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blow up records
release schedule 2008
coming soon / out now...
mockingbird, wish me luck 'days come and go' june 2008
BU043CD, CD & DD
more about: mockingbird, wish me luck
mockingbird, wish me luck 'days come and go' 2nd june 2008
BU046, Ltd. 7" & DD
more about: mockingbird, wish me luck
baltic fleet 'baltic fleet' 10th march 2008
BU041CD, CD & DD
more about: baltic fleet
silvery 'horrors'/'orders' 3rd march 2008
BU044, Ltd. 7" & DD
more about: silvery
baltic fleet 'black lounge'/'3 dollar dress' 25th february 2008
BU045, Ltd. 7" & DD
more about: baltic fleet
the bongolian 'outer bongolia' 4th february 2008
BU040CD/BU040LP, CD & LP
more about: the bongolian
for more releases see: blow up records discography
label biography
Intro: Blow Up Records is a London based independent that has being running for a decade (since 1994). Music on the label ranges from 60s to New Wave, from Pop to Electronica and is run by the same team that brings you the legendary Blow Up Club night (1993 to present), and who promote The Metro Club on Oxford Street in London (blowupmetro.com). The Blow Up label is responsible for compilations such as the "Exclusive Blend" series of music library tracks, 'Blow Up A-Go-Go: Dancefloor Classics' and several series of limited seven inches featuring bands from across Europe and the UK. Blow Up released the first Add N to X album as well as albums for more recent acts such as the "punks of Hammond funk" Big Boss Man and Alfa 9 reflecting the label's continuing eclectic output.
2008: 2008 is set to be the most release-packed year yet for Blow Up with several new projects from 2007 being wrapped up and set for release, including The Bongolian’s 3rd album Outer Bongolia & debuts from new signings Baltic Fleet, Silvery & from Sweden Mockingbird, wish me luck.
2007: The ever prolific Mr. Bouzida has just finished mixing his third Bongolian album with Nick Terry (Bongolian, Klaxons, Libertines) so stay tuned for this release (check his myspace for previews), and new signing Baltic Fleet is currently mixing his debut with Nick too. Sticking with the album theme we'll also be reissuing our 'Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend' series (a relief as some have been fetching up to £100 on eBay!), and nicely timed too as The KPM Allstars featured on Volumes 1 and 2 have been chosed to perform at Jarvis Cocker's Meltdown this June.
2005-2006: Over the last couple of years the we've released several one-off singles including UK debuts for Swedish bands CDOASS and Strip Music, and British acts Eight Legs and The Rifles (Blow Up 45 Series). We also released singles for Doncaster electro/pop group Neon Plastix and saw the Big Boss Man track 'Party 7' picked up for Nike's worldwide World Cup campaign. Their 2001 album 'Humanize' that this was taken from was previously used as the soundtrack for the 1999 short film 'Sweet' featuring the Mighty Boosh too (available for the first time this year). We also released the long-awaited follow-up to The Bongolian's first album in 2006 'Blueprint', as well as the debut album for new psychedelic signings Alfa 9 titled 'Then We Begin'.
Summer 2004: This year has seen Blow Up move UK distribution to
Cargo (UK) along with the long-awaited new BBM album in the works.
2000-2001: Year 2000 saw the finalisation
of a new distribution deal with Vital, and now sees Blow Up Records set
to return with its strongest set of new releases to date, strengthening
further the synergy between the label and club. These include a new 7" series entitled 'Blow
Up 45', Exclusive
Blend Vol.3 and the debut album 'Humanize'
from new signings Big
Boss Man .
1998-99: 1998 saw the first release from
a new series of limited 7" singles called 'Blow
Up 1000 Series', which aimed to showcase a diverse range of international
talent in the UK. To date, there have been four releases in this Series,
including Capri, Lucky
15 and highly-acclaimed Scandinavian acts Komeda and The Elevators
as well the popular Katerine, from France. The third single, which featured
Komeda, sold out of its limited run of 1000 copies in one week. During
this period another one-off single 'Yellowmaddacoolivision' (not part
of the 1000 Series) was also released for a UK band called 'Cuff'
who received massive MTV support and went on to sign to Atlantic Records
in the US. September 1997 saw the release of Exclusive
Blend Vol.2, making further inroads into the world of the Music Library.
