Wierd Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 2006 |
Founder | Pieter Schoolwerth |
Genre | New York City |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | Industrial, noise, cold wave, minimal wave, power electronics, electronic body music |
Official website | wierdrecords |
Wierd Records is an American independent record label, founded in New York City by Pieter Schoolwerth in 2006. [1]
"Wierd" was also the name for an associated weekly DJ night, now defunct, that started at Southside Lounge in Brooklyn in 2003, later held at Home Sweet Home in Manhattan. Schoolwerth has also performed with power electronics outfit Bloodyminded since the mid-'90s and was previously a member of Crash Worship.
Associated groups include Røsenkøpf, [2] [3] Martial Canterel, Led Er Est, Xeno & Oaklander, Blacklist, [4] Frank (just Frank), Plastic Flowers, [5] and Opus Finis. [6]
The groups are also linked to developments in the visual arts; Schoolwerth is a noted conceptualist painter. [7] Liz Wendelbo, a member of Xeno & Oaklander, is also a filmmaker, positing "cold cinema" as filmmaking that "predicates resistance to cinema as a virtual medium". [8]
The label takes inspiration from European permutations of post-punk, minimal synth, and dream pop, and from synthesizer-based groups described as "minimal electronics" (similar to electropunk or minimal electronica). [1] The label is especially associated with a revival of the French cold wave style. [9] The label positions itself as eccentric, marginal, and somewhat psychedelic, and in opposition to the mainstream goth subculture. Schoolwerth declares, "We don’t use the term goth. It has a derogatory connotation. It’s degenerated into some kind of ironic B-horror film thing. It’s lost its elegance, sophistication, and most importantly, its pretentiousness." [9]
Goth is a subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of Gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. The name Goth was derived directly from the genre. Notable post-punk artists who presaged the Gothic rock genre and helped develop and shape the subculture includes: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Joy Division.
Wumpscut is an electro-industrial music project from Germany. It was founded in May 1991 by Bavarian disc jockey Rudolf "Rudy" Ratzinger.
A rivethead or rivet head is a person associated with the industrial dance music scene. In stark contrast to the original industrial culture, whose performers and heterogeneous audience were sometimes referred to as "industrialists", the rivethead scene is a coherent youth culture closely linked to a discernible fashion style. The scene emerged in the late 1980s on the basis of electro-industrial, EBM, and industrial rock music. The associated dress style draws on military fashion and punk aesthetics with hints of fetish wear, mainly inspired by the scene's musical protagonists.
Power noise is a form of industrial music and a fusion of noise music and various styles of electronic dance music. It should not be confused with "power electronics", which is not influenced by electronic dance music and is closer to harsh noise. Its origins are predominantly European.
Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound with a more experimental approach, too. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Numb, and other groups, either from Canada or the Benelux. In the early 1990s, the style spawned the dark electro genre, and in the mid-/late-1990s, the aggrotech offshoot. The fan base for the style is linked to the rivethead subculture.
Ethereal wave, also called ethereal darkwave, ethereal goth or simply ethereal, is a subgenre of dark wave music that is variously described as "gothic", "romantic", and "otherworldly". Developed in the early 1980s in the UK as an outgrowth of gothic rock, ethereal wave was mainly represented by 4AD bands such as Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, and early guitar-driven Dead Can Dance.
Cold wave is a loose music genre that emerged in Europe in the late 1970s, characterized by its detached lyrical tone, use of early electronic music instruments and a minimalist approach and style. It emerged from punk rock bands who, influenced by early electronic groups such as Kraftwerk, made use of affordable portable synthesizers such as the Korg MS-20.
Cold Spring is an independent record label based in Northamptonshire, England, specialising in "all forms of extreme media, but particularly: Dark ambient, Neo-classical/Neo-folk, Orchestral, Power Electronics/Noise, Japanese Noise, Minimal, Death Industrial, Dark Soundtracks, Experimental, obscure electronics from Russia, China, Japan, Poland and others."
Cobweb Strange is an American progressive rock / goth band based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ben Sollee is an American cellist, singer-songwriter, and composer known for his political activism. His music incorporates banjo, guitar, and mandolin along with percussion and unusual cello techniques. His songs exhibit a mix of folk, bluegrass, jazz, and R&B elements. Sollee has also composed longer instrumental pieces for dance ensembles and for film. Sollee revealed on Twitter that in the Fall of 2020 he contracted Covid-19 and in 2021 he tweeted that he now suffers from Long Covid.
Minimal wave is a broad classification of music that comprises obscure, atypical examples of genres such as new wave, stripped-down electronic or synthesizer music, synth-pop, post-punk, and coldwave. Most of the music tends to focus on electronic, pre-MIDI instrumentation and themes of sincere, rather than ironic, detachment.
Gold Robot Records is an Oakland-based boutique vinyl record label, formed in 2007 and specializing in vinyl and digital releases. The label has both acted as a platform to launch the careers of burgeoning artists and release small vinyl runs for established names, including Will Oldham. To date, Gold Robot Records has issued 38 vinyl releases and 20 digital releases, as well as releasing free music and remixes from its catalog of artists.
Screaming Banshee Aircrew were an English rock band originating from York. Their varied music appealed to the Gothic scene, and their energetic performances attracted many fans across the UK. They were disbanded in July 2010, and many of the band members went on to join other bands.
Rocket Girl is a London-based independent record label. It has released records by Robin Guthrie, Pieter Nooten, God Is an Astronaut, Ulrich Schnauss, A Place to Bury Strangers, Bell Gardens among others, including many artists associated with ambient music.
George Samaras, better known as Plastic Flowers, is a London-based Greek songwriter and academic who has released three full-length studio albums, Evergreen in 2014, Heavenly in 2016 and Absent Forever in 2017.
Trance to the Sun (1990–present) is a neo-psychedelic post-punk band originally based out of Santa Barbara, California. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Ashkelon Sain as the primary songwriter, performer and producer, and has featured three full-time vocalists—Ingrid Blue (1997–present), Dawn Michelle Wagner (1997), and Zoë Alexandra Wakefield (1993–1996). Trance to the Sun recordings have often included guest contributors, and tour line-ups have usually included one or more additional musicians. Currently, the band consists of Ashkelon Sain, Ingrid Luna, and Daniel Henderson, with additional live musician Terry Luna on bass guitar.
Kenneth James Gibson is a musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter and a founding member of Bell Gardens, Furry Things, Eight Frozen Modules, and [a]pendics.shuffle.
PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, making its music available on SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L Harle, EASYFUN, Namasenda, and Planet 1999. The label's releases have been showcased on the compilations PC Music Volume 1 (2015) and Volume 2 (2016).
JK Flesh is a moniker of English musician Justin Broadrick employed for his solo work within electronic music. Broadrick's usage of the title spans back to his work in the 1990s with Kevin Martin in Techno Animal, but he first released a solo studio album as JK Flesh in 2012. Unlike Broadrick's most well-known projects, Godflesh and Jesu, his work as JK Flesh is electronic and lacks metal riffs. Over the years, the project has shifted into a more minimal and dub sound while retaining its industrial influences.
Xeno & Oaklander is an American electronic music group formed in 2004, consisting of musicians Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo. Originating from Brooklyn, New York, the band is considered to be among the cold wave revival scene of the 2000s and 2010s.