"Independent music as a frame of mind, not as a ghetto." That's the motto of Cory Brown's Absolutely Kosher, which has been releasing records by some of the brightest local and national bands since 1998. While AK has consistently provided quality jams these last eight years, things have really been cooking lately. Top-shelf releases by Bay Area acts Jim Yoshii Pile-Up, Okay, and Ex-Boyfriends, and by out-of-towners Goblin Cock, the Hidden Cameras, and Frog Eyes (to name a few), have earned the label props throughout the indie scene, and 2006 is shaping up to be even better. This month marks the release of LPs from local country-folk heroes Court & Spark and Vancouver's Sunset Rubdown, a Wolf Parade side project that (you heard it here first) is an early candidate to deliver the album of the year. Meanwhile, the tweaky local thrash poppers in Pigeon unleash their sophomore album this summer, and indie icons the Wrens follow up 2003's enormously successful Meadowlands with a new release on Brown's label in the fall. Not bad for a one-man homegrown operation.