Bad Vugum is an independent record label originally based in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It was founded in 1987 by some of the members of the hardcore punk groups Kansanturvamusiikkikomissio and Radiopuhelimet for releasing the latter's music. The label's name comes from an

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

invented by

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

, heard uttered during his song "Sue Egypt". By the early 1990s it had grown into one of Finland's relatively higher-profile indie labels, with releases frequently getting positive reviews in American music fanzines such as

Forced Exposure ''Forced Exposure'' was an independent music magazine founded by Jimmy Johnson and Katie The Kleening Lady (Goldman) (zine). It was published sporadically out of Boston from 1982 to 1993, edited by Jimmy Johnson and Byron Coley. It was printed o ...

and Flipside. Many releases were also championed by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

, who went on to invite such Bad Vugum bands as

Deep Turtle Deep Turtle was a Finnish band, active 1990–1996 and 2002–2003. Overview Formed in 1990, Deep Turtle was a product of the burgeoning underground music culture of the city of Pori, Finland. Deep Turtle's music fused the energy of hardcore pun ...

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

and Aavikko to record

Peel Sessions John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

for his radio show as the first ever Finnish acts to do so. John Peel also invited

Mieskuoro Huutajat Mieskuoro Huutajat (Screaming Men) is an internationally famous shouting choir from Oulu, Finland. They were established in 1987 and originally comprised 20 shouting men, since expanded to 30. Led by conductor , the choir is best known for their ...

to perform at the

Meltdown Festival Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The ...

when he curated it in 1998. Some bands were also featured on notable American indie labels:

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

released ''Hygiene'', a compilation EP of Radiopuhelimet's early material, Drag City commissioned Liimanarina's debut album ''Spermarket'', and several Bad Vugum acts were compiled for two ''If It Ain't The Snow, It's The Mosquitos'' double EPs on

Sympathy For The Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by John Mermis, known as Long Gone John. Notable artists who started on Sympathy and went ...

. In 2002 one of the original founders, Kari Heikonen, bought out his two co-owners' shares and moved the company to Helsinki. Bad Vugum has continued to re-release and license out some of the old music, but all new music has been released under the BV² Produktions sublabel. Some of these include acts as diverse as Cleaning Women, Hotguitars, Chainsmoker, Sekunda, Astro Can Caravan, Räjäyttäjät, and

Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...

who licensed an abridged version of their album ''

The Getty Address ''The Getty Address'' is the fourth studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors. The album is a concept album and is described as "a glitch opera" about musician Don Henley, although it also explores themes like ancient Mexi ...

'' called ''Highlights from the Getty Address'' for the Finnish market. BV² also published the Finnish edition of

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''E ...

' acclaimed graphic novel '' Ghost World''.

Artists

* Aavikko *

* CMX *

* Dr. Gunni *

Jimi Tenor Jimi Tenor (born Lassi O. T. Lehto, 1965) is a Finnish composer and a musician. His artist name is a combination of an instrument and the first name comes from Lassi's childhood. When he was little next door neighbour girls used to call him Jimi ...

* Keuhkot *

Läjä Äijälä Veli-Matti "Läjä" Äijälä (born 29 September 1958) is a Finnish musician, comics artist and poet. He is best known as the singer and primary songwriter of the legendary hardcore punk band Terveet Kädet. Äijälä has been associated with m ...

* Liimanarina *

* Paska * Radiopuhelimet * Sweetheart, band founded by

Janne Westerlund Janne Westerlund (born 1973) is a Finnish musician, songwriter and visual artist known from such Finnish groups as Circle (with the band since 2001), Pharaoh Overlord, and . His main instrument is guitar but on his solo gigs he plays banjo as w ...

References

External links

Bad Vugum at Discogs

BV² Produktions' at Discogs

Bad Vugum at FiniMusic

BV² Produktions' at FiniMusic
{{Authority control Alternative rock record labels Punk record labels Finnish independent record labels