The album was again compiled by Paul, this time from several libraries
- deWolfe, Amphonic
and the now familiar KPM, and once again
included tracks from many great music library theme writers including
Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, and
Syd Dale, ranging from the Hammond-Heavy classic 'Soul
Skimmer' to the spaced-out tribal funk of Nick Ingam's 'Tripwire'.
The album quickly built on the success of its predecessor and gained an
extra boost when the album's opening track 'Wild
Elephants' was picked up by The Gap, and used as the theme their 'Khaki
A-Go-Go' ad campaign of Summer 1999. A scramble quickly ensued
to obtain the rights for releasing the track as a single, now re-titled
'Blow
Up A-Go-Go!', which went on to be released by V2 Records in conjunction
with Blow Up in September 1999. A club compilation followed in the November
called 'Blow
Up A-Go-Go! - Dancefloor Classics from the legendary Blow Up club'
(using the single as its title track), featuring classics both new and
old that have filled the Blow Up Club Dancefloor. The album received massive
support from Club Djs, receiving rave reviews from the listings magazines
Time
Out and Hot
Tickets, as well as Mojo
and The Sunday Times, to name but a few.
The album also received the 'best response to an album that he'd ever
seen' according to Chris at Renegade Promotions (formerly at Wild), gaining
an amazing overall average Dj reaction rating of
9 out of 10
1995-97: However, it was
not the Weekenders' second release in March 1995, that Blow Up Records
released a single via a distributor, SRD. Also a limited run, 'Man
of Leisure' sold out of its 3700 pressing in two weeks. The third
release in July 1995
'Inelegantly Wasted' was awarded Single of
the Week in Melody Maker, sold out of its 6500 pressings and went
straight into the Indie Charts at No.s 3 & 4 (NME and Melody Maker
respectively). That summer Paul laid the foundations for the release of
other projects outside of the band, most of these being undertaken on
a one off basis.The first of these releases was the debut release from
a London based electronic three piece named
'Add N To X', a band who had just recently changed their name from
Raddix Couplement and shed a member Justin Anderson. The band which comprised
of Barry Smith, Andrew Averling and Ann Shenton, went to a Sheffield studio
with engineer Parrot (All Seeing Eye) to record their debut release. Entitled
'Vero
Electronics', it stated clearly their commitment to electronic experimentation
from the outset, coining the phrase 'This is Avant
Hard Music'. Soon after this, a compilation of Weekenders singles
and B-sides followed in early 1996. Intended as an introduction for overseas
markets and as a forerunner to a studio album proper, the compilation
also served to make the early singles more widely available then the early
limited pressings had allowed. The 'forthcoming' studio album from The
Weekenders, is still unrecorded to date, due to Paul's commitment to Blow
Up club/label activities. August 1996 saw Blow Up Records broaden its
musical spectrum once again, to include more club based music, with the
release of Exclusive
Blend Vol. 1. The compilation was taken from the 60s and 70s library
archives of the KPM Music Library , and
one of the first compilations dedicated to this genre. Music on the album
ranged from Hammond-Heavy 60s R'n'B to brassy Club Pop, mostly of which
had never been commercially released before. Quickly gaining international
recognition as a ground breaking compilation introducing the world to
the hidden delights of library music, whilst also serving as a taster
for just one aspect of the sounds that could be heard at the Blow Up club
night. The album continues to sell, already having sold 12,000 copies.
Over the next two years from August 96 to June 98, Blow Up released a
further eight releases. These included a spin off single from Add N To
X members principally centred around Andrew Averling under the name
'VA6' titled
'He Plays Like A Disease'.
1994: Blow Up Records made is first tentative
steps into releasing records in May 1994 with the debut release from the
Weekenders - a limited run of 1000 7" pressings, entitled 'All
Grown Up'/ Househusband'. The label was initially set up by Paul Tunkin,
promoter of the Blow Up Club, as a means for his group The Weekenders
to release their music. Sales of the initial 1000 pressing picked up speed
over the following months via mail-order and Camden's legendary 'Out On
the Floor' record shop. This shop was also originally where the label
ran its operations from, as well as playing host to many cramped Weekenders'
rehearsals. With the band's inclusion of a track on the Fierce
Panda Return to Splendour EP (also notable for including the debut
release from The Bluetones), 'Seems you've missed Sunday', alongside the
massive re-emergence of British pop scene. Interest was beginning to mount. |
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