Thrill Jockey Records is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 established in 1992

1992 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 by former Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 A&R

A&R

Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 representative Bettina Richards.

History

Richards started the label with $35,000 of personal and family capital, while working at a Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...

, record store, and ran it from her apartment in Manhattan.

In 1995, she moved the label to Chicago, Illinois, where "rent and taxes are considerably cheaper."

Thrill Jockey offers full-length streaming

Streaming media

Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...

 of every song on every release in its catalog. "I believe if people can listen to the albums, they tend to buy them," Richards said in a 2006 interview with Chicago Reader.

Artists who have recorded on the label include Tortoise

Tortoise (band)

Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...

, The Sea and Cake

The Sea and Cake

The Sea and Cake is an indie rock band with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in the mid-1990s in Chicago out of the ashes of local bands The Coctails and Shrimp Boat. The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol...

, High Places

High Places

High Places is a band originating from Brooklyn, NY, recently relocated to Los Angeles, CA. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson.-History:...

, Trans Am

Trans Am (band)

Trans Am is a three-piece band which originated in Bethesda, Maryland that was one of the originators of "post-rock" in the mid 90s. Their work centers on a cerebrally robotic, usually instrumental, semi-danceable, minimalistic format, with influences including Krautrock, heavy metal, hardcore...

, Mouse on Mars

Mouse on Mars

Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a sometimes quirky blend of IDM, krautrock, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds and cross-frequency modulation...

, ADULT.

ADULT.

ADULT. is an American band from Detroit, Michigan that integrates vocals with drum machines, analog synths and electronic/punk elements. While popular in their home city of Detroit, they are also very popular in Germany and the United Kingdom.-History:ADULT...

, Nobukazu Takemura

Nobukazu Takemura

Nobukazu Takemura is a Japanese musician whose style has run from jazz to house to drum and bass to chamber music to electronic glitch within less than a decade. Born in Hirakata, Osaka in August 1968, he became interested in punk and New Wave music when young...

, Bobby Conn

Bobby Conn

Bobby Conn is an American musician based in Chicago, Illinois, known for his pop-rock. He often collaborates with other artists such as musicians Colby Starck and Jim O'Rourke, and film-maker Usama Alshaibi. In 2003, Conn produced a session for UK punk band The Cribs, whom he met when they were a...

, Tom Verlaine

Tom Verlaine

Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...

, Freakwater

Freakwater

-Career:In 1989, Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Irwin founded the band, and they have been supported by several musicians since then, including members of Califone . Bassist David Wayne Gay, formerly of Stump The Host, is another long-time member of the band...

, The Zincs

The Zincs

The Zincs are a four-piece band originally from London, England, and now based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They are signed to Chicago's Thrill Jockey Records . The Zincs were set up by English singer/songwriter James Elkington in 2000...

, The National Trust

The National Trust (band)

The National Trust is a Philadelphia soul, neo soul musical project formed in 1999 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:While only officially formed in the late 90's, The National Trust can trace its history back to 1990 through band leader, composer and guitarist Neil Rosario's previous bands Dolomite...

, Eleventh Dream Day

Eleventh Dream Day

-History:The band was founded by guitarists Rick Rizzo and Janet Beveridge Bean, who met at a place fondly known as 1069. This was a house/practice space/hang out in Louisville where at the time Janet was practicing with the band she was in with Tara Key and Tim Harris; the Zoo Directors. They...

, Califone

Califone

Califone is an experimental rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed....

, Chicago Underground Duo

Chicago Underground Duo

Chicago Underground Duo is an avant-garde jazz duo consisting of cornetist Rob Mazurek and drummer/percussionist Chad Taylor. They formed in 1997, having both been members of Chicago Underground Orchestra...

, Howe Gelb/Giant Sand

Giant Sand

Giant Sand is an American rock band, based in Tucson, Arizona, USA. The name is shortened from the original Giant Sandworms, a reference to the creatures in the Dune books. Overseen by singer-songwriter Howe Gelb, its membership has shifted over the years—at times with each album...

, Oval

Oval (band)

- Work history :The band's original members were Markus Popp, Sebastian Oschatz, and Frank Metzger, although Oschatz and Metzger left the group in 1995. All three are regarded as pioneers of glitch, a genre of music that embraces the sound of damaged audio produced by the failure of digital...

, Town & Country

Town & Country (band)

Town & Country was an American minimalist quartet based in Chicago.Members were:*Ben Vida: Guitar/Trumpet...

, Archer Prewitt

Archer Prewitt

Archer Prewitt is an American musician and cartoonist associated with the independent music scene in Chicago, Illinois.- Music :...

, Sam Prekop

Sam Prekop

Sam Prekop is a rock/pop musician in the band The Sea and Cake. He also has released three solo albums. Prekop first gained recognition in the band Shrimp Boat from 1988 to 1993. Many artists have performed in the Sam Prekop band, such as Chad Taylor, Josh Abrams, Jim O'Rourke, and Archer Prewitt...

, The Lonesome Organist

The Lonesome Organist

The Lonesome Organist is the One-man band side project of Jeremy Jacobsen, keyboardist for Chicago Post-rock combo, 5ive Style. He has released three albums on Chicago indie label Thrill Jockey.-Style:...

, OOIOO

OOIOO

OOIOO are an all-female group founded by Boredoms drummer Yoshimi P-We.According to allmusic's Kieran McCarthy "It's next to impossible to describe their sound, because — by design — it rarely follows consistent patterns"...

, Pit er Pat

Pit er Pat

Pit er Pat is an Experimental band from Chicago Illinois. They formed in 2004 as the trio of Fay Davis-Jeffers on keyboard and vocals, former founding member of Alkaline Trio Rob Doran on bass, and Butchy Fuego on drums. Their sound is very atmospheric and has a dark ambience that is similar to...

, The Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces

The Fiery Furnaces are a U.S. indie rock band formed in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York. The band's primary members are Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger. The siblings are originally from Oak Park, Illinois, a near-western suburb of Chicago.- Band biography :...

, Angela Desveaux

Angela Desveaux

Angela Desveaux is a Canadian singer-songwriter, based in Montreal, Quebec, whose style blends a diverse mix of pop, rock and country influences.-Background:...

, Liturgy

Liturgy (band)

Liturgy are a black metal band from Brooklyn, New York. Originally the solo project of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, the band expanded to a four piece in 2008, after the release of the 12" Immortal Life, which was followed in 2009 with their debut album Renihilation. The group call their style...

 and Boredoms, amongst others. Artists on the label have often collaborated with other artists on the label to form spin-off groups.

15th Birthday

In 2007, Thrill Jockey bands old and new recorded songs for a boxed set to celebrate the label's 15th birthday. Bands were asked to choose a song to cover by any other act on their roster. Plum 7" Box Set compilation was released in December 2007 on ten 7-inch vinyl singles.
Some notable tracks include: Directions covering Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker's "Toy Boat," while Pullman tackles the Chicago Underground Quartet's "3 A.M." Bobby Conn, Califone and Thalia Zedek all cover Freakwater songs, while the Sea & Cake reworks a version of Califone's "Spider's House." Tortoise covers Japanese artist Nobukazu Takemura's "Falls Lake," and ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne contributes a cover of the Fiery Furnaces' "Ex-Guru."

External links

• Official site
• Indiepit Article