We have few of them among us. The ones that are antagonistically adept enough to face the pace and challenge, being and time, art and bread, through and through. Never afraid to poke through the membrane of the inapprehensible, making mile after mile, corner after corner, unravelling a wire and snarl it around the grid of one’s loose thinking. What people see is a trail of an aloof nature, what people can hear is often exceptionally good music. Here are two very compelling examples of those who have moved on.

This week I would like to spezial two artists, who have released their debuts with a little help from us, but have now moved on to make their second albums in new constellations. Nadja Rüdebusch aka Binoculers has released her second album “There Is Not Enough Space in the Dark” last November through her own label.

http://www.binoculers.de/

“a binoculer is a person whose inner side can be looked at through binoculars. (if you meet one:) just put the two glasses right up against his or her eyes and look through them from the other side. from the binoculer's point of view you are miles away now. for safe operation of the binoculer it is highly recommend that the binoculars be changed around regularly, allowing both perspectives” – that’s  the explanatory logic to her work. Obsessively delicate and abstract. Binoculers follows a minimalist attitude but fills the idea with versatile instruments and a loop machine. Imagine a musical box playing lullaby hymns at midnight. The songs are discreet and chary but not shy, rather a modest invitation than screaming and pushy. From the loneliness of a pirate to a circus in the clouds, this picturesque music spans a large spectrum.
Nadja Rüdebusch has been writing her songs and playing concerts under the name of Binoculers since 2007. She lives in Hamburg.
You can watch her latest music video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b94GpH01ugw

 Carpet, the project of mastermind Maximilian Stephan first appeared in the form of an unofficial Solo Album The Eye is the Heart Mirror in 2009 as a guest appearance on Labelship. Carpet is now a full band, basically consisting of musicians from the projects Dear John Letter and Instrument. Their first “real” album Elysian Pleasures has recently come out on the Munich based label Elektrohasch.
Psychedelic and progressive rock meets jazz from hell! Frank Zappa’s principle of “anything anytime anyplace” and improvisation-orgies à la King Crimson as well as the austerity of 70s Pink Floyd and Beatles-like vocal harmonies. Carpet are creating songs of unfathomable vastness, intricate song structures and versatile instrumentation. A carpet of sound – musical paintings, sometimes pastose and thick-layered, sometimes like a stroke of the finest brush. As a result, the soundscapes allow the listeners to glance into deep valleys – as edgy rocks erupt in front of you, they open up the horizon again in just the right moment. The associative character of film scores as well as almost a haptic quality in composition make this music seem timeless.You can watch the astounding collection of Carpet’s  music videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/carpetmusic

english version

Where threads come together you'd usually expect to find something like a spindle. A round, girating object that wraps and unravels a certain type of matter. A record label obviously does a similar thing, although most organizations that help create, publicise and sell music can certainly be located somewhere. They can either be pinpointed geographically or assigned in a figurative sense as a species or family as in community. Other summarising words may help to specify certain styles and be like drawers - a furniture piece of great help when you try and locate stuff.
The question of how and where Labelship can be located has been lingering in my head since I have launched it exactly 5 years ago (yes, we have a little secret anniversary here!) Meanwhile our existence is being taken for granted, but the nagging question ever stayed: What is the point?

Labelship originally took up its pearlfishing business in Hamburg - a medium-sized metropolitan city in northern Germany with a slight OCD - tendency and a great craving but also a certain clumsyness in cultural matters. Quite obviously a very wealthy place with St Pauli and the Reeperbahn in it. But yet it neither has a bearing on a tasteful radio station nor on an awful lot of music-creating individuals or bands who have dared or managed to leap into international acknowledgement. Not that it would rankle me personally - I'm from that city and an environment that has always musically inspired me in a fundamental way. This is a confession! But lacking a certain satisfaction in consequence I was then establishing a label. Back in 2008 as a very first thrust such great formations as the astounding psych - duo Xrfarflight, progressive insider tip Dear John Letter and the ever so enchanting Emmy Moll came to daylight with their debuts. There has since been a constant challenge for both the craftsmanship of passion and the ongoing maintenance and development of a foundation in creative freedom and a carrier substance for sounds that shalt never be forgotten.

Around 2011 Labelship has started to tackle more international endeavours. Meanwhile I had moved to Sheffield - a relatively laggard, small-ish city in the north of England without a real airport where there are as many pubs as potholes. Nonetheless acts like e.g. Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker and Human League represent only the famous tip of the iceberg of local artists and bands of international reputation. Hence I found an overwhelmingly strong relationship of Sheffield's folks with their own language-, sub-, and music- culture that literally dominates everyday life. Experiencing that and also the wonderful cooperation with the Melodica Festival has paved the way to a new perception. Our debut - publications of the English singer / songwriter Kid Decker, Australian mystique folker Owls of the Swamp and co-founder of the Hamburg Melodica Torben Stock have been important pioneers in this transitional process.

Sea of ​​Sundays - the weekly abstract is Labelship's new blog! 

From now on I would like to grant you a weekly insight. News and events in context with the musical activities of our artists as well as interesting facts about my work as a label owner, musician, writer and explorer will be written, disseminated and communicated. You can follow this blog on www.labelship.com and our Facebook page. On behalf of our team and artists I am looking forward to a lively exchange, your contributions and comments as well as the next 5 years of Labelship. Let's see how long they will be.

So, as an answer to the ever lingering question of what the point is, I simply propose to be limited to time and space. Next week there will be another Sunday.

Have a good one, groovers.
the tommie

My special tip of the week is our Hamburg - based artist Meike Schrader who has recently put out the single "Hamborg, mien Hoben". It's a rendition of her song "Hamburg, mein Hafen" (Hamburg, my port) in Low-German, an old dialect that has just recently been rediscovered b a lot of young folks in northern Germany.

Interesting posts about this topic can be found here:

http://www.meikeschrader.de/

http://www.hamburg.sat1regional.de/aktuell-hh/article/hamburger-musikerin-meike-schrader-interpretiert-songs-auf-platt-115625.html

https://www.facebook.com/meikeschradermusik