Cold Spring is an

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

based in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

, England, specialising in "all forms of extreme media, but particularly:

dark ambient Dark ambient (referred to as ambient industrial especially in the 1980s) is a genre of post-industrial musicReed, Alexander: ''Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music'', Oxford University Press, 2013, , p. 190 that features an ominous, ...

, neo-classical/

neo-folk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrument ...

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...

power electronics Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power. The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconduct ...

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

, Japanese noise, minimal, death industrial, dark soundtracks,

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 whe ...

, obscure electronics from Russia, China, Japan, Poland and others."

History

Beginnings

The label is owned, and run, by Justin Mitchell who had been working for Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, a radical occult group from the 1980s. Mitchell had started out listening to early electronic music around the late 1970s, early 1980s."An Interview with Justin"
''Last Sigh'', accessed 27 September 2009 This included bands like

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synth-pop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball (electronic musician), David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit versio ...

and

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

. From listening to this genre of music Mitchell progressed into the different fields of electronic and experimental music including artists like

Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmi ...

. Mitchell began getting involved in the music industry after be involved in re-issuing some cassette releases from his project Satori. These releases originated from around 1984 and were released by another label.

1990–1999

Cold Spring began releasing recordings in 1988 by mail order, then in 1997 began selling and distributing releases on the internet. After releasing a handful of cassette releases by artists such as The Grey Wolves and

. Cold Spring released their first vinyl compilation album ''"...And the Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly"'' (CSR 1LP). This was in 1990 and featured artists such as The Grey Wolves,

Crash Worship Crash Worship or ADRV (''Adoración de rotura violenta'', Spanish for "crash worship") was a San Diego, California based experimental music and performance art ensemble formed in 1986. They were most renowned for live performances partly inspire ...

and

The Hafler Trio The Hafler Trio is an English conceptual art, conceptual, performance art, performance and sound art collaborative project. It was originally a duo formed in the early 1980s by Andrew McKenzie and Chris Watson (musician), Chris Watson. The thir ...

. The next planned release, (CSR 2LP) would have been a

split album A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "v ...

between

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

and

Psychic TV Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental music, experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson (musician), Alex ...

but was withdrawn due to major label pressure.
"Discogs", accessed 27 September 2009 It wasn't until 1992 that Cold Spring released their next release ''Asesinos'' by Crash Worship. This would be the first CD release by the label. In 1999 Cold Spring released the Genesis P-Orridge and

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...

project titled ''A Perfect Pain''. The album was an enormous success for Cold Spring, and one of the label's most requested titles.

2000–present

An untitled collaboration between American artists

Boyd Rice Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s. A pioneer of industrial music, Rice was one of the first artists to use a sampler and turntable as an instrum ...

and

Z'EV Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951 – December 16, 2017) was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of indu ...

produced a two track vinyl release in September 2008. The following year, EV released an album titled ''Sum Things''. It consisted of archive material reflecting his take on the dark ambient genre of music. The tracks were recorded between December 2005 and March 2006. 2009 also saw Cold Spring re-release Anni Hogans ''Kickabye''. The original EP was re-packaged including ten extra tracks; ''Kickabye'' featured artists such as

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

and

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

."Cold Spring Discography"
, accessed 21 October 2010 In 2010 former

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...

member,

Steven Severin Steven John Bailey (born 25 September 1955) known professionally as Steven Severin, is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He was the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. ...

released his debut album for Cold Spring titled ''Blood of a Poet''. The album is a recording of his soundtrack for a 1930 silent movie by

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

.Cold Spring Records
Retrieved on 20 October 2010

Notable artists

References

External links

*
Cold Spring independent CDR distribution website

Dagaz Music – Interview with Justin Mitchell
{{Authority control British independent record labels Record labels established in 1990 Ambient music record labels Industrial record labels Noise music record labels Experimental music record labels