Undefined - Unlabel 1996 – 2016 and beyond…
Undefined - A Twenty-Four Track Unlabel Compilation - Celebrating Twenty Years Of Unlabel.
We decided to put together a relatively short sampler from the catalogue of over 200 releases on Unlabel and give it away for free on a limited edition CD.
It was available at Unfest 2016, which was held in Tunbridge Wells over the weekend of 27th-30th May.
It's also available here as a pay what you like download (free is fine).
Please have a listen to what we've been doing for the past 175,000 hours of our lives.
Thanks, Unlabel xx
The players: 01. Joeyfat - Gin Rummy For Beginners (from un001 - Gin Rummy For Beginners 7”). 02. Unhome - Inland (from un003 - A Short History Of Houses CD album). 03. Rebus - Lift Music (from un008 - Arima CD album). 04. Ye Wiles - Screenplay (from un009 - Fine Words Butter No Parsnips CD EP). 05. Jason And The Astronauts - Nice Night For A Knife Fight (from un015 - Burn Down The Boys School 7”). 06. Moth - Hurricane 1987 (from un021 - Wading Songs CD album). 07. Charlottefield - Clipper (from un029 - How Long Are You Staying LP). 08. Songs Of My Lap - One Summer I Was Spiderman (from un030 - Songs For A Child CD EP). 09. Headquarters - Leftovers (from un047 - Booker One Time LP). 10. Deadboy Racer - Strong (from un048 - Strong 12”). 11. Klaus Says Buy The Record - Run Home (from un070 - Into The Wood CD mini album). 12. Hills Have Riffs - Black Curtain (from un074 - Volume One CD album). 13. Tom Williams And The Boat - Concentrate (from un079 - Concentrate 7”). 14. Cove - Yes, I Am A Survivalist (from un082 - Show Me Your Nature CD album). 15. Everyone To The Anderson - Let’s Take This To Smithereens (from un091 - The Man Born From Inside Of A Horse CD album). 16. House Reverends - Hairam (from un097 - Happy Christmas Christmas Cats CD album). 17. Hymmel - 7 (from un099 - Hymmel CD EP). 18. Gavin John Baker - With A Nod (from un100 - It Took A Thousand Years To Make And A Fucking Short Time To Break CD album). 19. Sutcliffe Jugend - Amuse Gueule (previously unreleased). 20. Box - Fruit Canoe (live at Unfest 2013) (previously unreleased). 21. Twenty One Crows - Alma Rubens (previously unreleased). 22. Hunter’s Loaf - Unknown (previously unreleased). 23. North Atlantic Maritime - Hunters (previously unreleased). 24. Joeythin - g.a.l.a.x.y. (previously unreleased).
I really don’t know how Unlabel has been a thing for twenty years.
In 1996 I was a vinyl obsessed college kid and I remember the first Unlabel release, the hand painted Gin Rummy 7” from Joeyfat appearing in Tunbridge Wells - I bought it at a gig or in Longplayer and played it to death.
The first Unlabel compilation followed in May ’98 and the beautiful Unhome album and Cove 12” a year or so later, and then the Joeyfat album in the summer of 2000 - all music that had a massive impact on me and made me want to be involved in this cool little underground scene that was evolving out of The Forum.
Following the two self-released Ye WiIes EPs and a 7” from Cove, I was soon on board and overseeing things from around release un011 onwards, alongside my best mate Jason Dormon, and somehow I joined Joeyfat too - one of my favourite bands of all the bands in all the land, which they remain to this day.
I love this label and the many brilliant artists that have passed through it, often via The Forum, and I have made many good friends because of it. We’ve been pretty quiet of late for a number of reasons, some musical, some personal, but I wanted to put this compilation together as a reminder of the great music that has been released and the fantastic shows that have taken place over the years - cherished memories of wonderful times in Tunbridge Wells and beyond; times that were often hard work but always fun and rewarding, times that looking back on now and talking to others that were around, really were something special.
I also wanted to do it to show folks who don’t know much about the label or weren’t around a few years ago what happened in the Wells and just how good the real alternative bands have been over the years. This is a tiny sample, there’s loads more.
My involvement with the Tunbridge Wells music scene has been a massive amount of fun on the whole, but in recent times less so, to the point where it’s been hard for me to be around a place I dearly love. Having ensured the label made it to twenty, it’s time for me to hand over my baton to someone else. I was only a curator anyway; a music fan let loose to release whatever I fancied, and what a great job that was. Thanks to just about everyone that’s been a part of it.
I hope you enjoy this compilation as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together. unJohn x
Unlabel 1996 – 2016 and beyond… credits released May 27, 2016