Mille Plateaux is a German

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 ...

founded in 1994 by Achim Szepanski in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, as a sublabel of Force Inc. Music Works. Its releases in the fields of

minimal techno Minimal techno is a subgenre of techno music. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition and understated development. Minimal techno is thought to have been originally developed in the early 1990s by Detro ...

glitch music Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s. It is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts. The glitching sounds featured in glitch tracks usually come from audio recording de ...

and other experimental

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 ...

have a lasting influence.

History

Origins and Activities (1994-2004)

The name Mille Plateaux was taken from ''

Mille Plateaux ''A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia'' (french: link=no, Mille plateaux) is a 1980 book by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the French psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. It is the second and final volume of their collaborativ ...

(A Thousand Plateaus)'', a philosophy book by

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze ( , ; 18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volu ...

and

Félix Guattari Pierre-Félix Guattari ( , ; 30 April 1930 – 29 August 1992) was a French psychoanalyst, political philosopher, semiotician, social activist, and screenwriter. He co-founded schizoanalysis with Gilles Deleuze, and ecosophy with Arne Næss, ...

, published in 1980. Their idea of the

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

has been applied as the label's concept of publishing a large variety of forward thinking electronic music from different contexts. In 2000, Mille Plateaux released their '' Clicks & Cuts Series'', which featured both Mille Plateaux and non-Mille Plateaux glitch music artists. This series is widely perceived to be a cornerstone of glitch music.

Bankruptcy and Various Revivals (2004-2011)

In early 2004, Mille Plateaux's parent company Force Inc. went bankrupt due to the collapse of Germany's main independent music distributor, EFA-Medien. Mille Plateaux and other Force Inc. Music Works owned labels also folded at that time. The label was revived briefly in late 2004 under the name MillePlateauxMedia, with 4 releases. In 2005, two releases were made by RAI STREUBEL MUSIC S.L. on the label Supralinear with the note "by Mille Plateaux". In 2006, Mille Plateaux (along with the other former Force Inc. Music Works labels Force Inc. and Force Tracks) was taken over by the Berlin-based company Disco Inc. Ltd., who only released two CD albums. In March 2008, Mille Plateaux was acquired by Total Recall, an online store and distributor for used and new music. Their owner Marcus Gabler, known as singer of the band

Okay ''OK'' (spelling variations include ''okay'', ''O.K.'', ''ok'' and ''Ok'') is an English word (originating in American English) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently ...

, became the A&R manager. Mille Plateaux relaunched its activities on 7 May 2010, with three new albums but halted activity in 2011. In 2018, Total Recall was dissolved.

Relaunch by Achim Szepanski (2018-present)

Its original founder Achim Szepanski successfully reactivated the label's activity in 2018. Since then it has released music digitally as well as on vinyl, CD, cassette and USB stick. Among a broad range of new and younger artists,

Thomas Köner Thomas Köner (born 1965 in Bochum, West Germany) is a multimedia artist whose main interest lies in combining visual and auditory experiences. The BBC, in a review of Köner's work in 1997, calls him a "media artist," one who works between instal ...

Porter Ricks Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc ...

and

Cristian Vogel Cristian Vogel (born 1972) is an Chilean experimental electronic musician. Biography Vogel was born in Chile and moved to England in the early 1980s with his family, fleeing from the government of Augusto Pinochet. Vogel first began working with ...

have returned to the label. The curatorial focus is centered around the concept of Ultrablackness:

"Anonymous, dark, black, hidden, concealed, encrypted, opaque, undercover, incomprehensible: Ultrablack of Music dares the exodus and listens to those forces and sounds that tell of the unheard in music. Sound is the vibration, resonance and diffraction of waves in the black cosmos."

Bearing the same title, the book "Ultrablack of Music" contains texts by writers and artists such as Benjamin Noys, Frederic Neyrat,

Marcus Schmickler Marcus Schmickler (born November 15, 1968, in Cologne) is a German composer, musician, and producer. He is also known under the pseudonym Pluramon. Background In 1968 he was born as the son of an industrial salesman and a baker's daughter in C ...

and Holger Schulze. It was accompanied by a compilation of 34 tracks.

Former Sublabels

* Ritornell - started 1999, released rather abstract, sound art works of

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

* Cluster - started 2010, released experimental

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

* Organic - started 2010, released experimental / progressive, non-electronic (sounding) music * Force Intel (sister label) - started 2010, released less experimental electronic music, often referred to as IDM

Artists

Some artists released on the label prior to 2004: *

Akufen Marc Leclair, better known by his stage name Akufen, is a Canadian electronic musician. His music is electronic music that is often described as minimal house, minimal techno, glitch, or microhouse. His 2002 release titled ''My Way'' introduced h ...

