Em:t Records

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Em:t Records (Emit Records) was a British record label, based in Nottingham, which specializes in ambient electronic music. They were active from 1994 to 1998, and after a period of bankruptcy, re-established themselves in 2003 under new ownership and management. In summer 2006, the label officially ceased operations again, although by this time it had not been active for some time.

Contents

[edit] History

em:t was born as a division of the t:me Recordings label in 1994. t:me released mostly vinyl records falling under the broad category of house music, and sought to create a new sublabel for more forward-thinking ambient material. Over the next four years, they released a series of eighteen albums and compilations, packaged as a collector's series. Though em:t never enjoyed widespread commercial success, their releases were highly regarded and influential in ambient circles, and the label attracted a cult following - encouraged, no doubt, by the collectible nature of the releases.

The most highly-praised albums of the series came from British composers Paul Frankland recording as Woob, and Mat Jarvis recording as Gas.

In addition to the original run of CD's in the UK, some of em:t's music was licensed to Instinct Records in the USA, a label that had a contemporaneous interest in modern ambient music. em:t 0094 and Woob's 1194 were released individually. The compilations em:t 2295 and em:t 3394 were packaged together as a double-disc set called em:t 2000. In addition, various other tracks were compiled onto the anthologies em:t beat exploration and em:t explorer.

In mid-1998, em:t went out of business due to the bankruptcy of t:me, with two whole albums worth of music still unreleased. Their discography became highly prized among collectors, and this remains the case today; individual CDs commonly fetch a high price on eBay. em:t attained semi-legendary status.

In 2003, a separate company brought the emit name off the shelf and the label was relaunched. Although none of the people running the label had any connection with the previous em:t, they did release material from several of the original artists. The relaunch created another surge in public interest for the original series of albums. After six new full-length albums, the label again went out of business in 2006.

[edit] Artwork

Gas 0095 - Album Cover Art
Gas 0095 - Album Cover Art

em:t releases are noted for their striking graphic design, used consistently and thematically across the entire discography. Each CD is packaged in a cardboard Digipak case. The front features beautiful, high-resolution nature photography, depicting exotic animals in their natural habitats. The back is plain white, with the track listing in plain black text. Animals used on classic Em:t covers include Ceratophrys ornata, Plecotus auritus, Ctenophore and Ramphastos sulfuratus. Images of frogs were used exclusive for compilation releases, whereas individual artists were given freedom to pick an image from the Oxford Scientific catalogue.

Recent em:t releases did not have animal-themed covers, but sported the same overall design aesthetic.

The animal-themed designs were created for em:t by a British design firm called The Designer's Republic, also well known for working with Warp Records for many years. Post-2003 em:t releases were designed by Cambridge-based design firm db|design.

[edit] Discography

All em:t releases are catalogued with a four-digit number. The third and fourth digits represent the year of release, and the first two digits denote the order of release within a year, beginning with '00' and continuing on to '11', '22', etc.

[edit] Classic em:t (1994 - 1998)

  • Various Artists - em:t 0094
  • Woob - 1194
  • Qubism - 2294
  • Various Artists - em:t 3394
  • Gas 0095 (re-released in 2006)
  • Miasma - 1195
  • Various Artists - em:t 2295
  • International Peoples Gang - 3395
  • Woob - 4495
  • Various Artists - em:t 5595
  • Lucid Dreams (featuring Celia Green) - 0096
  • Carl Stone - 1196
  • Various Artists - em:t 2296
  • Undark - 3396
  • Slim - 0097
  • Various Artists - em:t 1197
  • Beatsystem - 2297
  • Natural Language - 0098
  • Various Artists - em:t 1198 (unreleased)
  • Gas - 2298 (unreleased)

[edit] New Em:t (2003 - 2006)

  • Various Artists - em:t 0003
  • Various Artists - em:t 0004
  • Gel-Sol - 1104
  • 302 Acid - 0005
  • 302 Acid Live at The Big Chill (limited CD-R)
  • Antonio Testa & Gaudi - 1105
  • International Peoples Gang - 0006

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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