Labels
4ad
4AD
For more information on 4AD.com , you can go to their web site or the 4AD Journal.
“Iconic” is one of those words which is used more often than it ought to be, but if it applies to any record label, surely it applies to 4AD. Like other labels born during the post-punk diaspora (Factory, Postcard, Fast Product) 4AD quickly developed a unique visual identity and a unique position in the musical landscape of the time; unlike them, 4AD is still here, still releasing interesting music in wonderful packaging, and still inspiring devotion in listeners all over the world.
The label was founded in 1980...
beggarsbanquet
Beggars Banquet
Since its inception in 1977 Beggars Banquet Records has been home to The Cult, The Charlatans, Bauhaus, The Fall, Mercury Rev, The Go-Betweens, The Associates, Ramones, Gary Numan & Tubeway Army and Buffalo Tom along with a multitude of other single-minded and uncompromising artists.
Current artists such as Tindersticks and Mark Lanegan (former singer with the Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age), along with newer acts The National, Film School, The Early Years and Oceansize, all epitomise individuality and integrity, thus maintaining the tradition and ethos of the label.
mantra
Mantra
Set up in 1995, by John Empson and Beggars Banquet owner Martin Mills, Mantra Recordings filled the musical gap between the guitar rock of Beggars and the purist dance ethic of XL Recordings.
Early signings included Natacha Atlas (then front woman with Transglobal Underground), Asian agit hip-hoppers Fun^Da^mental, South African rap outfit Prophets of Da City and Scottish (trip) hoppers Coco & The Bean. With a global sound already established, the addition of legendary reggae artist Bim Sherman was a natural...
matador
Matador Records
Please visit Matador's web site for full information, the Matador Store and the infamous Matablog .
mowax
Mo Wax Recordings
Mo' Wax is a UK-based record label owned by James Lavelle, who founded it in the early 1990s. The label is most famous for being a purveyor of the "Trip-Hop" and "acid rap" sounds, although many artists dislike these terms, or prefer the broader "abstract hip-hop" tag (if the music must be labeled at all.) The label is also responsible for bringing attention to the graffiti artist Futura 2000 by using his artwork on many of its releases in the early to mid 1990s.
playlouderecordings
PlayLouderecordings
Playlouderecordings is the gorgeous offspring of PlayLouder.com, originally established as an online music magazine, PlayLouder.com has been introducing the aural connoisseur to diverse and remarkable sounds since the turn of the century. It has become an indispensable part of the modern music landscape, put there to aid the discerning listener into making the soundest of choices with irreverent, biting words. And not just words – with the limitations of paper confined to history, we’ve been presenting music in fresh and imaginative new ways. Those who follow PlayLouder.com will be aware of many of these innovations. Its not just on the web that we’ve been breaking ground though...
roughtrade
Rough Trade
Rough Trade was founded in 1976 by Geoff Travis. The label grew out of the Rough Trade Shop in West London. Their stunning legacy includes Arcade Fire, Belle & Sebastian, Butthole Surfers, The Fiery Furnaces, The Libertines, Pere Ubu, The Raincoats, Jonathan Richman, Arthur Russell, The Smiths, The Strokes, Super Furry Animals, Young Marble Giants, and really far too many more to mention. Rough Trade has since joined the Beggars Group and Geoff has most recently been named by Q Magazine one of the very prestigious 21 Non-Musicians Who Changed Music.
toopure
Too Pure
For more information on TooPure.com, you can go to their web site or the Too Pure blog. They also run an incredible Singles Club. £35 a year, so get in on that. Kick-started in 1989, too pure was born from a thriving live scene, exemplified at the time by the weekly happenings at ‘The Sausage Machine’, a regular gig promoted at Hampstead’s White Horse by label founder Paul Cox.
A compilation, ‘Live at the Sausage Machine’, marked the fledgling label’s first forays into the world of releasing records...
wiiija
Wiiija
Wiiija is a British record label, formed in 1988 by staff at the Rough Trade shop in Notting Hill, London. The name Wiiija is a corruption of W11 1JA, the postcode of the Rough Trade Shop in Talbot Street.
The label was responsible for releases by, amongst others, Cornershop, Huggy Bear, Jacob's Mouse, Blood Sausage, Free Kitten and Therapy?.
xlrecordings
XL Recordings
When XL started, back in the heady Acid House days of 1989, we specialised in the gritty, street-orientated, D.I.Y. rave sounds that were coming from London’s suburbs. Alongside other independents like Shut Up And Dance and Suburban Bass, we helped shape a sound that was equally influenced by American urban music and European electronic sounds. Our noisy, abrasive records were shunned by all media and had a fuck you aesthetic reminiscent of punk.
This spirit is neatly encapsulated by The Prodigy's Experience LP, the work of an Essex teenager, Liam Howlett. His follow-up LP, Music For The Jilted Generation, went straight to number one, and with its more sophisticated production and arrangements, stands up as one of the definitive works of electronic music...