Planet Mu is an eclectic English

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

created and run by

Mike Paradinas Michael Paradinas (born 26 September 1971), better known by his stage name μ-Ziq (pronounced "music" or mu-zik), is an English electronic musician from Wimbledon, London. He was associated with the electronic style intelligent dance music (IDM ...

. The label started out as a subsidiary of

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

then Paradinas set up the label independent of Virgin. After releasing

intelligent dance music Intelligent dance music (commonly abbreviated as IDM) is a style of electronic music originating in the early 1990s, defined by idiosyncratic experimentation rather than specific genre constraints.''"…the label 'IDM' (for avant-garde, 'intel ...

, the label moved to

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

and

breakcore Breakcore is a style and microgenre of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources ...

, and then

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Wood ...

and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

and later footwork. The label also releases the music of Paradinas under various aliases such as μ-Ziq, Kid Spatula and Tusken Raiders. It celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020.

Beginning

When

signed as a musician to

in the mid-1990s, Paradinas was asked for suggestions for the new dance subsidiary and suggested Planet Mu as a play on

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s ...

's label Planet E. When Virgin lost interest in the project, Paradinas took it over. He quickly drew critical acclaim for releasing a string of important IDM (

) records, from artists such as Jega,

Leafcutter John Leafcutter John is the recording name of John Burton, a UK-based musician and artist. He makes frequent use of Max/MSP in his compositions. Much of Burton's style is based in computer music and use of samples of everyday sounds. However, he a ...

Luke Vibert Luke Vibert (born 26 January 1973) is a British electronic musician and producer, also known for his work under several aliases such as Plug and Wagon Christ. Raised in Cornwall, Vibert began releasing projects in the 1990s across varied genre ...

, WWWINGS and

Venetian Snares Aaron Funk (born January 11, 1975), known as Venetian Snares, is a Canadian electronic musician based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is widely known for innovating and popularising the breakcore genre, and is one of the most recognisable artists to b ...

. The label also releases Paradinas' music under a range of aliases including Kid Spatula, Tusken Raiders and Mu-Ziq, establishing itself as an electronic music label to rival

Skam Records Skam Records is an independent electronic music record label based in Manchester, England, founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. Skam also runs a smaller sub-label called 33. History Skam's first 12-inch single is rumored to have never been off ...

and

Warp records Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...

Progression

As the new decade began, Planet Mu began to release

and

records from artists such as 0=0,

Tim Exile Tim Exile (or Exile) is the recording alias of Tim Shaw, a producer and performer of electronic music spanning drum and bass, IDM, breakcore and gabber. History A classically trained violinist, he began experimenting with electronic music age ...

and

Shitmat Shitmat is an English breakcore artist and mashup producer, one of several monikers used by Henry Collins. Shitmat became known in the early 2000s for releases on the Ad Noiseam and Planet Mu labels. He also set up his own label, Wrong Music an ...

. Later in the decade, Paradinas moved towards

and

, signing artists such as

Boxcutter A utility knife is any type of knife used for general manual work purposes.Peterson, Harold L., ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World'', London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd., , p. 1 Such knives were originally fixed-blade knives with du ...

, Milanese, Mr. Mitch, Pinch,

Vex'd Vex'd were an English dubstep duo signed to Planet Mu Records, consisting of Jamie Teasdale and Roly Porter. They often played at early DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, milit ...

and

Virus Syndicate Virus Syndicate are a British grime collective from Manchester, centred on JSD and Nika D. They are known for their fusion of dubstep with grime, and have been lauded by ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "some of the tautest British MC-ing since the ...

. In 2006, the label released three ''Warrior Dubz'' compilations curated by

Mary Anne Hobbs Mary Anne Hobbs (born 16 May 1964) is an English DJ and music journalist from Lancashire, England. She currently hosts the BBC Radio 6 Music weekday mid-morning show, Monday to Friday, 10:30am1pm, and her ''6 Music Recommends'' show, Wednesday ...

. In the 2010s, Planet Mu changed direction again, releasing the footwork compilation ''Bangs & Works Vol. 1'' which featured

DJ Rashad Rashad Harden (October 9, 1979 – April 26, 2014), known as DJ Rashad, was a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ known as a pioneer in the footwork genre and founder of the Teklife crew. He released his debut studio album '' ...

and brought the Chicago genre to wider attention. ''Bangs & Works Vol. 2'' came out the following year and launched the career of

Jlin Jerrilynn Patton (born July 30, 1987), known as Jlin, is an electronic musician. She began producing music in 2008 and received early attention for her 2011 track "Erotic Heat". Jlin's debut album, ''Dark Energy'', was released in 2015 to criti ...

. In 2020, the label celebrated its 25th birthday. In 2019 it had not made a profit but in 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, sales went up. It released the compilation ''PlanetMµ25'' which featured grime from East Man & Streema, pop from RUI-HO, IDM from

Bogdan Raczynski Bogdan Raczynski (born 1977) is a Polish-American electronic musician. Associated with the intelligent dance music (IDM) movement, Raczynski's work draws inspiration from the chaotic breakbeats of jungle and hardcore rave as well as tradition ...

and jazz from Jana Rush.

References

External links

Official website

Discogs Planet-Mu
{{Authority control British record labels Record labels established in 1995 Electronic music record labels Drum and bass record labels Dubstep record labels Breakcore Grime music

Beginning

Progression

See also

References

External links