Skull Disco
Encyclopedia
Skull Disco was an independent dubstep record label
, based in London
. It was established in 2005 by Sam Shackleton and Laurie "Appleblim" Osborne, and ended in 2008. Releases on the label included African percussion and ethnic samples. Zeke Clough contributed distinctive artwork for the label, drawing on both Egyptology and heavy metal
imagery.
Best of 2004 compilation
. Around this time, Shackleton was becoming more familiar with the dubstep
sound, through regular visits to the Forward>> nights run by Ammunition Promotions. He especially identified with the sound later associated with the DMZ nightclub, citing Loefah's Horror Show and Digital Mystikz
Conference as key early influences, and started thinking about forming a label to release similar "interesting bass music" and "interesting percussive stuff".
On a visit to a similarly-minded night in Bath, Shackleton encountered Laurie 'Appleblim' Osborne. Shackleton was impressed with a track, Mystikal Warrior, and it hence appeared on the first Skull Disco release; a double A-side, with Shackleton's I Am Animal on the flipside. Shortly after, Shackleton began the (now defunct) Skull Disco nights in London. Attendees at the first Skull Disco night included Coki and Mala of Digital Mystikz
.
In November 2007, Appleblim established a sublabel, Applepips.
In 2008, Appleblim was chosen to mix the sixth installment of the Dubstep Allstars series on Tempa, which was released on June 3, 2008. Later in 2008, Shackleton and Appleblim said goodbye to the label http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=9884 after ten releases http://www.discogs.com/label/Skull+Disco, a number which Appleblim said "felt right"http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=9884.
Skull Disco releases often tended to use unusual sounds, atypical of the dubstep genre; they often eschew the familiar drum trope
s of dubstep for African percussion and samples of ethnic vocals, combined with massive, wobbling sub-bass, and sometimes elements of four to the floor
, Basic Channel
-style dub techno
.Pitchfork Feature: The Month In: Grime / Dubstep Some tracks (particularly later Shackleton releases) carry a strong Muslimgauze
influence. Minimal techno
producer Ricardo Villalobos
is a fan; he produced a nearly twenty-minute remix of Shackleton's Blood on my Hands after expressing an interest and being handed the core samples of the song at a DJ set . Shackleton has returned the favour by remixing Minimoonstar from Villalobos' Vasco EP Part 1.
According to journalist Derek Walmsley,
as well as displaying a decidedly metal influence.
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was established in 2005 by Sam Shackleton and Laurie "Appleblim" Osborne, and ended in 2008. Releases on the label included African percussion and ethnic samples. Zeke Clough contributed distinctive artwork for the label, drawing on both Egyptology and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
imagery.
History
In 2004, prior to the founding of the label, Ian Hicks of Mordant Music liked and released an early Shackleton track entitled "Stalker". The track later appeared on Rough Trade RecordsRough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
Best of 2004 compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. Around this time, Shackleton was becoming more familiar with the dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
sound, through regular visits to the Forward>> nights run by Ammunition Promotions. He especially identified with the sound later associated with the DMZ nightclub, citing Loefah's Horror Show and Digital Mystikz
Digital Mystikz
Digital Mystikz are a dubstep production duo from the South London suburb of Norwood. Along with Loefah and Sgt. Pokes, they operate the DMZ record label and host the influential bimonthly nightclub DMZ, held at the Mass club complex in Brixton, London...
Conference as key early influences, and started thinking about forming a label to release similar "interesting bass music" and "interesting percussive stuff".
On a visit to a similarly-minded night in Bath, Shackleton encountered Laurie 'Appleblim' Osborne. Shackleton was impressed with a track, Mystikal Warrior, and it hence appeared on the first Skull Disco release; a double A-side, with Shackleton's I Am Animal on the flipside. Shortly after, Shackleton began the (now defunct) Skull Disco nights in London. Attendees at the first Skull Disco night included Coki and Mala of Digital Mystikz
Digital Mystikz
Digital Mystikz are a dubstep production duo from the South London suburb of Norwood. Along with Loefah and Sgt. Pokes, they operate the DMZ record label and host the influential bimonthly nightclub DMZ, held at the Mass club complex in Brixton, London...
.
In November 2007, Appleblim established a sublabel, Applepips.
In 2008, Appleblim was chosen to mix the sixth installment of the Dubstep Allstars series on Tempa, which was released on June 3, 2008. Later in 2008, Shackleton and Appleblim said goodbye to the label http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=9884 after ten releases http://www.discogs.com/label/Skull+Disco, a number which Appleblim said "felt right"http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=9884.
