Pure Mint Recordings
Encyclopedia
Pure Mint Recordings is a UK independent record label based in London.
The label was established in 2004 by Anthony Hall (a dual qualified English
and New York
lawyer
and musician
) together with Dashal Beevers, growing out of an earlier incarnation called Mint Source Recordings. In 2003 Mint Source released the critically acclaimed compilation Flowers in the Attic featuring some of Nottingham
's rising stars of deep house
, including Crazy Penis
, Bent
- with their remix of the Hall & Oates
classic "I Can't Go For That" (which Bent chose to finish their Big Chill set with in 2004), Zoe Johnston
(who has written and performed with Faithless
), Oz from The DiY Sound System
, Heavy Deviance and Neon Heights amongst others.
The label has found supporters worldwide for its eclectic catalogue and has licensed repertoire to Norman Jay
(Giant 45)], Carl Cox in Australia, Junior Vasquez , Fabric
- Fabric Live 17
(mixed by AIM), Mastercuts (CUTSCD-58 Mastercuts Chilled), Aquasky
and others.
Releases include T-Total's version of Brian Eno's "Baby's on Fire" - with guest 'featured vocals' from Soft Cell's Marc Almond
- and the debut long player "A Slow Walk Down The Stairs" from Heavy Deviance, themselves favourites of Chris Coco
, Mark Rae
, Rob Da Bank
, KCRW (LA), [Laurent Garnier, Bent, Crazy Penis etc. A Slow Walk Down The Stairs was voted 16th best album of 2005 by M8 Magazine.
The label has moved away from its originally exclusive dance release-base to include electro-pop (T-Total ft Marc Almond), indie folk
(Nigel of Bermondsey ex Gay Dad
- nominated for the XFM 2009 New Music Award), rock
(Hungary's FreshFabrik
), indie-dance (Elevator Suite
), political satire
(Margo Guryan
's 16 Words) and breaks (Michael Morph), with collaborations and artist releases from Long Range (Phil Hartnoll from Orbital
and Nick Smith]), Yo Majesty
, Aquasky
, Alex Metric and others.
As of November 2009, the label's catalogue comprises approximately 25 releases (singles, 12 inch vinyls and LPs)
On the 4th December 2009 Hall resigned from the BPI
Rights Committee and the IFPI
's International Legal Committees citing irreconcilable differences over the industry's approach to file sharing
and their support of the current draft Digital Economy Bill (DEB) going through the UK parliament as of December 2009. He is quoted as saying:
The label was established in 2004 by Anthony Hall (a dual qualified English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
) together with Dashal Beevers, growing out of an earlier incarnation called Mint Source Recordings. In 2003 Mint Source released the critically acclaimed compilation Flowers in the Attic featuring some of Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
's rising stars of deep house
Deep house
Deep house is a subgenre of house music that fuses elements of Chicago house into the 1980s jazz-funk and touches of soul music. In the early compositions , influences of jazz music were most frequently brought out by using more complex chords than simple triads which are held for many bars and...
, including Crazy Penis
Crazy Penis
Crazy Penis are an electronic music group from the United Kingdom, formed around 1995 by Chris Todd and Jim Baron.-History:...
, Bent
Bent (band)
Bent are an electronica act from Nottingham in England, consisting of Neil "Nail" Tolliday and Simon Mills. They gained critical acclaim from their debut album Programmed to Love in 2000....
- with their remix of the Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
classic "I Can't Go For That" (which Bent chose to finish their Big Chill set with in 2004), Zoe Johnston
Zoe Johnston
Zoë Johnston is a British singer-songwriter , who grew up in Nottinghamshire. Johnston is best known for her vocal contributions to Faithless, Above & Beyond, Bent, and Delerium.-Early career:...
(who has written and performed with Faithless
Faithless
Faithless were a British electronica band consisting of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo. The group is best known for their dance songs . Faithless recorded six albums. During their career they sold over 15 million records worldwide...
), Oz from The DiY Sound System
The DiY Sound System
The DiY Sound System was one of Britain's first house sound systems. The group "divided their activities between free parties and legal club nights, acting as a bridge between counter-culture and the mainstream"....
, Heavy Deviance and Neon Heights amongst others.
The label has found supporters worldwide for its eclectic catalogue and has licensed repertoire to Norman Jay
Norman Jay
Norman Jay MBE is an innovative and pioneering British DJ. He first came to prominence playing unlicensed or 'warehouse' parties in the early 1980s, such as Shake 'n' Fingerpop. His diverse and deep musical knowledge and his refusal to be restricted to playing from any single genre distinguishes...
(Giant 45)], Carl Cox in Australia, Junior Vasquez , Fabric
Fabric (club)
Fabric is a nightclub in London, United Kingdom. It was voted number 1 in DJ Magazine's "Top 100 Clubs in the World" poll in 2007 and number 2 in 2008, 2009 and 2010...
