label lore

i know we've probably done this before, but humor me.

also the first person to issue some empty truism like "mp3's have changed things" gets a sock in the snoot.

i have a mild phobia of finishing things (yes how did you guess?): no i don't mean books (even inc. mine) i mean like pots of jam and stuff, and i think this transfers to collecting -> i look at a label sorta and get excited, but if i ever got even three quarters of the output i think i wd start to freak out and contrive to lose stuff

ze was a label i never heard a bad record from: rough trade put out TONS of bad records in its latter days

I'll admit it: I didn't know what "indie" and "punk" were before I discovered Subpop Records. And, as with a lot of people, a lot of my relationship with music is centered around this realization. (you can't be conscious of "pop" without being conscious of "punk", and you can't be a reformed-indie kid-cum-pop lover without having been an indie kid).

Clearly, Subpop has released a lot of shit, but when I was in middle school, I'd give anything with their logo a listen. Thankfully - having been young - I didn't go on too many insane buying sprees.

I've managed to collect at least one side of everything released on People Records in one form or another, and the great/terrible ratio is about as high as any label has ever gotten. Love it all.

Black Noise never put out a bad record. Then again, it didn't put out many records.

I find I like almost everything on Touch/Ash International enough to gamble 15 dollars on it, sound unheard.

And someday I'd like to at least hear everything that came out on Y. I love most of what I've heard so far.

Mastercuts - first 20 or 30 releases were literally like mainlining 25 years worth of full 12" & album versions of dance & r&b classics. DJ 101. For that alone, Ian Dewhirst - who left after #22 or #23 - is GOD! He also oversaw some of Sequel's fab Deep Beats series.

Barely Breaking Even took up the baton and added interesting packaging (plus some rarer stuff). Strut raised the stakes higher with unbeatable release lineup - Larry Levan mix, Disco Not Disco, Grandmaster Flash mix, etc!

course, it's easier in a way for all these labels, since they're reissue-oriented - the tunes they're releasing are mostly already acknowledged/sought-after classics that have stood-the-test-of-time, etc.

much harder work for labels-of-the-moment. loads of faves there, too. for now, here's a weird parallel that comes to mind:
Locked On is the 4AD of UK garage (even though they only have one artist album so far).

West End and Enjoy are 2 personal faves for absolute killer dance & hip hop.

later, Nu-Groove would perhaps have the greatest dance label mystique ever. Strictly Rhythm were incredible for the first year, then the hit-miss ratio went WAY poor. Murk's opening line-up was astounding, affecting the whole dance world. Italian label Heartbeat had 'it' very briefly (only about 3 or 4 records). Azuli - loads of great records, again the mystique especially that first year. Moving Shadow, for a short while the best music ever made?

Unlike Jess (or at least the Jess intimated in the article) I am very much *still* caught up on Kompakt - largely because the lack of non-ambient artist albums gives the whole weird-house side a certain mystique. However there's a new Closer Musik album out soon - be still my beating heart! Really though I've yet to be disapppointed, and luckily due to Andy's handy buying guide I know which few exceptions to avoid.

Agreed with Paul re Locked On = 4AD, although some of the conclusions one might draw from that comparison could be somewhat odd.

Label completism was my only way of discovering new bands back in high school. I had no friends that shared my tastes, nor did I get any encouragement from family... so I just plodded along the Wax Trax catalog, until I got something that changed me... like, say, Meat Beat Manifesto... which eventually got me into hip-hop... or the now- cruddy metal Ministry, which eventually got me into much better metal... and... so on and so on with new labels...

Now that it's spring I've been really into Darla. I've never heard one particular Darla album that absolutely blows me away, but every record of theirs I've heard has been consistently of quality and I haven't yet heard a dud.

