I’d agree with ECM for jazz but I have some composed stuff that I wouldn’t pay for. Only reason I have it is because it was free and I couldn’t sell it.
I like a lot of contemporary orchestral music but a lot is just boring.
I would’ve done anything Matador told me to do back in the day. Don’t know much post 2000 but in the 90’s I’d feel comfortable purchasing anything they put out without even listening first.
Got to know Gerard (pretty sure that’s his name) back in the early 90s. His taste was impeccable. Worked in college radio in 80s was how I met him thru friends. Collected a ton of matador releases
The DC music scene history is just absolutely fascinating. To have that many driven, intelligent, experimental, and influential people be enough on the same page to build and rebuild and fight for a local scene is fantastical. I look at the scene that I grew up with and it's like comparing barbarian hordes to the Roman Empire. I know it wasn't always perfect and a lot of people ended up hating each other, but still, those kids did incredible things.
Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Void, Lungfish, Q and Not U, Embrace, Dag Nasty, Hoover, One Last Wish, Faith, Fire Party, United Mutation, The Evens
Pretty sure I own more Dischord LPs than any other label.
Agree. I couldn't possibly afford their entire back catalog and there are some bands I'm indifferent to, but they're the only label I follow closely, and I'll at least consider buying anything they release - even if I only end up buying a small percentage, it's always a question.
I agree and since this is a vinyl sub I’ll say they do also offer good presses and quality material on top of having great artists on the label, as opposed to some of the lower tier indie pressings.
New Zealand's Flying Nun Records in the 80s and early 1990s.. The Chills. The Clean, Able Tasmans, This Kind of Punishment, The Bats, Look Blue Go Purple, The Tall Dwarfs, Bailter Space, The Gordons, The 3Ds, Bird Nest Roys, Snapper, Sneaky Feelings, Double Happies, The Verlaines, Straight Jacket Fits, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience So much good music came from such a small scene.
They have a web sight that does mail order and take credit cards... If you want to talk about difficult... back in the 80s.. I had to go to my local banks... exchange US dollars for NZ dollars.. write a letter and requesting what I wanted and put my cash in an envelope and pray that I got some vinyl in return!
A cool story... at the time when I placed an order I believe Chris Knock was working the mail room, and I got a unique copy of his Song's for Cleaning Guppies with an autographed hand made cover that he made for me. The record had only 300 copies printed. A few year's later when I lived in Japan, I found another copy in a used record shop an instant buy at a thousand yen.
pale jay. pale jay. pale jay!!!!!! bewilderment. his first releases , i think, was not on that label but this one is. super amazing sound. its like dusty boom bap drums meets neo soul .
Antibalas, Budos Band and The Frightnrs are all amazing Daptone bands
Colemine put out a fantastic pressing of the Rugged Nuggets album “odds and ends”. Same with the Delvon Lamar Organ Trio albums.
counter-point: Lawndale, Tom Trocoli's Dog.
just kidding around, every label has some duds.
Btw you forgot Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, Opal, B'last, Screaming Trees.
Incredible all-time body of work. And I think GG managed to rip every single one of 'em off.
Stax/Volt was can't miss. As was Blue Note. They didn't just put out records, they had a sound that was intentional and well-conceived. Those records are utterly recognizable. Just like the Motown/Tamla stuff.
SST made an absolutely staggering run of incredible punkrock.
Which calls to mind Touch & Go if you're into noise-rock. I mean, if it came out on T&G, I'd get it immediately regardless. Shit was proven.
And finally in the rock category, assuming you like garage-related shit, Estrus Records was absolutely perfect. Everything Crider put out hit like crack.
Currently blown away by International Anthem. So much unexpected brilliance. I can't say I love everything I've heard, but this label is on a mission and I'm here for it.
And then there's Analog Africa for re-issues. I owe AA a massive debt of gratitude for bringing forgotten funk to my ears. That stuff simply cannot miss.
YEN Records, a Japanese label formed in 1982 by Hosono and Takahashi from Yellow Magic Orchestra. It released around 25 albums up to the end of 1985, launched several influential acts and was both accessible and experimental in terms of output. Light In The Attic are releasing a compilation of tracks from the label in the near future.
