IMPRINT
MUSH RECORDS
Style: Leftfield, downtempo, and hip-hop
Established: In 1999 by Robert Curcio and Cindy Roché. After brief stops in San Francisco, Cincinnati, New York and Chicago, Mush finally settled in Los Angeles.
Artists: Busdriver, cLOUDDEAD, Clue to Kalo, Daedelus, Her Space Holiday, Radioinactive.
Essential listening: cLOUDDEAD, cLOUDDEAD (2001); Various Artists, Ropeladder 12 (2001); Boom Bip & Doseone, Circle (2002); Busdriver & Radioinactive with Daedelus, The Weather (2003); Her Space Holiday, The Young Machines (2003); Omid, Monolith (2003)
Manifesto: "Mush is most interested in music that crosses genre boundaries between electronic, indie and hip-hop," Curcio says. "The label tries to release albums that hold together as complete works instead of ones that feel like a collection of singles. Albums that fit the Mush framework are given equal attention by the label regardless of how much sales experience the artist has. For this reason, Mush has been equally as successful breaking new artists - such as Boom Bip, Aesop Rock and Clue to Kalo - as Her Space Holiday, Awol One and Daedelus."
A&R Philosophy: "Although Mush does accept demos, most new artists are found by the label through word of mouth or previous releases by the artist," Curcio says. "Mush looks for artists who have a unique sound and who are willing to take chances with their work and push their capabilities both in the studio and onstage."
Upcoming: Mush has a number of strong releases lined up for 2004: cLOUDDEAD, The Opus, Thavius Beck, Radioinactive and Mumbles.