One could conjecture that the conceptual intentions found at the center of Moon Glyph had been formulating for a long time before I met the label’s founder, Steve Rosborough. An invested, voracious listener, Steve always seemed more aware and incredibly more interested in the larger, weirder music-making community out there than most kids allowed themselves to be in the middle-aughts. The bizarre, puzzling and sometimes punishing records he would spin at house parties seemed indicative of a larger personal aesthetic – an aesthetic that would later guide the label’s selection and output.
Established in February 2009 with the cassette release of Fauna of the United States by Olives (a noise outfit Steve and I began in college), Moon Glyph started accumulating a number of local artists performing and producing a strain of music that ran the psychedelic gamut – from Velvet Davenport’s kaleidoscopic pop to the layered pulse of Camden.
After nine such cassette drops, the Minneapolis-based label released Regolith Vol. 1 – a compilation showcasing regional acts on white vinyl – described as proof by Pitchfork that the “psych-rock underground in the Twin Cities is…alive and
well.” Subsequently, Moon Glyph became a much busier label.
Post-Regolith, Moon Glyph has been gaining momentum, debuting an abundance of new material, namely a 7” by bossa-psych group Buffalo Moon and Velvet Davenport’s full-length 12”, Warmy Girls. Cassette releases include L.A.-based drone artist Lee Noble, Montanan Capricorn Vertical Slum and the Brooklynites PC Worship. As a designer by trade, Steve’s vision extends to the album art as well. Each release is an example of the time and attention he devotes to serving the music visually.
Upcoming releases:
Camden – Living Image CS
Food Pyramid – II CS
Soothsayer – Inflow Illusion CS
Zezra Domes – Zezra Domes CS
Moon Glyph Impose Labeled Sampler
01 Buffalo Moon – Black Magic
02 Velvet Davenport – Warmy Personal Routine
03 Soothsayer – Untitled
04 Zezra Domes – Zezra Domes
05 Lee Noble – Lacy Park
06 Food Pyramid – Underwater Temple Explorations #4
07 Leisure Birds – Burn the Beach
08 Camden – Truth Given
09 Tender Meat – Untitled V
Download the whole thing in one piece here.