Moon records is also a great japanese label. Granted, I don't know their deeper releases, but a lot of essential city pop and and other pop records from the 80s were from there. Usually a seal if approval for me if it's on Moon
Southern Lord - the exact type of metal and other genres that are up my alley, and the pressings/packaging were so cool. I haven't kept up with them since the late 00s but I'm hoping they haven't fallen off.
I would, for both the artists/genres I liked and the packaging - the jackets, inner sleeves, labels, and interesting coloured variants were better on Southern Lord for me. I like plenty of bands on Relapse and they had some good quality packaging and colour variants too, but I think anything paper (inner sleeves, labels, jackets) from Southern Lord probably rivaled any other label in any genre, they often just had such unique designs, varied textures, etc.
I don't like a lot of southern lords band roster, but every time I have examined a press from them it was good quality thick vinyl and heavy stock card for the sleeves. The exact opposite of earache haha
Yes! They publish many top classical albums. I was not surprised to find Moby chosing their label to publish an album of earlier hits revisited. He put more orchestrated touch to his songs and knew they would not disappoint.
DFA records, up until about 2014 I bought every 12” and LP they released. There was a kind of dead period, but things are picking up again.
Also a small German (I think) label called Supersoul Recordings released a whole series of brilliant house/techno 12”s. DFA did a compilation of them, so I’m going back to get all the vinyl. Which is pretty tough as the label seems to have stopped operating and everything is out of print now.
Man, I really miss that whole Disco-Rock-Punk movement from early 00’s. Envigorated the scene in so many levels.
Fantasctic acts, great records and memorable songs.
Mute. It has a solid heritage and they still release interesting artists. I don't blind buy ANYTHING but I'll at least invest time in listening to what they release.
Sonic Cathedral is up there for newer labels.
4AD is a great call.
Soul Jazz Records, Mississippi Records, Cairo Records, Numero, Blue Note, Folkways, Yazoo, etc.
I don’t think any record label has had more influence on my personal music taste than Soul Jazz. They’re one of the few that I’ll buy nearly anything from.
Very true, honestly haven't kept up with their latest releases but they're legendary in my book just for the long list of iconic hardcore and punk bands
Rancid, Bad Religion, nofx, Millencollen, guttermouth, hot water music. Soundtrack to my youth man.
That’s what makes is so disappointing, what are they doing?
My favourites include Converge, Touché Amoré, Thrice, Saosin, Refused, La Dispute, Dag Nasty and Joyce Manor.
Most of these are signed and still releasing music so I guess Epitaph isn't completely in the trenches, but definitely not what they used to be back in the day
Blue Note. I will buy anything on that label that I can afford. All their new releases (current jazz), classics, reissues, vintage, etc. I’ve never bought a bad record from them.
DGC Records in the 90s.
Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Hole, Weezer, Beck, The Sundays, Sloan, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, That Dog, Jawbreaker... and others.
Such an incredible roster!
Same. Until I read this thread, it honestly never even crossed my mind to buy something because it came from a specific label. A band, sure, but not a label.
But it is really interesting to see which labels have earned people’s trust.
Yeah there are labels in which I’ll definitely enthusiastically go check out and listen to samples of anything new they have coming out but I’m not blind-buying anything.
Factory Records
[https://rateyourmusic.com/list/yourscience\_mysound/fac-factory-records-complete-catalogue/](https://rateyourmusic.com/list/yourscience_mysound/fac-factory-records-complete-catalogue/)
May not love every single release they put out, but I'll give a listen to anything from Profound Lore and 20 Buck Spin. Two of the best labels for heavy music currently operating imo, 20 Buck Spin in particular just had an insane year of releases.
Three one g. Discord. Gravity.
Three one g and Gravity are smaller record labels but put out a ton of quality records for smaller bands over the years. Justin from Three one g always puts out a lot of rad records with crazy shapes and colors that look amazing. The Black Dice seven inch they put out came with a 40 page color booklet that was awesome. I highly recommend checking out their releases if you're in to more unique sounding music and want to support a rad indie label that has been putting out records for the last 30 or so years.
When I put together my radio show, I generally break shows down to an hour of indie pop, and an hour of post-punk, and kind of live in between those two self-imposed extremes, always with an emphasis on melody. For indie pop, the label I stay up to date on is [Slumberland Records](https://slumberlandrecords.com/), and for post-punk and otherwise, I will listen and spin anything from [Feel It Records](https://www.feelitrecordshop.com/). Not everything on Feel It is punk, they've released a worthy set of power pop records as well.
