Quick plug for a new net label run by my good friend Clodhoppa and because the 'mini mix' label sampler has my all time favorite James Fox tune on it 'Imagine That' :)
who?
midnightminustwo (or mmii for short) was born at the arse end of 2007 when Phil Clodhoppa lost his job and spent far too much time in a record shop with Alexander Church, head honcho of Midnight Recordings. As Midnight’s roster was increasing, its scope of music was in danger of becoming too diluted, and it wanted to return to its roots of deep driving house. midnightminustwo was created as a sister label to release all forms of electronica and more, focusing less on singles and the vinyl market (which midnight recordings still pushes) in favour of concentrating on albums, eps and solid releases in the digital domain.
Manifesto
Yes, we have a manifesto. It makes us feel all important and stuff.
It’s the digital age, there’s no getting away from it. It’s egalitarian, it’s liberating, it’s opened the floodgates, along with technology that turned the spare bedroom in every 3rd house into a studio. In the age of free downloads, p2p sharing and the whole social networking thing, where everyone can be the next Lily Allen, we still believe that there is room for a traditional ‘record’ company to exist, so long as it follows some basic rules. So, we use modern media and classic ideas. Releasing in digital, but making sure that the listener gets the same feeling you get unwrapping a new cd; cohesive releases spanning genres, quality artwork to print and keep, stringent quality control and sticking to our guns when it comes to what we want to release. We know it when we hear it. So will you.
Any label’s lifeblood is (or at least should be) its artists. Apart from the obvious fact that without them you’d have nothing to release, artist development and involvement is crucial at this grass roots level. It’s as much about attitude as it is chord progression, good music always has been. Put it this way, if you’d rather listen to Johnny Cash playing one chord, or a whole Katie Melua concert, which would you pick? (by the way, if the answer’s a Katie Melua concert, sorry for wasting your time, you can probably stop reading now). We sign people we believe in, people with passion, and people who believe in our passion too.
Patience is a virtue, and we’re not in the business of providing you with fast food. mmii’s main concern is releases with longevity, releases you want to phone people up and talk about, releases that you pick up again in a year and hear new things for the first time.
Artists/releases
We’re working with James Fox on a 6 track follow up to his debut release on Myuzyk. Full of northern promise, this mancunian is currently on a cultural exchange in London. Also known as Strategy he’s trod a steady path through years of graft on the dj circuit that’s led him to this, an e.p. chock full of depth, groove, atmosphere and a definite individual style. Having enjoyed his dj sets and radio shows it’s a joy to be able to show him off a bit on the label.
OG is a new kid to releasing tunes, but it doesn’t really show. Merging beats, rhythms and melodies from dance music that was around a long time before he was, with influences of broken beat, glitch, ragga and the huge heaviness of old school dub sound systems this ep is going to seriously mash up some heads.
Label owner Phil Clodhoppa’s finally putting his money where his mouth is and releasing the Clodhoppa album ‘Looking for the Exit’ on mmii. Having seen releases under the guises of ebb and kovacs (breakbeat) and koro inu (dub based house business), and radio shows on nuskoolbreaks.co.uk, breaks fm and now brap.fm and dj sets up and down the country, Clodhoppa now presents a full album of dub, jazz and drum and bass inspired broken beat. With tentative steps onto the circuit already made, the live band will be out in force to support this release.
the free stuff
click here to grab the half hour mix of six tunes, two each from james fox, og and clodhoppa
click here to get the artwork with full credits and info for your cd.
Benny.
