Rising High Records was a leading British

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, established in 1991, specializing in

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

and ambient chillout music. Founded b
Caspar Pound
who had chart success with A Homeboy, a Hippie and a Funki Dredd, the label went on to be at the forefront of dance music in the 1990s. The label was formed at F2 studios in London with studio owner Rob Mcluhan. Pound had recorded "Total Confusion" at F2 and decided to form his own label in partnership with the studio, teaming up with the in-house producer Pete Smith to form The Hypnotist. The label's first release "Rainbows in the Sky" became an instant hit, and was quickly followed by "The House Is Mine" and "Hardcore You Know the Score", three tracks that defined the sound of techno through the decade. Vocals and samples for all three were provided by Andy Higgins, who also ran the export and production of the label in the early years, according to

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

in ''The Guinness Who's Who of Rap, Dance and Techno''. Rising High licensed Frankfurt's Harthouse label to the UK, pioneering German trance music, a genre then little known in the UK; and licensed

Underground Resistance Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant ...

for their debut UK release. Rising High was also among the first to champion hardcore techno and ambient

chill-out music Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...

in the UK. In 1995 Rising High established an American branch for their label in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

under the Rising High USA banner, but would fold operations in 1996.

Caspar Pound

Pound's step-brother is Labour MP Stephen Pound and his grandfather was the biographer Reginald Pound. Originally from

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, England, he shot to fame at age 19 with the single "Total Confusion", and then founded the Rising High and Sapho labels. As The Hypnotist he became a star in Germany, and played at the Love Parade to thousands of ravers. Caspar Pound died from cancer on 30 April 2004, aged 33.

Artists

Notable artists recording for the label included : * Peter Smith & Caspar Pound (The Hypnotist) * A Homeboy, a Hippie and a Funki Dread * Frank Heiss * Project One * Union Jack * Friends Lovers and Family * Bedouin Ascent * Interface * Audio Assault * Mixmaster Morris *

Pete Namlook Pete Namlook (born 25 November 1960 as Peter Kuhlmann in Frankfurt, West Germany – 8 November 2012) was an ambient and electronic music producer and composer. In 1992, he founded the German record label FAX +49-69/450464, which he oversaw. He ...

* Earth Leakage Trip * RHC (Rising High Collective, which was Caspar Pound, Pete Smith, Marc William and Plavka) * Signs of Chaos * Church of Extacy *

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

(recording as Wagon Christ and Plug), * Knight Phantom * Syzygy * Pearl (aka Phil Earle)

References

External links

Rising High Records – Discogs.com
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1991 British record labels Electronic music record labels Trance record labels Techno record labels