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blow up records
about us:
release schedule 2010
label biography
release schedule 2010
coming soon ...
silvery 'railway architecture' 9th august 2010
BU057, CD/DD
more about: silvery
out now ...
silvery 'the naked & the dead' 26th july 2010
BU058, DD
more about: silvery
neon plastix 'awesome moves' 10th may 2010 (uk)
BU054, CD/DD
more about: neon plastix
neon plastix 'gentlemen's gold' 3rd may 2010 (uk)
BU055, DD
more about: neon plastix
big boss man 'c'est moi' march 2010
BU056, DD
more about: big boss man
big boss man 'black eye' september 2009
BU053, DD
more about: big boss man
big boss man 'full english beat breakfast' september 2009
BU050, CD/LP/DD
more about: big boss man
mockingbird, wish me luck 'moves on the screen' 22nd june 2009
BU052, DD
more about: mockingbird, wish me luck
silvery 'the nishikado e.p.' 15th june 2009
BU041, DD
more about: silvery
silvery 'you give a little love' 15th december 2008
BU049, DD
more about: silvery
silvery 'action force' 27th october 2008
BU048, DD
more about: silvery
silvery 'thunderer & excelsior' 11th august 2008
BU042CD, CD & DD
more about: silvery
silvery 'devil in the detail' 11th august 2008
BU047, Ltd. 7" (500 numbered) & DD
more about: silvery
mockingbird, wish me luck 'days come and go' 9th june 2008
BU043, CD & DD
more about: mockingbird, wish me luck
mockingbird, wish me luck 'days come and go' 2nd june 2008
BU046, Ltd. 7" (500 only) & DD
more about: mockingbird, wish me luck
baltic fleet 'baltic fleet' 10th march 2008
BU041, 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 started by Blow Up Club club founder and DJ Paul Tunkin. It has being running for well over a decade (since 1994), and will be celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2009. Music on the label ranges from 60s to New Wave, from Pop to Electronica and it is still 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 ground-breaking "Exclusive Blend" music library series, '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 recent acts such as Big Boss Man, The Bongolian, Baltic Fleet, Silvery, Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck, Neon Plastix, Alfa 9 and more reflecting the label's continuing eclectic output.
2009: This June Silvery follow up last year's releases with their 5th single 'The Nishikado E.P.' and Sweden's Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck release their second single 'Moves On The Screen'. Big Boss Man will be releasing their eagerly awaited 3rd album this Summer - stayed tuned for more details soon! In the meantime check out Blow Up Artists Live, subscribe to our mailing list, RSS feed or join us on myspace, facebook (group, fan page), twitter or more.
2008: has been the most release-packed year yet for Blow Up with several debuts including the Kraut Rock inspired Baltic Fleet (his self-titled debut No. 29 Rough Trade's Top 50 Albums of 2008 & in Piccadilly Records Top 100 Albums of 2008), London artrockers Silvery (album 'Thunderer & Excelsior' No.19 Artrocker's Albums of The Year 2008, a BBC 6Music Album of the Day and more) and indie-pop from Sweden's Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck ('Days Come And Go' album placed in one of the Top 4 Albums of 2008 lists in Sweden's national daily Sydsvenskan and described as "an album to pay attention to" by AllMusic). Big Boss Man's Nasser Bouzida also found time to release the third album by his alter-ego The Bongolian ("A Latin-flavoured jazz-funk odyssey" Q magazine) which has been winning fans worldwide. Stay tuned for 2009!
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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