Topsy Records

Category: Digital

  • Guest Directors “Before You Get Broken”

    Guest Directors “Before You Get Broken”

    Guest Directors’ second full-length record, with nine new songs.

    In the 1990s, Gary Thorstensen held down guitar duties for Seattle’s powerful and noisy TAD (Sub Pop) while Julie D held down guitar duties for the math-groove Chinchilla (Crisis/Revelation) down in San Diego. When their paths finally crossed in Seattle in 2014, the result was a resonance that alluded to their previous work while adding unexpected surprises, such as their shared love of power pop and 60s folk rock. More than a decade later, the results remain similarly powerful and occasionally quirky, but still showcase a palpable melodic focus.

    As Guest Directors, along with drummer Rian Turner and bassist Charles Russo, they have continued to expand their chemistry while reinvesting in themselves and embracing their DIY ethic to write, record, release, and perform as much music as possible.

    The band is now celebrating their latest creation, the nine-song Before You Get Broken (Topsy). The album (available on vinyl, CD, and digital/streaming) is the latest in a sizable catalog for a band that started as a side project until it became evident something special was happening.

    Like The Pretenders and Blondie before them, Guest Directors belong to a certain “scene” (in their case, shoegaze) while still following inspiration wherever it may lead them, ultimately sounding utterly like themselves in each unique song.

    “Meet You on the Land” kicks things off with jangle and delay, telling the tale of a mermaid who’s not interested in giving it all up for her prince. “You Are Never” hits hard with a cool swagger reminiscent of Sonic Youth or Unwound. “Now I Know” introduces a post-punk sound to a song that’s a direct answer to Afghan Whigs’ “Gentlemen,” while “Just Not Today” features the Swervedriver-style dual guitars that Guest Directors are known for.

    Increased use of piano on this release gives a warmer sound to slower songs like “So Many Somedays” and “At the Gate.” But the album goes out with a bang in the swirling maelstrom of “What Shapes They Take,” reminding you that this is a band with serious rock – and noise – bonafides.

    Overall, Before You Get Broken serves up the entwined guitars, powerful rhythms, thoughtful lyrics, and headphone candy that Guest Directors consistently provide.

    Since their debut in 2016, Guest Directors have become known as a powerful live act in the Seattle scene, and have shared bills with many excellent bands, including Ringo Deathstarr, Slow Crush, Deserta, Alain Johannes, Dead Leaf Echo, Love Battery, New Candys, Tallies, and Brothers of the Sonic Cloth. They also co-founded and help run the annual Tremolo:Seattle shoegaze festival, in addition to performing on several of its lineups. 2026 plans include another Tremolo Fest, some regional touring, and the creation of new songs for their next record.

    TRACK LISTING:
    Meet You on the Land
    You Are Never
    Now I Know
    Just Not Today
    So Many Somedays
    Restore Your Soul
    Blame Pandora
    At the Gate
    What Shapes They Take

    Order now on Ampwall!

  • Guest Directors “Keep a Fresh Eye” single

    Guest Directors “Keep a Fresh Eye” single

    A track recorded during the same sessions as Interference Patterns.

    Recorded by Robert Cheek at Studio Unknown in Anacortes, WA and ExEx Audio in Fremont, WA

    Auxiliary percussion recorded by Aileen Paron at Derring-Do Music

    Mixed by Robert Cheek at ExEx Audio

    Mastered by Eric Broyhill at Broyhill Masters

    Produced by Guest Directors and Robert Cheek

    Order now on Ampwall!

  • Obscure Colors “You Have to Swallow the World”

    Obscure Colors “You Have to Swallow the World”

    Obscure Colors presents a “modern mixtape” with an array of musical guests* (see below) for an album that takes you on a journey of sound.

    * On this album, you’ll find:

    Julie D, Jen Fox, Sam Gutterman, Aileen Paron, and Gary Thorstensen – my friends who also happen to be bandmates in my other two bands, These People Here and Guest Directors. If you haven’t heard those bands, you may have heard these fine people play in Chinchilla, Model Shop, Kayo Dot, Scarlet Season, and TAD, respectively. Their various talents are scattered all over these recordings.

