Label of love
The stories behind the world's most legendary record labels
XL Recordings, the record label that's tearing up the rule book
Only sign artists you really like, give them free rein, have no regard for business . . . XL Recordings boss Richard Russell reveals the secrets of surviving in the music industry
Label of love: Ninja Tune
Adam Kennedy: Dreamed up on tour by duo Coldcut, Ninja embodies eclecticism – epitomised by its 20th-anniversary 'futurespective' boxset
Label of love: In the Red Records
The Los Angeles label that spearheaded the 1990s garage-rock revival and signed the Reigning Sound and the Dirtbombs
Label of love: Metroplex
The techno label that redefined the sound of 1980s Detroit and gave the decaying industrial city a new musical identity
Label of love: Hyperdub
It started as a webzine five years ago, now Hyperdub is at the forefront of the increasingly eclectic UK dance scene
Label of love: Ankst
Celebrate the Welsh indie stable that ruffled the feathers of the establishment and put Super Furry Animals on the map
Label of love: 4AD
First started as a so-called test lab, 4AD produced Cocteau Twins and the Pixies - it was a breeding ground for goth, pan-continental post-rock and much more besides
Label of love: Young God
Louis Pattison: Started as a means of releasing the music of his band Swans, Michael Gira's underground imprint now embraces psych-folk luminaries including Devendra Banhart and Akron/Family
Label of love: ROIR
Founded in 1979, the same year as the Walkman, this NYC underground label put out cassette-only releases that helped shape hardcore punk in the US
Label of love: Dandelion Records
John Peel's short-lived label was a post-hippy, proto-punk enclave that allowed its artists to fully indulge their whims – with hugely mixed results
Label of love: Wichita records
As part of their the Guardian/music takeover, the Cribs hand our Label of love feature over to the label they're signed to, Wichita
Topic records – 70 years of giving a voice to the people
Topic is the oldest independent label in Britain, if not the world. Not bad for a Marxist party offshoot that was started in a basement, writes Alexis Petridis
Label of love: Blue Note
Reclaiming jazz from beard-stroking elitists, Blue Note's output was expressive, groundbreaking ... and effortlessly hip
Label of love: ZTT
Masterminded by music journalist Paul Morley, ZTT was in its brief golden age as intoxicatingly collectible as any imprint before or since
Label of love: Mute Records
Louis Pattison: Started by a synth obsessive in the late 70s, Mute became home to many post-punk and electro-pop pioneers. Three decades on, it continues to bring a darker sound to the dancefloor
Label of love: Big Dada
The label that launched Roots Manuva was established by a hip-hop hack who was frustrated that fans couldn't get hold of the obscure singles he was writing about
Label of love: Immediate Records
Established by ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Immediate steered a course from the British blues explosion of the 60s through to psychedelia and the dawn of prog
Label of Love: Touch and Go
From punk fanzine to alt-rock institution, the story of this Chicago indie powerhouse is not just of one record label, but of American underground music of the last three decades
Label of love: 2 Tone Records
Owen Adams: With the Specials and Madness, the Coventry label launched a musical movement that soundtracked a summer of riots with reggae and ska-influenced pop
Label of love: Alternative Tentacles
Founded by Califonian punks Dead Kennedys, this indie bastion has braved backlashes and court cases to survive under the sole ownership of their outspoken frontman Jello Biafra
About 28 results for Label of love 