- Fabric Live 17
Fabric Live 17
FabricLive.17 was the second DJ mix album mixed by Aim. It forms part of the FabricLive Mix Series by different DJs, recorded for Fabric, a nightclub and record label in London, UK...
(mixed by AIM), Mastercuts (CUTSCD-58 Mastercuts Chilled), Aquasky
Aquasky
Aquasky is a breaks and jungle group composed of Dave Wallace, Kieron Bailey & Brent Newitt. In early 1995 they got together to produce their own music. Shortly afterwards they sent a demo tape to Moving Shadow records and the seeds of a musical alliance were sown...
and others.
Releases include T-Total's version of Brian Eno's "Baby's on Fire" - with guest 'featured vocals' from Soft Cell's Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
- and the debut long player "A Slow Walk Down The Stairs" from Heavy Deviance, themselves favourites of Chris Coco
Chris Coco
Chris Coco is a club/radio DJ, producer and music critic.As a club DJ, he is perhaps best known as the resident, at the hugely popular Coco Club. This underground Saturday night house music event ran from 1989 to 1994, at The Zap Club in Brighton.He is also now also playing full time in...
, Mark Rae
Mark Rae
Mark Rae, born in Ashington, Northumberland, England, is the head of the highly revered independent record label Grand Central Records and one half of DJ and production duo Rae & Christian.-Grand Central and Rae & Christian:...
, Rob Da Bank
Rob da Bank
Robert John Gorham, known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is a British disc jockey. He presents a Friday-night/Saturday-morning show, Rob da Bank, on BBC Radio 1 from 5am-7am, focused on promoting new left field music...
, KCRW (LA), [Laurent Garnier, Bent, Crazy Penis etc. A Slow Walk Down The Stairs was voted 16th best album of 2005 by M8 Magazine.
The label has moved away from its originally exclusive dance release-base to include electro-pop (T-Total ft Marc Almond), indie folk
Indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...
(Nigel of Bermondsey ex Gay Dad
Gay Dad
In 2001 the leading single from Transmission - "Now Always and Forever" - was released. It fell just short of the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. An extensive UK tour was followed by a limited edition single "Harder, Faster". The third single "Transmission" was released just before the album came...
- nominated for the XFM 2009 New Music Award), rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
(Hungary's FreshFabrik
FreshFabrik
FreshFabrik is a Hungarian award winning, rock, nu-metal, industrial band, consisting of Szabolcs Oláh aka , András Szabó and Levente Kovács with László Szvoboda on live performances...
), indie-dance (Elevator Suite
Elevator Suite
Elevator Suite is a three piece electronic pop group. They were formed in January 1999 by the English DJ Andy Childs, his friend DJ Paul "Robbo" Roberts, and Steve Grainger, who was working as a record producer of a small recording studio in Totnes, Devon....
), political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
(Margo Guryan
Margo Guryan
Margo Guryan is a singer/songwriter who blends elements of pop, folk, and jazz. She is best known for her 1968 album Take A Picture. Her songs were recorded by Cass Elliot, Glen Campbell and Astrud Gilberto, among others.-History:Margo Guryan grew up in the suburbs of New York City, and took an...
's 16 Words) and breaks (Michael Morph), with collaborations and artist releases from Long Range (Phil Hartnoll from Orbital
Orbital (band)
Orbital are a British electronic dance music duo from Sevenoaks, England consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. Their career initially ran from 1989 until 2004, but in 2009 they announced that they would be reforming and headlining The Big Chill, in addition to a number of other live shows...
and Nick Smith]), Yo Majesty
Yo Majesty
Yo! Majesty is an American hip hop group consisting of rapper Shunda K and singer Jwl B, produced by UK-based electro group HardfeelingsUK.Yo! Majesty was mentioned as one of the 'Top 11 new bands of 2008' by NME magazine as well as one of the '25 Most Exciting Bands In America'.-Biography:Yo!...
, Aquasky
Aquasky
Aquasky is a breaks and jungle group composed of Dave Wallace, Kieron Bailey & Brent Newitt. In early 1995 they got together to produce their own music. Shortly afterwards they sent a demo tape to Moving Shadow records and the seeds of a musical alliance were sown...
, Alex Metric and others.
As of November 2009, the label's catalogue comprises approximately 25 releases (singles, 12 inch vinyls and LPs)
On the 4th December 2009 Hall resigned from the BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
Rights Committee and the IFPI
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
's International Legal Committees citing irreconcilable differences over the industry's approach to file sharing
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
and their support of the current draft Digital Economy Bill (DEB) going through the UK parliament as of December 2009. He is quoted as saying:
I am particularly surprised that the record industry has chosen to endorse s.17 of the DEB, which I consider is wholly undemocratic and contrary to centuries of good practice regarding the forming of our copyright legislation. I also believe it may set a dangerous precedent going forwards (and could come back to haunt the industry)