Pleasure of The Text

Philosophy

Pleasure of the Text Records — its name borrowed from Roland Barthes — is the Brooklyn-based independent label founded and operated by trumpeter, composer, and curator Nate Wooley. It serves as the primary outlet for his most formally ambitious and experimentally rigorous work: recordings that resist genre classification, demand active listening, and treat the release of music as a philosophical as much as a musical act.

Wooley created the label to house recordings that live in the borderland between free improvisation, contemporary academic composition, and sound philosophy. The name signals intent: these are releases conceived as texts, as objects of sustained attention and interpretation. The label is distinct from Wooley’s other platform, Sound American, which operates as a journal and curatorial archive. As a member of the Catalytic Sound cooperative, Pleasure of the Text connects to an international network of artist-run labels sharing the same commitment to creative and economic independence.

Aesthetic

Pleasure of the Text releases are characterized by meticulous presentation: substantial liner notes, essays, and visual artwork that provide philosophical and emotional context for the music. The design is considered without being decorative — covers carry conceptual weight, and the relationship between image and content is always intentional.

This commitment to the total work — music, text, image as a unified object — mirrors Wooley’s role as the editor of the Sound American journal and reflects a belief that experimental music deserves the same depth of critical framing that other art forms receive. These are releases built to be returned to.

Emblematic Catalog

The catalog is anchored by Wooley’s solo trumpet work — extended technique, electronics, and long-form compositional structures that have redefined what the instrument can do in an improvised context. Collaborations with Ken Vandermark, Mats Gustafsson, Chris Corsano, and Paul Lytton extend the label’s range into duo and ensemble territory.

Key releases include Wooley’s Columbia Icefield series — a multi-volume investigation of solo trumpet extended technique that has become a reference document for the instrument — alongside collaborative recordings that place his voice in conversation with some of the most adventurous improvisers working today.