NOTE: This is an archive of the show originally available from the CerebralRift website. Since the original publication of this show some of the links / references in the above notes may no longer work. Additionally, some of the reference websites may have been changed to no longer reflect the Creative Commons license of these works. The licenses and links were accurate as of the original air date of this show. No warranty or guarantee is implied as to the accuracy of this information at this time.

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Internet time doesn’t function like time in the real world. On the Internet anything that has been around for more than a few years is considered old. Back in what could be considered the “early days” of Internet music, one netlabel managed to make a remarkable mark on Internet music by releasing just about anything they could find: found sounds, cheesy lounge music, highly experimental and avant-garde music, remixes and mash ups and even a high school swing choir / glee club’s un-copyrighted recordings.

The label was called Comfort Stand Recordings – a kind of “outsider music” netlabel. Even though the Comfort Stand only existed for 2.5 years (from 2003-2006), they had 80 releases, 8 compilations and 16 singles, all of which are still available from their website (comfortstand.com).

This remains a remarkable feat by nearly any standard. Today, most netlabels are lucky to issue a release a month. 80 releases in 30 months is astonishing. To have as varied and wide ranging releases takes a very special group of people to put together. Not only the artists, but the staff of the label understanding the whole range of music, and not pigeon-holing the label into a single style. More amazing is the comfort stand audience. And, they did have an audience. Many of their releases are top downloads on the Internet Archive, and one releases remains one of the top-downloaded netlabel releases of all time.

Here’s the thing about the Comfort Stand: While these recordings are unusual, quirky, and more divergent than many of the releases you will find on the big websites today, many of the creators are still working with sound or music in some manner. Many of them are still releasing works on other netlabels, as either Creative Commons licensed works, or as commercial releases. Many of these artists have grown and changed over the last four years, growing either quirkier or more mainstream, but still maintaining their love for the music.

So, we pay tribute to The Comfort Stand this week. So sit back and enjoy these 24 tracks from the Comfort Stand Vaults.

Track Credits

Part One

• Lee Rosevere “Ascent” from Interplanetary Materials
  
• Jan Turkenburg “In My Spaceship” from Interplanetary Materials
  
• Astroslut “Love Theme From Astroslut” from Two Zombies Later
  
• Dale “Part 1” from Meet You At The 7-Eleven
  
• Eddie The Rat “Lip-Synching At Zero-Gravity” from Lip-Synching At Zero-Gravity
  
• Edith Frost “On Hold” from Demos
  
• Martinibomb “The Love God” from Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka
  
• Flavia & The Motonets “El Tren” from Comfort Cake

Part Two

• Karen “Hello Everybody” from Party Fun With Recorders
  
• Beef Humper “Sweater Girl (Top Billin’ Rmx)” from the Glorious Future of Mankind 2
  
• DJ Freshmoney “Whammo” from Two Zombies Later
  
• David “Pick The Goobers Out” from Party Fun With Recorders
  
• Lanark “Pacto de silencio” from Ovnis a Mogollon
  
• Bleep “S.I.F” from Datenbergbau
  
• Big City Orchestra “heart track” from boom crash crash
  
• Full Load of King “Ride A Wave To Uranus” Comfort Cake
  
• The Apartment “Electromusetic Sound” from People Doing Strange Things With Electricity Too
  
• Nick Chapman “Take Me Now” from Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka

Part Three

• fortyone “hello, it’s time for music” from Music That’s Bettter Than It Sounds
  
• Chenard Walcker & Roy “Chicky” Arad “monster” from Monster
  
• Mar-Tie “Side B, Track 2 (Tribute to Betoven)” from The Avant-Garde Grandpa
  
• Cell1110 “Cell 1” from St. Meringue
  
• Brion Kinne “Where Did All These Dust Bunnies Come From” from People Doing Strange Things With Electricity Too
  
• lady Bombon vs Gigaboy “Hiak Toyaz” from Stereo-Sonico

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Tags: #podcast #music #eclectic #Creative-Commons #Comfort-Stand