| Third Mind Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | Gary Levermore |
| Defunct | 1994 |
| Distributor(s) | Rough Trade, Play It Again Sam |
| Genre | Electronic music, industrial, post-punk, new wave |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Location | Whitstable, Kent |
Third Mind Records was a British independent record label, founded in February 1983 by Gary Levermore.
The label derived its name from the book The Third Mind , a work compiled by Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs and artist Brion Gysin using the cut-up technique. [1]
Third Mind originated from the group and fanzine Tone Death that Levermore had founded in the middle of 1982 together with two friends. [2] During that time Levermore started contacting bands he had discovered through diverse media and on concerts which would finally be featured in Tone Death. While writing the editorial for the second issue of the fanzine, to be released around February 1983, [3] Levermore "began considering the possibility of releasing a cassette containing contributions by some of the groups that had been featured in the two issues to date." [2] His considerations led to the double cassette release Rising From The Red Sand Vols. I&II which was followed by volumes III and IV in 1983. The compilations featured a number of post-punk, electronic and industrial bands some of which would be later on the label's roster, and sped up Levermore's "transition from zine enthusiast into label owner." [4]
The Rising From The Red Sand series was met with stronger demands than Levermore had anticipated. [4] Sending promo copies to some shops and getting a five star review in Sounds magazine led to a great number of order requests. The London-based shop of Rough Trade ordered a substantial number of copies. [4] "Those compilations sold quite well", remembered Levermore, "and more or less provided the fund base to actually put out three or four albums." [3]
After this initial success Third Mind developed slowly, with an annual quantity of seven or eight records in the first years. [3] Levermore had to deal with tight budgets, the label's artists recorded "for very, very low sums of money." [3] Signing Canadian industrial band Front Line Assembly and British singer-songwriter Bill Pritchard in 1987 meant a major step forward for the label making them the label's flagships in different markets and entailing also further post-Third Mind management duties.
All of the label's releases until after Front Line Assembly's 1990 album Caustic Grip were licensed to American independent label Wax Trax. [5]
Third Mind started off with Rough Trade as distributor which changed between 1987 and 1988 when the label switched to Play It Again Sam . [3] Due to "policy differences" Third Mind and Play It Again Sam terminated their partnership [3] and in 1992 Levermore moved on to partner with American metal label Roadrunner Records . [6] In 1991, Roadrunner had already bought a 50 percent stake of Third Mind [7] which gave Levermore a greater financial leeway since Roadrunner paid Levermore "a salary for three years to continue running the label while they financed new releases." [5] Before Roadrunner, Levermore said, "there's been many occasions over the years when I've seen a band that I wanted to work with go somewhere else and have a bit of success." [3]
Levermore and Roadrunner ended their collaboration in April 1994. [5] When Third Mind ended its business activities in the same year, it had released more than 100 titles. The rights to all releases passed over to Roadrunner. [5]
In 1983 Levermore started Fourth Dimension Records as an offshoot of Third Mind. After two releases he handed over business to Richard Johnson from British fanzine Grim Humour. [8] The second release was born out of collaboration between Levermore and Johnson as flexi disc for Grim Humour. Johnson had already thought about starting a label by himself and "when Gary told me he wouldn’t be operating FD after this second release, it just made sense for me to continue with the name." [8]
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evolving from the experimental performance art group COUM Transmissions, Throbbing Gristle made their public debut in October 1976 on COUM exhibition Prostitution, and released their debut single "United/Zyklon B Zombie" and debut album The Second Annual Report the following year. Lyrical themes mainly revolved around mysticism, extremist political ideologies, sexuality, dark or underground aspects of society, and idiosyncratic manipulation of language.
Wilhelm Anton "Bill" Leeb is an Austrian-Canadian electronic musician and record producer. He is best known for being a founding member of the industrial music group Front Line Assembly. Additionally, Leeb is known for his work with groups such as Noise Unit, Delerium, Intermix, and Skinny Puppy, among others.
Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's membership has rotated through the years, including Michael Balch, Rhys Fulber, and Chris Peterson, all of whom are associated with several other acts.
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that year, they opened a store under the same name in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. During the 1980s and 1990s, the accompanying record label became a presence on the new wave and punk rock scenes in the city, and an outlet for European bands. The label was purchased in 1992 by TVT Records and was discontinued in 2001. In 2014, it was re-established by Julia Nash, daughter of co-founder Jim Nash.
Tactical Neural Implant is the sixth full-length studio album by electro-industrial artists Front Line Assembly. Third Mind Records originally released it in 1992 on both compact-disc and LP formats. The album has also been issued by Roadrunner in a two-disc set that includes the Millennium album.
Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He is a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium, along with Bill Leeb. He also records under his own name and under the name Conjure One.
Caustic Grip is the fifth full-length studio album by Front Line Assembly, originally released on Third Mind Records in Europe and on WaxTrax! Records in the United States in 1990.
Millennium is the seventh full-length studio album by industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1994 by Roadrunner Records on both Compact Disc and LP formats. The album is also being planned for an LP release in 2020, by the Canadian label Artoffact. The album marks the first major use of metal guitars, shifting in musical direction from their typical electro-industrial sound. The riffs were obtained from samples and the musicianship of the then unknown Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad, who would also contribute and perform on the next album.
Zoth Ommog Records was a German Industrial music record label which was owned by the parent label Music Research. The company was established by German music producer Andreas Tomalla in 1989 and later handed over to producer Torben Schmidt. The label released albums for such bands as Leæther Strip, X Marks the Pedwalk, Bigod 20, Lights of Euphoria and Klinik between 1989 and 1999.
Portion Control are a British electronic and industrial band from South London, formed in 1979. The original incarnation of the group existed until 1987; they reformed in 2002.
Alex Fergusson is a Scottish guitarist / record producer.
Attrition are an English electronic music band, formed in Coventry in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. The band emerged from the experimental post-punk scene of the early 1980s and, along with other groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, and In the Nursery, greatly contributed to the development of industrial music in the UK.
[FLA]vour of the Weak is the ninth full-length studio album by industrial music group Front Line Assembly, released in November 1997 by Off Beat.
Fourth Dimension Records is a British record label, specialising in international underground music. It was founded by Gary Levermore as an offshoot of his Third Mind label before being taken over by Richard Johnson in 1984. The label became quite successful in the 1990s, releasing music by Simon Wickham-Smith & Richard Youngs, KK Null, The Gerogerigegege, Circle, Splintered (band), Thurston Moore, Hijokaidan (band), and Merzbow, side projects by members of Amp and Skullflower and myriad 7" and 10" singles by experimental artists from the UK, US, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Japan. Alongside the label, Johnson also ran a mail order service, stocking rare underground releases from around the world.
The Initial Command is the first full-length studio album released by Canadian industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1987 through Belgian label KK.
WestCom was a German recording company that operated the labels Off Beat, Visage Records and other labels.
Front Line Assembly, a Canadian Vancouver-based electro-industrial band, has released seventeen studio albums, three live albums, numerous singles and compilations, and two video game soundtracks. With Bill Leeb being the founder and sole permanent member of the band, Michael Balch, Rhys Fulber and Chris Peterson were acting as long-time members during different periods of time.
Corrosion is the third full-length studio album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1988.
Live is a live album by Canadian industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1989. The album contains recordings from the Gashed Senses & Crossfire tour in Europe. It was released only on vinyl and limited to 4.000 numbered copies.
Reclamation is a compilation album by Vancouver industrial band Front Line Assembly, released in 1997. It was re-released on July 30, 2007 through Polish label Metal Mind.
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