Birmingham’s best record labels
Friendly Fire Music was created a few years ago by producer Robin Giorno to provide fresh conscious music for the people, using the wealth of talent available locally in Moseley, Birmingham. It was a natural progression to take the Jam Jah Sound, which was already active locally, to another level. Sourcing influences from reggae, hip-hop and world music, Friendly Fire builds heavyweight leftfield reggae instrumentals blending computer generated beats with live instruments, which are then voiced by a number of artists including Juggla, The Usual Suspec Paradox, Messenger Douglas, Lionart, Ras T Weed, Pablo Rider. Friendly Fire also has an in-house band, The Friendly Fire Band which serves as a backing band for live events as well as composing new music, and is available for hire as a backing band for live performances or studio work.
G.Corp (short for Groove Corporation) is based at Elephant House Studios, Birmingham, and is the umbrella label and home for various reggae, dub, electronic and roots projects, which have all contributed to making it one of the biggest exponents of Birmingham music in recent years. With fanbases all over Europe, and distribution and a tour of New Zealand and Australia under its belt thanks to flagship outfit Overproof Sound System being invited to support Fat Freddy’s Drop in 2008, G.Corp is a force to be reckoned with. The critically acclaimed Mighty Tree album , featuring full band and guest vocals from the likes of Ninety and Messenger Douglas, even came with a glossy cook book with illustrations from artist and vocalist Ninety to accompany it. G.Corp are set for even bigger things in 2010. Click here to have a look round their website and join their mailing list.
Poseidon Music is a label based at Artisan Studios in Moseley, Birmingham. Best known for its TV and Film work, Poseidon has a reputation for excellence. 2009 saw the release of Jo Hamilton’s debut album Gown which has steadily been gaining critical acclaim and this year is being tipped by Nic Harcourt (KCRW), Tom Robinson (BBC 6), Janice Long (BBC Radio 2) and Paul Kramer (BMI Hit Sheet) as one of the records to watch. Producer, MD and director of Poseidon Jon Cotton is set to work on Scott Matthews‘ third album this year (Cotton also produced Matthews’ first album, which won an Ivor Novello award for the song Elusive-a track which gained support across BBC Radio 1 and beyond).
Zang is an exciting new record label based in Moseley, Birmingham, with a great roster of independent artists ranging from acoustic to Hip-Hop. If you haven’t checked out Zang before, why not begin at the free download section. Benjamin Blower is one of the artists on the Zang label and is releasing his beat-driven, chain-gang style latest album, Army of the Broken Hearted in March. Check out a Benjamin Blower video here. Also check out The Custodians, Bethan Marshall and Ickberg who are also on Zang’s Roster. Check out Zang by clicking here. 2010 is already looking like a prosperous and exciting year for Zang; they have just joined forces with a fellow indie label from Coventry.