International Anthem Records' genre-fluid jazz (part 1). A deep-dive playlist.

With pipelines to NYC, LA, London, Jo'burg + beyond, Chicago's decade-old International Anthem may be the most exciting new music hub on Earth. A chat w/ Scottie McNiece, the man keeping his ears out.

Living in Minneapolis in the ‘90s, where I wrote for the late great alt-weekly City Pages, our crew would take frequent road trips to Chicago — a mere seven-hour drive, six if you’re living dangerously — to see live music (touring bands often skipped Minnesota in winter, where the weather was even scarier than the Windy City’s). I grew to admire Chicago’s music scene, its clubs and taste-making indie labels: Thrill Jockey, Drag City, Bloodshot, Touch & Go, etc. Like Minneapolis, which had a similar culture on a smaller scale, the scene seemed supportive, genre-fluid, cross-pollinating. And the music reflected it.

Launched in 2014, International Anthem Records has been embodying this Chicago tradition, which dates back to pioneering indies like Delmark and Chess, and in many ways they’re directly connected to it (Jeff Parker and Rob Mazurek, key figures in the IA universe, made important records for both Thrill Jockey and Delmark). And with over 100 albums in their catalog — check the menu on Bandcamp — they’re most certainly advancing that tradition.