Ninja Tune
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Ninja Tune | |
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Jonathan More | |
Distributor(s) | |
Genre | |
Country of origin | England, United Kingdom |
Location | London |
Official website | www |
Ninja Tune is an English independent record label[1] based in London with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (professionally known as Coldcut[2]) and managed by Peter Quicke and others.
Inspired by a visit to Japan, Black, and More created Ninja Tune in 1990 as a means, according to Billboard magazine, "to escape the creative control of major labels,"[3] and as a vehicle to release music of an underground nature,[4] free from the constraints they experienced in their brief stints with Arista and Big Life.[5] The label has been called "visionary"[6] and "reliably excellent."[7] It has signed a diverse range of artists,[8] has created its own publishing company, Just Isn't Music[9] and finds innovative uses of software.[10]
The label's first releases – the first five volumes of
The label has since released music from many artists (including
History
1990–1999
Following a
After Coldcut's success with their first label, Ahead of Our Time,[16] contractual issues prevented them from releasing anything under their name. Ninja Tune's inaugural release was Coldcut's (under the name Bogus Order) house break collection Zen Brakes Vol. 1 in 1990. The label got a bigger name for itself when Coldcut, as DJ Food, released their funky hip-hop jazz-breaks album, Jazz Brakes Vol. 1, which, according to Record Collector, "blew up" in the DJ circuit.[17] DJ Food's Jazz Brakes series were intended as source material for DJs and producers who worked with breaks and beats.
In 1992, Peter Quicke joined as label manager, as did Patrick Carpenter, a.k.a. PC, who joined Coldcut as a sound engineer. PC would become a crucial member of Ninja Tune and from Jazz Brakes Vol. 4 onward, an integral part of the DJ Food production team.
Between 1994 and 1997 Ninja explored and defined the
Coldcut's contribution to Britain's flourishing scene was solidified by their
In 1994, Matt Black's close friend Mixmaster Morris introduced Matt to Openmind – a DJ & design collective in Camberwell – at the Telepathic Fish chill-out club, they were running. Openmind included Kevin Foakes a.k.a. Strictly Kev of DJ Food. After submitting a re-styled company logo he was employed by Ninja Tune in the capacity of overall design consultant. Matt Black also invited Foakes to Ninja's recording studio, where he eventually joined the many hands at work on DJ Food's 1995 album, Recipe for Disaster (which also included Patrick Carpenter a.k.a. PC, Isaac Elliston, Paul Rabiger and Paul Brooks). The album was called a "whirlwind of beats put through the blender"[23] and proved a good cross-selection of the group's various styles.[24][page needed]
In 1995, The Herbaliser—in what All Music Guide said was one of the more purely hip-hop-oriented acts on Ninja Tune's roster at that point[25][page needed]—released their debut album Remedies. Remedies brought both the group and the label much attention.[how?][25][page needed]
Also in 1995, an album launch party for DJ Food's Recipe for Disaster was the beginning of what would become a regular club night, Stealth. Stealth was named Club of the Year by NME in 1996, with guests including Kruder & Dorfmeister, Squarepusher, Ashley Beedle, James Lavelle, Kid Koala and the label roster. Around the same time, Ninja Tune began organizing its first package tours across the UK and Europe.
With their two 1994 albums, Paradise Blown and Electric Lazyland, 9 Lazy 9 helped spawn the funky, subterranean sound for which Ninja Tune would earn its early acclaim, combining hip hop and funk breakbeats with jazz-influenced sound.[26] Their success inspired one-half of the Italian-based duo, James Braddell, to return to the UK and begin his solo project. As Funki Porcini, Braddell released Hed Phone Sex in 1995, which ran through a gamut of genres, from dub to drum and bass.[27] Braddell continued to explore sonic territories on 1996's Let's See What Carmen Can Do EP and the Love, Pussycats and Car Wrecks album from the same year.
DJ Vadim, a Russian-born turntablist from London who had already released EPs on his own Jazz Fudge label, released his 1996 album U.S.S.R. Repertoire, which, according to music critic Simon Reynolds, "locked grooves and ultra-vivid, up-close sample-textures."[28][page needed] U.S.S.R. Reconstruction followed in 1998, a remix album filled with hip hop that The Wire claimed "turns the air into molasses."[22] With U.S.S.R. Reconstruction, Vadim selected 13 producers, including Reflection, Clatterbox, DJ Krush, Silent Poets, and Kid Koala. All Music Guide remarked on DJ VAdim's "attention to detail when structuring beats," and said that he "created an excellent album his first time out."[29]
Throughout the 1990s, Matt Black began exploring his interests in burgeoning computer and audio/visual technologies, to experiment with the VJ software and hardware that was already changing the Coldcut DJ performances. His Hex collective – also featuring artist Robert Pepperell and programmer Miles Visman – produced video games and multimedia CD-ROMs in the early 1990s, along with subsequent projects that further affirmed Ninja Tune's alliance with A/V disciples. Teaming up with Hexstatic member Stuart Warren-Hill (who also signed to the Ntone label for several audiovisual albums), Coldcut's "Timber" video – an AV collage piece using analogous techniques to audio sample collage – was put on heavy rotation on MTV,[30] and won awards for its innovative use of repetitive video clips synced to the music,[24][page needed] including being shortlisted at the Edinburgh Television and Film Festival in their top five music videos of the year in 1998.[31]
In 1995, Matt Black created Pipe, Ninja's first website. The label's current website is ninja tune. net[32] was developed by the following year.