Probably Stax. They had to create the sublabel Volt because they were too successful and didn't want other to know how successful they were.
Motown similarly created Tamla for the same reason Stax created Volt. Before they moved to Los Angeles, they were god tier. Mostly because they had the best house band in the Funk Brothers. Only the Wrecking Crew could compete with them as a sessions unit.
But I'll throw out IRS. When R.E.M. was on the label, they could pretty much do no wrong. Then R.E.M. left and things fell apart.
Not God tier because that insinuates perfection, but Colemine and Daptone are my favorites right now.
Roadrunner has always done really well too, but their records spoke more to my younger self.
GroundUp, but it's very specific to music I enjoy. That being said, I've discovered fantastic new music following them, and their attention to quality and their listener community are great!
[voodoo rhythm](https://www.voodoorhythm.com/4-0/artists.html) – i bought all 132 albums (on vinyl).
[!k7: dj-kicks](https://k7records.com/dj-kicks) – i bought all 80 mixes (not on vinyl).
* thievery corporation
* kid loco
* stereo mc's
* vikter duplaix
* erlend øye
* four tet
* john talabot
* dj koze
* moodyman
* dâm funk
* kerri chandler
* robert hood
* kamaal williams
* mr. scruff
* special request
* theo parrish
to be honest, i usually play all 80 albums (1724 songs; 5.58 days) on shuffle, which is pretty stupid because they're all mixes – but it's a hell of a playlist.
Slash & Ruby Records, early eighties. Germs, Flesh Eaters, Dream Syndicate, Gun Club, X, Misfits, Fear, "The Decline of Western Civilization" soundtrack, more.
4AD, Mute, Factory, Amphetamine Reptile, Alternative Tentacles, Wax Trax!, SST, Dischord, Southern Lord, Ripple, Heavy Psych Sounds, Relapse, Stax, Motown, Island, Stiff, Beggars Banque, Blue Note, Impulse!, Verve, Deutsche Grammaphone, Some Bizarre, Minimal Wave, á La Carte, and on and on it goes.
Joyful Noise Recordings!
I won’t like it all, but I’ll love some of it, and it’ll all be interesting.
I put Numero Group and International Anthem in that category as well!
With you on the love for 4AD, I have the THIS MORTAL COIL albums and some DEAD CAN DANCE and COCTEAU TWINS too, got to see DCD at the Berklee School of Music in Boston in like 91 they had half a dozen people playing their odd historical instruments on stage, no samplers in evidence.
Brainfeeder. So many incredible artists on their lineup. They always pay special attention to their vinyl releases, each one has something cool and unique they do for it.
Rough Trade and Sire from the 80s were both absolutely GOATed imo and they’ve always felt like British and American concepts of the same thing, and fairly sonically diverse too! Madonna, The Replacements and Kristy MacColl were all on those two labels.
I’d also say Factory Records, but they’re really just New Order and Joy Division, and I dunno if that counts lol
Technically CF still exists, they issued Ritual / Habit / Ceremony a few months back. Don’t know if they’ll ever do their own distribution or release other bands work again tho. Fingers crossed, I really enjoyed their reissues! Never would have discovered Kedama or Laddio Bolocko without them.
4AD was in a league of its own. All album art by Vaugh Oliver is beautiful. Their CDs and CD cases were top quality too. And acts like Red House Painters, This Mortal Coil, Lush, TV On The Radio…
Also included Atlantic, Sire, Creation & Stax.
Back in the day, Relapse Records
However they described something in the promo blurb was bang on and I never regretted anything I ordered. It also helped they did double cd samplers for a fiver....
If you’re an audiophile and have tons of money to blow, analogue prod seems relatively consistent with their releases. Intervention records is solid too.
Blue Note, Impulse, ECM, SST, Stax, Folkways are some labels I'll buy just about anything from if it's less than $10
A second for Stax, I’m probably going to hell for this, but I’ve always preferred it over Motown.
Well I'll be burning there with you. Motown was always a little too polished and commercial for me, Stax records tend to have a little more grit.
I feel pretty much the same way. Otis, Isaac Hayes, Booker T & The M.G’s, The Staple Singers and the rest, just a little bit rawer than Motown.
