Favorite record labels?

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  • 06-07-2004, 10:11 AM
    nobody
    Favorite record labels?
    Anybody got any favorite record labels? If so, which ones and why?

    I'll toss out a couple to get started...

    SST: In the early/mid 80s, this label was huge for punk/indie bands with a lineup including Black Flag, the Minutemen, Husker Du, the Decendants and others. Not only did the big names of the day put out records on the label, but you could get a listen to a host of side projects with members of various bands working together. They still sell below retail on their web site, and most all of their major releases are still available on vinyl.

    Tomlab: Ecectic German label that I just had to mention since I was listening to both of their releases by The Books over the weekend and those are absolutely the best vinyl pressings I have in my collection, flat, dead silent, heavy vinyl. I'll take this kind of quality over anything I've seen by speciality audiophile labels any day. When you consider that the Tomlab releases were both in my local shop for 12 bucks, it really makes you wonder where all the money goes on those expensive reissues and such.

    I've got some others in mind, but I'll let the rest of you toss out some more. If no one mentions 'em, maybe I'll come back and add to my list later.
  • 06-07-2004, 10:34 AM
    -Jar-
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nobody
    Anybody got any favorite record labels? If so, which ones and why?

    I'll toss out a couple to get started...

    SST: In the early/mid 80s, this label was huge for punk/indie bands with a lineup including Black Flag, the Minutemen, Husker Du, the Decendants and others. Not only did the big names of the day put out records on the label, but you could get a listen to a host of side projects with members of various bands working together. They still sell below retail on their web site, and most all of their major releases are still available on vinyl.

    My favorite label. I've been collecting their stuff since I bought my first punk lp, Black Flag's MY WAR. I have a good portion of their first 100 releases. After SST 100, the quality of their bands started to decline somewhat, but the major artists they were associated with is a pretty amazing list of bands:

    Black Flag
    Minutemen
    Meat Puppets
    Husker Du
    Decendents & All
    Bad Brains
    Dinosaur Jr.
    Sonic Youth
    fIREHOSE
    Volcano Suns
    Soundgarden
    Screaming Trees

    and lots of other great, lesser known musicians:

    Saccharine Trust
    Universal Congress Of
    Slovenly
    Gone
    St. Vitus
    Leaving Trains
    Pell Mell
    Elliot Sharp
    Oxbow
  • 06-07-2004, 10:52 AM
    Hyfi
    Labels for sound
    A few labels I like are based on the sound of thier recordings and how they go about getting it. First up would be GRP. I realize it is a mastly Smooth Jazz label but thier sound is terrific even though they are all digital recordings.

    Chesky does all thier recordings with 2 omni mics giving a real soundstage.

    Mapleshade has some good ones also.
  • 06-07-2004, 10:59 AM
    -Jar-
    A couple..
    ok already went over SST.

    My other faves:

    Amphetamine Reptile.. they were involved in pretty much everything <heavy> I was into back in the early 90s.. to the outsider, probably every one of their bands sounds indentical, but that was their charm (if you could call it charm).. Hammerhead, Cows, Tar, Helmet, Chokebore, Surgery, Helios Creed, Janitor Joe, Boss Hog, Unsane, Melvins.. the musical equivalent of being hit with a pipe wrench..

    Touch & Go .. more diverse than AmRep, while they did have heavy-hitters like The Jesus Lizard, Big Black, Don Caballero and Killdozer, they were also an early home to the Butthole Surfers. Urge Overkill got their start there, and the influential bands Slint and Girls Against Boys called Touch & Go home. They continue to have a pretty impressive roster, including Rave Recs favorites like Enon, Black Heart Procession and Calexico (through 1/4stick).

    -jar
  • 06-07-2004, 12:54 PM
    mad rhetorik
    Current hot labels
    Relapse has been on a roll lately, with some great metal outfits. Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon, Neurosis, Burnt By The Sun, Amorphis, Coalesce, High On Fire, and Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects are all on here.

    Nuclear Blast also has some great metal: Meshuggah, In Flames, Death/Control Denied, and Skyclad.

    I agree with you guys on SST and Touch & Go too.
  • 06-07-2004, 01:11 PM
    Stone
    Right now I think Sub Pop is my favorite. They've really signed a lot of artists I never expected to see on Sub Pop. Here's a few artists on that label:

    Shins
    Iron and Wine
    Constantines
    Kinski
    Thermals

    Not to mention the stuff they've released in the past by the likes of Nirvana, Vaselines, Codeine, Afghan Whigs, etc.

    Another fave of mine (outside some of the ones already listed) is Dischord. Drag City has put out some quality stuff, too.
  • 06-07-2004, 03:46 PM
    dld
    Stiff Records.

