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From The Desk Of Entrance: Mississippi Records

Entrance (a.k.a. Guy Blakeslee) just released the great Promises EP and is gearing up for a full-length early next year via Thrill Jockey. In the meantime, he’ll be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Readers, you’re in for some really good stuff.

mississippi

Blakeslee: In the past seven or eight years, almost the only records I have bought have all been releases from one label:  Mississippi Records of Portland, Ore. And any records I’ve purchased that were not released by the label were purchased in their store! Most of their releases are re-issues of older music, although Marisa Anderson is one of the rare contemporary artists they release. A lot of the LPs on Mississippi are like mixtapes with a coherent flow and theme, pressed to vinyl with handmade or silkscreened covers. A lot of their best releases actually are mixtapes, many made by label boss Eric Isaacson and featuring his handwritten liner notes and comics. My favorite of the cassettes they’ve released were all made by a mysterious and quiet shop employee named Karen; titles such as Lullabies And Dream Songs and Dream Of Love. Once in the store, I discovered that the person behind the counter was the author of these, my favorite mixtapes, and I regret to have frightened her with my enthusiasm. The world of Mississippi is a vast treasure trove of artistic gems, and it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what glues it all together. I know Eric Isaacson is not really into doing interviews and the label barely has a website. So rather than bug him, I pulled this great quote from an interview with him where he describes his curatorial style:

“I say ‘Does this hit me in the heart? Yes it does, therefore it’s good, hopefully it hits somebody else in the heart too. Does this not hit me in the heart? No, next song.’ My editing is based on that and the way I pick material and everything about the label is based on that relationship. It’s created a lot of controversy over our label because there’s a lot of relationships I make between music on comps that may seem arbitrary and sloppy and lame to people, but the truth is that’s for whatever reason what hit me in a spiritual way or in an emotional way. Even my record collection at home I’ve curated to that point where I don’t want to have a record in my house—even if I think it’s interesting or cool music—if I don’t feel like I could sit down with the person in it and enjoy a beer, then I don’t want their record in my house either because I take that shit personally. So that’s sort of my approach to curating. If I have any curatorial limit it’s that I won’t listen to music by people I don’t think I’d like personally.”

Mississippi has a subscription service, you can send them some cash or a check, and they’ll send you the new releases as they come out. My household did this once, and the 10 records we got for $100 are among our most treasured and listened to.