Skam Records

Last updated

Skam
Founded 1990
Founder Andy Maddocks
Genre Electronic
Drum and bass
Glitch
Illbient
IDM
Country of origin England
Location Manchester, England
Official website skam.bleepstores.com

Skam Records is an independent electronic music record label based in Manchester, England, founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. [1] [2] Skam also runs a smaller sub-label called 33.

Contents

History

Skam's first 12-inch single was a self-titled debut from Lego Feet (Sean Booth and Rob Brown, later known as Autechre). [3] The label followed with two 12" records from Gescom, a project whose members vary between each release. [4] [5]

Other early Skam releases came from Freeform (Simon Pyke), Bola, Jega, [6] [7] Team Doyobi, [2] E.Stonji (Jens Döring), and Boards of Canada. [8] Boards of Canada's Hi Scores EP, [9] [10] and Gescom's Keynell and Lego Feet [3] have been re-pressed or reissued.

Skam entered the full-length market in 1998 with the releases of Soup by Bola [8] [11] and Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada, [8] the latter being jointly released with Warp Records.

A recurring feature on the packaging of Skam releases is the name of the label printed in braille.

Series releases

Skam makes multiple series of record releases within the label, all of which are an anagram of "SKAM". The first three records were produced in conjunction with German duo Musik Aus Strom, [12] and the latter two by Skam alone.

Up until the 2004 release of Mr 76ix's Hits of 76ix, the label has produced a 7" single along with each full-length album; the 7" catalogue numbers begin with the letters "KMAS". Skam has since stated on its website that future KMAS releases will feature purely exclusive tracks to complement full-length recordings of the same number.

In 2001, Skam began the "SMAK" series. Each SMAK 12" showcased two artists, one per record side. Some SMAK artists, like Quinoline Yellow, have gone on to become full Skam musicians. NMB Allstars ("North Manchester Bedroom Allstars") went on to become part of the sublabel 33, which Skam has referred to as "a part of the family." Others, like Ola Bergman and Posthuman went on to set up their own record labels: New Speak and Seed Records, respectively. Made, are known for their live acts. In October 2004, Skam began the "AMKS" series with Supermechamaximegamegablast by Mortal and Chemist, which is, as the catalogue number may suggest, a mix.

Reception

Tim Haslett wrote of Skam in the October 1997 issue of CMJ New Music Monthly:

"It looked for a while as though the minimalist electronic movement had simply disappeared into the valley of the self-indulgent and repetitive. The monotonous sound of a 909 kick drum and high-hat was really beginning to wear on the nerves of even the most committed techheads. Enter the Manchester-based Skam label, which has single-handedly invigorated a minimal techno sound that's not indebted to breakbeats or drum-and-bass. Having released early tracks by cult favorites Gescom and the Boards Of Canada, the Skam imprint has continued to thrive at the periphery of the crepuscular world of underground techno." [13]

In the same magazine in March 1999, Haslett wrote that Skam:

"is notorious for its elusiveness, its tendency to make available only tiny quantities of each release. This might seem an elitist marketing move, an attempt to restrict the audience, but the Skam folks spend so much attention to detail in artwork and sound quality that it's easy to forgive them." [14]

Artists past and present

See also

Related Research Articles

Intelligent dance music (IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints. It emerged from the culture and sound palette of electronic styles such as ambient techno, acid house, Detroit techno and breakbeat; it has been regarded as better suited to home listening than dancing. Prominent artists associated with it include Aphex Twin, Autechre, μ-Ziq, the Black Dog, the Future Sound of London and Orbital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autechre</span> English electronic music duo

Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Autechre's full-length albums have been released beginning with their 1993 debut Incunabula. They gained initial recognition when they were featured on Warp's 1992 compilation Artificial Intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boards of Canada</span> Scottish electronic music duo

Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of the brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, formed initially as a group in 1986 before becoming a duo in the 1990s. Signing first to Skam followed by Warp Records in the 1990s, the duo received recognition following the release of their debut album Music Has the Right to Children on Warp in 1998. They followed with the critically acclaimed albums Geogaddi (2002), The Campfire Headphase (2005) and Tomorrow's Harvest (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warp (record label)</span> British record label

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">808 State</span> English electronic music group

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Gescom is an electronic music project based in the UK with close ties to the electronic duo Autechre.

