*Announcing* IA11 EDITIONS: LP reissues of foundational IARC catalog to be released across 2025; first three available for preorder TODAY
*announcing*
IA11 Editions
Over the course of 2025 we will be celebrating our eleventh year (under the IA11 chrysanthemum banner) by revisiting some of the most celebrated entries in our decade of releases. These LP packages will be presented with new liner notes, new insert booklets, and the fresh 2025 redesign of our iconic obi strip and dome logo. They will also be set at a price point intended to make the albums more accessible than ever before.
Today we are happy to announce the first three of that series:
IARC0001LP11 Rob Mazurek - Alternate Moon Cycles (IA11 Edition)
IARC0003LP11 Makaya McCraven - In The Moment (IA11 Edition)
IARC0017LP11 Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (IA11 Edition)
All three LPs will be in stores March 28th, and are available for preorder on our Bandcamp page today.
IARC0001LP11
Rob Mazurek - Alternate Moon Cycles (IA11 Edition)
Rob Mazurek’s Alternate Moon Cycles was our first release. The incredibly spare single-note-centered cornet, bass and organ chant was recorded to tape at pint-sized Chicago bar Curio as part of a performance series that predates any notion of our label’s existence. Documenting this performance – highly unique even within the depths of Mazurek’s vast catalog – stirred those notions, and soon talks began of releasing the recording on a fresh imprint.
Performed by Mazurek with Matthew Lux and Mikel Patrick Avery, the music unfolds glacially amongst the gentle creaks, clinks, whispers, and scuffles of the active room. It’s difficult to imagine a more honest rendering of the two sidelong pieces of organic minimal music, and nearly impossible to separate the sounds from their performance context.
Now this long-gone gem of supernatural frequency excavation is back in print, wrapped in our IARC 2025 obi strip, with a new 4-page insert booklet featuring additional session photos and fresh liner notes by Mikel Patrick Avery.
In stores (and shipping by) March 28th.
IARC0003LP11
Makaya McCraven - In The Moment (IA11 Edition)
Makaya McCraven’s International Anthem debut In The Moment is the album that properly introduced the then-burgeoning drummer/producer to the world. In many ways, it also laid the groundwork for a working method that both McCraven and the label have returned to again and again over the years: nearly 48 hours of live improvised performance recorded by IARC house engineer Dave Vettraino at 1 venue over 12 months and 28 shows - culled, cut, rendered, and remixed into 19 potent pieces of organic beat music by McCraven.
This early exploration of the concept is based in the nightlife – in relaxed and unostentatious gatherings of prodigious Chicago musicians letting loose one moment at a time. That the individual stature of the musicians involved has risen dramatically in the years since is only proof positive that these sessions in a renovated bank vault were a casually high-level convention of some of the city’s best (McCraven, Jeff Parker, Joshua Abrams, Junius Paul, Marquis Hill, De'Sean Jones, Matt Ulery, Tony Barba, and Justin “Justefan” Thomas).
The IA11 Edition LP comes with a new 4-page insert booklet featuring additional photos from the vault, fresh liner notes by engineer Dave Vettraino, and our IARC 2025 obi strip. Shipping by (and available in stores) March 28th.
IARC0017LP11
Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (IA11 Edition)
Ben LaMar Gay’s de facto debut album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun, was our attempt to introduce the legendary Chicago composer / improviser / renaissance man to the rest of the world with a compilation of tracks from 7 albums he made over 7 years (though he hadn’t yet made the effort to actually release). The material showcases Gay’s penchant for genre-hopping – from Steve Reich-ian soundscape voyages to Don Cherry-esque polyrhythm treks to Jorge Ben-style vocal-and-string earworms – while keeping his singular musical voice in focus.
In the years since its release, this long OOP collection has become a touchstone, foreshadowing the breadth and scope of Gay’s output since. The songs-between-the-songs warped Soul Americana madness and beauty of Open Arms To Open Us, the unhinged long form freedom of Certain Reveries – each fresh mode would defy expectation if without the context established by Downtown Castles. To quote our OG announcement of the album: “to call it ‘eclectic’ would only scratch the surface. This music is everything.”
The IA11 Edition of this LP comes with an IARC 2025 obi strip plus a 4-page insert booklet featuring new (old) photos and new liner notes by musician (and longtime BLG friend/collaborator) Gira Dahnee. Out March 28th.
On December 2nd, 2024, we marked the ten-year anniversary of our first release. With a full decade under our belt – ten years of commitment to a growing community of artists, and our original mission statement ("to vitalize demand for boundary defying music," among other things) – we've spent a lot of time thinking about how we'd like to celebrate this milestone. What we keep coming back to is: desire to use this opportunity to revisit and revivify music and memories from our first decade; but keeping true to our ethos of always looking forward, all the way.
In that spirit, across 2025, we'll be rolling out a series of releases and events under the IA11 banner. Celebrating our eleventh year. Doing our best to retell essential, foundational stories from our past, while keeping our hearts and minds fixed on the present. Trying to establish new standards that can help carry our mission through another decade of work – and hopefully more.
We created an emblem for IA11 with a vibrating interpretation of a chrysanthemum as the central symbol. Aside from just loving the delicious golden nectar that comes from the leaves of this flower, for us, the image of the chrysanthemum resonates as a symbol of longevity and rejuvenation. Two of the driving intentions behind this IA11 effort.
Please stay tuned for more announcements about more special IA11 events and releases across 2025. We look forward to a beautiful year of celebrating the past, present and future with you all. Meantime, please accept our eternal gratitude, love, and thanks for listening.
