Genesis: Twenty Years of 1st Drop Music, Told Through Turntable Kachina

Genesis: Twenty Years of 1st Drop Music, Told Through Turntable Kachina

Genesis is not the starting point for Turntable Kachina’s music. Rather it represents the return to the starting point. Genesis is comprised of previously released songs from various Turntable Kachina albums and releases; therefore, it gathers selected points from the project's earlier history.

Additionally, Genesis was released as a joint effort in celebration of the 20th anniversary of 1st Drop Music.

Therefore, Genesis represents a look backwards at how much has developed since the inception of the label. The development has been traced back to Turntable Kachina. Turntable Kachina had the first official release on 1st Drop Music. Twenty years later, Genesis brings that first chapter to the larger catalog, community, and musical ecosystem that has developed around the label. Genesis represents both a retrospective and a celebration of 20 years of music, traced back to the project that helped to initiate it.

The First Official Release

Each independent label experiences a moment when the concept becomes a reality. Prior to this moment there may have been years of music, planning, performing, recording, and discussion prior to this moment, however an official release establishes a point in time that can be placed on a timeline. An official release transforms intentions into a catalog. For 1st Drop Music, Turntable Kachina established this point. An official release does not only establish a starting date, but rather it establishes a multitude of values that will continue to shape 1st Drop Music over the next two decades. These values include independence, experimentation, collaboration, physical media, electronic production, and the ability to develop outside of strict genre constraints. Due to Turntable Kachina’s involvement in developing the values that have shaped 1st Drop Music over the last twenty years, their relationship with the label is much deeper than being just another artist amongst many. Turntable Kachina’s history is an integral component of the foundation of the label. Genesis recognizes this relationship.

A Collection of Beginnings

The title Genesis signifies a beginning, however the release is not presented as unreleased material from a newly formed project. Genesis draws from Turntable Kachina’s prior albums and releases. Songs developed during different periods are combined to illustrate the progression of the project and its ongoing relationship with 1st Drop Music. Each song retains its original context, however the new arrangement provides each song with an additional purpose within the anniversary collection. It is this aspect that distinguishes Genesis from a typical retrospective. Genesis does not merely indicate the past. Instead, it rearranges the historical aspects of the project into a new listening format. The early works are provided with a second opportunity to communicate – both with listeners who recall the original release and with individuals who are experiencing Turntable Kachina for the first time. The full history of the project can be accessed via Turntable Kachina’s music catalog.

Twenty Years of Music

Twenty years is sufficient time for formats, platforms, tools, and listening preferences to evolve multiple times. Music evolves from physical collections to digital downloads, streaming services, social platforms, etc. Production technology becomes increasingly affordable. Entire catalogs can be transported in a single pocket. Songs can be made available instantly, yet they can also become lost in an endless stream of new material. An independent label that evolves through these changes possesses a unique perspective regarding time. The catalog evolves from being merely a listing of releases to becoming a record of relationships, experiments, risks, failures, successes, and periods of development. Genesis commemorates this accumulated history. Turntable Kachina exists at the beginning of 1st Drop Music’s timeline; however, the anniversary belongs to everyone that assisted in enabling 1st Drop Music to exist: artists, collaborators, listeners, DJs, musicians, designers, supporters and those that returned continually to listen to the music. Additional information regarding the larger roster and catalog can be found through 1st Drop Music.

Returning the Music to Physical Form

Releasing Genesis on vinyl and CD provides the anniversary with a tangible representation. This representation is significant. Streaming enables access; however, a physical release requires the listener to interact with music as an object. Artwork exists in physical space. Arrangements have boundaries. The listener selects a specific side or inserts a CD into a player. The collection can be held, stored, revisited and shared with someone else.

Additionally, the physical releases of Genesis enable songs from earlier phases of the project to re-enter a physical dialogue between music and listener. The CD release retains the same anniversary collection in another long-lasting format and links multiple phases of independent music distribution. These releases do not represent an effort to oppose digital listening. Rather they acknowledge that a 20-year history warrants an object capable of conveying it.

The Significance of Collaboration

Genesis was constructed through Turntable Kachina and 1st Drop Music, the artist identity and label founded by Bear Cole. Collaboration is fundamental to how independent music survives. Rarely does a release exist solely based upon one isolated individual. Rather a release relies upon shared infrastructure, knowledge, trust and a commitment to continue collaborating over extended periods during which the path forward is unclear. The artist creates music and establishes its identity.

1st Drop Music enables the work to be incorporated into a larger catalog, remains visible to others and enables other projects to interact with it. Listeners finalize the relationship by integrating music into their daily lives. This collaborative framework has enabled 1st Drop Music to expand beyond its initial release while maintaining connections to values initially established at its inception. Currently 1st Drop Music supports various independent projects, including Bear the Astronot, Bear Cole and Feral Business. Like Turntable Kachina, these are musical identities of Bear Cole and can differ significantly in sound; however, they all function within an ecosystem whose initial chapter commenced with Turntable Kachina.

Earlier Songs in a New Sequence

Combining songs from earlier albums and releases alters how they are perceived. A song previously embedded within one collection is now situated next to music from another era. Production styles can be compared across time. Recurrent rhythmic patterns become more readily identifiable. Evolutions in texture, space, technology and arrangement provide evidence of the project’s growth. Creating sequences between different incarnations of an artist creates a dialog between them. Sequencing is particularly fitting for Turntable Kachina since the project is fundamentally rooted in relationships between recordings. DJ culture illustrates that context affects music. A song does not lose its original significance when it is included in a new sequence; however, it can acquire another significance. On Genesis, earlier songs become part of an anniversary narrative. Collectively they illustrate how the project evolved while reminding listeners that catalogs are never truly static. Music can reappear, reconnect and illustrate patterns that were difficult to identify when each release initially appeared. Additional related listening routes can also be identified through playlists for the project.

Celebrating the Beginning Without Being Tied to It

An anniversary release can become excessively preoccupied with nostalgia. Genesis serves a different purpose. It celebrates the beginning while recognizing all that the beginning enabled. The collection does not contend that the past was superior or that 1st Drop Music should return to an earlier manifestation of itself. Rather it illustrates continuity. The physical release states that the early music continues to be relevant. Twenty years after its creation states that the work did not cease then. Turntable Kachina’s first official release opened doors for 1st Drop Music. Over two decades 1st Drop Music developed into a broader network of artists, releases, websites, stories, physical products and independent creative systems. The beginning remains important because it continues to facilitate what comes subsequently.

Genesis Represents Beginning

The name Genesis operates on multiple levels. It refers to Turntable Kachina’s foundational role in 1st Drop Music’s history. It refers to the earlier albums and releases represented in Genesis. It signifies the commencement of a relationship between artist and label that has endured for twenty years. Most importantly it reminds us that beginnings do not cease to exist when a project expands. Beginnings exist within subsequent works. Genesis collects these beginnings and transforms them into physical form thereby providing listeners with a means to experience 1st Drop Music’s first twenty years through the artist who produced its first official release. Additional information regarding Genesis and Turntable Kachina’s complete catalog can be found at 1st Drop Music. Follow stories from Turntable Kachina through its news archives.

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