Moving Shadow, for a short while the best music ever made?

moving shadow's has released so much crap in the last few years, but god, yes...there was a moment...

and i'm still very much interested in kompakt and related...i've spent the whole day listening to the pop ambients (and jan jelinek)...but i've been listening to this stuff for a few years now (brinkmann, voigt, et al) and i'm feeling the need for something to drop outta the blue...don't know what it will be, but it will come.

i don't know where that extra 's came from...

i'd like to hear more from the turn u on/horsepower productions axis...so far audio galaxy has not been giving up the goods.

side question: has there ever been a label you collected a lot (or everything) from for reasons other than just the music? i bought 1/2 of gravity records output in the mid-late 90s based solely on the packaging and aesthetic...what can i say, i'm a sucker for handdone packaging...

and i'm feeling the need for something to drop outta the blue...don't know what it will be, but it will come.

...could this something be the new Akufen record?

"and i'm still very much interested in kompakt and related...i've spent the whole day listening to the pop ambients (and jan jelinek)...but i've been listening to this stuff for a few years now (brinkmann, voigt, et al)"

What I like about the Total-strain of Kompakt though is how far removed from the post-Gas "pop ambient" it can get. Superpitcher's "Tomorrow" reminds me of The Avalanches' "Etoh" as much an anything else, and stuff like M. Mayer's "Amanda", Closer Musik's "You Don't Know Me" and Sascha Funke's "When Will I Be Famous" (natch) verges on IDG-style eighties-revival house-pop.

I definitely agree though that the whole Horsepower Productions/ Turn U On axis needs more exploring. In a funny way you could almost see what they're doing as the "next step" for microhouse: just dropping the "house" and going micro-everything (in this case micro-2step).

Can one make micro out of micro?

I am a couple of discs away from finally having every last damn Kranky release. Woohoo! And I've bought every Burning Shed release since the start. Yay obsession.

Just learned that Earworm is shutting down. They could switch to CD releases but that was never their thing. So due to rising vinyl cost, they call it quits.
I don't have fave labels but it still fascinates me what drives some labels. Hence the fact I Q&A'em for an online zine.

Not a label proper, but I'm at least tempted to buy pretty much everything Soul Jazz releases.

Well, I am working through the incus back catalogue and i haven't heard a completely dud record yet. Also the S. Jaworzyn's Shock label.

i very much agree tim...the one thing kompakt could do right now (the only thing?) to make sure i don't lose interest is play up the vocal tracks: "tomorrow," "hush, hush," etc. there's no reason they can't ride this electro revival wave - at least from a distance, somehow associating with fischerspooner et al would dilute the purity of their anonymity somewhat - to greater success.

i so far like the two releases i've heard on a local washington label who've put out the landing and surface of eceon records (more static, fuzzy washes, and tone float for ya), who's name i can't remember right now. that hardly counts as being in lurve though.

a local washington label

That would be Strange Attractors Audio House, now located in Portland and run by a very friendly fellow. I've already ended up with everything they've put out one way or another -- helped that I knew someone in Landing, who put me on their trail! They've just released a Cul de Sac live radio session album and also a disc by Planetarium Music, who is one of the folks from Yume Bitsu. Heard the latter album and it's quite good!

Another great experimental/dance label from Washington: ORAC

The ending of Earworm makes me very sad, in much the same way that the end of Wurlitzer Jukebox made me sad - they uncovered so much good new stuff and almost everything they did was top drawer. I collect dozens of labels but these two will always be very special to me, way more so than Sarah or Sub Pop.

I was real big on Drag City in my late teens, and for awhile they were putting out mostly great stuff. At this point they've gone somewhat overboard with all the vanity imprints, and the label's prevailing 'tude gets in the way of my respect. They still release quality material, but I'm glad I no longer look up to them like a cool, older cousin. And do I really need ten Smog or Oldham records? Def Jux is looking good so far (tho I can't take Aesop Rock--Like Guru said "if you ain't got the voice then you need to chill"). Fondle 'Em had a good run, but being short-lived helps.