Alva Noto Carsten Nicolai (18 September 1965), also known as Alva Noto, is a German musician and visual artist. He is a member of the music groups Diamond Version with Olaf Bender (Byetone), Signal with Frank Bretschneider and Olaf Bender, Cyclo with Ryo ...

Alec Empire Alec or Aleck is a Scottish form of the given name Alex. It may be a diminutive of the name Alexander or a given name in its own right. Notable people with the name include: People * Alec Aalto (1942–2018), Finnish diplomat *Alec Acton (1938� ...

Andreas Tilliander Berndt Andreas Tilliander (born 1977) is a Swedish electronica, drone and techno producer who significantly contributed to the evolution of the 'clicks & cuts' genre with his first albums ''Cliphop'' (Raster.Noton) and ''Ljud'' (Mille Plateaux). ...

* Antye Greie-Fuchs * Autopoieses (

Ekkehard Ehlers Ekkehard Ehlers (born 1974) is an artist working in the field of electronic music. In addition to his solo career, he has recorded under the monikers Auch, Betrieb and Ferdinand Fehlers and as a member of the duo Autopoesies and his band März. ...

and

Sebastian Meissner Sebastian Meissner (born 1969 in Częstochowa, Poland) is an artist, electronic musician, journalist, radio-producer and photographer. Under monikers such as ''Random Inc'', ''Random Industries'' and ''Bizz Circuits'' he released several albums f ...

) * Christophe Charles *

* Curd Duca *

Dälek Dälek () (stylized in all lowercase) is an American experimental hip hop group formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1998. The group's current lineup consists of MC dälek (vocals and producer) and Mike Manteca (aka Mike Mare) (electronics and prod ...

* Dean Roberts *

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabli ...

DJ Vadim Vadim Alexandrovich Peare (russian: Вадим Александрович Пир, Vadim Aleksandrovich Pir ...

* Donnacha Costello *

Frank Bretschneider Frank Bretschneider (born 1956) is a German electronic musician. He works primarily with sine waves and white noise as his source material. He also releases material under the name Komet. Bretschneider was born and raised in Karl-Marx-Stadt ( ...

Hanayo , born ,Job Profile vol 22: Hanayo
", elle.co.jp. Retrieved 5 June 2009. is ...

* High Priest of the

Antipop Consortium Antipop Consortium is an American alternative hip hop group. The group formed in 1997, when Beans, High Priest, M. Sayyid, and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City. They are notable for their stream-of-consciousness lyric ...

Ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

* Jamie Liddell * Jammin' Unit * Jetone * Jim O'Rourke *

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

* Kevin Martin *

Kid 606 Miguel Trost De Pedro (born July 27, 1979), better known by his stage name Kid606, is an electronic musician who was raised in San Diego and later moved to San Francisco. He is most closely associated with the glitch, IDM, hardcore techno and b ...

Kouhei Matsunaga Kohei Matsunaga (aka NHK yx Koyxen) is an electronic musician and draughtsman born in 1978 in Osaka, Japan, currently residing in Osaka and Berlin, Germany. History Kohei Matsunaga grew up in Osaka, Japan, where he studied architecture and l ...

* Luomo (aka

Vladislav Delay Vladislav Delay is the most frequently used pseudonym of Sasu Ripatti (born 1976), a Finnish electronic musician. He has also recorded as Luomo, Sistol, Uusitalo, Conoco, and Ripatti, working in styles such as minimal techno, glitch, and house. ...

) *

Marvin Ayres Marvin Ayres (born 1950s) is a British composer, cellist, violinist and producer. He has composed and recorded a diverse selection of minimalist albums, incorporating spatial soundscapes and psychoacoustics and latterly 5.1 and True 3D Surround in ...

Masami Akita is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...

Max Eastley Max Eastley (born 1 December 1944, Torquay, Devon, England) is a British visual and sound artist. He is part of the Cape Farewell Climate Change project. He studied painting and graphic art at Newton Abbot Art School and then went on to gain a BA ...

* Microstoria *

Mouse On Mars Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is a blend of electronic genres including IDM, dub, krautrock, breakbeat and ambient, featuring heavy use of organic analog synth and ...

