Hospital Records

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Hospital Records Logo
Hospital Records Logo

Hospital Records is a drum and bass record label based in London, England, specializing in the softer and funkier side of the music known as liquid funk. It was founded in 1996 by Tony Colman and Chris Goss and has become one of the biggest labels within the drum and bass scene.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1996, London Elektricity was the recording moniker of Goss and Colman, and formed the centre of the roster. Following the release of their debut album Pull the Plug in 1999, the label began to gain visibility. The first Outpatients compilation (2000) included appearances from Landslide, Marcus Intalex and Aquasky, and the diverse mixture of jazz- and disco-influenced house, UK garage and breakbeat gained attention beyond the drum and bass community, attracting DJs like Gilles Peterson. Goss joined Colman to form the electronica-duo London Elektricity, but parted again in 2002 to focus on managing the label.

Hospital's early drum and bass output earned the label an underground fanbase, but it was London Elektricity's "song in the Key of Knife", released in Spring 1998 that really captured the imagination of the whole scene. As London Elektricity, Tony and Chris' first long player "Pull The Plus" released in the summer of 99, received much critical acclaim and is still widely regarded as a classic album, far removed from the overlong and pretentious drum and bass albums of the time.

In 2001, Hospital signed Welsh producer High Contrast: he followed his debut with a series of strong releases and a well-received LP, True Colours in 2002, which helped push the label to the forefront of the scene. Although Chris Goss had parted London Elektricity, in 2003 the band released a second album with Tony Colman drawing in a range of musicians and vocalists and turned the project into a live band. Meanwhile, further signings Nu:Tone, Logistics, Landslide, Cyantific and in 2005 Q-Project have bolstered their position as one of the biggest players in DJ-oriented liquid funk.

Besides their label, they also run a regular drum and bass night called Hospitality. This is usually at either Herbal in Shoreditch, London or, for the larger and more infrequent special events, Heaven in Charing Cross, although they have also exported the brand to other British cities such as Nottingham, Brighton and Edinburgh.

In 2006, Hospital Records reached their 100th release with a special "10 Years Of Hospital" 3xCD pack with London Elektricity, High Contrast and Cyantific covering many of Hospital's releases, and a 2x12" EP "Hospitalised", offering collaborations from High Contrast vs Logistics, Syncopix vs Nu:Tone, London Elektricity vs Logistics and Cyantific vs Q-Project.

[edit] Notable Artists

[edit] Notable Albums

Main article: Hospital Records discography
  • 2008 : Logistics - Reality Checkpoint
  • 2007 : High Contrast - Tough Guys Don't Dance
  • 2007 : Nu:Tone - Back of Beyond
  • 2006 : Logistics - Now More Than Ever
  • 2006 : Q-Project - Rennaisance Man
  • 2006 : London Elektricity - Live at the Scala
  • 2006 : Cyantific - Ghetto Blaster
  • 2005 : London Elektricity - Power Ballads
  • 2005 : Nu:Tone - Brave Nu World
  • 2004 : High Contrast - High Society
  • 2003 : London Elektricity - Billion Dollar Gravy
  • 2002 : High Contrast - True Colours
  • 1999 : London Elektricity - Pull the Plug

[edit] Sister labels

[edit] Med School

In July 2006 Hospital Records announced the arrival of a new sister label, Med School, which will be catering for, as they put it, a more experimental style of drum and bass. Artists assigned to the Med School Label include the up and coming Brazilian producer S.P.Y, CLS, the London based duo Fracture And Neptune and Icicle. New artists added to the roster include Infiltrate, Martsman and Randomer.

[edit] M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H is a sub-label of Hospital Records. It was created by Tony Colman and Chris Goss and designed to enable them to release 1 or 2 tracks from whoever brings the right flavour. It is a dancefloor-specific label for 12-inch only material.

[edit] Podcast

Tony Colman hosts the bi-weekly Hospital Records Podcast, which is available to download on iTunes. He is always joined by a guest, sometimes a Hospital Records artist or an up-and-coming drum and bass artist. Tony often plays demos from budding producers on the podcast. The podcast has also won the BT Digital Music Award for Best Podcast in 2007[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ BT Digital Music BT Digital Music Awards 2007 - All the winners

[edit] External links

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Hospital Records artists (discography)
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