    Sheridan Riley – you’ve likely heard them play drums in Alvvays, but I first heard them playing in Zen Mother and, later, solo drum shows around town. I got the best of both worlds from Sheridan on “Infinitesimal Cathedrals of Glass:” great beats and creative processing.

    Kellii Scott – he plays in one of my all-time favorite and inspirational rock bands, Failure. He finds just the right beats to support and propel the band’s stringed wizardry, and he graciously did the same for me on “Another Fourth.”

    Kenneth Schalk – when there’s a YouTube video of someone titled “The Best Metal Drummer Ever,” and the comments section agrees, you know the guy’s good. From the first time I saw Ken play in his band Candiria back in 1995, he’s been my favorite drummer to watch. And I got to duet with him on “Valley.” That fact may go on my tombstone.

    Natalia Czajkiewicz – Without even getting into her excellent visual art creations, I heard Natalia’s voice in Dead Spells and Love & Pain and knew it would fit perfectly on “The Singers Sing the Desiccation Blues,” and she proved me right.

    Kai Koehler – You may have heard Kai taking cello requests while busking at his brother’s soccer games. His age may not yet have been in the double-digits at the time of this recording, but he was already a total pro in the studio. You’ll hear the kid’s compelling drone on “Anthem to the Cascades in Winter.”

    Andrew King and Mike Sparks Jr. – they play together in one of my favorite bands in town, Reader, but I needed to split them up in order to fill two of the biggest voids on the entire record: “Come Sing With Me” and “A Prayer for Rain,” respectively. And fill them, they did.

    Robert Cheek – Robert recorded almost everything on this record and then mixed it all, but he also chimed in with a couple of valuable musical additions in the form of a Moog and glockenspiel on “Another Fourth.”

    Aileen, Andrew, Gary, Ken, Kellii, Natalia, Sheridan recorded their contributions. Robert Cheek recorded everything else and mixed it all at ExEx Audio near the troll in the sunny Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Once again, Brad Boatright of Audioseige mastered the album.

    The mighty Blake Armstrong created the cover art, and Charles Russo helped to turn it into the cover.

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • Guest Directors “Our Last Christmas Time”/”Laser Hands (Turner’s Version)” single

    Guest Directors “Our Last Christmas Time”/”Laser Hands (Turner’s Version)” single

    Guest Directors are back, less than two months from the release of their LP Interference Patterns, with a black solstice ballad for the holidays. Our Last Christmas Time is a breakup song in a Christmas setting, both melancholy and liberating.

    The “B-side” is an extended version of the LP track Laser Hands, with a two-and-a-half-minute noise jam coda.

    Recorded by Robert Cheek at Studio Unknown in Anacortes, WA and ExEx Audio in Fremont, WA

    Auxiliary percussion recorded by Aileen Paron at Derring-Do Music

    Mixed by Robert Cheek at ExEx Audio

    Mastered by Eric Broyhill at Broyhill Masters

    Produced by Guest Directors and Robert Cheek

    Order now on Ampwall!

  • Guest Directors “Interference Patterns”

    Guest Directors “Interference Patterns”

    Like a broken mirror, Seattle’s Guest Directors reflect a multitude of emotional and musical pathways. On their new LP, Interference Patterns, the songs spiral one after another – sometimes powerful and sometimes delicate. They can sound like snowflakes and hail storms, sometimes in the same song.

    Interference Patterns features nine songs curated from the entire lifespan of the band, including one of the very first songs they ever wrote, as well as a song they practically wrote in the studio. The bulk of it was recorded at a beautiful, old church in Anacortes, WA, and the details were finished up within a stone’s throw of a certain famous troll.

    Recorded by Robert Cheek at Studio Unknown in Anacortes, WA and ExEx Audio in Fremont, WA

    Auxiliary percussion recorded by Aileen Paron at Derring-Do Music

    Mixed by Robert Cheek at ExEx Audio

    Mastered by Eric Broyhill at Broyhill Masters

    Produced by Guest Directors and Robert Cheek

    TRACK LISTING:
    1. From This Distance
    2. Perfect Picture
    3. Raise a Glass
    4. Blackout Dream Blues
    5. Skinless
    6. Nico
    7. Laser Hands
    8. Stare It Down
    9. You’ll Never Know

    Released September 22, 2023

    Available now at Ampwall!

