Spin Cycle owner Jason Grimes and electronic musician Tim Held have joined forces to form Spin Cycle Records, a small indie label that will operate out of the Capitol Hill vinyl/DVD/video-games retailer's Broadway space. Its first release will be Held's excellent TypicalHaunts LP. An Indiegogo campaign has been launched, where you can donate money to the cause and get his album in download and/or cassette form.

While Held’s 2013 full-length, Alb (L) um, abounds with weirdly angled rhythms and ultra-vivid, crunchy textures that recall the freewheeling, funky IDM of artists like Mouse on Mars, Si Begg, and Luke Vibert, TypicalHaunts is a more subdued and cerebral affair. Its 10 tracks burrow into strange, abstract territories à la Autechre and snd, and the result is one of the best electronic albums from this city in the last five years.

I asked Grimes and Held about the main reasons for starting this record label, in what most people consider to be a dire climate for the music business. "The label started as a kind of dare, right?" Grimes says. "Two people talking shit and unable to back out, hah. But that came from a genuine want to see Tim's music get out there. I was—am—floored by how rich his sound is, just after a few EPs. It's something to be proud to get behind."

"The main reason for me to get involved with Jason was not only my being a huge fan of his shop, but also his genuine interest and support of my last album, Alb (L) um," Held says. "He played it regularly in the store and even had me do a live set there this summer. I approached him with this new album in hopes of doing a release show together and he said, 'Let me do you one better. Let's start a label.' Sounded like a fun way to collaborate in a new way with someone who had similar artistic and DIY sensibilities as myself."

Grimes is optimistic about Seattle's independent-label landscape, at least on the micro level. "I see the music climate thriving. Seattle is already home to some really, really brilliant small labels, ggnzla and Further being big inspirations. They have great communities and amazing ears. Using that kind of vehicle to push like minds deeper into the community is very appealing."

Grimes says that Spin Cycle will be "less about promoting one sound as it is shortening the connections between artist and appreciator." As for future releases, the next one may be Newaxeyes member Bret Gardin's side project, a "throwback-soul thing that he just kills," Grimes enthuses. Held says that they want to let the label's future "develop organically," with an emphasis on local acts they love.

Spin Cycle will begin with tape runs of 300, with the ultimate goal to begin releasing vinyl. With TypicalHaunts, it's off to a brilliant start.