Wall of Sound is a British

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 London, England, and was founded by Mark Jones in 1994. They were considered to be "at the center of the revolution" of the

big beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

movement in the mid- to late-1990s, releasing much of the UK material at the height of the scene alongside Brighton's

Skint Records Skint Records is a Brighton and Hove based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery. Along with Wall of Sound, the label was a ...

. The label is most known for introducing internationally renowned big beat acts such as Propellerheads, The Wiseguys and

Les Rythmes Digitales Stuart David Price (born 9 September 1977) is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His acts include his own band Zoot Woman (with Adam Blake (musician), Adam Blake and Johnny Blake (musician), Johnny Blake), L ...

History

The label's first release was the acclaimed compilation album

Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One ''Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One'' is a compilation album of music by various artists released in 1994 by British electronic label Wall of Sound as their first release. The idea for the album came when Wall of Sound's founder, Mark Jones, wante ...

, which featured many acts such as Mekon,

Kruder & Dorfmeister Kruder & Dorfmeister, named after members Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister, is an Austrian duo, known for their trip hop/downtempo remixes of pop, hip hop and drum and bass songs. Career In 1993, they released their first EP '' G-Stoned'' ...

, and The Wiseguys before they became more notable. The compilation is also considered to be foundational to the

Big Beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

movement of the mid- to late-90s. The label gained international recognition and residencies were set up in cities around the globe including a yearly summer residency at

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

's "Manumission" (an annual club party).

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 ...

released ''

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the portion of the Mass where a creed is recited or sung. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or the Apostles' Creed are the primary creeds used for this purpose. History After the ...

'', their first album for Wall of Sound in 2011. In September, they released the album on vinyl.

Notable artists

Aeroplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

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 ...

* Reverend and The Makers *

Röyksopp Röyksopp () a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of childhood friends Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland who formed Röyksopp during the Bergen Wave. After experimenting with different Electronic Mu ...

Scala & Kolacny Brothers Scala & Kolacny Brothers is a Belgian women's choir conducted by Stijn Kolacny, and arranged and accompanied by Steven Kolacny on the piano. They have released five studio albums (in multiple languages), starting with ''On the Rocks'' in, 200 ...

Notable past projects

Agent Provocateur An is a person who actively entices another person to commit a crime that would not otherwise have been committed and then reports the person to the authorities. They may target individuals or groups. In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a ...

Akasha Akasha (Sanskrit ' ) means Aether (classical element), aether in traditional Hindu cosmology. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century CE. In many modern Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian la ...

* The American Analog Set * Amp Fiddler *

Artery An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

Jon Carter * The Bees *

Blak Twang Blak Twang (born Tony Olabode in England), who also uses the pseudonyms Taipanic and Tony Rotton, is a British rapper who grew up in Deptford, Lewisham, South-East London. Blak Twang is admired for his live performances, and is also respected fo ...

Ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

* Cosmo Jarvis * The Creators *

Diefenbach Diefenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ...

* DJ Pierre * Dylan Donkin *

Elektrons Elektrons Rīga (also known as FK Alfa) was a Latvian football (soccer), football club from Riga that was one of the leading clubs in the Latvian league in the 1970s and 1980s. History Elektrons was founded somewhere in the 1960s (exact year ha ...

* Etienne De Crecy
Eugene
*

Felix Da Housecat Felix da Housecat (born Felix Stallings Jr., August 25, 1971) is an American DJ and record producer, mostly known for house music and electro. Felix is regarded as a member of the second wave of Chicago house. Musical career Early life Stalli ...

* Iain Archer *

I Am Kloot I Am Kloot were an English rock band, formed in Manchester in 1999. The band was composed of vocalist/guitarist John Bramwell, bassist Peter Jobson and drummer Andy Hargreaves. The band released six studio albums, and was nominated for the Me ...

* Infadels *

DJ Touche Theo Keating, also known as Fake Blood and Touché, is an English DJ, musician and music producer who made his name as one half of the Wiseguys, a British hip hop/big beat group, together with Paul Eve. Some of their best-known songs are " Sta ...

* Jon Carter * Junior Cartier * Kids On Bridges * Lisbon Kid * Little Barrie *

( aka

Stuart Price Stuart David Price (born 9 September 1977) is an English electronic musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His acts include his own band Zoot Woman (with Adam Blake (musician), Adam Blake and Johnny Blake (musician), Johnny Blake), L ...

) *

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

* Mekon * Michael Andrews *

Mongrel A mongrel, mutt, or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed, including those that result from intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongrels have no kn ...

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...

* Mpho Skeef *

Ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

* Penguin Prison * Propellerheads * Reverend and The Makers * Rootless * Shawn Lee *

Shy Child Shy Child were an American electronic music duo from New York City, United States, consisting of Pete Cafarella on vocals and synthesizers and Nate Smith on drums. History Shy Child formed in the summer of 2000, when former college friends Pete ...

Tepr Yelle is a French Electronic music, electronic band founded by lead singer and namesake Yelle (Julie Budet) and GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). A third member, Tepr (Tanguy Destable), joined the band before the recording of their debut a ...

* The Shortwave Set * Themroc *

Ugly Duckling "The Ugly Duckling" () is a Danish literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875). It was first published on 11 November 1843 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. First Collec ...

* The Wiseguys * Tiga * The Visitor aka Jon Pleased Wimmin *

Zoot Woman Zoot Woman is a British electronic music group, which composes of members Adam Blake (musician), Adam Blake, Johnny Blake (musician), Johnny Blake and Stuart Price. Their debut studio album ''Living in a Magazine'' was released by Wall of Sou ...

References

External links

BBC Collective's review of the label

Wall Of Sound page
on

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall Of Sound (Record Label) Electronic music record labels British independent record labels Ambient music record labels Indie rock record labels Hip-hop record labels

History

Notable artists

Notable past projects

See also

References

External links