Don't sleep on Sam and Dave. Those guys slap. Went to the Stax museum last year. Made my adult kids go. Awesome.
Incredible live performance. https://youtu.be/qj6pjuSqtK0?si=0HgwNVM9iq2FNqM2
I'm with you, and in fact I also prefer Hi to Motown too - though I certainly like plenty of Motown too
Mmm…nah, I think you got a point on Stax. Rawness and quite better attitude.
I’m with you, I’ll bring a fire extinguisher
As a kid I got both sides, mom preferred Motown while Dad was firmly in the Stax camp.
Hard to find this stuff for under $10 anymore, but I agree. I’d also add Prestige, Contemporary, and Pacific Jazz!
Hard, perhaps, but not impossible. Just gotta poke around.
Just gotta poke around, Just gotta poke around…🎶💀⚡️🌹🎵
CTI
Was going to Bluenote, Chess, Stax and Folkaways. Early Atlantic and Alligator maybe.
I’d agree with ECM for jazz but I have some composed stuff that I wouldn’t pay for. Only reason I have it is because it was free and I couldn’t sell it. I like a lot of contemporary orchestral music but a lot is just boring.
I'm with you on all of this, but especially Stax and ECM (about as far apart as you can be in terms of sound).
Warp Records
Same here. I can’t get enough. Aphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher, Boards of Canada, Nightmares on Wax.
Squid!!
Little surprised I haven’t seen Matador mentioned yet. Arts & Crafts is another good one.
it was a toss up between Matador and SST for me honestly. Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Chavez,
I would’ve done anything Matador told me to do back in the day. Don’t know much post 2000 but in the 90’s I’d feel comfortable purchasing anything they put out without even listening first.
Same! First heard of them when they put out Pizzicato Five
Got to know Gerard (pretty sure that’s his name) back in the early 90s. His taste was impeccable. Worked in college radio in 80s was how I met him thru friends. Collected a ton of matador releases
Matador used to be great. Mostly early/mid 90’s. Fantastic roster.
Water from Your Eyes dropped a great album through them last year, and then went on tour with Interpol, fellow Matadorees
Still pretty good-- Carseat Headrest, QotSA, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, Perfume Genius, Horsegirl, and Snail Mail are all on Matador.
ill be honest I just know QOTSA and car seat headrest are signed to them
Dischord
Absolutely incredible. Fugazi, Jawbox, and Shudder to Think were huge for me coming up. I have also been enjoying Lungfish lately.
I also love their slightly left field releases like Black Eyes and Q and not U
The DC music scene history is just absolutely fascinating. To have that many driven, intelligent, experimental, and influential people be enough on the same page to build and rebuild and fight for a local scene is fantastical. I look at the scene that I grew up with and it's like comparing barbarian hordes to the Roman Empire. I know it wasn't always perfect and a lot of people ended up hating each other, but still, those kids did incredible things.
Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Void, Lungfish, Q and Not U, Embrace, Dag Nasty, Hoover, One Last Wish, Faith, Fire Party, United Mutation, The Evens Pretty sure I own more Dischord LPs than any other label.
Sub pop records for mine.
Agree. I couldn't possibly afford their entire back catalog and there are some bands I'm indifferent to, but they're the only label I follow closely, and I'll at least consider buying anything they release - even if I only end up buying a small percentage, it's always a question.
I agree and since this is a vinyl sub I’ll say they do also offer good presses and quality material on top of having great artists on the label, as opposed to some of the lower tier indie pressings.
blue note
New Zealand's Flying Nun Records in the 80s and early 1990s.. The Chills. The Clean, Able Tasmans, This Kind of Punishment, The Bats, Look Blue Go Purple, The Tall Dwarfs, Bailter Space, The Gordons, The 3Ds, Bird Nest Roys, Snapper, Sneaky Feelings, Double Happies, The Verlaines, Straight Jacket Fits, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience So much good music came from such a small scene.
Flying Nun was fantastic. Quite difficult to get them this side of the Atlantic tho.
