Top 10 record labels

Posted by: jcs_smith on 05 October 2006

How about a top 10 list of record labels. Labels that you know that if they release something it’s safe to buy because it’s bound to be good. Here’s mine

1. On-U Sounds. A legendary label that tragically hasn’t released much apart from compilations for years. Adrian Sherwood where are you?
2. Axiom. One of Bill Laswell’s many labels
3. Enemy. Yet another largely associated with Bill Laswell, but also released some amazing spiky piano jazz from Myra Milford among other stuff
4. Ariwa. The Mad Professor’s label. Need I say more
5. Sub-Rosa. Bill Laswell. Mick Harris, etc, etc. Ambient and hardcore heaven
6. Celluloid. Early Bill Laswell releases
7. Fax. Pete Namlook used to release an album almost every week on Fax. That’s hundreds of hours of ambience. Heaven or hell, depending on your viewpoint
8. Vera Bra – Kip Hanrahan and stuff like that. Inactive for far too long
9. Pressure Sounds. An offshoot of On-U Sounds. Quality, obscure reggae re-issues
10. Couldn’t think of a tenth


Doesn’t include Trojan, Blood and Fire, Earache, 30 hertz, Tzardik, Alligator and ECM. I know they’ve released great records but for me they don’t have that iconic status. If I see a record on one of those labels I don’t automatically buy it because it may not be great. Whereas with, for example, On-U Sounds I buy it without thinking because the quality is pretty much guaranteed.
Posted on: 05 October 2006 by Guido Fawkes
Probe Plus - the greatest label ever
Bam Caruso - loads of Rubble
Bo'weavil - Shirley on vinyl
Fledg'ling - Shirley on silver discs
Green Linnet - Irish trad.
Tara - more Irish trad.
Compass - even more Irish trad.
Rhino - a poor man's Bam Caruso, but Nuggets are great
Naim - obviously
Posted on: 05 October 2006 by hungryhalibut
I used to have a thing about Cherry Red back in the early 80s.

HH
Posted on: 05 October 2006 by u5227470736789439
I don't know about the other nine, but the greatest record label, and so far not mentioned, is HMV!

What other label could have completely unselfconsciously have had the breadth of scope to issue recordings by Elgar, Furtwangler, Wagner, H Walcha, Elvis Presley, Gracie Fields, Kathleen Ferrier, ... Well the roster goes on in every genre at the highest levels, and all on a plain label with a nineteenth century gramophone and dog on the label with the work shown only in gold letters, and the category defined. Nothing seeems to have escaped that company's range for a good 90 years, so not only the greatest record label, but the most long lived. Truly a significant part of Western Musical Culture in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries...

Strange how short the collective memory is! Fredrik
Posted on: 05 October 2006 by Tam
Dear Fredrik,

I would agree, but only to a limited extent - the HMV of today is but a shadow of its former self.


I shalln't rank them (not least because I am not sure I could count ten), but there are a number of outstanding labels out there. Testament do a wonderful job of remastering vintage recordings (and while such likes as the Keilberth Ring) garner much of the attention the praise is the more deserved for the more 'challenging' source material. They also leave nice big gaps on the disc between different works rather than having one symphony go straight into another.

I am a big fan of Telarc. I like the way they give details of the recording equipement used and often the economy of microphony (many of their Mackerras/SCO readings were done with just two). I am sure it helps that their boss (whose name escapes me) is also a recording engineer. They have a good ear for artists too - and both of my favourite living conductors (Mackerras and Runnicles) record for them.

I have recently gained a lot of respect for Peter Moores' Opera Rara label which is run as a charity and records obscure works and has also dug into the BBC's archives to reissue some real gems (the French Don Carlos that was the subject of a recent thread of mine being a key example).


regards, Tam
Posted on: 05 October 2006 by parmenides
I love ECM, ACT, Harmonia Mundi, Chandos, Opus111, Tacet, Dorian, Nonesuch, Enja, Stunt, Naim, but most of my cd's are from Vergin Classis, EMI classics, Sony Classical, Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Blue Note, EMI, MCA, Sony and other rather popular brands...
Of course I love the sound of ecm productionsSmile