young Chicago singer-songwriter with a slightly off-key croon, a penchant for sounds you might not expect, and a strangely mellow, fairly weird aesthetic. For those who like their pop music intimate and offbeat.
Get There
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2001
Pinetop Seven
A Chicago trio with a stunningly desolate, minimalist sound that's been endlessly scuffed up, kicked around, and abandoned, and in the process has acquired a weary broken-down beauty. Folk, country, and old-fashioned Kentucky bluegrass form the backbone of Pinetop Seven's sound, even as the group employs a wealth of sounds you'd never hear in any of that traditional music. So poignant and so good.
Rigging The Toplights
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1998
Bringing Home The Last Great Strike
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2000
Terminal 4
An all-star quartet led by Chicago cellist and composer Fred Lonberg-Holm. Terminal 4 is an avant-garde instrumental collision of jazz and pop music, and given that, it's remarkably accessible and pleasant. Sometimes it even gives you the shivers.
Terminal 4
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2001
Toe
A collection of Chicago heavyweights, including two members of Tortoise and two regulars on the Windy City experimental jazz circuit, get together to explore quiet free jazz, languid cinematic post-rock, and more raucous experimental sounds. Formerly known as Toe 2000.
Variant
Toe 2000
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1999
Scott Tuma
Ex-Souled American member Scott Tuma channels Americana in the most delicate, tender, and ethereal of ways with his beautiful ambient instrumental music.
Hard Again
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2001
TW Walsh
This Massachusetts songsmith is moody without being brooding, meanders without getting lost. He makes gentle, folky pop that's subtle and understated, and often quite pretty.
Blue Laws
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2000
Pollensongs
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2002