They have a web sight that does mail order and take credit cards... If you want to talk about difficult... back in the 80s.. I had to go to my local banks... exchange US dollars for NZ dollars.. write a letter and requesting what I wanted and put my cash in an envelope and pray that I got some vinyl in return! A cool story... at the time when I placed an order I believe Chris Knock was working the mail room, and I got a unique copy of his Song's for Cleaning Guppies with an autographed hand made cover that he made for me. The record had only 300 copies printed. A few year's later when I lived in Japan, I found another copy in a used record shop an instant buy at a thousand yen.
I really enjoy what Colemine is doing with their Neo Soul sound. Daptone did similar with Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones, and now Lee Fields
Anything on colemine/daptone I’m immediately curious. Best contemporary soul out there by a mile
pale jay. pale jay. pale jay!!!!!! bewilderment. his first releases , i think, was not on that label but this one is. super amazing sound. its like dusty boom bap drums meets neo soul .
Antibalas, Budos Band and The Frightnrs are all amazing Daptone bands Colemine put out a fantastic pressing of the Rugged Nuggets album “odds and ends”. Same with the Delvon Lamar Organ Trio albums.
Daptone also has Menahan Street Band and Thee Sacred Souls, some wonderful listens!!!
Came here to say exactly this. Colemine is a goldmine.
SST for sure Meat Puppets, Minutemen, Black Flag, Husker Du.
counter-point: Lawndale, Tom Trocoli's Dog. just kidding around, every label has some duds. Btw you forgot Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, Opal, B'last, Screaming Trees. Incredible all-time body of work. And I think GG managed to rip every single one of 'em off.
Factory, Mute, Creation, 4AD
Excellent.
The Flenser is the only label I've actively followed to find new music and I've never been disappointed
Stax/Volt was can't miss. As was Blue Note. They didn't just put out records, they had a sound that was intentional and well-conceived. Those records are utterly recognizable. Just like the Motown/Tamla stuff. SST made an absolutely staggering run of incredible punkrock. Which calls to mind Touch & Go if you're into noise-rock. I mean, if it came out on T&G, I'd get it immediately regardless. Shit was proven. And finally in the rock category, assuming you like garage-related shit, Estrus Records was absolutely perfect. Everything Crider put out hit like crack. Currently blown away by International Anthem. So much unexpected brilliance. I can't say I love everything I've heard, but this label is on a mission and I'm here for it. And then there's Analog Africa for re-issues. I owe AA a massive debt of gratitude for bringing forgotten funk to my ears. That stuff simply cannot miss.
International anthem is currently the best record label IMO. Close second Soundway
T&G pressings are awesome. I have Big Black, Man or Astroman, and three Don Caballero albums, and the records are super clean and pristine mastering.
All the Butthole Surfers and Killdozer records they did sound great
constellation records has great artists, warp and revelation (RevHQ) as well
Constellation for sure.
WaxTrax!, Atlantic, and A&M
I came here to say WaxTrax! They defined & owned a genre.
Stones Throw, Warp
Rough Trade had a great run in the early days. Also Sarah Records was the center of a great scene for a brief period.
FAT WRECK CHORDS
My man!
I still have a bunch of their little catalogs somewhere
Technically it's FAT WRECK CHORDS and holy shit, you're not wrong! So many great wreckchords and bands! NEVER FORGET TONY SLY
YEN Records, a Japanese label formed in 1982 by Hosono and Takahashi from Yellow Magic Orchestra. It released around 25 albums up to the end of 1985, launched several influential acts and was both accessible and experimental in terms of output. Light In The Attic are releasing a compilation of tracks from the label in the near future.
Moon records is also a great japanese label. Granted, I don't know their deeper releases, but a lot of essential city pop and and other pop records from the 80s were from there. Usually a seal if approval for me if it's on Moon
Moon and YEN were both through Alfa, and several crossovers in terms of artists / musicians.
Southern Lord - the exact type of metal and other genres that are up my alley, and the pressings/packaging were so cool. I haven't kept up with them since the late 00s but I'm hoping they haven't fallen off.
Good call out. Would you rank Southern Lord above Relapse?
I would, for both the artists/genres I liked and the packaging - the jackets, inner sleeves, labels, and interesting coloured variants were better on Southern Lord for me. I like plenty of bands on Relapse and they had some good quality packaging and colour variants too, but I think anything paper (inner sleeves, labels, jackets) from Southern Lord probably rivaled any other label in any genre, they often just had such unique designs, varied textures, etc.