* Mr. Thing *

Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

Panacea In Greek mythology, Panacea (Greek ''Πανάκεια'', Panakeia), a goddess of universal remedy, was the daughter of Asclepius and Epione. Panacea and her four sisters each performed a facet of Apollo's art: * Panacea (the goddess of universal ...

Peter Rehberg Peter Rehberg (29 June 1968 – 22 July 2021), also known as Pita, was a British-Austrian composer of electronic audio works. He was the head of Editions Mego, which he founded in 2006 as a successor to Mego. Early life Rehberg was born in To ...

* Random Inc (a.k.a. Sebastian Meissner) *

Robert Babicz Robert Babicz (born January 5, 1973 in Niemodlin, Poland) is a Polish-born music producer, mastering engineer and live performer living in Malta. With a career spanning nearly three decades covering genres from techno to acid house to minimal, Ro ...

Ryoji Ikeda Ryoji Ikeda (池田亮司 ''Ikeda Ryōji'', born 1966) is a Japanese visual and sound artist who currently lives and works in Paris, France. Ikeda's music is concerned primarily with sound in a variety of "raw" states, such as sine tones and noi ...

Safety Scissors Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

* Scanner *

Si Begg Si Begg (born 1972) is an English electronic dance music DJ, musician and record producer. His recording career began in 1993 and he has used a number of different pseudonyms and band names, and released music in different styles on several ...

* snd *

Sophie Rimheden Sophie Rimheden (born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish electronica artist. Born in Lund, Sweden, she began making music as a child and moved into electronic music at age 13. She has stated she is heavily influenced by Madonna. Early career Rimhed ...

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writ ...

* Stewart Walker *

Suba Suba may refer to: Groups of people *Suba people (Kenya), a people of Kenya **Suba language *Suba people (Tanzania), a people of Tanzania * Subha (writers), alternatively spelt Suba, Indian writer duo Individual people *Suba (musician), Serbian- ...

* Suphala *

Techno Animal Techno Animal is an electronic duo formed in 1990 in London, England by British musicians Justin Broadrick (of the band Godflesh) and Kevin Martin (aka the Bug, of the band God). The duo released six LPs beginning with their 1991 debut '' Ghost ...

Terre Thaemlitz Terre Thaemlitz is a musician, public speaker, and owner of the record label Comatonse Recordings. Thaemlitz's work critically combines themes of identity politics – including gender, sexuality, class, linguistics, ethnicity and race – with an ...

* Twerk *

Ultra-red Ultra-red are a sound art collective founded in 1994 by two AIDS activists, Dont Rhine and Marco Larsen. Originally based in Los Angeles, the art collective has expanded over the years with members across North American and Europe. Members in Ultra ...

Wolfgang Voigt Wolfgang Voigt (born 1961) is an electronic music DJ and producer from Cologne, Germany, known for his output under various aliases, such as Gas. He signed on numerous record labels, including Warp, Harvest, Raster-Noton, Force Inc, Astral Indu ...

(best known as

Gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

) *

Yasunao Tone (b. 1935) is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Tokyo, Japan and working in New York City. He graduated from Chiba University in 1957 with a major in Japanese Literature. An important figure in postwar Japanese art during the sixties, he was acti ...

Some artists released on the label (or its substitutes) between 2004 and 2010: *

Eight Frozen Modules Kenneth James Gibson is a musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter and a founding member of Bell Gardens, Furry Things, Eight Frozen Modules, and endics.shuffle. Career Kenneth James Gibson was born in Canada, grew up in El ...

* Edith Progue * Kit Krash * Ran Slavin * Bizz Circuits Some artists released under Marcus Gabler in 2010-2011: * Ametsub * Craig Vear * Gultskra Artikler * Kabutogani *

Klive Úlfur Hansson (born 1988) is an Icelandic electronic musician. Úlfur's first album, ''Sweaty Psalms'', was released in May 2008. It was recorded and written over two years, self-released but distributed by Kimi Records locally. The record receiv ...

* Wyatt Keusch Some artists released since the relaunch in 2018: * Bienoise * Baransu * Cristian Vogel * Deepchild * Thomas Köner * Porter Ricks * Network Ensemble * Simona Zamboli * woulg * DeRayling * Gianluca Iadema * John-Robin Bold * Andy Cowling

References

External links

Official websiteMille Plateaux at BandcampMille Plateaux at FacebookMille Plateaux at InstagramMille Plateaux page at DiscogsMillePlateauxMedia page at Discogs
{{Authority control German independent record labels Electronic music record labels Ambient music record labels 1993 establishments in Germany Record labels established in 1993 Companies based in Frankfurt