Despite having quite strong opinions on a lot of the events that happen across the world, I rarely feel compelled to share them on what is essentially a platform for sharing the music that I love with other like minded people. However the events of the past few days has seen the two converge at last, as the events we've seen in the news could have serious consequences on the thriving music industry that we have here within the UK.
Over the past few days I have been absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of youths across the country as night after night they have taken to the streets to riot, burn, loot, and generally cause mayhem on our streets; I have also been thoroughly saddened to watch as high streets have been vandalised, lives have been lost, and business and homes have been destroyed.
Rioting in Enfield earlier this week saw the PIAS distribution and imprint centre, which was owned by Sony Corp, completely razed to the ground, resulting in the loss of stock for many small independent record labels across the UK and Europe. The Sony warehouses were targeted for the gadgets inside out of pure greed, and the resulting loss of all this vinyl probably never even crossed the mind of those who started the fires. Losing this stock could seriously impact many of these small labels, and it is down to us now to do what we can to show our support, and ensure that they can carry on releasing the music that adds so much pleasure and enjoyment to our lives.
If any of these labels go under financially as a result of this mindless violence, it will be a great loss to every one of us music lovers and we must ensure that we don't let the actions of a few brainless people destroy the rich music heritage of our country! The UK music scene really is something to be proud of which has even more importance at a time when we don't seem to have many other reasons to be proud to be British!
Click here for a facebook page that has been set up to encourage support for the independent labels affected by this.
Click here for a list of all the record labels that PIAS physically distributes - please share this information, and encourage everyone you know who loves music to buy digital downloads from these labels to help them stay afloat in these turbulent times.
Click here for a news article on this incident.
So now it's time for the music - I'm going to share some tracks with you from just a small selection of these record labels, just to give you a taste of the fantastic stuff that they have been responsible for. I don't have the space to showcase them all, however I do strongly urge you to check them out, and buy anything that you like.
First up, we have a track from a label that has been doing some fantastic things recently - this is called "I'll take care of you", and is taken from a remix album by Gil Scott-Heron (RIP) and Jamie XX which was released earlier this year on The Young Turks label. This is a gorgeous track, and I can highly recommend the other stuff being released on this label. (SBTRKT being a particular Young Turks favourite of mine!)
Click here for The Young Turks online store, or click here to buy digital downloads of the remixes by Scott-Heron and Jamie XX. Click here to listen to the tracks on their YouTube channel.
The next label I have for you today is Ninja Tune - again, there is so much good music coming out on this label that it is REALLY hard to just choose one artist or one track, and I definitely recommend checking out the tracks uploaded on their YouTube channel. The track that I chose is by Emika, and is called Pretend - this is beautiful. Emika has such a haunting voice, and this track is definitely one that got under my skin.
Click here for the NinjaTune online store, where you can pre-order this track in digital format, and where you can buy many others by Emika and people like Amon Tobin, Toddla T, Roots Manuva, Eskmo and many more, for as little as 70p!
This next track is by a band called Gomez, who I have loved for years! Their seventh studio album was released in June this year on Eat Sleep Records, and it is definitely worth a listen. This track is called Song in my Heart, and is from the album called Whatevers on Your Mind.
Click here to buy this album from the Eat Sleep Records website.
The list of artists who have had releases on Southern Fried Records reads like a who's who of big names in electronic music over the past few years, and they have released so much good music that again, it was really hard to choose one track to share with you. The one I chose is a gorgeous little tech house number by Luca C and Brigante, called Different Morals. Lovely!
Click here to check out the tracks they have uploaded to YouTube - there are some great ones on here! Click here to buy releases on Southern Fried Records on Beatport.
The last label I am covering today is Infectious Music Ltd - this label has been going since the mid 90's, and has released music by many great bands over the years including Ash, Symposium, The Subways, and more recently, The Temper Trap. The label was reduced over the years, before being relaunched two years ago, and since its relaunch, it has released some great music. The track above is called Sweet Disposition and is by The Temper Trap.
Click here to enjoy the Temper Trap YouTube channel, and click here to buy tracks released on Infectious Music.
The last track of the day is a Michael Woods remix of Science of Fear by The Temper Trap. This is an absolutely delicious remix that more than does the original justice! Fantastic, and the perfect track to end on!
Remember, the music I've posted today is only a fraction of a fraction of the stuff being released on these labels - enjoy exploring what they have to offer, and spread the word! Let's do our bit to keep the music scene going!
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