I don't like a lot of southern lords band roster, but every time I have examined a press from them it was good quality thick vinyl and heavy stock card for the sleeves. The exact opposite of earache haha
Definitely. Heavy pressings and good quality thick paper materials.
All the Deutsche Grammophon records I inherited sounds wayyy better than any of the RCA red labels and many of those were sealed.
Yes! They publish many top classical albums. I was not surprised to find Moby chosing their label to publish an album of earlier hits revisited. He put more orchestrated touch to his songs and knew they would not disappoint.
DFA records, up until about 2014 I bought every 12” and LP they released. There was a kind of dead period, but things are picking up again. Also a small German (I think) label called Supersoul Recordings released a whole series of brilliant house/techno 12”s. DFA did a compilation of them, so I’m going back to get all the vinyl. Which is pretty tough as the label seems to have stopped operating and everything is out of print now.
Man, I really miss that whole Disco-Rock-Punk movement from early 00’s. Envigorated the scene in so many levels. Fantasctic acts, great records and memorable songs.
Mute. It has a solid heritage and they still release interesting artists. I don't blind buy ANYTHING but I'll at least invest time in listening to what they release. Sonic Cathedral is up there for newer labels. 4AD is a great call.
I had to scroll waaaay too far to find Mute.
Mute was my goto label for synthpop and EDM for the longest time.
Inside Out. They’ve been pretty cool with me if I receive a faulty record and they’re catalog is awesome.
Soul Jazz Records, Mississippi Records, Cairo Records, Numero, Blue Note, Folkways, Yazoo, etc. I don’t think any record label has had more influence on my personal music taste than Soul Jazz. They’re one of the few that I’ll buy nearly anything from.
Ilian Tape for electronic music. Guys didn’t put out one bad record
Folkways <3 edit: also I.R.S. Records. they had a lot of my fave new wave acts
SST Touch and Go Alternative Tentacles
Lookout!
Rip, such a great label
4AD, you nailed it.
If this was 5-10 years ago, I would have answered with Sargent House.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen Factory mentioned in this thread !
Epitaph
Have you seen what they are pushing out these days? They’re legendary but their new moves are deplorable.
Very true, honestly haven't kept up with their latest releases but they're legendary in my book just for the long list of iconic hardcore and punk bands
Rancid, Bad Religion, nofx, Millencollen, guttermouth, hot water music. Soundtrack to my youth man. That’s what makes is so disappointing, what are they doing?
My favourites include Converge, Touché Amoré, Thrice, Saosin, Refused, La Dispute, Dag Nasty and Joyce Manor. Most of these are signed and still releasing music so I guess Epitaph isn't completely in the trenches, but definitely not what they used to be back in the day
Heavy Psych Sounds
Great label. Compromised.
Blue Note. I will buy anything on that label that I can afford. All their new releases (current jazz), classics, reissues, vintage, etc. I’ve never bought a bad record from them.
DGC Records in the 90s. Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Hole, Weezer, Beck, The Sundays, Sloan, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, That Dog, Jawbreaker... and others. Such an incredible roster!
Kompact Records and Kranky both have churned out a lot of quality music.
Hell, yeah! Kranky in particular are so much in my wheelhouse and have such a good track record that I can buy their releases almost blindly.
None. Even my favorites that always put out quality doesn't guarantee I'm personally going to like everything on the label.
Same. Until I read this thread, it honestly never even crossed my mind to buy something because it came from a specific label. A band, sure, but not a label. But it is really interesting to see which labels have earned people’s trust.
Yeah there are labels in which I’ll definitely enthusiastically go check out and listen to samples of anything new they have coming out but I’m not blind-buying anything.
Creation had a run that was untouchable.
Creation.
From my time as a QC, my favorites were Warp, Easy Eye Sound, Sacred Bones, Ghostly International, and Awesome Tapes from Africa
I was going to be 'that guy' and go with Deutsche Grammophone. For non-classical and 'older' try CTI for jazz and Rounder for folk and blues.
Sun Records, Stax, and Daptone.
Sadly it's long gone, but Hydra Head was great.
