Mokum Records is a Dutch

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

specialising in

early hardcore Gabber (; ) is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as Hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted & heavier kickdrums, ...

and

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

releases. They have released about 100 single and EP vinyl records between 1993 and 1999 and more than 80 since 2004. Fred Berkhout (Freddy B) created Mokum Records in 1993 as a joke response to another record label,

Rotterdam Records Rotterdam Records was a Dutch record label founded by Paul Elstak in 1992. It released hardcore and gabber music. It stopped in 2012 and restarted again in 2018 with MP3 releases. History The label was set up by Paul Elstak who around 2000 quit ...

. The label was originally part of the record store Boudisque Records, but was later merged with

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

- part of

The Island Def Jam Music Group The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordin ...

- who closed the label in 1998 because vinyl cost more than it yielded and decided to stop releasing with the medium. The label was revived by Freddy B in 2004 due to the re-emergence of the hardcore scene in the early 2000s, especially with gabber's resurgence in popularity in 2002. (catalog releases starting at 100 reflect this). Mokum Records achieved chart success all over the world in 1995 with

Technohead Greater Than One is an English electronic music band, founded by husband and wife Michael Wells and Lee Newman in 1985. They released many albums under this name, and also under the names Tricky Disco, GTO, John + Julie, Church of Extacy, Sign ...

and their No. 1 hit "

I Wanna Be a Hippy "I Wanna Be a Hippy" is a song by English electronic group Technohead. The vocals were taken from David Peel's song "I Like Marijuana", which he sung in the movie '' Rude Awakening''. It first appeared as the B-side to the group's ''Mary Jane ...

", the No. 1 hit "

Have You Ever Been Mellow "Have You Ever Been Mellow" is the first single of the Party Animals and was released on their debut album '' Good Vibrations''. The track was released in 1996 and became their first number one hit in The Netherlands. The song contains a sample o ...

" by the Party Animals, and Technohead's "Happy Birthday", which followed in 1996. The Party Animals would also go on to have two more consecutive #1 hits with "Hava Naquila" and "Aquarius", making them the first ever Dutch act to have their first three singles top the Dutch charts. As well as this success, they are also renowned for their series of compilation albums called "Fucking Hardcore." The series started in 1995 at the height of the label's popularity and finished with "Fucking Hardcore No. 8" in 1998; however, the series was revived in 2016. The label was home to many successful producers and DJs such as Chosen Few, Flamman & Abraxas, Tellurian, The Prophet, Speedfreak, DJ Dano,

Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...

and Liza N Eliaz.

Overview

Mokum is noted for adopting anti-Fascist statements or notices on its record sleeves in response to

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

activity on the early Dutch

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

scene. All Mokum releases carry the slogan "UNITED GABBERS AGAINST RACISM & FASCISM" and several artists have released tracks that vocally speak out against racism. The record company is named after

Mokum ''Mokum'' (מקום) is the Yiddish word for "place" or "safe haven". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''makom'' (מקום, "place"). In Yiddish, the names for some cities in the Netherlands and Germany were shortened to ''Mokum'' and had t ...

which is the

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

name for the center

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and was originally used by the Jewish community and was later added to the local Amsterdam dialect. In 1996, DJ Dano launched a sublabel to Mokum called "Fukem." Fukem was strictly for material that had faster tempos and harder material than material that would be released on the main label. Along with DJ Dano, artists that released under Fukem included Aggroman, Narcanosis, Deadly Buda & the Superstars of Death, and even Technohead had one release on the sublabel with "Cocaine", a collaboration with Elvis Jackson. The sublabel was short-lived, having only six official releases, and became inactive in 1997. On 2 December 2016, Mokum, in collaboration with Overdrive Records, announced on their Facebook page that they were reviving their "Fucking Hardcore" series after an 18-year hiatus with #9 being released on vinyl in 2017, a first for the series. Another first for the series came in 2018 when "Fucking Hardcore #10" and "Fucking Hardcore #11" were released digitally on available music sites, which had never been done previous.
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References

External links

Official Mokum Records Website

Mokum discography at Hardcore Underground

Mokum history and discography at discogs.com

Connected DJ @ Cenobite
{{Authority control Dutch record labels Record labels established in 1993 Record labels disestablished in 1999 Record labels established in 2004 Re-established companies Electronic dance music record labels

Overview

See also

References

External links