Blocks Recording Club

Last updated
Blocks Recording Club
Founded2003-2015 (2003-2015)
FounderSteve Kado
Mark McLean
Genre Indie
Country of originFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Location Toronto, Ontario
Official website blocksblocksblocks.com

Blocks Recording Club was a Canadian co-operative of musicians, which served as both a collaborative artist community and a record label for its member artists. [1]

Canadians citizens of Canada

Canadians are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Canadian.

A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.

Contents

The label's name may also be cited graphically as □□□□□□ rather than the word "Blocks". Although this is in fact the label's official name, the word "Blocks" is used where it is not typographically possible to use the graphical series of blocks.

History

The □□□□□□ Recording Club was founded by Steve Kado and Mark McLean in 2003 as a tapes and mini-cd only label. [1] Shortly afterward, McLean left for Ottawa. Steve Kado ran □□□□□□ with Liisa K. Graham until 2005 when the club incorporated as a worker's co-operative. [1]

Since then the club has been run by an elected board of directors. The first board of directors was James Anderson, Steve Kado and Matt McDonough. The second board comprised Katarina Gligorijevic, Bob Wiseman, John Caffery & Brian Joseph Davis. Blocks' current board of directors is, Magali Meagher, Matt Smith and Patrick Borjal. [1]

Bob Wiseman Canadian musician

Robert Neil "Bob" Wiseman is a film composer, songwriter and music teacher. Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former Canadian member of parliament Andrew Cash. He is a founding member of Blue Rodeo with whom he won 5 Juno Awards.

Brian Joseph Davis is a Canadian-born filmmaker and digital artist.

In 2009, NME included the Blocks Recording Club in its annual Future 50 list. [2]

<i>NME</i> British weekly music journalism magazine

New Musical Express (NME) is a British music journalism website and former magazine that has been published since 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the edition of 14 November 1952. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. During the period 1972 to 1976, it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writings of Julie Burchill, Paul Morley and Tony Parsons. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s and 1990s, changing from newsprint in 1998.

Blocks ceased operations in 2015 with a final concert at the Tranzac Club with performances by Austra, Bob Wiseman, Barcelona Pavilion, Nifty, Les Mouches, the Phonemes, Hank, Matias, and Ninja High School with DJ's Maya Postepski (of Austra) and John Caffrey (Kids on TV). [3] [4]

Artist roster

Artists who have released material through Blocks include Final Fantasy, Fucked Up, Bob Wiseman, Katie Stelmanis, Barcelona Pavilion, The Phonemes, Les Mouches, Ninja High School, The Blankket, Hank, PDF Format (the Band), Kids on TV, SS Cardiacs and The Creeping Nobodies.

Owen Pallett Canadian musician

Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist, who performs solo as Owen Pallett or, before 2010, under the name Final Fantasy. As Final Fantasy, he won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds.

Fucked Up Canadian hardcore punk band

Fucked Up is a Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2001. The band consists of Damian Abraham (vocals), Mike Haliechuk, Josh Zucker (guitar), Ben Cook, Sandy Miranda (bass) and Jonah Falco.

Katie Stelmanis Latvian-Canadian musician

Kaitlin Austra Stelmanis is a Toronto-based Canadian musician of Latvian descent, who has performed and recorded both as a solo artist and with the bands Galaxy and Austra. Stelmanis identifies herself as queer.

Final Fantasy's second album on Blocks, He Poos Clouds , was named the winner of the inaugural Polaris Music Prize in 2006. [5] Owen Pallett, the artist behind the Final Fantasy project, announced that he would donate a portion of his prize money to the label to help other artists.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Blocks Recording Club: more innovative than Beck, Lady GaGa, Sweden" [ permanent dead link ]. Eye Weekly , August 5, 2009.
  2. ↑ "The Future 50 - The Innovators Pushing Music Forward". NME, August 5, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Blocks Recording Club announces farewell...". Exclaim!
  4. ↑ "Blocks Recording Club Is History". NOW Toronto, by Vish Khanna May 8, 2015
  5. ↑ "Building Blocks: a little Toronto music collective gets NME props". cbc.ca, August 7, 2009.
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