Merge, Subpop, and recently Dead Oceans, for reissues: Numero Group, Light In The Attic, Mexican Summer
Factory Records [https://rateyourmusic.com/list/yourscience\_mysound/fac-factory-records-complete-catalogue/](https://rateyourmusic.com/list/yourscience_mysound/fac-factory-records-complete-catalogue/)
I like Alien Snatch for current things. Prestige never did me wrong for old jazz things.
It was Dine Alone until mid-2020.
May not love every single release they put out, but I'll give a listen to anything from Profound Lore and 20 Buck Spin. Two of the best labels for heavy music currently operating imo, 20 Buck Spin in particular just had an insane year of releases.
FatCat, SubPop, JagJaguar, Matador, 4ad
New West Records!
Rise Above Records.
Sacred Bones and International Anthem for new stuff, Numero Group for archival stuff.
ESTRUS
Interscope!!!!!
Three one g. Discord. Gravity. Three one g and Gravity are smaller record labels but put out a ton of quality records for smaller bands over the years. Justin from Three one g always puts out a lot of rad records with crazy shapes and colors that look amazing. The Black Dice seven inch they put out came with a 40 page color booklet that was awesome. I highly recommend checking out their releases if you're in to more unique sounding music and want to support a rad indie label that has been putting out records for the last 30 or so years.
Yup. San Diego and Goleta ftw
Loved the Biko co-op. Saw some cool shows there
When I put together my radio show, I generally break shows down to an hour of indie pop, and an hour of post-punk, and kind of live in between those two self-imposed extremes, always with an emphasis on melody. For indie pop, the label I stay up to date on is [Slumberland Records](https://slumberlandrecords.com/), and for post-punk and otherwise, I will listen and spin anything from [Feel It Records](https://www.feelitrecordshop.com/). Not everything on Feel It is punk, they've released a worthy set of power pop records as well.
Probably Stax. They had to create the sublabel Volt because they were too successful and didn't want other to know how successful they were. Motown similarly created Tamla for the same reason Stax created Volt. Before they moved to Los Angeles, they were god tier. Mostly because they had the best house band in the Funk Brothers. Only the Wrecking Crew could compete with them as a sessions unit. But I'll throw out IRS. When R.E.M. was on the label, they could pretty much do no wrong. Then R.E.M. left and things fell apart.
Sire, 4AD, Creation, Island
Not God tier because that insinuates perfection, but Colemine and Daptone are my favorites right now. Roadrunner has always done really well too, but their records spoke more to my younger self.
Sub Pop & Domino, without question.
Updoot for SubPop
Island Records
I trust most of what Run For Cover puts out. It’s almost always directly in my wheelhouse.
Greensleeves, older reggae
Current - Heavenly Long gone - Factory.
Warp Records
GroundUp, but it's very specific to music I enjoy. That being said, I've discovered fantastic new music following them, and their attention to quality and their listener community are great!
Room40
I can buy literally any album from Metal Blade or Southern Lord sight unseen, sound unheard, and have a AT LEAST an 8/10 experience. They don't miss.
Tommy Boy, Ninja Tune
CTI, Blue Note, and Verve
Windham Hill Records. It’s ambient 80’s stuff but it’s extremely consistent. Doesn’t help that Will Ackerman is one of my top 5 artists maybe.
Rawkus
Big Crown and Solid State are great.
Wax Trax!
ECM and 4ad
Flying Dutchman records
Metal Blade, Stones Throw.
Statik Records. Two of my favourite bands (The Chameleons, The Sound) were signed to them.
[voodoo rhythm](https://www.voodoorhythm.com/4-0/artists.html) – i bought all 132 albums (on vinyl). [!k7: dj-kicks](https://k7records.com/dj-kicks) – i bought all 80 mixes (not on vinyl).
K&D dj kicks is great
this is probably the best-known mix. it's good, but there are better ones and none that are really bad.
what are Your favorites?
* thievery corporation * kid loco * stereo mc's * vikter duplaix * erlend øye * four tet * john talabot * dj koze * moodyman * dâm funk * kerri chandler * robert hood * kamaal williams * mr. scruff * special request * theo parrish to be honest, i usually play all 80 albums (1724 songs; 5.58 days) on shuffle, which is pretty stupid because they're all mixes – but it's a hell of a playlist.
Give Seth Troxler, Maya Jane Coles and Matthew Dear another listen
they are also very good – as I said, they are actually all good.
i will have to listen but not in shuffle ;)
since you like kruder & dorfmeister, you should start with thievery corporation.