  • Guest Directors “Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky” EP

    Guest Directors “Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky” EP

    Guest Directors return to dynamic, full-band form after a couple of experimental, home-recorded releases during the lockdown era. For “Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky“, the quartet selected five songs that would best benefit from producer Jack Endino’s (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney) extensive experience with loud rock bands. The result is a heavier sound still characterized by a strong sense of melody and a dreamy, shoegaze undercurrent throughout. Dual vocals are amped-up on this release, alongside ample layers of guitar candy that are sure to keep your headphones happy.

    Opener “Another Round (An Echo)” is a full-band reimagining of “Another Round,” which was first home-recorded for the “Connected Heavens” EP [Topsy-009, 2021]. Inspired by a recent Seattle musician’s autobiography, the song maintains the vocal vulnerability of the original recording while detonating the power of four people recording live and loud.

    Spooky and heavy in turns, “In the Cellar” dips into the darkness of the human psyche, while the music juxtaposes a haunting groove against angular noise, matched by the alternating vocals of the band’s singer/guitarists, Julie D. and Gary Thorstensen.
    The propulsive “Shipwreck” again showcases the dual vocalist approach amidst the tense fury of sonic momentum. “Hidden Silos” explodes like a Roman candle thick in a pool of brooding psych where wah pedals abound. The EP closes with the quirky rocker “Words Disappear” – one of the band’s oldest songs that had never seemed to fit with previous recording sets. Given Endino’s rock bonafides, the decision to finally record the banger was a no-brainer.

    “Oh, To Be Weightless in the Sky” reveals the assertively intricate branches Guest Directors have added to the trunk that began growing with their debut, “These Beautiful Things“, in 2016. A trunk that, like so many others in recent years, twisted in cleverly resourceful ways to weather the times – emerging in full bloom after a summer of sun and anticipation of the rain that awaits.

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • These People Here “All’s Well That Ends”

    These People Here “All’s Well That Ends”

    These People Here return with a long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s A Bitter Seed. “All’s Well..” is darkly beautiful, with the intricate musicianship they’re known for.

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • Guest Directors “Treading Water” single

    Guest Directors “Treading Water” single

    Guest Directors share one more self-produced song, along with a Bandcamp-exclusive bonus remix of “When It’s All” (from the Connected Heavens EP) by Obscure Colors.

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • Obscure Colors “Our Skull Smiles When We’re Gone”

    Obscure Colors “Our Skull Smiles When We’re Gone”

    Wrapping up the series of three ambient/drone/live loops/improvisational albums recorded in the spring and summer of 2020.

    Order now at Bandcamp!

  • Guest Directors “Connected Heavens” EP

    Guest Directors “Connected Heavens” EP

    These 4 tracks were recorded and mixed entirely by the band in their homes while socially distanced during the quarantine pandemic. Listen here:

    AltRevue: “Connected Heavens” may only have four tracks, but they are weighty and ethereal in their approach.

    TRACK LISTING

    • Unknown Skies
    • When It’s All
    • Another Round
    • Dreaming Dreams

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • Obscure Colors “Inheritance”

    Obscure Colors “Inheritance”

    The second in a series of three ambient/drone/live loops/improvisational albums recorded in the spring and summer of 2020. If you want to hear more traditional rock songs, check out Fifteen Recordings From Twenty​-​First Century Los Angeles

    All tracks by Rian Turner. Artwork by his father.

    Order Now at Bandcamp!

  • Obscure Colors “Total Eclipse of the Sun”

    Obscure Colors “Total Eclipse of the Sun”

    This is the first of three albums that began recording in the spring/summer of 2020. Ambient, drone, loops. A pivot from the first Obscure Colors album, but one that the circumstances required.

    No one to directly blame for any of this except Rian Turner.

