Asphodel Ltd was a San Francisco-based independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 founded by musician Mitzi Johnson in 1992. The label is named after the mythological flower that grows along the banks of the River Styx in Hades

Hades

Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...

.

Asphodel has a diverse catalog of releases with a prominent experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 thread in the genres of turntablism

Turntablism

Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...

, electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

, ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

, illbient

Illbient

Illbient is a term allegedly coined by DJ Olive to describe the iconoclastic music being produced by a community of artists based in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 1994...

, electroacoustic

Electroacoustic music

Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...

, trip hop

Trip hop

Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...

, spoken word

Spoken word

Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

, noise

Noise

In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...

, techno

Techno

Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...

, and lounge

Lounge music

Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...

.

History

The label's first release was the self-titled debut by Johnson's band, Blue Rubies.

Naut Humon

Naut Humon

Naut Humon is the adopted name of Mark Sprague. He serves on the Digital Musics jury of the Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria every year. He is the founder of Recombinant Media Labs and was head of A&R for Asphodel Records, both based in San Francisco. He is featured in the 2001...

 was brought on as Asphodel's head of A&R in 1994. Erik Gilbert, now VP of Content at Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), once served as the label's General Manager.

Asphodel was named as one of the "top 10 independent labels in the world" by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

 magazine in 1998.

Artists

AGF.3 + SUE.C Alexander Rishaug Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer who first gained prominence in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan... antimatter Badawi Biosphere Biosphere (musician) Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen , a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his "ambient techno" and "arctic ambient" styles, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His track "Novelty... Blue Rubies Broker/Dealer Byzar Byzar Byzar is an experimental electronic music ensemble, considered one of the founders of the Illbient genre, along with DJ Spooky, Sub Dub, We, and the Soundlab collective, active in the New York experimental dance/electronic music scene during the 1990s.... Christian Marclay Christian Marclay Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual artist and composer.Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film... Curtis Roads Curtis Roads Curtis Roads is a composer of electronic and electroacoustic music specializing in granular and pulsar synthesis, author, and computer programmer.... Daniel Menche Daniel Menche Daniel Menche is a musician from Portland, Oregon. He has released music on labels such as Soleilmoon, Trente Oiseaux, Or Records, Alien8, Antifrost, Tesco Organisation, Blossoming Noise, f e r n s recordings Beta-lactam Ring Records, and Editions Mego... David Darling David Darling (musician) David Darling is an American cellist and composer. He won the Grammy award for Best New Age Album in 2010. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Bobby McFerrin and Spyro Gyra in addition to putting out several solo and small ensemble albums as well as albums of his... Diamanda Galas Diamanda Galás Diamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls... DJ Spooky DJ Spooky Paul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author... Fe-Mail Fires Were Shot Gregory Lenczycki Iannis Xenakis Iannis Xenakis Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers... Invisibl Skratch Piklz Invisibl Skratch Piklz The Invisibl Skratch Piklz were a group of Americans of Filipino Ancestry turntablists.The members of the group were originally hip-hop DJs, who were among the pioneers of the turntablism movement in the 1990s; turntablists create musical pieces by mixing samples from records, by using multiple...

Iso Orchestra Janek Schaefer Janek Schaefer Janek Schaefer is a London-based sound artist, musician, and composer born in England to Polish and Canadian parents in 1970. He is known for his innovative work with sound and installation art... Jeff Greinke Jeff Greinke Jeff Greinke is an American ambient music and jazz artist and composer currently based in Tucson, Arizona. He is known as one of the pioneers of dark ambient music, with his earlier solo albums often compared to works by Robert Rich, Brian Eno, and Vidna Obmana... John Cage John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde... John Ward Ken Nordine Ken Nordine Ken Nordine is an American voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie trailers. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost... KK Null KK Null KK Null is a Japanese experimental multi-instrumentalist. He began as a guitarist, but soon added composer, singer, electronic musician and drummer to his list of talents, and also studied with the Butoh workshop.... Laminar Li Alin Martin Ng, Oren Ambarchi Oren Ambarchi Oren Ambarchi is a multi-instrumentalist who in major plays electric guitar and drums, with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. He was born in Sydney, Australia in 1969 to a Jewish family originally from Iraq.... , Tina Frank, Robin Fox Maryanne Amacher Maryanne Amacher Maryanne Amacher was an American composer and installation artist.-Biography:Amacher was born in Kane, Pennsylvania, to an American nurse and a Swiss freight train worker. As the only child, she grew up playing the piano. Amacher left Kane to attend the University of Pennsylvania on a full... Mix Master Mike Mix Master Mike Mix Master Mike is an American turntablist and contributing member of the Beastie Boys.-Life and career:Born Michael Schwartz in San Francisco, California, Mix Master Mike is of German and Filipino descent. He first came to prominence upon winning the 1992 New Music Seminar/Supermen Inc... Naut Humon Naut Humon Naut Humon is the adopted name of Mark Sprague. He serves on the Digital Musics jury of the Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria every year. He is the founder of Recombinant Media Labs and was head of A&R for Asphodel Records, both based in San Francisco. He is featured in the 2001... Otomo Yoshihide Phil Crumar Ray Guillette Reinhold Friedl

Rhythm & Sound Richard Devine Richard Devine Richard Devine is an Atlanta-based electronic musician. He is recognized for producing a layered and heavily processed sound, combining influences from hip-hop to old and modern electronic music. Devine largely records for the Miami-based Schematic Records, which was founded by . He has also done... Robert Rich Robert Rich (musician) Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music... Ryuichi Sakamoto Ryuichi Sakamoto After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as... Steve Roach Sub Dub The-Allies Thomas Dimuzio Tipsy Tipsy (band) Tipsy is an electronic music band, formed by Tim Digulla and David Gardner in San Francisco, CA in 1996. Their music is a quirky blend of lounge and experimental sound collage.-Albums:* 1996 – Trip Tease* 2001 – Uh-Oh!... Ulf Langheinrich Vidna Obmana Vidna Obmana Vidna Obmana is a pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries. The name Vidna Obmana, a phrase in Serbian, literally translates to "optical illusion" and was chosen by Serries because he felt it accurately described the music... We™ World Standard X-Ecutioners Yasunao Tone Yasunao Tone Yasunao Tone is a Japanese artist who has worked with many different types of media throughout his career. He was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1935, and he graduated from Chiba Japanese National University in 1957, majoring in Japanese literature. He became active in the Fluxus movement in the 1960s and... zeitkratzer [The User]

External links

• Asphodel's Official Website
• Asphodel's MySpace Page
• Asphodel on YouTube
• Asphodel at PerfSpot