Or Records (sometimes capitalized OR Records after their logo) is a small British

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, which was established in 1998 and based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The label specializes in

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

and is distributed by

Touch Music Touch (sometimes mistakenly written 'Touch Records' and sometimes written Touch Music, which is technically the publishing side of the company) is a British audio-visual organisation, operating the Touch label. Touch was founded in 1982 by Jon ...

. They have issued "''the first ever

MiniDisc MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio. Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year fo ...

only release''" (Alan Phillips,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Software)

the 1998 experimental album ''Minidisc'' by

Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...

's side-project Gescom.

Overview

The label was apparently established in 1998 with its first release, a CD remaster of a 1995 vinyl previously from Mego Records. They have since slowly but regularly published 15 releases from 1998 to 2003. They sign with the motto "''it's a or''". Their peculiar catalogue numbering scheme use a different word for each release, followed by the actual number of the release in the catalogue: "UNLESS 1", "ORCDR 2", "ONLY 3", etc., up to "JUST 13". Their audio magazines use the more regular "ISSUE 1" and "ISSUE 2" scheme.

Artists

Published artists alphabetically include: CD_Slopper,

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

, Farmersmanual (

Farmers Manual Farmers Manual is an electronic music and visual art group, founded in Vienna in the beginning of the 1990s. The core members of the collective are Mathias Gmachl, Stefan Possert, Oswald Berthold, Gert Brantner, and Nik Gaffney. Part of the very ...

or Farmer's Manual), Gescom,

Zbigniew Karkowski Zbigniew Karkowski (born 14 March 1958 – 12 December 2013) was a Polish experimental musician and composer. Karkowski was born on 14 March 1958 in Krakow, Poland. He studied composition at the State College of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden, aest ...

& Helmut Schäfer (a.k.a. Helmut Schaefer), Francisco López, MAZK (

Masami Akita is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

& Zbigniew Karkowski),

Daniel Menche Daniel Menche (born December 4, 1969) is an American experimental musician and multidisciplinary artist from Portland, Oregon. Since 1989 he has recorded many albums that are categorized as electro-acoustic, noise music, dark ambient music, abs ...

, Shirt Trax (a.k.a. Shirttrax), Stützpunkt Wien 12 – plus (on anthologies) Hecker, and

Incapacitants are a Japanese noise music group formed in 1981. Initially a solo project of Toshiji Mikawa, Fumio Kosakai joined upon the project's relocation to Tokyo. The duo's stated aim is to produce "pure" noise, uninfluenced by musical ideas or even hu ...

. They also sometimes issue an "audio magazine" (a CD with the magazine for booklet) about new computer music: * (1999) '' Or Some Computer Music'' - (featuring

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...

, Beautyon, CD_Slopper, General Magic,

Kevin Drumm Kevin Drumm (born 1970) is an experimental musician based in Chicago, United States. Biography Emerging from the city's improvised music scene, in the 1990s he became one of the world's pre-eminent prepared guitar players. Since then his work ...

, Stephen Travis Pope, Trevor Wishart, Ubik,

& Kasper T. Toeplitz) * (2001) ''Or Some Computer Music 2'' - (featuring Albert de Campo, Atau Tanaka & Eric Wenger,

Curtis Roads Curtis Roads (born May 9, 1951) is an American composer, author and computer programmer. He composes electronic and electroacoustic music, specializing in granular and pulsar synthesis. Career and music Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Roads studied c ...

, Farmersmanual, Jim O'Rourke, Phoenecia, Tom Wallace)

External links

Official site

Discography of Or Records
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 1998 Experimental music record labels Noise music record labels

Overview

Artists

See also

External links