Since 1989, Drag City has risen to become one of the world’s most prolific independent labels – with an eclectic roster featuring Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Ty Segall and many, many others. Murray Stassen gazes inside the world of this Chicago music institution Continue reading Drag City Q&A – “Guaranteed to satisfy…”
Ninja Tune is an iconic London-born indie label, launched in 1990 by the DJ duo Jonathan More and Matt Black, aka Coldcut. Murray Stassen discovers how the pair went from selling white-label records out of the back of a van to founding what would become one of the world’s most respected labels… The left side of Ninja Tune co-founder Jonathan More’s office-cum-studio is lined with … Continue reading Ninja Warriors: The Ninja Tune story
Trojan Records celebrated its 50th birthday last year, and here Long Live Vinyl rounds up 40 essential Trojan classics every collector should own… The label may have been founded on compilation albums and 45s, but, as Gary Tipp reveals, Trojan’s back catalogue of artist-only LPs is a force to be reckoned with. The albums here are listed in chronological order to give a sense of Trojan’s … Continue reading The Top 40 Essential Trojan Records
Alcopop! Records have launched a new J-pop label – Read The Air – with Japanese idol pop group Maison Book Girl signing to the new imprint for their maiden release. Maison Book Girl’s lead single ‘KARMA – UK Version’ will be featured on the label’s first pressing, available now and released on limited edition blue 7″ vinyl in May with a soon-to-be-revealed double A-side. Read The Air Records is a … Continue reading Read The Air – Alcopop!’s J-pop imprint
Modern Harmonic is the newest star in the Sundazed solar system. Randy Fox sets the controls for the heart of this cosmic Nashville label… Bob Irwin and Jay Millar are sitting in the Nashville office of Sundazed Music, in the historic RCA Studio A office building on Music Row. They’re discussing the company’s newest imprint, Modern Harmonic, and the label’s flagship releases by the late … Continue reading Label Stories – Modern Harmonic: The Vinyl Frontier
Gareth Murphy meets Andrew Rossiter, boss of ORG Music – the Californian indie reissues label curating, re-releasing and restoring lost masterpieces back to their rightful place in the spotlight… Ask any record shop owner and they’ll probably have noticed this intriguing success story. It’s called ORG Music, a red-hot reissues label that’s got the music business asking the obvious question: how come a young indie … Continue reading The Story of ORG Music – The Big Reissue
From Gary Numan to Adele, via Pixies, The White Stripes and Radiohead… Gareth Murphy tells the story of a group of British indie labels who forever changed the global music business… After the still relatively recent crash of the CD industry, the embattled major labels began eating each other in what appeared to be a corporate end game. But all the while, England’s biggest indie encampment has been … Continue reading From Beggars To Kings: The Beggars Banquet Story
