Ache Records is an independent record label based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was started by the musician Andy Dixon around 1999. Ache releases music for both Canadian and foreign acts.[1] The first release on Ache Records was Hot Hot Heat's release, Hot Hot Heat (1999), a four-song EP.[2] Other notable artists to work with Ache include Death from Above 1979, Four Tet, Hrvatski, Konono N°1, and Matmos.[3]
| Ache Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Andy Dixon |
| Genre | Indie music |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Official website | AcheRecords.com |
Ache Records releases albums from disparate genres. The University of Saskatchewan newspaper, The Sheaf, says that Ache has an "inconsistency of genres" and the label distances itself from using genres to describe its releases.[4][5] Ache has been described by the Montreal Mirror as having an "uncanny ability to meld seemingly disparate worlds into a cohesive whole".[6] Discorder magazine named Ache Records "Label of the Year" for 2004, citing a featured review on Pitchfork Media for Flössin's album Lead Singer,[7] as well as the label's DIV/ORCE 7″ series.[8]
Ache Records releases
editThe first release on Ache Records was Hot Hot Heat's Hot Hot Heat, a four-song EP.[2] Hot Hot Heat also recorded a split album with The Red Light Sting for the label's (and Hot Hot Heat's) second release.[9]
Dixon's first band, d.b.s., released its final album on Ache in 2001, a five song EP entitled Forget Everything You Know.[10] One thousand copies were issued.[10] Dixon has also released several of his solo albums through the label (as The Epidemic, Secret Mommy, and by his real name), and with the bands The Red Light Sting and Winning.[3]
Femme Fatale's second album, As You Sow, So Shall You Reap, was released by Ache in 2002.[11]
Death from Above 1979 released their first EP, Heads Up, on Ache in 2002,[12] as well as the vinyl edition of their 2004 album You're a Woman, I'm a Machine.[13]
The Swedish band Kid Commando released their only album, Holy Kid Commando, with Ache in 2003.[14] They also released a split single with Kid606 for Ache's DIV/ORCE 7″ series.[15]
The Congolese band Konono N°1 released the vinyl version of their 2004 album Congotronics through Ache.[16] Ache has issued three pressings of the album.[17]
DIV/ORCE 7″ series
editOn the DIV/ORCE 7″ series of split 7-inch singles, the musicians on each side have different musical styles.[6][18] The series began in order to challenge what Ache Records called "finicky sub-genrifying",[5] believing instead that "underground art forms should not be defined".[18] Although Ache does not describe the genres of its releases, the Montreal Mirror says that the pairings on these records are typically between electronic and indie rock acts.[6] The split releases in the series include:
- ACHE013 – Hella / Four Tet
- ACHE016 – Matmos / Die Monitr Batss
- ACHE019 – Sightings / Hrvatski
- ACHE023 – Kid606 / Kid Commando
- ACHE028 – Greg Davis / Of
- ACHE031 – Gorge Trio / Uske Orchestra
- ACHE035 – Bulbs Band / Wobbly
- ACHE039 – The Secret Mommy Quintet / Basketball band
Project: Bicycle
editAnother project of Ache Records was its compilation album Project: Bicycle. The album had eleven songs by various electronic or electro-acoustic musicians. These musicians were given a single sample of music, a recording of a bicycle recorded by Jesse Gander at Hive Studios in Vancouver, and they were tasked with composing a song using only that sample.[19]
References
edit- ^ Krumins, Arthur (30 November 2006). "Listen to This! – Vancouver's Ache Records". The Tyee. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
The label releases Canadian and international artists' musical work from a home in Vancouver, B.C.
- ^ a b "Hot Hot Heat: s/t 7". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Releases". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 8 December 2006. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ Morin, Chris (22 September 2005). "CD Reviews: Konono No 1 – Congotronics" (PDF). The Sheaf. 97 (7). Saskatoon, SK: B7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
Ache has developed not only a reputation for itself, but an assurance of consistency in musical aesthetic; you are likely to find an affinity with the bands on the label despite the seeming inconsistency of genres (or lack thereof; Ache has seamlessly transcended genre and is sort of its own descriptor).
- ^ a b "Gorge Trio / Uske Orchestra: Split 7". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 26 May 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
The 6th installment of our DIV/ORCE series, dedicated to the abolishment of finicky sub-genrifying
- ^ a b c Katigbak, Raf (17–23 November 2005). "Disc of the week". Montreal Mirror. 21 (22). Montreal: Quebecor. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
Vancouver's Ache Records have always prided themselves on their uncanny ability to meld seemingly disparate worlds into a cohesive whole (like their seven-inch series, pairing electronic musicians with indie rock acts).
- ^ Richardson, Mark (17 September 2004). "Flössin: Lead Singer". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
- ^ "Discorder Label of the Year: Ache Records". Discorder. Vancouver. December 2004. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
Recent releases include Flössin's Lead Singer, which garnered a featured review on Pitchforkmedia.com, and the Div/Orce 7" series, nine split singles featuring artists who are too busy making rad music to bother categorizing themselves.
- ^ "Hot Hot Heat / The Red Light Sting: split LP". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ a b "d.b.s.: Forget Everything You Know CDEP". AcheRecords.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Femme Fatale: As You Sow, So Shall You Reap 12". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ Rayner, Ben (31 December 2006). "On Death and dying". Toronto Star. Torstar. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
There's also the requisite, impossible-to-find early-career EP (2002's Heads Up!, released in limited quantities on Vancouver's Ache Records)
- Tattersall, Jennifer (2 December 2004). "Keep your eyes on the skies". Hour. Communications Voir. Archived from the original on 15 May 2005. Retrieved 1 May 2009.The debut Death From Above release, a six-song EP titled Heads Up, dropped in 2002 on Ache Records, a DIY-minded indie rock/punk/hardcore label out of Vancouver, that also counts early Hot Hot Heat among its releases.
- "Death from Above: Heads Up CDEP/12". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2009. - ^ "Death from Above: You're a Woman, I'm a Machine LP". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Kid Commando: Holy Kid Commando CD/LP". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Kid606 / Kid Commando: split 7". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ "Konono No. 1". Forced Exposure. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- "Konono No.1, Congotronics". Boomkat.com. Retrieved 1 May 2009. - ^ "Konono No1: Congotronics LP". AcheRecords.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
- ^ a b "DIV/ORCE 7" series". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
- ^ "Project: Bicycle". Ache Records. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
- Perera, Nilan (June 2006). "Various Artists: Project Bicycle". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2009.Enter Project Bicycle, a CD of 11 electronic/electro-acoustic artists from eight countries who were given a sample track of a real bicycle and told to make an "instrumental" piece of music using only that sound source.