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Cold Spring (label)
Encyclopedia
Cold Spring is an independent record label
based in Northamptonshire
, England
, specialising in "all forms of extreme media, but particularly: black/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
etc."
and The Human League
. From listening to this genre of music Mitchell progressed into the different fields of electronic and experimental music including artists like Genesis P-Orridge
. Mitchell began getting involved in the music industry after be involved in re-issuing some cassette releases form his project Satori. These releases originated from around 1984 and were released by another label.
After releasing a handful of cassette releases by artists such as The Grey Wolves and Genesis P-Orridge
. Cold Spring released their first vinyl compilation album “...And the Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly” (CSR 1LP). This was in 1990 and featured artists such as The Grey Wolves
, Crash Worship
and The Hafler Trio.
The next planned release, (CSR 2LP) would have been a split album between Alan Moore
and Psychic TV
but was withdrawn due to major label pressure. It wasn’t until 1992 that Cold Spring released their next release Asesinos by Crash Worship
. This would be the first CD release by the label.
In 1999 Cold Spring released the Genesis P-Orridge
/ Merzbow
project titled A Perfect Pain. The album was an enormous success for Cold Spring, and one of the label’s most requested titles.
and Z'EV
produced a two track vinyl release in September 2008. The following year Z'EV
released an album titled Sum Things. It consisted of archive material reflecting his take on the dark ambient genre of music. The tracks were recorded between December 2005 and March 2006.
2009 also saw Cold Spring re-release Anni Hogan
s Kickabye. The original EP was re-packaged including ten extra tracks; Kickabye featured artists such as Marc Almond
and Nick Cave
.
In 2010 former Siouxsie and the Banshees member, Steven Severin
released his debut album for Cold Spring titled Blood of a Poet. The album is a recording of his soundtrack for a 1930 silent movie by Jean Cocteau
.
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
based in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, specialising in "all forms of extreme media, but particularly: black/dark Ambient
Dark ambient
Dark ambient is a subgenre of ambient music that features foreboding, ominous, or discordant overtones. Although it had its roots in the 1970s, Dark ambient emerged in the 1980s and 1990s with the introduction of newer, smaller, and more affordable Effects units, synthesizer and sampling technology...
, Neo-classical
Neoclassical (Dark Wave)
Neoclassical Dark Wave refers to a music genre within the Dark Wave movement. It is characterized by the use of ethereal atmosphere and angelic female voices but also adds strong influences from classical music. Neoclassical Dark Wave is distinct from the academic art music form known as...
/Neo-folk
Neofolk
Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
, Orchestral, Power Electronics/Noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, Japanese Noise
Japanoise
is a portmanteau of the words "Japanese" and "noise": a term applied to the diverse, prolific, and influential noise music scene of Japan. Primarily popular and active in the 1980s and 1990s but still alive today, the Japanoise scene is defined by a remarkable sense of musical freedom...
, Minimal
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
, Death Industrial
Death industrial
Death industrial is an industrial sub-genre typified by a dense atmosphere, low-end drones and screamed or distorted vocals. It can be differentiated from power electronics by a slower, more atmospheric sound reminiscent of dark or ritual ambient, and a less abrasive sound...
, Dark Soundtracks, Experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
, obscure electronics from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
etc."
Beginnings
The label is owned, and run, by Justin Mitchell who had been working for "Thee Temple Ov Psychic Youth", a radical occult group from the eighties. Mitchell had started out listening to early electronic music around the late seventies, early eighties. This included bands like Soft CellSoft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
and The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
. From listening to this genre of music Mitchell progressed into the different fields of electronic and experimental music including artists like Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
. Mitchell began getting involved in the music industry after be involved in re-issuing some cassette releases form his project Satori. These releases originated from around 1984 and were released by another label.
1990-1999
Cold Spring began releasing recordings in 1988 by mail order, then in 1997 began selling and distributing releases on the internet.After releasing a handful of cassette releases by artists such as The Grey Wolves and Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
. Cold Spring released their first vinyl compilation album “...And the Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly” (CSR 1LP). This was in 1990 and featured artists such as The Grey Wolves
The Grey Wolves
The Grey Wolves are a British Industrial music group. They were formed in 1985 by Dave Padbury and Trevor Ward.-History:The band has been credited with pioneering the 'death industrial' subgenre in industrial music. Their work has also been described as 'dark ambient' and as 'power electronics'...
