Music
Manchester's best record labels
A city for 24-hour party people, Manchester has more than its fair share of cutting-edge imprints. Here are eight of its finest.
Manchester has never been short of era-defining record labels, but now it truly is spoilt for choice. Many have naturally evolved from the city’s best-loved parties, incubating homegrown talent as well as demonstrating Manchester’s intense interest in sounds from far afield. Here are eight of the best, from the north’s most prolific and long-running imprints, to a new generation of labels just getting started.
1. Skam Records
Founded in 1990 by Gescom’s Andy Maddocks, Skam Records is one of Manchester’s longest running labels. Basically an electronic music institution, it’s responsible for some of the genre’s most cherished classics, notably tracks by Rochdale’s IDM pioneers like Autechre and Bola, chip tune scene godfathers Team Doyob and Scottish analogue dons Boards of Canada. Recognisable by its name printed in braille, the label proved its continued eye for excellence by releasing Manchester-based Afrodeutsche’s debut LP Make Before Make earlier this year. The LP’s bittersweet narrative, crafted from a range of hardware, conjures up the unique moodiness of the rainy city, and is likely another classic in the making.
2. Swing Ting
A love of dancehall, hip hop and R&B united Manchester students Balraj Samrai and Ruben Platt, who went on to start their sound system-inspired monthly club night, Swing Ting, in the Soup Kitchen basement. Their collective grew to include a varied cohort of transatlantic producers and MCs, before they launched a record label of the same name in 2014. From the genre fusion of Manchester’s Madd Again!, reggaeton from DJ Florentino, Kingston-based crew Equiknoxx’s dancehall and FDM from New York’s Epic B, the label is a testament to the pair’s tastemaker credentials and breadth of globe-spanning partnerships. Ten years on from their crate-digging days, Swing Ting are now also a production outfit, and released their stellar debut EP Junction in 2017.
3. Banana Hill
Banana Hill started off as a party in Sheffield, but put its roots down in Manchester and became one of the city’s leading Afrocentric events. Comprising of Cervo and JVC, the collective was later joined by South African selector SNO and focuses on genres such as Afrobeat, jazz, kwaito, footwork and neo-soul. Launching their label in June 2017, Banana Hill’s first release was a celebration of songs by Moroccan multi-instrumentalist Majid Bekkas, reworked for the club by Cervo. Most recently, the label have collaborated with Ugandan percussion troupe Fonkodelis Arkestra on Kawuku Sound, a record of Bugandan drumming complemented by contemporary electronics.
4. Chow Down
Although Manchester has never been short of first-rate grime artists, the city has sometimes struggled to keep its grime-leaning parties in business. Chow Down is an exception. Now in its seventh year, the Soup Kitchen-based club night and NTS show launched its own record label in 2017 with the self-titled debut of their resident Anz – a four-track EP that showcased her ability to infuse grime with touches of UK funky and bassline. Three more releases have followed, including one which saw fellow resident Fallow infuse energetic grime instrumentals with proudly saccharine melodic flourishes. With a magpie approach to music policy, Chow Down never ceases to exhilarate.
DJ Rashad plays at a Chow Down x Project 13 night at Soup Kitchen
© Gary Brown
5. Project 13
With South Manchester maverick Acre at its helm, seven-year-old Project 13 is a party-cum-label that’s found a suitable home in Manchester’s experimental heart – Salford venues Hidden and The White Hotel. Catering to fans of techno but also bass, grime, dubstep, footwork and jungle, the last year has seen Project 13 welcome longtime friend Mumdance for a guest residency and Afrodeutsche join the fold. Meanwhile, the label is an exercise in techno experimentalism, with releases so far including Acre’s 2014 release Symbols, two EPs from London artist Divided, as well as 2015’s Parched / Scored 12" from Manchester’s Szare.
6. Sola
Tech-house duo Solardo started their label as a response to rejection of their own material. In 2015 they released Planet Moog, which gained the support of Boiler Room, and although they're kept incredibly busy as DJs (this year they bagged a Hï Ibiza residency) they have ensured the label has since gained traction with a continued slew of releases. Last October, after their Sola Records showcase at their Solardo Warehouse Project night, they celebrated a milestone 50 releases on the label. Now, they're at an impressive pace of dropping new music every Friday, and enthusiastically support rising local talent, such as producers, promoters and Beatport chart toppers Mvson Collective.
7. Sferic
Sferic’s three releases might well be described as ambient, but they’re also thoughtful homages to harder sounds. They began in 2017, their first release being a dub and Detroit-techno informed debut from Manchester producer Echium. For their second release, they continued this trend with the long-awaited Somewhere Decent To Live by local duo Space Afrika – an LP which takes jungle, dubstep and deep house influences and moulds them into an intricate, elegant and soothing antidote to the fatigue of modern life. Meanwhile, their latest offering, Lady’s Mantle, saw LA-based Jake Muir distort surf-rock samples until they are unrecognisable under a lush ambient glaze.
8. Hypermagic
Hypermagic is a tape series which aims to catalogue the spirit of parties and DJs fiercely committed to the underground Manchester music scene. Beginning in 2017 with a mix by rising stars Blasha & Allatt from techno-focused collective Meat Free, its second instalment from electronic duo Perfume Advert offers a rich mosaic of demos, live recordings, sketches and computer game sounds. Hypermagic's latest release came courtesy of Homoelectric linchpin Jamie Bull, with a new upcoming mix from longtime purveyor of uplifting house and disco, Neil Diablo, lying in wait.
NEXT: Read about Manchester's best record shops
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