Pickled Egg Records

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History

Pickled Egg Records is a UK independent record label founded in Leicester in 1998 by Nigel Turner. [1] Turner declared that his mission was to released music in the tradition of The Velvet Underground, Captain Beefheart and Sonic Youth: bands that "flew in the face of fashion, which meant they were largely ignored until the rest of he world caught up." [2] Its roster of artists was consciously eclectic from the start, encompassing indie, pop, jazz, drone and experimental acts [3] from the US and Japan as well as the UK. [4] James Kraus at Gullbuy described Pickled Egg as "a label that lives up to its own promotion and standards of avoiding trend and carving out its own niche of the highest artistic order". [5]

Contents

Notable releases include 'Get It Together', the debut single by The Go! Team, and Daniel Johnston's 2001 album Rejected Unknown . Other notable musicians who have recorded for the label include Jeremy Barnes (Bablicon, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beirut, A Hawk and a Hacksaw), Alex Neilson (Scatter, Trembling Bells, Will Oldham), Seb Rochford (Fulborn Teversham, Polar Bear, Acoustic Ladyland), and writer, musician, performer and broadcaster David Bramwell (Oddfellows Casino). The label's roster also included a number of acts associated with the American Elephant 6 collective. Distribution is through Cargo.

The label was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, especially in its early days; Peel's Festive Fifty of 1998 included no fewer than five Pickled Egg tracks, including Pop-off Tuesday charting at no.5. [6]

Two bands that were important to the early development of Pickled Egg were Pop-off Tuesday, from Osaka, Japan, and Bablicon from Chicago, USA. The label brought both bands to the UK for a 12-date tour in August/September 1999. The tour included appearances at the Terrastock 3 festival at The University of London Union (ULU), and The Brighton Crawl.

In 1999, Pickled Egg released Whipped Cream Mixes by The Evolution Control Committee. Recorded in 1992, and originally released in the US in 1996 on Eerie Materials, The Whipped Cream Mixes is widely considered to be the first modern Mashup record. [7] The tracks combined a pair of Public Enemy acapellas with instrumentals by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

In November 2000, following the release of Rejected Unknown, the label put together Daniel Johnston’s first European tour, [8] which included shows in London, Paris, Bruges, Brussels and Amsterdam.

On February 26th 2006, BBC Radio 1 One World aired a one hour Pickled Egg Records special, [9] in which Nigel Turner was interviewed by producer Hermeet Chadha, and played a selection of tracks from the label.

Also in 2006, Pickled Egg released the 7" Single 'I See a Sign Defined' [10] by Phosphene and Friends, which features vocals from English singer-songwriter Bridget St John; musicians on the record include Isobel Campbell of Belle and Sebastian, and Bill Wells.

Artists on Pickled Egg

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Rowland, Sarah. "Interview with Nigel Turner". pennyblackmsic.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  2. ↑ Jimmy Possession, 'Pickled Egg', Careless Talk Costs Lives, Jun/Jul, 2002, p. 40
  3. ↑ Sarah-Jane, 'Pop-Off Tuesday, Savoy Grand, Bablicon', City Life, 1-16 September, 1999, p. 29
  4. ↑ Martin Lilleker, Sheffield Telegraph , 20 August, 1999
  5. ↑ "Jar - a Pickled Egg Collection". gullbuy.com. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  6. ↑ "John Peel Festive Fifty 1998". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "The Mash-up Revolution". salon.com. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  8. ↑ "Daniel Johnston Tour Dates". setlist.fm. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "BBC Radio 1 Programme Index 26th Feb 2006". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  10. ↑ "The Wire Issue 285, page 61". issuu.com. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
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