Sandwell District

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Sandwell District was a record label and multinational collective of techno DJs and producers that operated between 2002 and 2011.[1] Their sound has been highly influential across the following generation of techno musicians, and has informed a major shift in world techno.[2] By the time the collective announced its "glorious death" in 2012 the American Billboard magazine could write that "Sandwell District's influence on underground techno can hardly be overstated."[3]

Sandwell District was established as a record label in 2002 by Regis (Karl O'Connor) and Female (Peter Sutton) as an extension of their Downwards Records label,[4] which had been instrumental in shaping techno's Birmingham sound in the early 1990s.[5] The label was revived in 2004 and from 2005 increasingly incorporated the artistic input of the New York City-based Function (David Sumner) and the Los Angeles-based Silent Servant (Juan Mendez).[4] Initially releasing records under their own identities, as the label's success grew, it came to be seen increasingly as a collective entity, releasing tracks and albums anonymously partly in revolt against the increasingly celebrity-oriented DJ culture of the time, culminating in its 2010 collective album Feed Forward.[4]

References

  1. "Farewell Sandwell District, hello new mix", Electronic Beats (Deutsche Telekom), 2012-01-03, retrieved 2013-08-30 
  2. Wilson, Richard, "Regis", Allmusic (Rovi), retrieved 2013-08-30 
  3. Stolman, Elissa (2013-05-01), "Respect: Techno Stars Talk About Their Sandwell District Favorites", Billboard (Prometheus Global Media), retrieved 2013-08-30 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Finlayson, Angus (2013-05-17), Sandwell District: Where Next?, Resident Advisor, retrieved 2013-08-30 
  5. Finlayson, Angus (2013-03-01), "Downwards is the Only Way Forward: An interview with Regis", Electronic Beats (Berlin: EB), retrieved 2013-08-30 
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