A recurring theme with the folks at Kanine Records is that they love life and have a fierce passion for vinyl. And of course, they love dogs, too. The coolest thing about their website (apart from the bands, the tour schedule, the videos) is that they feature adoptable pets from all over the country. We love record labels with a heart! Kanine brought us two bands to SXSW 2009 - Chairlift and Holy Hail, and have a killer roster of bands who are touring all over this summer. Kay Quartarino, General Manager, kindly told us about the label and some of the things they have coming up.

So what is Kanine Records all about?
A collection of music nerds that love collecting records (vinyl), going to shows, having beers, hanging with friends and dogs, and enjoying life. We started Kanine because we love records, saw a ton of rad bands playing right in our own neighborhood, and wanted to show everyone what great talent was playing right in their own backyard.

How was your experience at SXSW 2009?
As usual we saw a ton of great new bands, hung out with a ton of friends, drank a ton of free beers, ate some great Mexican food, and walked around till our feet were too sore to stand up anymore.

Who are some Kanine artists you're excited about this year?
We are super excited about some of our new and upcoming releases from:
Blind Man's Colour, The Depreciation Guild, Drink Up Buttercup, Holiday For Strings, Princeton, ZAZA

What artists are playing on your iPod the most these days?
I've been listening to new records lately from:
Blind Man's Colour, The Depreciation Guild, Princeton, Zaza, Drink Up Buttercup, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Dinowalrus, The Drums, Dum Dum Girls, The Mayfair Set, City Center, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Wavves, Dinosaur Jr., Gang Gang Dance, Kasabian, Bat For Lashes, Saint Vincent, Passion Pit, Chairlift, The Vaselines, The Television Personalities, Camera Obscura, Jarvis Cocker, Ariel Pink, Fly Girlz, Talk Normal, Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Horrors, Surf City, Micachu, Metric, Woods, These Are Powers, Suckers, Mi Ami, Morrissey, Mirror Mirror, Franz Ferdinand, Bachelorette, Matt and Kim, Hatcham Social, Nite Jewel, Glass Candy, School of Seven Bells, Crystal Stilts, Ladyhawke, Knight School, and many more.

If we were to visit you in Brooklyn for one day only, what do you think we should definitely see and do?

7:00am walking the dogs, 9:00am skating under the BQE, 1:00pm checking out new vinyl releases at Academy Records, 6:00pm eating and drinking at Mugs, 8:00pm skating around the neighborhood, 10:00pm seeing a show at Bruar Falls, 1:00am having a beer at Daddy's.

For more information, check out Kanine Records online www.kaninerecords.com.