Hanif Abdurraqib is a writer from the east side of Columbus, Ohio. His latest book, A Little Devil In America, is out in March 2021.
Born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, Heba Kadry is a Mastering and Mixing Engineer based in Brooklyn, NY where her studio is located. She has worked with artists including Björk, Slowdive, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Deerhunter, Beach House, Cate Le Bon, Alex G, Battles, John Maus, serpentwithfeet, Blonde Redhead, Diamanda Galás, Lightning Bolt, Black Lips, Lucy Dacus, Cass McCombs, Princess Nokia and The Mars Volta to name a few. In addition to mastering original soundtracks for films such as “Midsommar”, ”Jackie”, “The Lighthouse” and “The Dead Don’t Die”.
Shirley Manson is a songwriter, part time podcaster and the lead singer of alternative rock band Garbage. She was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and has been genetically proven to be of 100% Scottish Viking descent. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and small ginger rescue dog. She has been playing in bands and making records now for 40 years. She considers this her greatest achievement.
Will Oldham is a singer-for-hire. He performs under the name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. New projects include a series of collaborative duets with Bill Callahan, and a continuation of a music-making endeavor with Matt Sweeney known by the sobriquet "SUPERWOLF". He lives and works in Louisville, KY.
Bob van Heur is the creator behind Dutch music festival Le Guess Who?, and an occasional curator for boutique festivals in sunny destinations. Music-obsessed, he is a helping hand to all artists, a booker for some and manager of at least one.
Lillie West is an artist, musician (Lala Lala) & producer from London, currently living in Chicago. She values collaboration, fervor, and community.
The Joyful Noise guest curated "White Label Series" has a simple purpose: to save great music from obscurity.
In our content-saturated world, it's very easy for meaningful music to be overlooked. As a result, countless amazing albums are never properly released, and are doomed to languish in the remote regions of the internet. To combat this trend, each year we ask influential guests to curate our White Label Series and help shine a spotlight on their favorite undiscovered or under-appreciated artists.
The series features a new full-length album bimonthly, hand-picked by one of our curators. Releases are limited to 500 hand-numbered copies (pressed on black vinyl, with plain white labels), packaged in our series die-cut jackets, with artwork from the band and a statement from the curator. All albums include a digital download in MP3, WAV, and AIFF.
Over the past three years this series has produced a ton of amazing music, and has even helped some careers along the way. We genuinely strive for this series to be a force of positivity in the often cripplingly-morally-bankrupt music industry. You can take a look back at the past WLS releases here: https://www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com/pages/white-label-series
Now in its fifth year, the White Label Series has produced a ton of amazing music, and even boosted some careers along the way. For 2021, we're moving to a 6-release, bimonthly schedule (from 12 releases in previous years). In these times of over-saturation, we want to provide more focus for each album, and offer the series at a more accessible price.
Have more questions? Check out our FAQ Page.