    TRACK LISTING

    • Upturned Porcelaine Heads of Detached Children
    • Photographic Evidence of the Future
    • Shots of Wolf
    • Dizzy Down
    • The Impending Threat of Autonomous Arms
    • Twin Keys to Random Doors
    • Things Used to Look Different
    • Symphony Orchestra
    • Non-Immediate Bellic
    • Glassy Memories of the Forgotten
    • Abrupt Soundtrack to a Red Night in the Dark
    • Finding Blurry Ways
    • Reasons to Rejoice

    Order now at Bandcamp!

  • Obscure Colors “Fifteen Recordings From Twenty-First Century Los Angeles”

    Obscure Colors “Fifteen Recordings From Twenty-First Century Los Angeles”

    This 15-track LP was initially recorded in Los Angeles in 2008. The songs lay dormant on hard drives until a special set of circumstances in mid-2020 allowed them to be revisited. Aileen Paron helped fill in some of the tracking gaps, and then Don Farwell took a dozen of these things into Earwig Studio to perform Frankensteinian feats of reassembly and resurrection. Brad Boatright at Audiosiege mastered them to bring this monster to its final form. Listen here:

    These recordings weren’t originally intended to be heard by anyone else: sketches, demonstrations, songwriting exercises, fun ways to spend nights and weekends at a massive practice space a little east of downtown Los Angeles, California sometime around 2008 (if you listen carefully, I swear you can hear our neighbors, Sunn O))) and Isis, blasting through the walls of our rehearsal room on some of these recordings).

    A few people heard a few of these songs performed live. Our first show was at the Lyric Theater with Emma Ruth Rundle’s band at the time (The Nocturnes) and our friends, Cinder Cone. Our final show was at The Smell with maximalist prog champions Upsilon Acrux (whose drummer played very minimally – at our direction – on “Sepulagrace”).

    These songs lay dormant on hard drives until a special set of circumstances in mid-2020 allowed them to be revisited. Aileen Paron helped fill in some of the unsatisfying tracking gaps, and then Don Farwell took a dozen of these things into Earwig Studio to perform Frankensteinian feats of reassembly and resurrection. Brad Boatright at Audiosiege mastered them to bring this monster to its final form. Good luck to this monster. We wish it all the best and apologize for the state of the world into which it was brought back.

    Obscure Colors: Jeny Nicholson and Rian Turner

    With special help from Jean Hsu, Chris Meszler, Aileen Paron, Rigel Ranciato, and Jay Trautman.

    Recorded by Rian Turner (except where noted in track credits)

    Mixed by Don Farwell at Earwig Studio (except where noted in track credits)

    Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege

    TRACK LISTING

    • Set a Course for Wayward Schemes
    • Faster
    • Untitled (A Way)
    • The Year
    • Cowards
    • Intent
    • Losing
    • Fix
    • Instrumental
    • La La La La
    • Sepulagrace
    • Honora
    • Raggles’ Lament
    • Oh, Baby Raggles
    • Code A

    Order now at Bandcamp!

  • Guest Directors “Dream the Currents” EP

    Guest Directors “Dream the Currents” EP

    Released February 22, 2019 this 5-song EP was recorded at Earwig Studio with Don Farwell. Listen here:

    Big Takeover Magazine (print edition #84) in Jack’s Top 40: “… this Seattle group’s third EP over three years finds a distinct landing spot. Imagine Swervedriver’s slower, moodier material if Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge dug Television’s Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine more than The Stooges’ James Williamson; that’s “Parachute On.” Whereas “Minor Mendings” comes from ’80s pre-shoegaze post-punk, like Savages, mashing McGeoch-period Banshees with Bickers-era House of Love…. Mostly, Dream is a galvanizing guitar fiesta, squalling, kneading, gnashing and glimmering into the night.”

    KEXP: “This Seattle band’s third EP is a fine set of shoegazerish dream-pop.

    Ball of Wax (reviewing the song “Parachute On”): “…occupies an interesting space between (or inclusive of) shoegaze and power pop. The song starts with a fairly straightforward verse/chorus arrangement, with singer/guitarist Julie D’s vocals both understated and commanding, her guitar and Gary Thorstensen’s intertwining playfully yet intentionally. (None of that tired rhythm/lead dichotomy for Guest Directors.) The rhythm section of Rian Turner and Charlie Russo provide the perfect support system to keep this sonic parachute aloft. After two verses, the entire second half of the song is given over to a mostly instrumental coda, the guitars further winding themselves up and releasing tension, building and folding in on themselves before the whole band comes crashing down together in a carefully controlled detonation. I can only imagine how delightful this joyous noise is live; I look forward to seeing for myself.

