Aztec Records is an independent British record label. It specialises in electronic and pop music, in the subgenres of

Synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

Synthwave Synthwave (also called retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with the Film score, film soundtracks of action films, science fiction films, and horror films of the 1980s. ...

and Retrowave following the music and pop culture of the 80s. It was founded in 2010 by Laura Fares and Ariel Amejeiras.

Label Development

The record company has developed and released acts such as

Bright Light Bright Light Rod Thomas (born 30 October 1982), known professionally as Bright Light Bright Light, is a Welsh electro-pop singer, DJ, composer and producer based in New York City. Bright Light Bright Light incorporates many elements of nu-disco into his mus ...

, NINA, LAU, Zenith Volt, Sunglasses Kid, Owlle, Gryff, Thought Beings, Primo the Alien, Oblique, Eutropic, Power Rob, Surrender, Wyve, Mickey Cupid, Traverse Town, Maighread and many others. Bright Light Bright Light is Welsh composer/producer and DJ Rod Thomas. His album "Make Me Believe In Hope", was recorded during two years with different collaborators: Andy Chatterley (Kylie /

Nerina Pallot Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot (born 26 April 1974) is a British singer, songwriter and producer, who has released eight albums and over a dozen EPs. She was nominated for British Female Solo Artist at the 2007 BRIT Awards and nominated for an ...

Boom Bip Bryan Charles Hollon (born June 22, 1974), better known by his stage name Boom Bip, is an American record producer and musician. He is one half of Neon Neon along with Gruff Rhys. He is based in Los Angeles, California. Biography Boom Bip started ...

(

Neon Neon Neon Neon is a collaborative project from producer Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys, the frontman for the Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals. They began work on the project in October 2006 originally under the moniker Delorean. In March 2008 the duo, ...

) and

The Invisible Men The Invisible Men is a song writing and music production trio consisting of Jason Pebworth, George Astasio and (former member) Jon Shave. Songs written by The Invisible Men have so far achieved over 7 billion Spotify streams, 30 million record ...

(Jessie J). Laura Fares discovered and developed NINA in 2010, a German singer-songwriter based in Berlin, with whom she formed a band until 2019. Aztec Records released NINA’s first single "Take Me Away", a pop dance song, in 2011. The label has also produced and released NINA’s first two albums ‘Sleepwalking’ (2018) and ‘Synthian’ (2020), with producers like Richard X, Oscillian, Ricky Wilde and Sunglasses Kid. In 2012 Aztec Records teamed up with EQ Music Blog to organize the first Poptronik Festival in

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

, Spain, featuring Andy Bell of

Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...

, Monarchy, Simon Curtis,

Markus Riva Miķelis Ļaksa (born 2 October 1986), known professionally as Markus Riva, is a Latvian singer. He has released several albums, including the debut album ''Ticu'' (2009). Riva worked at Capital FM as a DJ, and has composed music for various t ...

, superstar producer

Fernando Garibay Fernando Garibay (born December 27, 1982) is an American record producer, songwriter, and author. He was one half of the short-lived pop duo, Kylie and Garibay, which he formed with Australian singer Kylie Minogue in 2014. Career Garibay was ...

and other international artists, and a compilation was released for that event. The label has more than 25 international artists on their roster and releases new music weekly. The label also releases different compilations regularly, like “Pure Synthwave” which was curated by NINA herself, “Pure Darkwave”, “Pure Retrowave”, “Pure Synthpop” and more recently “Pure Latin Synth”, that inspired Ariel and Laura to start a Latin American branch, based in Argentina. In 2020 Aztec Records launched their Spanish speaking sub-label called Aztec Latin, which specialises in pop and electronic music purely in Spanish. Artists include Ignacia, Jaz Oil, Locker, Verona, Caseti, Mandy Barrón, Kush Mama, The Broken Flowers Project and others. Aztec Music Publishing is the publishing branch of Aztec Records. It began in 2014 with the idea of expanding its catalog and managing it properly to place it in films, television, games and commercials. Placements include brands such as

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG (stylized in all caps) is a designer fashion company headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, Fashion accessory, accessories, footwear, and Leather, leather goods. Hugo Boss is one of the ...

Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Uniqlo ( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer. The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. History Men's Shop OS was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi. It was rebrand ...

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

and some others.

Artists

Discography

{, class="wikitable" , - , Catalogue number , Artist , Title , - , AZT0001 , ''The Feathered Snake EP'' , Tecnoctitlan , - , AZT0002 , ''Keep Calm & Carry On'' , Tecnoctitlan , - , AZT0003 , ''In The Beginning'' , Maighréad , - , AZT0004 , ''Closer'' , TNTT , - , AZT0005 , ''Cool 'n The Gang'' , Cereal Killers , - , AZT0006 , ''Lady Joker'' , Lady Joker , - , AZT0007 , ''Bad Boyfriend'' , Johnny Lazer , - , AZT0008 , ''We Don't Miss A Beat'' , Van Go Lion , - , AZT0009 , ''Hands Down'' , Angelo , - , AZT0010 , "More Than Human" , TNTT , - , AZT0011 , Soul Electric , RAFF , - , AZT0012 , ''Take Me Away'' , NINA , - , AZT0013 , "Human Sacrifice" , TNTT , - , AZT0015 , ''Desire'' , Woman E , - , AZT0016 , ''This Beat Is POPTRONIK - Volume One'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0017 , ''Hit & Run'' , Woman E , - , AZT0018 , ''Hit & Run (The Remixes)'' , Woman E , - , AZT0019 , ''Mickey Cupid'' , Mickey Cupid , - , AZT0020 , ''We Are The Wild Ones'' , NINA , - , AZT0021 , ''My Mistake'' , NINA , - , AZT0023 , ''Parade'' , Mickey Cupid , - , AZT0024 , "Heart Of Glass" , NINA , - , AZT0025 , "Summer" , Mickey Cupid , - , AZT0026 , "Waterline" , SJBRAVO , - , AZT0027 , ''Beyond Memory'' , NINA , - , AZT0028 , "Feel You" , Mickey Cupid , - , AZT0029 , ''We Never Dream'' , SJBRAVO , - , AZT0030 , ''Graduation'' , Sunglasses Kid , - , AZT0031 , "Night Swim" , Sunglasses Kid , - , AZT0032 , "Corruptin' Mind" , Sunglasses Kid , - , AZT0033 , ''Sleepwalking (Album)'' , NINA , - , AZT0034 , "Killer" , Traverse Town , - , AZT0035 , ''Killer (EP)'' , Traverse Town , - , AZT0036 , ''Sleepwalking (Deluxe Edition)'' , NINA , - , AZT0038 , ''Pure Synthwave Vol. 1'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0039 , "Sunset On The Bay" , WYVE , - , AZT0040 , "The Calm Before The Storm" , NINA , - , AZT0042 , ''Pure Retrowave Vol. 1'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0043 , ''Pure Synthwave Vol. 2'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0044 , ''Pure Retrowave Vol. 2'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0045 , ''Pure Darkwave Vol. 1'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0046 , ''Automatic Call (Single EP)'' , NINA , - , AZT0047 , ''Pure Synthpop Vol. 1'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0048 , ''Time Zones (EP)'' , Friday Night Firefight , - , AZT0049 , ''Surrender'' , Surrender , - , AZT0051 , ''Fictiopolis'' , WYVE , - , AZT0052 , ''Pure Latin Synth, Vol. 1'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0053 , ''Where No One Goes (EP)'' , Friday Night Firefight , - , AZT0054 , "Forbidden Love" , XES , - , AZT0055 , ''Buenos Aires Outrun, Vol. 1'' , Various Artist , - , AZT0056 , "Heartbeat" , Zenith Volt , - , AZT0057 , "World Goes Round" , Friday Night Firefight , - , AZT0058 , "Challenger" , Zenith Volt , - , AZT0059 , ''Turbo Drive, Vol. 1'' , Various Artists , - , AZT0060 , "Hold On" , Zenith Volt , - , AZT0061 , "Galaxy , Zenith Volt , - , AZT0062 , "Super-computer" , Zenith Volt , - , AZT0063 , ''Synthian'' , NINA , - , AZT0064 , ''Disappear (The Remixes)'' , Surrender , - , AZT0065 , ''Synth Songs of Hope, Vol. 1'' , Various Artists , - , AZT0066 , "Human Error" , Fulvio Colasanto , - , AZT0067 , "Black Heart" , Oblique , - , AZT0068 , "Psycho Beat" , Fulvio Colasanto , - , AZT0069 , "Stunning" , LAU , - , AZT0070 , "True" , LAU , - , AZT0071 , "Little Light" , Mike Haunted feat. Chris KD , - , AZT0072 , "Radical Dreamers" , Fulvio Colasanto feat. XES , - , AZT0073 , "We Had Magic" , LAU , - , AZT0073 , ''The Mothership'' , Space Tourist , - , AZT0075 , ''Pleasure EP'' , Pleasure , - , AZT0076 , "Recognise" , LAU , - , AZT0077 , ''Miami Cyber Nights Vol. 1'' , Various Artists , - , AZT0078 , ''Synthian (The Remixes)'' , NINA feat. LAU , - , AZT0079 , ''DARK: Awake / Ivory Crow'' , Eutropic , - , AZT0080 , ''AGE: Distant World / Silicon God'' , Eutropic , - , AZT0081 , ''DAY: Pieces / Run'' , Eutropic , - , AZT0082 , ''DREAM: Down By Law / Starry Sky'' , Eutropic , - , AZT0083 , "Silhouettes" , Friday Night Firefight , - , AZT0084 , "Fixing Me With Love" , Sunglasses Kid & Primo The Alien , - , AZT0085 , "Chill" , Sunglasses Kid & Jay Diggs , - , AZT0086 , ''Sophomore'' , Sunglasses Kid , - , AZT0087 , ''A Deep Blue Swimming Pool'' , Wet Sunset , - , AZT0088 , "NYC Sunrise" , Bunny X & Marvel83' , - , AZT0089 , ''Pure Synthwave, Vol. 3'' , Various , - , AZT0090 , ''Calypso Drip FM'' , Gryff , - , AZT0091 , ''Tranquility Base (Deluxe Edition)'' , The Secret Chord , - , AZT0092 , "Free Forever" , Popcorn Kid ft. LAU , - , AZT0093 , ''Runaway'' , Power Rob , - , AZT0094 , "In The Night" , Adam Siana , - , AZT0095 , "Telekinesis" , Oblique , - , AZT0096 , "The House" , Fulvio Colasanto feat. Christina Sirva & Mike Haunted , - , AZT0097 , Superstars , Fulvio Colasanto feat. Eutropic , - , AZT0098 , ''Neon Beach'' , Thought Beings , - , AZT0099 , "Hours" , Cymatica , - , AZT0104 , ''New Religion'' , Gryff , - , AZT0101 , "Back To Christmas" , Oblique , - , AZT0102 , "Caskets" , Cymatica , - , AZT0100 , ''DARK AGE DAY DREAM'' , Eutropic , - , AZT0105 , ''Somewhere In Between EP'' , Cymatica , - , AZT0110 , "Wild Love" , Friday Night Firefight , - , AZT0117 , "Alone At Xmas" , Heartracer , - , AZT0107 , "Apricale (Stal Remix)" , Wet Sunset , - , AZT0109 , ''The Beginning'' , NINA , - , AZT0106 , "Thunder" , Ends 84 feat. Power Rob , - , AZT0111 , "The Cards" , LAU

References

External links

Official Web Site
Electropop Synth-pop record labels Synthwave Record labels based in London