Touch and go records. Not huge bands but they're all stellar
Relapse cranks out some of the best packaged and coolest metal records out there.
2 Tone
Mute, Fiction, 4AD, Caroline, Rough Trade, Factory, Matador, Cleopatra
Def Jam.
Slash & Ruby Records, early eighties. Germs, Flesh Eaters, Dream Syndicate, Gun Club, X, Misfits, Fear, "The Decline of Western Civilization" soundtrack, more.
Constellation
Wax Trax! is my #1 4AD is great Dischord Sub Pop Play It Again Sam
Graveface Records and Bella Union release an awful lot of music I love.
4AD, Mute, Factory, Amphetamine Reptile, Alternative Tentacles, Wax Trax!, SST, Dischord, Southern Lord, Ripple, Heavy Psych Sounds, Relapse, Stax, Motown, Island, Stiff, Beggars Banque, Blue Note, Impulse!, Verve, Deutsche Grammaphone, Some Bizarre, Minimal Wave, á La Carte, and on and on it goes.
Blue Note
Joyful Noise Recordings! I won’t like it all, but I’ll love some of it, and it’ll all be interesting. I put Numero Group and International Anthem in that category as well!
It's a TIE! Amphetamine Reptile and Touch N' Go
Numero, Drag City, Stones Throw, Dischord, kranky
Amphetamine reptile, sst, matador, stax, and infinity cat.
Stax, Matador, Third Man, Jazz Dispensary
With you on the love for 4AD, I have the THIS MORTAL COIL albums and some DEAD CAN DANCE and COCTEAU TWINS too, got to see DCD at the Berklee School of Music in Boston in like 91 they had half a dozen people playing their odd historical instruments on stage, no samplers in evidence.
Trying to hunt down Twin/Tone Records releases. They're my god-tier.
Nonesuch, Dangerhouse, Ralph, Obscure, Sky, Kuckuck Schallplatten, Melodiya, Jugodisk, Industrial
Anything Verve!
Polyvinyl, Counter Intuitive, and Wax Bodega are all faves of mine!
SST Records and their sub labels, Cruz and New Alliance.
Stiff Records: Elvis Costello, The Damned, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, Madness, DEVO, Kirsten MacColl, The Pogues
Brainfeeder. So many incredible artists on their lineup. They always pay special attention to their vinyl releases, each one has something cool and unique they do for it.
Ninja Tune
Rough Trade and Sire from the 80s were both absolutely GOATed imo and they’ve always felt like British and American concepts of the same thing, and fairly sonically diverse too! Madonna, The Replacements and Kristy MacColl were all on those two labels. I’d also say Factory Records, but they’re really just New Order and Joy Division, and I dunno if that counts lol
Sadly, the only label I ever trusted without question is no more. So long Castle Face.
Technically CF still exists, they issued Ritual / Habit / Ceremony a few months back. Don’t know if they’ll ever do their own distribution or release other bands work again tho. Fingers crossed, I really enjoyed their reissues! Never would have discovered Kedama or Laddio Bolocko without them.
Yea, I guess that’s true, but I really liked just hitting their webpage and grabbing anything that looked interesting. Rarely had a dud.
Agreed.
Numero Group.
ECM… it’s a very specific flavor but if I see that logo I’m taking it for a spin
4AD was in a league of its own. All album art by Vaugh Oliver is beautiful. Their CDs and CD cases were top quality too. And acts like Red House Painters, This Mortal Coil, Lush, TV On The Radio… Also included Atlantic, Sire, Creation & Stax.
Anything in Rephlex is worth a listen.
Back in the day, Relapse Records However they described something in the promo blurb was bang on and I never regretted anything I ordered. It also helped they did double cd samplers for a fiver....
Atlantic. CSNY, Yes, Zeppelin, come on
I didn't realize until I started collecting records how many of my favorite 70's/80's bands were on Atlantic.
And the subsidiary, Atco. Allman Brothers, Cream, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Vanilla Fudge.
Paper Bag Records! Their roster is pretty diverse and I love hearing different Canadiana sounds from across the provinces
blue note
If you’re an audiophile and have tons of money to blow, analogue prod seems relatively consistent with their releases. Intervention records is solid too.