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Label spotlight: Pendu Sound

Pendu Sound is the music arm of the impressive and broader Pendu Org. Based out of Brooklyn, New York and owned and curated by Todd Brooks, Pendu is "dedicated to spontaneous and intuitive art." There's an online gallery (that also houses an online magazine/journal featuring poetry and art) to browse. You can get lost for hours looking at the incredible artwork Brooks is exhibiting. And if that wasn't enough, there's also a book shop. But the first thing I was drawn to was the record label portion. Pendu has released a number of cassettes, CDRs, and LPs from the likes of Ghost Moth (a personal favorite), Talibam!, and others with much more to come. All in all, Pendu is a model for all art and music lovers. Check out their website and I guarantee that everyone will find something to love.
 

Who started the label and why?
I began the label as part of a larger project that also included art and writing called Pendu Org to release my own work along with the work of some of my friends. It was an extension of my first project begun several years earlier. In 1996 I started a distro called Disillusion Records that became a label and in 1997 I released a CD compilation of d.i.y. hardcore bands like Submission Hold, Acrid, MK-Ultra, etc. I had plans to release more music in the future and the comp did well, Old Glory Records even picked it up and put out an LP version, but unfortunately the HC scene was breaking up around the same time and the label fell with it. In late 1999, I had begun a new project and needed a platform to get it out there. So I started Pendu. The d.i.y. aspect of hardcore has stuck with me throughout and you could say in the last few years that it’s felt more like those old days again except with new music and new bands and a d.i.y. ethic that’s even more ‘core. In some cases, everything homemade… homemade music, homemade instruments, even homemade lathes, you know? That’s just what I’m naturally drawn to.
 

What's the story behind the name?
Pendu in French means the hanged-man or the hanging and simultaneously refers to the suicide of Gérard de Nerval and the 12th Arcana of the Tarot. Nerval, who was a 19th century French mystic poet and a member of an anarchist group of writers and artists called the Bouzingo, committed suicide by hanging himself outside of a half-way house after being refused shelter. The hanging was a direct result of society keeping an artist outside. In Tarot, the Hanged-man is the 12th Arcana and is an image of a man hanging upside-down by his foot attaining enlightenment from his new perspective. Combining these ideas into a single concept seemed to fit in perfectly with my aesthetic and philosophy for a project.
 

What keeps you inspired to continue doing the label?
Love of music and making art, period. The seemingly non-stop hailstorm of new shit from all corners, the endless morphing of sounds and ideas, the interstitial smashing of genres, the new musics that keep cropping up, the endless creativity…
 

What's the hardest thing about running an independent label these days?
Just about everything about running a label is pretty easy, it’s just time consuming, really. It takes a bit of stick-to-itiveness to follow through, maintain a schedule, stay organized, and get things completed. Each release is different for me, because I do some stuff by hand such as my limited cassette releases, but I also put out LPs which is a lot more managerial. I think if anything, it’s making your money back that is actually hard, but that’s just how it is.
 

If you could work with any one artist, who would it be and why?
It’s hard to answer that question without feeling like it would be a public display of wish fulfillment. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens. I would definitely like to curate a series of collaborations with various outer-musics and free-jazz artists that have not previously worked together. I think that would be an exciting project to undertake.
 

What's your demo policy?
If someone wants to send a demo, that’s cool; I love listening to new music. They’d have to understand that it’s fairly unlikely that I’d be able to release something by them even if I’m into it, because I’m just too small an operation. It usually works out that if I am into what an artist is doing and am able to set up a record with them, I’ll contact them and hope for the best.
 

What do you have planned for the future?
I have some killer stuff coming ahead. New Gang Wizard LP in April, a rad collaged cassette comp of 30+ artists called Rippers and Creepers coming in March, a project with Nonhorse, new tapes from my own projects Ghost Moth, Abuse Report, and CM, and even further still, a solo LP from Daniel Carter, the legendary free-jazz multi-instrumentalist of Test! etc., plus a bunch of stuff still under wraps. I definitely have more projects then the funding needed to make them happen so I’m always searching for ways to raise money. I also run an online gallery/art magazine that is expanding right now with all kinds of new work. Anyone can keep up with the goings-on at www.pendu.org
 

What's the best record you've heard in the past year?
For me, Demons were kings of 2007... but honestly though, I’d have to say 2007 delivered too many killer records to list here. It was an especially amazing year for music. Let’s hope things will continue in 2008.
 

Any closing advice?
Don’t make boring art.
 
-- Brad Rose (12 February, 2008)

Pendu Sound release reviews....
Gryn Brvs "Grail Fruit of Les Prix Chauns" Excellent tape on Pendu... review :: by Brad Rose (21 April, 2008)
contacting Pendu Sound....
281 S. 5th St. #4
Brooklyn, NY 11211

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2 February, 2010
Bill Orcutt After more than ten years of silence, ex-Harry Pussy guitar player Bill Orcutt released ‘An New Way To Pay Old Debts’, an acoustic hardcore blues record that sounds heavier than all the eclectic guitar records in your collection. It was the best album of 2009... feature :: by Joeri Bruyninckx

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26 January, 2010
Usurper The first thing that makes a Usurper show such a thrilling experience is the sudden and palpable sense of self-awareness..... feature :: by Joe Luna

13 January, 2010
Year End 2009 It's hard to believe that 2009 was only ONE year .. feature :: by Brad Rose

The Long Decline #10: 2009 Alright, 2009... a total motherfucker of a year with so much happening, where to start and where to end... yeah, I don't even know. But let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?.. feature :: by Brad Rose

16 December, 2009
el-g This past month, while laid up with that nasty flu bug, el-g’s recently re-issued “Tout Ploie” LP arrived in my mailbox from S-S Records and found its way to the turntable... feature :: by David Perron

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Unheard #2: Origins Recently I've started thinking about how I ended up so attracted to unconventional music. .. feature :: by Michael Tau

Young Girls Records A look at the Young Girls label... feature :: by Joeri Bruyninckx
6 October, 2009
O. S. T. Mining the fertile fields of film soundtrack music for ours and your aural pleasure... podcast :: by Jani Hellén

8 September, 2009
Pododocast Lots of stuff from V/A compilations this time around... podcast :: by Jani Hellén

11 August, 2009
basketweaves and merrows Summer is the time to swim in texture... podcast :: by Vanessa Rossetto

28 July, 2009
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23 July, 2009
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menu
2 February, 2010
Le Syndicat "Timespace Losses 1982/1987" Essential listening... review :: by Michael Tau

Blue Sabbath Black Fiji "Gemini" CD-r Prepare to get your face buzzed off... review :: by Jan-Arne Sohns

Head Boggle "Clavioline Demo and Living Stereo" CD-r Head Boggle rules! Get boggled!.. review :: by Michael Jantz

Black Mayonnaise "Dissipative Structure" LP Debut vinyl, killer stuff... review :: by Paul Simpson

September Collective "Always Breathing Monster" Nice stuff on Mosz... review :: by Andrew Murdock Livingston

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