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**Wasted** · 05-18-2008, 01:38 AM

Some Ninja facts:

NINJA TUNE /BIG DADA/ COUNTER RECORDS

NINJA TUNE

Ninja Tune is an independent record label that is based in London, England (with a satellite office on Montreal for U.S/Canada business), created in 1990 by the duo known as Coldcut. Coldcut were pioneers of the emerging hip-hop/electro scene in the eighties. Inspired by a visit to Japan, Matt Black & Jonathon More (Coldcut) primarily created Ninja Tune to act as a vehicle by which they could release music of a more underground nature, free from the restraints placed on artists by major labels (the same restraints that were put on them via their brief stints with Arista and Big Life).

The first releases were heralded by the music press and afficionados simultaneously. The first four volumes of 'DJ Food - Jazz Brakes', produced by Coldcut, were comprised of instrumental hip-hop cuts, subsequently giving birth to the genre called 'trip-hop', and seen as indispensable tools for DJ's.

The label achieved a level of notoriety quickly, due to its funky style and commitment to eclecticism. Key in the labels success was the constantly growing roster of very different sounding artists.

Ninja Tune is quite simply a massive collective of passionate music listeners and collectors just putting out what they think sounds good. There is no huge calculated commercial agenda outside of our need/want to put out good records...

PRESS QUOTES

“One of the most innovative independent record labels ever.”
The Independent on Sunday

“One of Britain’s most consistently innovative imprints.”
The Times

“The Ninja collection shows that you can experiment musically and challenge while holding on to the seeds of popularity, and that improvisation doesn’t have to mean you disappear up yourself.”
The Guardian

“Ninja Tune has firmly established itself as one of the most credible independent labels in the UK…a model for independence.”
Music Week

BIG DADA

Big Dada, home of some of the most maverick, forward-thinking and innovative artists in hip hop and beyond has just hit double figures.

Big Dada was started when then-music journalist Will Ashon approached Peter Quicke (boss of Ninja Tune) and suggested a hip hop label to run alongside but independently of the venerable indie. Heavily influenced by the underground hip hop scenes that had grown up in LA in the early nineties and then New York in the mid-nineties, Ashon envisaged the label as a home for musical misfits and pioneers, for those who were more interested in producing something worthwhile than necessarily having a hit.

Whilst “underground hip hop” became shorthand for a kind of nostalgic belief in “real hip hop” and dusty samples, Big Dada continued to evolve. Ashon maintains, though, that the label has stayed true to its founding principles. “I always thought the basic principle of hip hop was to keep moving, to constantly be trying something new. To be fresher than everyone else!”

Certainly, few labels have operated such a broad-church policy to rap-based music, both in terms of style and geography. How many labels could claim to have had a consistent music policy over ten years while releasing artists as diverse as Wiley and cLOUDDEAD? How many labels could justify releasing French group TTC, Diplo’s early Brazilian experiments, some of the finest acts to come out of the UK (Roots Manuva, Ty, New Flesh, Infinite Livez), as well as some of the finest underground acts to emerge from the USA (Spank Rock, King Geedorah/MF Doom, Mike Ladd’s Infesticons project) in addition to some of the most wildly offbeat (Bigg Jus, Busdriver)?

“Hip hop has saturated the breadth of popular music and culture,” Ashon argues. “There can’t be any rules about what’s acceptable or authentic other than whether it moves you and excites you. That’s all we’ve ever tried to do.”

PRESS QUOTES

"The very best underground hip hop label" - Observer Music Monthly

"The most progressive British hip hop label ever" - The Fader

COUNTER RECORDS

Ninja Tune presents Counter Records

For 16 years we've held steadfast to our label mission of bringing the finest in electronic / hip-hop / jazz / etc.. to the homes and clubs. We've seen the cycle of trends turn over four or five times in all the different territories we deal with. We've been hip, then not-hip, then hip again many times over depending on what the cannon of press and popular underground opinion happens to be clocking at that moment. And all the while we really didn't give a shit what people were thinking/buying and just kept putting out what we believed to be excellent in our field.

