Asphodel Ltd ( ''Asphodel Records'') was a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-based

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 ...

founded by musician Mitzi Johnson and Naut Humon in 1992. The label is named after the mythological flower that grows along the banks of the River Styx in

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

. The label had shut down as of January 2011.Definition of Asphodel's name Asphodel has a diverse catalog of releases with a prominent

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

thread in the genres of

turntablism Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA sy ...

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

, ambient, illbient, electroacoustic,

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow temp ...

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, and lounge.

History

The label's first release was the self-titled debut by Johnson's band, Blue Rubies. Naut Humon became the official Asphodel head of A&R in 1994. Erik Gilbert, once served as the label's General Manager,Erik Gilbert profile at IODA
before becoming the Vice President of Content at the Independent Online Distribution Alliance before Sony restructured to become

The Orchard The Orchard may refer to: * The Orchard (company), American music and entertainment company * The Orchard (band), Canadian country music duo * ''The Orchard'' (Lizz Wright album), 2008 * ''The Orchard'' (Ra Ra Riot album), 2010 * The Orchard (t ...

. Asphodel was named as one of the "top 10 independent labels in the world" by

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

magazine in 1998. :Speaking on the legacy of Asphodel, rikGilbert underlined its uncompromising stance and approach: "Incredible artists, incredible albums. I am honoured and proud to have been involved with them. Nothing has since come close." For regorAsch, without Naut there would be no DJ Olive as we knew him and perhaps no illbient. "The label is Naut’s legacy really," he admits. "Quality sampling from emerging sounds on the meridian between the underground and the popular. A world class grasp of production and mastering while always pushing the boundaries of a surround performance experience." As of January 2011, a message on the asphodel.com last snapshot reads, "Asphodel is now closed. Thank you for the love and support. Mitzi Johnson, San Francisco January, 2011".

Artists

*AGF.3 + SUE.C *Alexander Rishaug *

Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson (born January 4, 1956) is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer. She was described by ''The New York Times'' in 1990 as "An endearing theatrical chameleon who has as many characters at her fingertips as L ...

*antimatter *

Badawi In Arabic onomastics (" ''nisbah''"), Al-Badawi denotes a relationship to or from Bedouin areas (consequently "badawi" may sometimes imply ''rustic''). It is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: *Ahmad al-Badawi, a ...

Biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be ...

*Blue Rubies *Broker/Dealer * Byzar * Christian Marclay * Curtis Roads * Daniel Menche * David Darling * Diamanda Galas *

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics " illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabl ...

* Fe-Mail *Fires Were Shot *Gregory Lenczycki *

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

Invisibl Skratch Piklz The Invisibl Skratch Piklz are an American group of turntablists. The members of the group were originally hip-hop DJs, who were among the pioneers of the turntablism movement in the 1990s; turntablists create musical pieces by mixing sampl ...

*Iso Orchestra *

Janek Schaefer Janek Schaefer (born 1970) is a British avant-garde artist, musician, composer, and entertainer, known for performing and exhibiting his work around the world with sound and installation art. Schaefer has released 36 albums, runs Lucky Dip Disco, ...

* Jeff Greinke * John Cage *John Ward *

Ken Nordine Ken Nordine (April 13, 1920 – February 16, 2019) was an American voice-over and recording artist, best known for his series of word jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie trai ...

KK Null , known by his stage name KK Null, is a Japanese experimental multi-instrumentalist active since the early 1980s. He began as a guitarist but learned how to compose, sing, play drums, and create electronic music. He also studied Butoh dance at ...

*Laminar *Li Alin * Martin Ng, Oren Ambarchi, Tina Frank, Robin Fox * Maryanne Amacher * Mix Master Mike * Naut Humon *

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked in ...

*Phil Crumar *Ray Guillette * Reinhold Friedl * Rhythm & Sound * Richard Devine * Robert Rich *

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...

* Single Cell Orchestra * Steve Roach * Sub Dub *The-Allies *

Thomas Dimuzio p53 was an experimental music group commissioned by English percussionist Chris Cutler to play at the 25th Frankfurt Jazz Festival in Germany in September 1994. Their performance was recorded and released by Recommended Records in 1996 on a li ...

* Tipsy *

Ulf Langheinrich Ulf Langheinrich (born 1960 Wolfen, Germany) is a visual artist and composer. His work is mainly concerned with non-narrative environments and performances focusing on a specific approach to time, space and body. Since 2016 he is the Artistic Dire ...

Vidna Obmana Vidna Obmana (stylized vidnaObmana on many album covers) is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. The name ''Vidna Obmana'', a phrase in Serbian, literally translates to "optical illusion" and was chosen by Serr ...

* We™ *World Standard *

X-Ecutioners The X-Ecutioners are a group of American hip hop DJs/ turntablists from New York City, New York. The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, DJ Precision. Original members of the gro ...

* Yasunao Tone *zeitkratzer * he User

References

External links

Last snapshot of Asphodel.com

Asphodel's MySpace Page

Asphodel on YouTube
American independent record labels Companies based in San Francisco Music of the San Francisco Bay Area 1992 establishments in California {{US-independent-record-label-stub

History

Artists

See also

References

External links