Mississippi Records is a record store and label. It was founded by Eric Isaacson in 2003 in Portland, Oregon.[1] It also houses a café, equipment repair shop, and the Portland Museum of Modern Art.[2]

Mississippi Records
Map
General information
TypeShop
Town or cityPortland, Oregon
CountryU.S.
Website
www.mississippirecords.net

Brick and mortar store

edit

The name Mississippi Records originates from Isaacson's original store location on Mississippi Ave, Portland, Oregon.[3] Isaacson worked previously as a manager at Oakland's now-defunct Saturn Records.[3]

History of record label

edit

For many years Isaacson ran Mississippi Records from Portland with co-founder/co-owner Warren Hill.[4] Isaacson is historically taciturn about speaking on Mississippi's background: "I haven't really found a way of finding great joy in sharing this information because the records are a better messenger for my ideas than anything I could say and a lot of times when you talk about stuff it just loses a lot of its power."[5]

Mississippi Records co-founder Warren Hill has cited The Origin Jazz Library, Smithsonian Folkways, Arhoolie Records, Sublime Frequencies, and Herwin as sources of inspiration for Mississippi Records compilations.[4]

Warren Hill formed his own record label Little Axe Records in 2011, also based in Portland, "when the original Mississippi Records label split."[6]

On January 1, 2019, filmmaker Cyrus Moussavi and musician Gordon Ashworth became the new owners with Isaacson working as a label project manager. Mississippi Records relocated to Chicago.[7][8] In 2019, Mississippi Records went on a national tour.[9]

Mississippi Records Tape Series

edit

The Mississippi Records Tape Series is an ongoing open-edition mix tape project. Mississippi Records store employee Karen Antunes originally suggested the idea for a low-price mix tape to Eric Isaacson, with the first tape appearing in 2005.[10]

References

edit
  1. ^ Dolan, Ciara. "Celebrating 15 Years of Mississippi Records". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  2. ^ Needham, Jack (2018-07-28). "The world's best record shops #117: Mississippi Records, Portland". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  3. ^ a b Cho, Jaeki. "Wax Nostalgic: 7 Questions with Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records (Portland)". Complex. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  4. ^ a b Grimmer, W.J. (2009). "Mississippi Records: You Can Get There From Here, An Interview with Warren Hill by W.J. Grimmer". Grimmertown. Color Magazine. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  5. ^ Spice, Anton (2013-08-13). "The Archivist: "We are obscure and bizarre people" - A rare interview with Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records". The Vinyl Factory. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
  6. ^ "About". Little Axe Records. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  7. ^ Gormley, Shannon (January 31, 2019). "Cult Favorite Portland Record Label Mississippi Records Has Moved to Chicago". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  8. ^ Nelson, J. R.; Galil, Leor (January 29, 2019). "Gloriously idiosyncratic label Mississippi Records moves to Chicago". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  9. ^ Naftule, Ashley (2019-01-08). "The Mississippi Records Tour Is Coming To Phoenix". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  10. ^ "About Us". Mississippi Records. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
edit

45°33′38.0″N 122°40′29.2″W / 45.560556°N 122.674778°W / 45.560556; -122.674778