    If It Ain't Stiff It Ain't Worth A FOOK Drop the "O", and add a "U", drop the second "O", add a "C" and whaddya ya got? You got the lable's motto and you get a badge with the motto on it when you order stuff.

    Too many groups to name, heres a few, rest at the link below

    Richard Hell and the Voidoids
    Nick Lowe
    Dave Edmunds
    Elvis Costello
    The Rumour
    The Feelies
    Graham Parker
    The Go Gos
    Joe King Carasco
    Gary Glitter
    Tracey Ullman
    The Pogues
    Kirsty MacColl
    The Damned
    Wreckless Eric
    Ian Dury
    The Boxtops
    The Waitresses
    Tenpole Tudor
    Lena Lovich
    Ian Gomm
    Madness
    Rachel Sweet
    The Equators
    Dr. Feelgood
    Even the Stones did an EP with three songs on it I beleive, still in print

    http://www.bestiff.co.uk/main.html
  • 06-07-2004, 05:15 PM
    glimps
    Constellation Records and Temporary Residence.
  • 06-07-2004, 07:21 PM
    Dusty Chalk
    Fax (aka Fax +49-69/450464)
    Rather Interesting...
    COP International
    Nettwerk
    Beggar's Banquet
    4AD
    em:t
    Constellation
    Alien8
    probably agree with Release (/Relapse)
    A Different Drum
    Metropolis
    the now defunct Strata

    I find it interesting that no-one's listing Sony. How come?
  • 06-08-2004, 10:46 PM
    MindGoneHaywire
    In the 70s Sire & Virgin took some chances; in the 80s Sire was very successful. Not sure when WEA bought them out.

    There are quite a few jazz labels that I like: Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside, Verve, a few others. Capitol now owns Blue Note & Verve is MCA, I think. Most back catalogs have been purchased by the big four, haven't they?

    I have box sets by several labels that were either exclusively R&B or had big R&B depts. Like Mercury, Okeh, Specialty, Sue, Vee-Jay, Stax/Volt, Atlantic, etc. Well, I don't have the Atlantic box set, but I've heard most of it. One of these days I'll get that, and, actually, a Motown box as well.

    Great reissue labels: Rhino, of course, is the king. But there are some interesting labels out there like Norton & Sundazed that put together some very cool packages. And I've always liked Crypt's repackaging better than most of the stuff they've actually had recorded for them.

    SST might well be the best example, at least in terms of a great volume of incredible stuff within a short time period, but they didn't sustain it, did they? I can't remember the last time I heard a new SST record. At this point are they really any better than Alternative Tentacles? Not being a Fugazi fan, I'm kind of out of touch with Dischord as well. But there are a ton of small labels that deserve mention, even if they only seemed to put out good stuff for a short period of time: Twin/Tone, Relativity, Enigma, Roadrunner, Slash, Red Star, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Kill Rock Stars, Matador, Sub Pop, Estrus, Bar None, Lookout...I'm missing a few. I could go on, but...

    Then there's the relatively unclassifiable ROIR--Reachout International Records. They were a cassette-only label until they started bothering with CDs around 10-15 years ago. Fortunately the CDs sound better than the tapes did. Lots of great underground rock & punk, from the MC5, GG Allin, the Dictators, Johnny Thunders, Bad Brains, and others..and a couple cool collections also.

    There are a couple of dance/electronic music labels I've heard some interesting things from--Ninja Tune, Kitty-Yo, Epicac...but most of that stuff isn't exactly up my alley, so if I hear something good, it's more an exception than a rule. But I notice that if there's something in the genre I'm going to find interesting, it's more likely that it's going to be on a label like that, rather than Astralwerks (which has been acquired by EMI & is branching out) or Moonshine or the house-type labels that have endless series of DJ mix CDs. The one label that I keep a keen eye out for, as they rarely disappoint, is Six Degrees. "World Electronica" is what I call most of what they put out, and it's really the only corner of the electronic music universe I have any interest in. Great label out of San Fransisco.
  • 06-09-2004, 07:06 AM
    Stone
    Saddle Creek is another one I really respect. There seems to be a fairly strong polarization about this label and the artists on it, but from what I hear the artists on it are treated very well. It contains the likes of Cursive, The Faint, The Good Life, Bright Eyes, Deseparecidos, and Lullaby for the Working Class. Plus, it really put Omaha on the map in the music world.
  • 06-09-2004, 10:03 PM
    aurobot
    rough trade!
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nobody
    Anybody got any favorite record labels? If so, which ones and why?

    Rough Trade: imagine, belle and sebastian and the butthole surfers on the same label. amazing. for a time in the early 80s i just bought whatever was on rough trade and was only infrequently disappointed.