John Brien started Important Records in 2001 out of his
Newburyport, Massachusetts apartment, initially as an online store. Important's first two releases were
Impossible Love by the American songwriter
Daniel Johnston and
Amlux by the Japanese noise musician
Merzbow. In 2003, Important released
A Is for Accident, the debut album of
The Dresden Dolls. Important also operates two sublabels: Cassauna, started in 2011, which releases
cassettes in
letterpress packaging; and Saltern, started in September 2014, curated by
Tashi Wada. ==Partial roster of artists==