This was supposed to be Ken Cheppaikode’s month to celebrate. The owner and sole employee of punk/garage rock-centric label Dirtnap Records had booked the packed, two-day Dirtnap Festival at the High Noon Saloon in his current home in Madison, Wisconsin, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the imprint, including a reunion of new wave dynamos […]
With all this talk of Beastie Boys in the context of the Spike Jonze-directed 2020 documentary, Beastie Boys Story, there isn’t a better time to revisit one of the most underrated facets of the band’s legacy. Launching with their seminal third album, Check Your Head, Grand Royal would become a full-fledged boutique label by late […]
Blue Note Records is arguably the definitive jazz label. It championed the style from day one, rarely straying from it over the next 80 years even while enduring the inevitable mergers and acquisitions experienced by most record companies, thus proudly standing by their slogan: “The Finest in Jazz Since 1939.” Alfred Lion was a German […]
Vertigo was one of several major label subsidiaries launched in the late-1960s to nurture progressive rock talent, quickly developing a unique roster and brand aesthetic that are still respected — even revered — by modern-day music collectors. The History Founded in 1969 out of the London offices of Philips/Phonogram (later part of the Universal Music […]
Between the liner notes of each Astralwerks release lies the story of electronic music. The American record label was formed in 1993 by Brian Long as an imprint of Brit-rock label Caroline Records. Immediately, it’s mission was to give a home to electronic musicians, and within five years, it secured its place as a leader […]
Atlantic Records rose to prominence as perhaps the ultimate independent record label prototype, but it was also among the few indies to survive the leap to a major label, becoming one of history’s most successful ones at that. The History Atlantic Records was founded in October 1947 with a $10,000 loan from the family dentist […]
Wow! We didn’t see this coming but it feels like in this summer Elephant 6 is back for good. Incredible news for all the fans of the influential imprint. New music will be published in the coming months as well as reissues and… yes, a documentary only available in VHS. What great timing to talk […]
