Pitchfork: Up Records Celebrates 10th Anniversary With Weeklong Benefit Featuring Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, Black Heart Procession, Quasi; Live DVD Forthcoming

Up Records Celebrates 10th Anniversary With Weeklong Benefit Featuring Built To Spill, Modest Mouse, Black Heart Procession, Quasi; Live DVD Forthcoming

[Updated Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004 04:30:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Marnie Christenson and Will Bryant report:
Seattle indie Up Records has announced plans to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a weeklong series of shows featuring some of its most prominent artists. The headliners, not surprisingly, are top-notch acts from Up's roster, past and present. The party takes place over the course of five days: Built to Spill occupies the marquee slot for the first two evenings; Black Heart Procession churns out chilly dirges and hot bossa nova on day three; Modest Mouse holds court on day four; and that other divorced duo, Quasi, closes the week-long "festival" with their unique brand of blues-tainted organ rock.

While the schedule alone is impressive enough, the meaning of the event goes beyond milestones. All proceeds from the five shows will be donated to the Washington/Alaska chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a cause close to the hearts of those at Up Records. The label's founder, Chris Takino, passed away after a long battle with Leukemia in October of 2000. Through the celebration, the stewards of the label honor Chris' vision and tradition of artist support while benefiting a worthy organization.

The festivities will be captured on film by Lance Bangs, the celebrated documentarian and videographer responsible for Pavement's Slow Century DVD, David Cross' Let America Laugh, contributions to Jackass, and videos for the Shins, R.E.M., and Belle & Sebastian. The event will see eventual release on DVD, again with proceeds benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

While the Up label has not signed any new bands since Takino's death and many of its key acts have moved on to other labels, the Up imprint has continued in recent years by releasing new albums from Caustic Resin, Mike Johnson, Jana McCall, and The Dark Fantastic, as well as the vinyl versions of Built To Spill's Ancient Melodies of the Future and Doug Martsch's solo album, Now You Know.

The anniversary show is also timed to coincide with Up's 101st release (give or take a few gaps in the catalogue), the Phil Ek-produced Brent Arnold and the Spheres. The band's debut album is set for release on February 24th. Brent Arnold, who is most definitely a musician's musician, composes scores, plays a wide vareity of instruments, and is no stranger to the Up musical family. He's played on releases from Modest Mouse, 764-HERO, Quasi, Sleater-Kinney, and the Go-Betweens, to name a few. His band stars in the warmup role for Built To Spill on the first night at the Showbox. Complete schedule:

Monday, February 23rd - Showbox
Built To Spill
Brent Arnold and the Spheres
Sick Bees
Jana McCall

Tuesday, February 24th - Chop Suey
Built To Spill
Mark Pickerel (of The Dark Fantastic)
John Atkins (of 764-HERO)
DJ KO

Wednesday, February 25th - Chop Suey
Black Heart Procession
Mike Johnson (with The Evil Doers)
Tiffany Anders

Thursday, February 26th - Showbox
Modest Mouse
Caustic Resin
Tommy Dirtweed (featuring Tom Romich)

Friday, February 27th - Chop Suey
Quasi
Duster
Violent Green