Feature / Music / Year End 2014
Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2014

December 21, 2014

Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2014
Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2014

Tom (Slugsalt Records)

1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2014? (In order 1-5)

LPs - no order

  • Leather - EASY (absolutely 100% biased)
  • Total Control - Typical System (Iron Lung)
  • Hank Wood and the Hammerheads - Stay Home (Toxic State)
  • Nots - We are Nots (Goner) 
  • Gunk - Gradual Shove LP (Ranch/Square of Opposition)

EPs/demos - no order

  • Primetime - s/t EP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
  • Blank Spell - demo cassette (World Gone Mad)
  • Nudes - Stain EP (Iron Lung)
  • Sheer Mag - s/t EP (Wilsuns RC)
  • Cottaging - Mis en Abyme EP (Abscess)

2. What band did you discover in 2014 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?

I met Cold Foamers right before I started the label, and they trusted me to put out their album. They'd already gotten some cassettes from Haze Tapes, but we decided to work together on their (and my) first LP. All Cold Everything came out in October.

3. How will you remember 2014? (In terms of music)

I started the label this spring, so I'll remember this year when it's 2024 and I'm celebrating our tenth anniversary.

4. What can we look forward to from you in 2015?

By next spring I hope to have two EPs and another LP in the works. Also, look for Reyes Family Tapes. I'll be releasing a few demo cassettes, starting with Brown under that name.

5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2015?

Blank Spell is finishing up their first LP, Newish Star has a ton of music recorded that they're planning to release, and the rumored LP from now-dead Shoxx is supposed to turn up. Also, the 3 remaining EPs in the Keystone Noise Series by Reptilian Records (Tile, Ladder Devils, Fight Amp).

6. What trend will you forever associate with 2014 in music?

Albums selling out online right as the pressing plant gets a label's order. Fans willing to pay for a record 3 months in advance. Pressings of 500 disappearing in a day thanks to internet wildfire (not that I'm speaking from personal experience).

Skip to page View as a single page

— words by the SPB team • December 21, 2014

Intro photo by Eric Lubbers.

Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2014
Pass The Mic: Record Labels on 2014

Pages in this feature

  1. Opening page
  2. Adam Gecking (Say-10 Records)
  3. Andrew Gomez IV (Glory Kid, Ltd./ Where My Bones Rest Easy - drums
  4. Bob Farley (Mayfly Records)
  5. Dirt Cult Records
  6. Domenic Romeo (A389 Recordings)
  7. Halo of Flies Records
  8. Joe Steinhardt (Don Giovanni Records)
  9. Matt Hutchinson (Self Destructo Records)
  10. Michael Phillips (Escapist Records)
  11. Mike Riley (Toxic Pop Records)
  12. Rich Loren Balling (Handmade Birds)
  13. Steven Williams (Init Records)
  14. Tim Clarke (Hidden Shoal Recordings - co-manager)
  15. Tobias Jeg (Red Scare Industries)
  16. Tom (Slugsalt Records)
  17. Tony Pacheco (Save Your Generation Records/Rubber Legs PR)
  18. Will Butler (To Live a Lie Records)

Series: Year End 2014

Our annual round-up of the best music of the year 2014.

More from this series

Related features

2014: A Year In Review

Music / Year End 2014 • January 13, 2015

It's time for our final retrospective look at 2014 – this time we're covering all the stuff we missed from last year, whether it's the best hip-hop records, weird album artworks, press onesheet mis-steps, reissues records or new discoveries at Fest. Read on to find out what things passed under … Read more

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2014)

Music / Year End 2014 • January 7, 2015

It's been another strong year for music in 2014 just gone – we've seen comebacks, unexpected debuts, strong follow-ups and soon-to-be classics from old and new bands alike. In this, our annual sitewide list, we've averaged and assembled our individual contributor's best-of-2014 lists into one superlist, amalgamating all of our … Read more

Pass The Mic: Artists on 2014

Music / Year End 2014 • December 14, 2014

Since 2006 we've aimed to make our year-end roundups feature not just our thoughts on the best records of the past twelve months, but the thoughts of the people producing them: the bands and artists who make our scene what it is. In this collection of 30 interviews, we've spoken … Read more

More from this section

Scene Point Blank's Favorites: The Year So Far (July 2025)

Music • July 6, 2025

We're halfway through the year: when did that happen?! Luckily for you, SPB is on hand to share the music we've enjoyed most in 2025 thus far. Read on to hear about the records that have made our top list for this year as it stands, and also some bonus … Read more

Shane Herrell: A Tribute

Music • July 6, 2025

Shane Herrell: Rest In Power(pop) (1980-2025) The Rocker I try to live my life with as few regrets as possible. Sadly I never got the chance to hear my friend Shane Herrell karaoke Thin Lizzy’s "The Rocker." As a singing bass player we don’t have enough heroes. It might just … Read more

Caterwaul 2025

Music • May 13, 2025

Each year in late May, the 4-day party and noise-rock festival Caterwaul takes over multiple venues in Minneapolis. It’s a stacked lineup this year, to put it mildly, with each night’s headliners FACS, Young Widows, Naw, Pissed Jeans, and Uniform -- and that’s leaving a ton of other great bands … Read more