Asphodel Records

Asphodel Records
Founded1992
FounderMitzi Johnson, Naut Humon
DistributorsRevolver USA, Forced Exposure, Crosstalk
GenreIndie
Country of originUnited States
LocationSan Francisco, California
Official websiteasphodel.com archive

Asphodel Ltd (a.k.a. Asphodel Records) was a San Francisco-based independent record label founded by musician Mitzi Johnson and Naut Humon in 1992. The label is named after the mythological flower that grows along the banks of the River Styx in Hades. The label had shut down as of January 2011.

Asphodel has a diverse catalog of releases with a prominent experimental thread in the genres of turntablism, electronica, ambient, illbient, electroacoustic, trip hop, spoken word, noise, techno, and lounge.

History

The label's first release was the self-titled debut by Johnson's band, Blue Rubies. In 1995, Asphodel released the second volume of the Incredibly Strange Music compilation, a companion to the counterculture zine RE/Search (edited by V. Vale, a friend of Naut Humon and Mitzi Johnson). In 1996, the label released the Excursions In Illbient compilation, which was partly responsible in naming this genre.

Naut Humon became the official Asphodel head of A&R in 1994. Erik Gilbert served as the label's General Manager, before becoming the Vice President of Content at the Independent Online Distribution Alliance before Sony restructured it to become The Orchard.

Asphodel was named one of the "top 10 independent labels in the world" by Rolling Stone magazine in 1998.

Speaking on the legacy of Asphodel, [Erik] Gilbert underlined its uncompromising stance and approach: "Incredible artists, incredible albums. I am honoured and proud to have been involved with them. Nothing has since come close." For [Gregor] Asch, without Naut there would be no DJ Olive as we knew him and perhaps no illbient. "The label is Naut’s legacy really," he admits. "Quality sampling from emerging sounds on the meridian between the underground and the popular. A world class grasp of production and mastering while always pushing the boundaries of a surround performance experience."

Between 2002 and 2007, the number of releases decreased. As of January 2011, a message on the asphodel.com last snapshot reads, "Asphodel is now closed. Thank you for the love and support. Mitzi Johnson, San Francisco January, 2011".

Artists

See also

References

  1. ↑ Definition of Asphodel's name "Welcome - Asphodel". Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved 2015-11-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ↑ "Blue Rubies page at Asphodel.com". Archived from the original on 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  3. 1 2 3 Fintoni, Laurent (Oct 20, 2015). "Incredibly Strange Music: The Untold Story of Asphodel Records". Fact Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  4. 1 2 Erik Gilbert profile at IODA Archived April 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "About Asphodel". Asphodel.com. Jan 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-10-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)