PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European independent labels in the early 1980s. Play It Again Sam's prominent early artists were electronic-rock acts like

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Fr ...

, Meat Beat Manifesto and The Young Gods. They later added artists such as The Sound, Soulwax/2ManyDJ's,

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band from Reykjavík, active since 1994. The band comprises singer and guitarist Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal sound, fron ...

and Mogwai.

History

The first release on the label in 1984 was the mini album ''Faces in the Fire'' by the cult experimental psychedelic band The Legendary Pink Dots. This was immediately followed by the 'Four Your Ears Only' EP, featuring Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Red Guitars,

Party Day Party Day were an English goth/indie rock band formed in 1981 in Wombwell near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, originally a four-piece consisting of guitarists Martin Steele, Greg Firth, bassist Carl Firth and drummer, Mick Baker. Their so ...

and Luddites. This laid the ground for releases from many other artists with very diverse musical backgrounds and geographical origins, including the

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

, Parade Ground, The Neon Judgement, The Sound,

Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...

, Taxi Girl,

Bill Pritchard Bill Pritchard is a British singer-songwriter, instrumentalist (guitars, keyboards), musical arranger and producer. Despite being little known in his native country he has achieved considerable recognition in France and elsewhere. Biography Pri ...

and The Cassandra Complex. In 1988 the label released the album '' Front By Front'' by

including the single "Headhunter" (with a video directed by

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...

). The year 1983 marked a distribution agreement in which Chicago-based Wax Trax! Records distributed Play It Again Sam releases in the USA. The agreement continued into the 1990s. In 1999, Play It Again Sam signed a German distribution deal to distribute London-based dance label Mo' Wax's releases. In 2000, the label moved from Brussels to London and was renamed PIAS Recordings. PIAS Recordings released the first two albums by Icelandic band

. The Scottish band Mogwai signed to PIAS in 2001. PIAS announced at the end of 2010 that it would be re-launching Play It Again Sam as a label. In November 2022, Universal Music Group purchased a 49% stake in IAS(including IASRecordings).

Current roster

* Agnes Obel * Andy Burrows * Arcane Roots * Balthazar * Black M * Blanche * Bohren & der Club of Gore * Brodka * Champs *

Circa Waves Circa Waves are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2013. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall, guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and drummer Colin Jones. History Early years (2013) Shudall met ...

* Courting * Day Wave * Dead Can Dance *

dEUS ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or "deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief g ...

* Editors * Eliza *

Elliot Moss Elliot Moss is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter, producer, and visual artist from New York City. He slowly released multiple singles from his debut album ''Highspeeds'', released in 2015, including tracks like "Big Bad Wolf", "Slip" and "Highspee ...

Failure Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective (goal), objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of Success (concept), success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a parti ...

* Fews * Foxes *

Ghostpoet Obaro Ejimiwe (born 18 January 1983) is a British singer, songwriter and musician better known by his stage name Ghostpoet. His first album, ''Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam'', was shortlisted for the 2011 Mercury Prize. His 2015 album ''S ...

* Harper Simon *

Jean-Louis Murat Jean-Louis Murat (born 28 January 1952) is the pseudonym of the French singer/songwriter Jean-Louis Bergheaud. He spent much of his childhood with his grandparents in Murat-le-Quaire from which he got his pseudonym. Biography Jean-Louis Berghea ...

Jesswar Jesswar, is a Fijian Australian artist based on Yugambeh/Kombumerri country. Jesswar's debut single, "Savage", released in 2017 and was followed by debut EP ''Tropixx'' in 2021 and debut mixtape ''LIFE'S SHORT, LIVE BIG'' in 2022. In 2021, Je ...

* The Jezabels *

Keaton Henson Keaton Henson (born 24 March 1988) is an English musician, composer, visual artist, and poet. Henson has released six studio albums. a wordless graphic novel called ''Gloaming'', published by Pocko, and a book of poetry called ''Idiot Verse''. H ...

* Joan As Police Woman * Lisa Mitchell * Lord Huron * Lucius * Lykke Li * Mew * Minor Victories * Pixies * Public Service Broadcasting * Salvatore Adamo *

The Slow Show The Slow Show is a British indie pop band, formed in Manchester, UK in 2010. Their music has been described as "minimalist but epic numbers steeped in atmospheric sonic landscapes" with singer Rob Goodwin's "croaky baritone" as a feature that st ...

* Soap&Skin * Soulwax *

Twin Wild Twin Wild is a British four-piece alternative rock band. Formed in 2012, the band is made up of Richard Hutchison (vocals, guitars), Imran Mair (drums), David Cuzner (guitars) and Edward Thomas (bass). In 2014, the band self-released their track ...

* Wave Racer * White Lies

Former artists

* Band of Skulls *

Causes Causes, or causality, is the relationship between one event and another. It may also refer to: * Causes (band), an indie band based in the Netherlands * Causes (company) Causes.com is a civic-technology app and website that enables users to orga ...

* Cabaret Voltaire * Crystal Castles * Enter Shikari *

The Darkness Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness or The Darkness may also refer to: Film and television * ''Dark'' (TV series), a 2017 German-language TV series produced by Netflix * Darknss, a character from the film ''Legend'' (1985) * ''Darkne ...

* Dinosaur Jr. * Drive-By Truckers * I Am Kloot * The Jim Jones Revue * Jurassic 5 * Maxïmo Park * The Middle East * Mogwai * My Morning Jacket * My Vitriol * The Pains of Being Pure at Heart * Placebo * Rodrigo y Gabriela * Seasick Steve *

* Steve Burns * Texas *

Trisomie 21 Trisomie 21 is a French cold wave group, formed in Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capi ...

* Young Guns * Zulu Winter

References

External links

Play It Again, Sam

PIAS site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pias Recordings IFPI members British record labels Belgian independent record labels Record labels established in 1983 Rock record labels

History

Current roster

Former artists

See also

References

External links