<i>Music Has the Right to Children</i> 1998 studio album by Boards of Canada

Music Has the Right to Children is the debut studio album by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada, released on 20 April 1998 in the United Kingdom by Warp and Skam Records and in the United States by Matador. The album was produced at Hexagon Sun, the duo's personal recording studio in Pentland Hills, and continued their distinctive style of electronica, featuring vintage synthesisers, degraded analogue production, found sounds and samples, and hip hop-inspired rhythms that had been featured on their first two EPs Twoism (1995) and Hi Scores (1996).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planet Mu</span> British record label

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<i>Amber</i> (Autechre album) 1994 studio album by Autechre

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<i>Lego Feet</i> 1991 studio album by Autechre

Lego Feet is the sole self-titled studio album by Lego Feet, released in 1991 by Skam Records. Originally released as a vinyl only, Skam Records re-released the album digitally and on CD with a re-ordered track listing in 2011.

Team Doyobi are an electronic music duo, Christopher Gladwin and Alexander Peverett, currently signed to the Skam Records label. They began their collaboration by producing electronic soundtracks for self-made video art in the early 1990s. They performed at All Tomorrow's Parties in 2003 and 2004 and provided support for Autechre on the European leg of their 2001 tour. Their music has been described as glitchy, 8-bit, psychedelic and inspired by video games and movie soundtracks of the 1970s and 80s.

Darrell Earnest Fitton is an English electronic musician from Rochdale, England. Most of his work is recorded under the monikers Bola and Jello, released primarily on Skam Records. Fitton has also contributed to electronic acts D-Breeze, Brahma and Ooblo, and Autechre's Gescom project. Fitton was rumoured to have left the music industry in November 2007, but in 2017 he released the album D.E.G.

Andy Maddocks is an English entrepreneur and musician. He also went on to found Skam Records, a Manchester-based independent electronic label, in the early 1990s. He is also a member of the collaborative project Gescom with Darrell Fitton, Russell Haswell, and Rob Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jega (musician)</span> British electronic music artist

Jega is the recording name of the Manchester-based electronic music artist, Dylan Nathan. Jega has released records on the Planet Mu, Matador and Skam record labels.

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References

  1. ↑ Young, Rob (October 1998). "Harder! Faster! Louder!". The Wire. pp. 20–25.
  2. 1 2 3 "Manchester's best record labels". Red Bull. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 "Autechre's "lost" debut reissued". 29 November 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Mathieu, Christopher (25 October 2017). "Interview with Andy Maddocks of Skam Records". Igloo Magazine. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. ↑ O'Dair, Marcus (28 March 2008). "From Burial to South Central, pop's gone anonymous - we play detective". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 14 August 2019– via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ↑ Freeman, Parker (28 January 2016). "Cult IDM artist Jega to release archival collection on Skam". Fact (UK magazine) . Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  7. 1 2 Sherburne, Philip. "Emotional Intelligence: A Guide to Melodic IDM". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Peschek, David (26 November 2004). "CD: Bola, Gnayse". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 14 August 2019– via www.theguardian.com.
  9. ↑ "Boards of Canada: Hi Scores EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "Boards of Canada ready deluxe, remastered reissue of Hi-Scores". 27 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Bola: Soup". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  12. ↑ The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. 2003. p. 118. ISBN   9781858284576 – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ Haslett, Tim (October 1997). Various Artists: Skampler: Silent. CMJ New Music Monthly – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ Haslett, Tim (March 1999). Bola: Soup. CMJ New Music Monthly – via Google Books.
  15. ↑ "Kasm02 - EP - Meat Beat Manifesto - Music". Billboard Review - Pure Music. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  16. ↑ "Meat Beat Manifesto: The Man Behind the Curtain". highwiredaze.com. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  17. ↑ "Push Button Objects". All Tomorrow's Parties. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  18. ↑ Snapes, Laura (3 December 2010). "Most Underrated Albums Of 2010 - What's Yours?". NME. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  19. ↑ Capstick, Zoe (8 September 2014). "21 Punny Band Names: From The Hilarious To The Downright Terrible". NME. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
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