Metalabel

Our take

Artists Berto Herrera, Oswald Rodriguez, and Sharma Buhazza do what must be done and assert dominance over the CAPTCHA, aka the data-collection scam we've all willingly been a part for the past decade. The multi-work release offers a digital soundscape, sculpture, and cassette to help our reprogramming, reminding us we can unplug from the feedback loop of endless information at any time.

Our take

This exceptional new media package from electronic musician and composer Jlin captures the artist at work building pieces from samples discovered during a trip to the Powerhouse Museum in Australia. An exceptional look into the creative process, and one of the best-packaged releases we’ve seen on Metalabel.

Our take

The postcard is the simplest form of artwork that can circulate via mail, and this one ups the ante. Scented, weighted, and thoughtfully crafted, this postcard from Joanna Lam takes the nostalgic beauty of a mail-only world and turns it into a fragment of memory. We can't wait to hold it.

Our take

There is a special place in whatever's-after-this-lifetime for anyone who can distill a multi-year political debacle into a mere 16 pages that make all those emotions flood right back. Obviously, we can't resist. What would we do without the artist's eye?

Our take

Wow. That’s all we can really say after spending our morning immersed in this multidimensional release that expresses a powerful, echoing 68-minute piano piece as a singular song, a 39-track movement, and accompaniment to two mesmerizing video pieces that digitally manipulate footage of nature. You can feel the love that went into constructing this.

Our take

With every release, designer Traceloops finds another tiny moment to beautify of the flipbook that we didn't know was possible. Did we think we would researching gum packaging today? Definitely not, but we're loving the journey Traceloops sends us on in appreciation of animation and creative packaging.

Our take

Camila Galaz is an interdisciplinary artist, member of NEW INC, and the co-host of an excellent podcast exploring lesser known stories from the history of technology. This release, a mousepad featuring a schematic of the cybernetic system the Chilean government planned to build under Salvador Allende to manage their economy, brings together Galaz’s many interests into one unusual artifact.

Our take

A hyper-specific zine celebrating a unique place: a NYC venue called XPIZZA that's part pizza parlor, part multi-disciplinary venue. The zine collects interviews, photographs, and stories from the founders, artists, resident DJs, and others who made an open, inclusive space at the same time the wild unaffordability of the city makes such generosity too rare.

Our take

One of our uncommon but deeply held opinions: today's patriarchy is just a pre-matriarchy, as women will one day rule the world. Matriarchy, a forthcoming, community-funded book, imagines this future where power flows from connection, not domination. Classify it under future non-fiction.

Our take

When Ambient Soul Music Club first released their lush Vol 1 with us, it was the talk of HQ. We've been patiently waiting for more and this does not disappoint. The layer of sounds remind us of what a sunrise feels like.