, Crash Worship
Crash Worship
Crash Worship or ADRV was a San Diego based experimental-aktionist-industrial-noise performance group formed in 1986. Most renowned for its live shows in which three stand-up percussionists hammered out concussive poly-rhythms to abstract mutated guitar, synthesizers, effects and dualling vocalists...
and The Hafler Trio.
The next planned release, (CSR 2LP) would have been a split album between Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
and Psychic TV
Psychic TV
Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...
but was withdrawn due to major label pressure. It wasn’t until 1992 that Cold Spring released their next release Asesinos by Crash Worship
Crash Worship
Crash Worship or ADRV was a San Diego based experimental-aktionist-industrial-noise performance group formed in 1986. Most renowned for its live shows in which three stand-up percussionists hammered out concussive poly-rhythms to abstract mutated guitar, synthesizers, effects and dualling vocalists...
. This would be the first CD release by the label.
In 1999 Cold Spring released the Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
/ Merzbow
Merzbow
is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic...
project titled A Perfect Pain. The album was an enormous success for Cold Spring, and one of the label’s most requested titles.
2000-Present
An untitled collaboration between American artists Boyd RiceBoyd Rice
Boyd Blake Rice is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard...
and Z'EV
Z'EV
Z'EV is an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of industrial materials for a variety of record labels...
produced a two track vinyl release in September 2008. The following year Z'EV
Z'EV
Z'EV is an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of industrial materials for a variety of record labels...
released an album titled Sum Things. It consisted of archive material reflecting his take on the dark ambient genre of music. The tracks were recorded between December 2005 and March 2006.
2009 also saw Cold Spring re-release Anni Hogan
Anni Hogan
Anni Hogan is a British musician, record producer, composer and Club DJ, born in 1961. Originally known for her association with British music artist Marc Almond, Hogan now collaborates with a diverse variety of artists including Rachel McFarlane and Cagedbaby....
s Kickabye. The original EP was re-packaged including ten extra tracks; Kickabye featured artists such as Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
and Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
.
In 2010 former Siouxsie and the Banshees member, Steven Severin
Steven Severin
Steven Severin , is an English musician, composer, bassist and co-founding member of Siouxsie and the Banshees....
released his debut album for Cold Spring titled Blood of a Poet. The album is a recording of his soundtrack for a 1930 silent movie by Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
.
Record label Principles
Cold Spring carefully listen to every release they distribute. They believe that every release should have a strong philosophy, or manifesto. They also believe that there should be more to a band than just their music.Cold Spring Artists
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Merzbow is the main recording name of the Japanese noise musician , born in 1956. Since 1979 he has released in excess of 350 recordings.The name "Merzbow" comes from German artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork, "Merzbau”. This was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic... Kreuzweg Ost Kreuzweg Ost is a darkwave/martial industrial project founded by Michael Gregor and Martin Schirenc. The music is a blend of world war-related samples and loops with booming sounds and instrumental pieces. There are no vocals; instead, the predominant samples are arranged so that they take the... |
SleepResearch Facility SleepResearch_Facility is a dark ambient artist from Glasgow, Scotland, specializing in sleep-conducive beatless ambient music which is both artistic as well as functional.-Overview:... Sol Invictus (band) Sol Invictus is an English neofolk and neoclassical group fronted by Tony Wakeford. Wakeford has been the sole constant member of the group since its inception, although numerous musicians have contributed and collaborated with Wakeford under the Sol Invictus moniker over the years.-Overview:For... Sutcliffe Jügend Sutcliffe Jügend is a power electronics band, which began in early 1982 as a sub-project of Kevin Tomkins' main band, Whitehouse, and instantly gained notoriety as one of the harshest groups of the original power electronics scene.-Biography:... Von Thronstahl Von Thronstahl is a German Electronic, Martial-industrial, Neoclassical and Neofolk band founded in 1995 by Josef Maria Klumb.-Albums and EPs:* 1998 Sturmzeit * 2000 Imperium Internum * 2001 E Pluribus Unum ... Werkraum -Overview:Growing up in the fields of experimental music and post-industrial music with several other projects since the early 1990s, Axel Frank began to adapt a more melodic neofolk, electronic and dark ambient approach... Z'EV Z'EV is an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of industrial materials for a variety of record labels... Zos Kia Zos Kia was a British musical group initially formed by John "Zos Kia" Gosling along with John Balance and Min... |