So although all of us here love all kinds of music from pop to the rock to r&b to hardcore and we've had plenty of good demos and opportunities to broaden our sound over the years we just never felt like we needed to make that jump.

And then we heard Pop Levi...

Pop Levi is part of our sprawling Ninja Tune Liverpool psych-rock collective Super Numeri. He casually handed over demos for a record he was working on that showed a modern spin on rock & soul (somewhere between Marc Bolan & Prince... for real) and we immediately knew that there was no way we could pass on it. That we were impressed enough with it to shirk a 16 year old label agenda and give the record its own imprint should tell you right away how incredible it is. So it's a new sound coming to you from us, backed by 16 years of experience and knowledge as a label.

As Ninja Tune’s Peter Quicke explains, “Ninja Tune was always intended to be a broad church but we were having such fun being left-foot beats & jazz snobs – its great to be breaking out of that. Pop Levi is such an immensely talented musician and performer it all seems to make sense from over here”

From this spring board, Counter has blossomed and become home to innovative new acts including the un-missable Death Set, a micro-blast of catchy choruses, screamed lyrics, chaos, violence, humour and the reaffirmation of the value of going fucking nuts.

Plus The Heavy, who make the kind of dirty, guitar-scorched hip hop soul which leads you into temptation. The Heavy specialize in making everything wrong sound right. So successful are they, so good does it feel, so natural, that voodoo filth will be pouring through you before you know what’s going on.