    AltRevue: Guest Directors’ sound will evoke comps to earlier alt favorites such as Breeders, in short they’re stellar.

    Divide and Conquer (4.0 out of 5): “…dynamic and catchy but not predictable… “Minor Mendings” was the strongest song to me. The song starts with a slick drum pattern and dark waves of guitar feedback. There is a syncopated bass line that mirrors a similar pattern to “Airbag” by Radiohead. All the elements come together on the verse and I also thought the uplifting almost angelic vocals was where the singer shined. The song falls into beautiful chaos before getting back to the verse. Around the four-minute mark the song gets into post-rock territory with a wall of sound…..There are a lot of things in this EP which made me love music so much in the first place. Don’t pass this up.”

    TRACK LISTING

    • Parachute On
    • For a Day
    • Minor Mendings
    • Where You Belong
    • Twinkle, Twinkle, Bête Noir

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • Guest Directors “Captured in the Light” EP

    Guest Directors “Captured in the Light” EP

    Seattle’s Guest Directors second EP, “Captured in the Light”. Listen here:

    TBTCI says “An absolutely inspirational guitars work, which picks up references in 80’s icons, read: Johnny Marr and Will Sergeant, combined with the experimental quality of Sonic Youth.

    Captured in the Light has exactly these two focal angles, the melody and the distortion confront each other in the four sound pearls.

    The Guest Directors are literally a direct descendant of the guitar bands of the 90’s, and with a plus, it succeeds in absorbing other elements sounding absolutely modern.”

    NWMS says: “… another fantastic EP...”

    Nada Mucho says: “… songs that alternately shimmer and hammer. These are songs that are perfect to score a rainy bus ride, or a day of introspection, but they absolutely explode live. Of all the bands exploring shoegaze in Seattle, Guest Directors are perhaps the best at getting the balance of mood and power right.”

    TRACK LISTING

    • Day Follows Day
    • Forks
    • Spinning Round
    • El Rey

    Order now at Bandcamp!

  • Guest Directors “These Beautiful Things” EP

    Guest Directors “These Beautiful Things” EP

    ON SALE FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 2026!!!

    Seattle’s Guest Directors debut EP, recorded at Tad Doyle’s Witch Ape Studio. Listen here:

    Songs of dreams, death and compulsion. People versus things; people versus each other. Sounds that both haunt and sparkle, with reverb everywhere.

    Northwest Music Scene says “…Guest Directors’ debut EP These Beautiful Things is jam-packed with ear-caressing reverb-soaked soundscapes, toned-down and mood-setting vocals, and really sharp songwriting all throughout its four tracks.”

    TRACK LISTING

    • Believe it All
    • Exiled
    • A Million Dreams
    • These Beautiful Things

    Order now at Ampwall!

  • Cryptobebelem “Songs From the Gyre”

    Cryptobebelem “Songs From the Gyre”

    Seattle rock band Cryptobebelem chronicles twisted fables and anxious, cautionary tales on this six-song release. CD is only $1 plus shipping!

    Buy now on Bandcamp.

  • Cryptobebelem “Goodnight”/”Second Story Window” single

    Cryptobebelem “Goodnight”/”Second Story Window” single

    The first two songs by Seattle’s Cryptobebelem. Recorded at Crackle and Pop with Johnny Sangster.

    Buy now on Bandcamp.

  • Drip Tank “Slake” LP

    Drip Tank “Slake” LP

    Drip Tank careened around San Diego in the early 90’s with their raucous “popcore” sound. Singalong songs with enthusiasm and hooks galore!

    Get your copy at https://driptank.bandcamp.com/album/slake

    TRACK LISTING:

    • What The Hell
    • Outside
    • PBJ
    • Quencher
    • Thinking of You
    • 3 Men
    • Sense
    • Feel Low
    • Mudbogg
    • Pinball
    • Captain Crunch Countdown
    • Miserable

    VINYL OUT OF PRINT