Sound
Releases on the Skull Disco label were typically double A-sides, featuring a track apiece from Shackleton and Appleblim; however two compilations (Soundboy Punishments and Soundboy's Gravestone Gets Desecrated by Vandals) were also released.Skull Disco releases often tended to use unusual sounds, atypical of the dubstep genre; they often eschew the familiar drum trope
Trope (music)
A trope or tropus may be a variety of different things in medieval and modern music.The term trope derives from the Greek τρόπος , "a turn, a change" , related to the root of the verb τρέπειν , "to turn, to direct, to alter, to change"...
s of dubstep for African percussion and samples of ethnic vocals, combined with massive, wobbling sub-bass, and sometimes elements of four to the floor
Four to the floor
Four-on-the-floor is a rhythm pattern used in disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4/4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat in common time...
, Basic Channel
Basic Channel
Basic Channel is a production team and record label, composed of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, that originated in Berlin, Germany in 1993. The duo released a number of vinyl-only tracks under various aliases, each of which employed their signature brand of dissonant dub techno...
-style dub techno
Dubtronica
Dubtronica is a neologism that has been used to describe electronic dance music that evidences the influence of dub. The origin is thought to be either the experimental English dub of On-U Sound Records and Mad Professor in the 1980s, Note that the term is not universally accepted by both artists...
.Pitchfork Feature: The Month In: Grime / Dubstep Some tracks (particularly later Shackleton releases) carry a strong Muslimgauze
Muslimgauze
Muslimgauze was a music project of Bryn Jones , a prolific British ethnic electronica and experimental musician, influenced by conflicts in the Muslim world with an emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
influence. Minimal techno
Minimal techno
Minimal techno is a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to...
producer Ricardo Villalobos
Ricardo Villalobos
Ricardo Villalobos is a Chilean-German electronic music producer and DJ. He is well-known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in today's minimal techno scene....
is a fan; he produced a nearly twenty-minute remix of Shackleton's Blood on my Hands after expressing an interest and being handed the core samples of the song at a DJ set . Shackleton has returned the favour by remixing Minimoonstar from Villalobos' Vasco EP Part 1.
According to journalist Derek Walmsley,
Artwork
Typical artwork on releases (by Zeke Clough ) was also of an idiosyncratic nature, the pen-and-ink covers referencing egyptological symbolsEgyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
as well as displaying a decidedly metal influence.
Discography
- 12"12-inch singleThe 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
: A. Shackleton - "I Am Animal" / AA. Appleblim - "Mystikal Warrior" (SKULL001) - 12": A. Shackleton - "Majestic Visions" AA. Appleblim - "Cheat I" AA2. "Girder" (SKULL002)
- EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
: Soundboy's Bones Get Ground Up Proper A. Shackleton - "Blood on my Hands" B1. Shackleton - "Naked" B2. Shackleton - "Hypno Angel" (SKULL003) - 12": Soundboy's Bones Get Buried In The Dirt Vol 1 - A. Shackleton - "Tin Foil Sky" AA. Gatekeeper - "Tomb" (SKULL004)
- 12": Soundboy's Bones Get Buried In The Dirt Vol 2 - A. Appleblim - "Fear" AA. Shackleton - "Hamas Rule" (SKULL005)
- 12": Soundboy's Ashes Get Chopped Out And Snorted - A. Appleblim - "Vansan" AA. Shackleton - "You Bring Me Down" (SKULL006)
- 12": Shackleton - "Blood On My Hands (Ricardo VillalobosRicardo VillalobosRicardo Villalobos is a Chilean-German electronic music producer and DJ. He is well-known for his work in the minimal techno and microhouse genres, and is one of the most significant figures in today's minimal techno scene....
Apocalypso Now Mix)" (SKULL007) - 2CDDouble albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
: Skull Disco - Soundboy Punishments (compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
) (SKULLCD001) - EP: Appleblim And Peverelist - Soundboy's Ashes Get Hacked Up And Spat Out In Disgust (SKULL008)
- 12" Shackleton feat Vengeance Tenford - "Death Is Not Final" / "Death is Not Final (T++ remix)" (SKULL009)
- 12" Shackleton - Soundboy's Suicide Note (SKULL010)
- CD Shackleton & Appleblim - Soundboy's Gravestone get Desecrated by Vandals (Compilation album)