In a win-win move that helps both Australian artists and the record stores that distribute their releases, Melbourne independent record store Polyester Records has announced they’ll be launching a record label imprint to issue vinyl releases; in a move that’ll surely delight audio purists and fans of homegrown talent alike.
Mess + Noise reports that the Melbourne record store, which is one of the city’s most popular with stores in Fitzory and the CBD, plans to use it’s new vinyl-only imprint to focus on LP releases from local Australian acts. In a joint statement from Poylester Records owners Nate Nott and Simon Karis, the pair said, “we feel so lucky to be based in a city as musically diverse as Melbourne.”
Adding, “there are so many contemporary artists who are dear to us and who we believe should have their record available in this format inside and outside of Australia, so in this sense the curation of our own label seemed logical and very exciting,” said Nott and Karis.
The first three releases under the Polyester Recrods label will be New War’s self-titled debut, Grand Salvo’s latest and sixth LP, Slay In My Sleep and Maidenhear, the debut release from Max Crubs.
The three vinyl records will be released in collaboration with fellow indie label Sensory Projects and distributed by the Sydney-based Inertia, who also handle many of the CD releases of the above acts.
Of the trio of albums that make up Polyester Records’ launch lineup, Nott and Karis enthused: “We couldn’t be happier kicking things off with three albums we think are up there with the best of the year thus far.”
The launch of the Polyester Records label is, in fact, technically a re-launch. Following nearly twenty years after the previous label’s final release with 1991’s Filterfeed from local band Ripe.
The original label operated under the tenure of one Paul Elliott through the 80s to early 90s heyday of the Fitzroy store, with releases from Melbourne’s Tyrnaround and Rococo Pops (obscure no?)
Polyester Records first release, New War’s eponymous New War is available now, with Grand Salvo and Max Crumbs’ vinyl output to be available in the coming weeks.
