Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings was an independent record label for experimental music, founded by the artist Howard Stelzer. Intransitive published electro-acoustic music, free improvisation, sound art, sound poetry, and noise music between its start in 1997 until its ending in 2012.[1]

Stelzer explained that "... (the) reason for starting Intransitive was to publish my own work. I had recorded Stone Blind, a one-hour-long tape piece, and knew that no one outside of Florida had ever heard of me, so no one would have any reason to put it out. I just did it myself, and subsequently fell in love with the idea of putting out CDs."[2]

In 1998, Stelzer decided to publish work by other composers and reached out to artists whose music he had long admired. "Since it was so easy to publish one CD, I felt empowered (and bold!) enough to ask two of my favorite artists, Brume (Christian Renou, from France) and Kapotte Muziek (Frans de Waard, from the Netherlands) to submit an album for me to put out."[3]

In 2002, Stelzer was asked by Philippe Petit of Bip-Hop Magazine if his label's mission was to discover and promote up-and-coming new artists. He replied that it was not: "Many of the artists whose work appears on Intransitive are folks whose music I’ve been excited about since I was young. Brume, for example, is someone whose music first excited me when I was 16 years old and in high school. Frans de Waard’s Kapotte Muziek records and cassettes are things I’ve been listening to for years and years. Same with Marc Behrens and others. In many cases, I use the label to give something back (in a way) to the artists who I admire by publishing their new works.[4]

In 2009, the label added a sub-division called Songs From Under the Floorboards (named after the song by Magazine) in order to publish small-edition CDRs.

In addition to publishing CDs, CDRs and records, Intransitive Recordings also hosted concerts in the Boston area.[5]