KEY ARTISTS

NINJA TUNE

Coldcut

Amon Tobin

Mr. Scruff

Kid Koala

The Cinematic Orchestra

Bononbo

The Bug

The Qemists

DJ Food

DK
DJ Kentaro

Daedelus

Hextatic

Skalpel

BIG DADA

Roots Manuva

Ty

Wiley

TTC

Diplo

Infinite Livez

Spank Rock

COUNTER

The Heavy

The Death Set

Pop Levi

05-18-2008, 01:38 AM	#12 (permalink)
Wasted Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,046	Some Ninja facts: NINJA TUNE /BIG DADA/ COUNTER RECORDS NINJA TUNE Ninja Tune is an independent record label that is based in London, England (with a satellite office on Montreal for U.S/Canada business), created in 1990 by the duo known as Coldcut. Coldcut were pioneers of the emerging hip-hop/electro scene in the eighties. Inspired by a visit to Japan, Matt Black & Jonathon More (Coldcut) primarily created Ninja Tune to act as a vehicle by which they could release music of a more underground nature, free from the restraints placed on artists by major labels (the same restraints that were put on them via their brief stints with Arista and Big Life). The first releases were heralded by the music press and afficionados simultaneously. The first four volumes of 'DJ Food - Jazz Brakes', produced by Coldcut, were comprised of instrumental hip-hop cuts, subsequently giving birth to the genre called 'trip-hop', and seen as indispensable tools for DJ's. The label achieved a level of notoriety quickly, due to its funky style and commitment to eclecticism. Key in the labels success was the constantly growing roster of very different sounding artists. Ninja Tune is quite simply a massive collective of passionate music listeners and collectors just putting out what they think sounds good. There is no huge calculated commercial agenda outside of our need/want to put out good records... PRESS QUOTES “One of the most innovative independent record labels ever.” The Independent on Sunday “One of Britain’s most consistently innovative imprints.” The Times “The Ninja collection shows that you can experiment musically and challenge while holding on to the seeds of popularity, and that improvisation doesn’t have to mean you disappear up yourself.” The Guardian “Ninja Tune has firmly established itself as one of the most credible independent labels in the UK…a model for independence.” Music Week BIG DADA Big Dada, home of some of the most maverick, forward-thinking and innovative artists in hip hop and beyond has just hit double figures. Big Dada was started when then-music journalist Will Ashon approached Peter Quicke (boss of Ninja Tune) and suggested a hip hop label to run alongside but independently of the venerable indie. Heavily influenced by the underground hip hop scenes that had grown up in LA in the early nineties and then New York in the mid-nineties, Ashon envisaged the label as a home for musical misfits and pioneers, for those who were more interested in producing something worthwhile than necessarily having a hit. Whilst “underground hip hop” became shorthand for a kind of nostalgic belief in “real hip hop” and dusty samples, Big Dada continued to evolve. Ashon maintains, though, that the label has stayed true to its founding principles. “I always thought the basic principle of hip hop was to keep moving, to constantly be trying something new. To be fresher than everyone else!” Certainly, few labels have operated such a broad-church policy to rap-based music, both in terms of style and geography. How many labels could claim to have had a consistent music policy over ten years while releasing artists as diverse as Wiley and cLOUDDEAD? How many labels could justify releasing French group TTC, Diplo’s early Brazilian experiments, some of the finest acts to come out of the UK (Roots Manuva, Ty, New Flesh, Infinite Livez), as well as some of the finest underground acts to emerge from the USA (Spank Rock, King Geedorah/MF Doom, Mike Ladd’s Infesticons project) in addition to some of the most wildly offbeat (Bigg Jus, Busdriver)? “Hip hop has saturated the breadth of popular music and culture,” Ashon argues. “There can’t be any rules about what’s acceptable or authentic other than whether it moves you and excites you. That’s all we’ve ever tried to do.” PRESS QUOTES "The very best underground hip hop label" - Observer Music Monthly "The most progressive British hip hop label ever" - The Fader COUNTER RECORDS Ninja Tune presents Counter Records For 16 years we've held steadfast to our label mission of bringing the finest in electronic / hip-hop / jazz / etc.. to the homes and clubs. We've seen the cycle of trends turn over four or five times in all the different territories we deal with. We've been hip, then not-hip, then hip again many times over depending on what the cannon of press and popular underground opinion happens to be clocking at that moment. And all the while we really didn't give a shit what people were thinking/buying and just kept putting out what we believed to be excellent in our field. So although all of us here love all kinds of music from pop to the rock to r&b to hardcore and we've had plenty of good demos and opportunities to broaden our sound over the years we just never felt like we needed to make that jump. And then we heard Pop Levi... Pop Levi is part of our sprawling Ninja Tune Liverpool psych-rock collective Super Numeri. He casually handed over demos for a record he was working on that showed a modern spin on rock & soul (somewhere between Marc Bolan & Prince... for real) and we immediately knew that there was no way we could pass on it. That we were impressed enough with it to shirk a 16 year old label agenda and give the record its own imprint should tell you right away how incredible it is. So it's a new sound coming to you from us, backed by 16 years of experience and knowledge as a label. As Ninja Tune’s Peter Quicke explains, “Ninja Tune was always intended to be a broad church but we were having such fun being left-foot beats & jazz snobs – its great to be breaking out of that. Pop Levi is such an immensely talented musician and performer it all seems to make sense from over here” From this spring board, Counter has blossomed and become home to innovative new acts including the un-missable Death Set, a micro-blast of catchy choruses, screamed lyrics, chaos, violence, humour and the reaffirmation of the value of going fucking nuts. Plus The Heavy, who make the kind of dirty, guitar-scorched hip hop soul which leads you into temptation. The Heavy specialize in making everything wrong sound right. So successful are they, so good does it feel, so natural, that voodoo filth will be pouring through you before you know what’s going on. KEY ARTISTS NINJA TUNE Coldcut Amon Tobin Mr. Scruff Kid Koala The Cinematic Orchestra Bononbo The Bug The Qemists DJ Food DK DJ Kentaro Daedelus Hextatic Skalpel BIG DADA Roots Manuva Ty Wiley TTC Diplo Infinite Livez Spank Rock COUNTER The Heavy The Death Set Pop Levi