The Cascine Label: Shine 2009, Jensen Sportag, Selebrities & more

A random tweet recently introduced me to a new (to me, anyways) label titled Cascine, and I’ve been rather infatuated ever since. Cascine, as a label, definitely has a specific sound or aesthetic that it pursues in its artists, i.e., a soulful electro-enhanced pop that owes as much to the synth-pop and post-punk of the early ’80s as it does to the slick R&B and dance-pop that permeated the airwaves of the late ’80s/early ’90s.

Case in point: the label’s latest release, Shine 2009’s debut album Realism, features Paula Abdul on the track “So Free”. But before you go running to the hills, let me just say that if Junior Boys’ brand of electro-croon gets you a-swaying, or if Labrador’s releases make you weak in the knees, then I suspect you’ll find something to like in Cascine’s discography.

For example, both the Nashville-based duo of Jensen Sportag and Oxford’s Chad Valley take ultra-polished beats and synth textures and wed them with plaintive, vocoder-brushed vocals to create something both infectious and sublime. Sure, you could easily imagine their music playing over the speakers at some trendy clothing boutique in your local mall, but that doesn’t mean the music isn’t any good, right? Meanwhile, Selebrities evokes a spectre of early ’80s post-punk with their Seventeen Seconds-esque guitars and synths and disaffected-yet-sensual vocals.

I’ve embedded several Cascine videos below, which should give you further indication of the label’s aesthetic.