The cassette culture refers to the practices associated with amateur production and distribution of music and sound art on compact cassette that emerged in the mid-1970s. The cassette was used by fine artists and poets for the independent distribution of new work. This article focuses on the independent music scene associated with the cassette that burgeoned internationally in the second half of the 1970s.
Warp Records is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon. It is currently based in London.
Velvet Acid Christ (VAC) is an electro-industrial band based in Denver, Colorado. The band was formed in 1990 by its leader vocalist, musician, and producer Bryan Erickson, and later featured various ex-members of Toxic Coma. The project gained limited popularity in Europe's underground nightclub scenes during the mid-1990s with the compilation Church of Acid (1996) before expanding into other markets in the goth and industrial subcultures. The band's discography includes 14 albums, the latest being Ora Oblivionis (2019).
Christopher Horne, also known by his stage name christ., is a Scottish musician. He disclaims any religious meaning in the stage name; he describes it as short for his full name, and the full stop or period as indicating that status as an abbreviation.
Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by The Guardian as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringing global attention to the Dunedin sound, a cultural and musical movement in early 1980s Dunedin.
Skam Records is an independent electronic music record label based in Manchester, England, founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. Skam also runs a smaller sub-label called 33.
Christian Jay "C. J." Bolland is an English-Belgian electronic music producer and remixer with British roots.
Mack Damon, is a record producer and recording engineer based in San Antonio, Texas. Originally a musician at an early age, he has also worked as: a touring musician, a session musician, recording engineer, radio DJ, arranger, studio manager, record producer, recording studio owner, and Vice President of Label Operations.
pHinn of Tampere, Finland is the founder and Webmaster of pHinnWeb, a WWW site dedicated to Finnish electronic music, techno music, avantgarde, experimental music, rave culture and underground culture. pHinn also works as a DJ, occasionally as a freelance writer, is an outsider artist creating surrealism/pop art-influenced collage art, and is alongside Mike Not the member of electro music act Kompleksi where he sings, writes lyrics and music. pHinn's earlier musical project was Club Telex Noise Ensemble in 2001.
Warp 10 is a series of compilation albums issued by Warp Records in 1999 to celebrate the label's tenth anniversary. The collection spans three double CD/quadruple vinyl sets, which can be purchased individually. Each volume in the set highlights different phases of electronic music, including influential tracks not originally released by Warp, early releases from the first four years of the label's history, and the last being remixes by contemporary musicians of Warp's catalogue.
Anthony Joseph Genaro is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the punk rock group The Dead Milkmen. Residing in Philadelphia, Genaro has performed with a number of punk and indie rock groups, most recently including The Low Budgets, and is also a solo artist.
Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist based in Toronto.
Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Deadline Music Records, X-Ray Records, and Goldenlane Records, encompassing a variety of genres with emphasis on unique and experimental artists.
Bettye LaVette is an American soul singer who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise was released to widespread critical acclaim, and was named on many critics' "Best of 2005" lists. Her next album, The Scene of the Crime, debuted at number one on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart and was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards. She received the Legacy of Americana Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Americana Music Honors & Awards.
Black Hole Recordings is a Dutch record label founded by Tijs Verwest (Tiësto) and Arny Bink in 1997. In August 2009, Tiësto decided to leave Black Hole Recordings, setting up the record label Musical Freedom in association with PIAS Entertainment Group.
Prhizzm is a Canadian solo electronic music artist based in Toronto.
Ochre is the stage name of English electronic musician Christopher Leary. The name "Ochre" was originally adopted as the title for Leary's academic work while studying audio production at Newcastle College, as a variation of "Oaker", being the name of a street in Manchester where Leary spent his early childhood. He currently resides in The Hague. Leary also holds a Master's degree in music.
Liz Larin is an American musician, composer and record producer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, Larin is also the founder of Bona Dea Music, an independent record label focused on electronic pop/rock, world and ambient music; and Digital Opts & Sound Design and ACM Creative Digital, digital media companies specializing in music production, film scoring, sound art installations, video production, web development and interactive publishing.
A music executive or record executive is a person within a music company, in particular, a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a record label, including A&R, contracts, management, publishing, production, manufacture, marketing/promotion, distribution, copyright, and touring. Although music executives work in senior management, a number of them have gone on to establish record labels of their own. Some of these owners start their careers in the music industry as artists, A&Rs, or producers establishing their reputation as they make connections and, or hone their craft.
Diatribe Records is an independent record label based in Dublin, Ireland.
