Moving Shadow

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One of Moving Shadow's logos

Moving Shadow is a UK-based jungle/drum and bass record label that was started in 1990 by Rob Playford. Alongside such labels as Suburban Base, Formation Records, D-Zone, Reinforced and Metalheadz, Moving Shadow has grown to become one of the best-known and well-respected labels within the genre, achieving its 100th single release in 1997.

The label began in 1990, initially operating from Playford's Stevenage home. Playford had self-released a track prior to setting up Moving Shadow, entitled Orbital Madness, and had become a focal point for local, young artists/bedroom producers seeking advice on releasing their own music.^[1] The label's first release arrived in 1991; the Psychotronic EP by Earth Leakage Trip^[2] and the early roster of artists were mainly guises for Playford, such as 2 Bad Mice of which he formed a third along with Sean O'Keeffe and Simon Colebrooke. As the rave scene scratched the surface of the mainstream music industry in 1991 and 1992, Moving Shadow, like its friendly rival Suburban Base & D-Zone, enjoyed UK Top 75 singles chart success though Blame's Music Takes You and 2 Bad Mice's Bombscare.

As the rave scene split towards the end of 1992, Moving Shadow gravitated towards the emerging darkcore scene. Releases by artists such as Deep Blue (musician) (an alias for Sean O'Keeffe), Foul Play, Omni Trio and Hyper-On Experience enhanced the label's reputation, and by 1994, Moving Shadow was at the forefront of the UK jungle/drum and bass scene. Encompassing varying styles of jungle/drum and bass such as Ray Keith's proto-techstep track Terrorist (recorded under the pseudonym Renegade), the frenticism of Dead Dred's Dred Bass and soulful, melodic productions such as Omni Trio's Soul Promenade, Moving Shadow's output could be seen at this time to represent the complete gamut of the genre. The label was quick to showcase this output, with early artist albums from both Omni Trio^[3] and Foul Play^[4] in 1995 and the first of a series of regional compilation albums such as The Revolutionary Generation^[5], Storm From The East^[6] and Trans-Central Connection^[7] which highlighted the work of artists allied to the label, but from certain strongholds of the UK; making the point that jungle/drum and bass was a nationwide phenomena and not just centred around the capital.

In 1994 Playford began working with the drum & bass artist Goldie on tracks written using his Rufige Kru alias. The result was Goldie's Timeless album, produced and engineered by Playford and released in 1995 on the better-funded FFRR Records as opposed to Moving Shadow. The album became the first from the drum & bass scene to 'cross-over' into the mainstream to critical acclaim, and remains one of the biggest-selling drum & bass albums of all time.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Moving Shadow maintained its status as one of the highest-profile drum and bass labels, with Dom and Roland, Aquasky, Calyx and EZ Rollers joining the roster in 1996-1997. EZ Rollers saw their music featured in the movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but this chartbound jazzy drum'n'bass was not representative of the overall sound, which moved mainly into techstep toward the end of 1990s. Moving Shadow provided music for the computer game Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999) and also a whole radio station called MSX FM in Grand Theft Auto III (2001) and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005).

In 2000, the label reached a decade in business, a rare achievement for an independent label from the rave scene, and celebrated with a retrospective of their remarkable back catalogue. Following this, the label's visibility dropped somewhat, with albums from stalwarts Omni Trio and Dom and Roland being notable exceptions. They had a resurgence in 2004 and 2005 with acclaimed releases from Noisia and Calyx, but as of 2007 it appears closed, with AK1200 reporting "RIP, at this time, Rob [Playford] feels the history of the label should remain as it stands with the level of quality it has held and not dilute the memory of the label, which I completely understand". ^[11]