Also in 1996, Ninja Tune expanded across the ocean, opening its Montreal office to manage distribution across North America. That same year, Ninja Tune cemented its place with the double-disc Flexistentialism, a compilation that featured the label's growing roster, including DJ Food, Funki Porcini, The Herbaliser, Luke Vibert, Kruder & Dorfmeister and DJ Vadim, among others.[citation needed] With Flexistentialism, The book Integrated Performance Management described Ninja Tunes as devising "a term that perfectly expresses the antitheses between chaos and order."[33]
Amon Tobin, meanwhile, was building groundbreaking drum and bass from the 1950s big band drum battles. His 1997 Ninja Tune debut, Bricolage, contains influences from drum and bass, hip hop, blues, jazz and samba, all digitally processed to create a sense of the bricolage suggested by the title.[34] The album proved a strong seller, especially in America, where Pitchforkawarded the album a perfect 10.0.[35] The following year's immensely complex album, Permutation, saw Tobin creating electronic experimentation that retools d'n'b's basic structures to a practically surreal extent.[36]
In 1997 Stealth finished at the Blue Note (in Hoxton), and Ninja Tune's sister label
collaborated with Coldcut to produce the multimedia CD-ROM for the album. Hex later evolved the software into the engine that was used on the Let Us Play! world tour.In 1999, Let Us Replay! was released, a double-disc remix album where Coldcut's classic tunes were remixed by
In March 1999, Big Dada introduced Rodney Smith, a.k.a. Roots Manuva. Brand New Second Hand was, in the words of AllMusic, "a bright moment for British rap, the debut album from Roots Manuva introduced a hip hop chameleon boasting dark productions and a distinct style, plus much more to say than most rappers."[43] He soon became heralded for his unique delivery, which Pitchforkclaimed one of the "addictive, compelling, and, above all, heartfelt."[38]
Having worked as an intern in the Ninja Tune office in the mid-1990s, Jason Swinscoe became an instrumental part of the team, and by 1998 he released his first 12" as The Cinematic Orchestra, Diabolus, shortly followed by the full length Motion. The surprise hit[44] album landed somewhere between jazz and electronica[25][page needed] and gathered samples from unlikely sources. That same year, Swinscoe began performing live with an expanded line-up, featuring Federico Ughi on drums, Alex James on piano and DJ Food's Patrick Carpenter on turntables.
At some point in 1999, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission decided that DJ Vadim and Sarah Jones' pro-women empowerment record Your Revolution was "indecent" for radio.[46] The decision ended up in court in 2002, where arguments were advanced for freedom of speech, freedom of expression and to argue the double standards of the ban and fine.
2000–2010
In 2000, Ninja Tune celebrated its first decade of music with Xen Cuts, a three CD, 6 x LP box set that provided a collection of their artists.[47] Mark Richardson with Pitchfork called the effort a "mostly downtempo affair."[48] It featured the likes of Latyrx (Lyrics Born and Lateef), The Herbaliser, Kid Koala and Luke Vibert, Clifford Gilberto, Amon Tobin and Funki Porcini.
Also in 2000, Kid Koala released Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, "a playfully arranged montage of quirky sound bites, rhythmic scratching, and fluid hip hop beats."[49] Relying as heavily upon comedy albums and sound effects records as jazz and funk vinyl for sample material, the release, which was called "brilliant" and "humorous" in the book Minority Report: An Alternative History of English-language Arts in Quebec,[50] received much critical success.[citation needed] Kid Koala cut two further highly acclaimed albums for Ninja, 2003's Some of My Best Friends Are DJs and 2006's Your Mom's Favorite DJ.[citation needed]
In 2001,
Also in 2001 Cornwall's
Mr. Scruff's the second album on Ninja Tune, Trouser Jazz, was released on 9 September 2002. It charted at 29 on the UK Chart.
In 2003, Simon Green, a.k.a. Bonobo, released his first proper Ninja album, Dial 'M' for Monkey, a subliminally seductive collection of atmospheric instrumentals.[54] A live version of Bonobo soon took to the road, which seeped into the production of 2006's Days to Come, an album that blurs the line between a programmed and live sound[55] and created "a daydream vibe embedded within its moodiness."[56]
Blurring lines further,
Roots Manuva climbed back into the limelight at the beginning of 2005, with his deft[59] album Awfully Deep. His third album, which reached number 24 in the UK Charts,[60] was celebrated by critics for his growth as an artist, with NME calling it "a set of immense maturity that never rubs your nose in its thematic complexity, compositional innovation, and thunderous thump-beats."[61]
The Cinematic Orchestra scored a new soundtrack, Man with a Movie Camera, for a screening of the visionary 1929 Russian silent feature, Man with a Movie Camera, for the 2000 Portuguese Film Festival Fantasporto. The following year it was performed at the opening gala of Portugal's year as European Capital of Culture in Porto in front of 3000 people. The material written for this film score laid the groundwork for what would be The Cinematic Orchestra's second full-length, Every Day, released in May 2002, and one of Ninja's best-selling albums. Roots Manuva featured on the track "All Things to All Men", which later soundtracked the final scenes of the 2006 movie Kidulthood. The Cinematic Orchestra's albums grew increasingly ambitious over the years,[62] with 2007's Ma Fleur album marking a move away from beats, and embracing folk influences. The album was based on the work of photographer Maya Hayuk (who commissioned 11 pictures based on three short stories recounting the journey from birth to death), and conceived by Swinscoe as the premise for the score of an imaginary film.[63] Album track "To Build a Home" became one of Ninja's top tracks of all time (with its fan video clocking up nearly 9 million plays), and track "TBAH" features vocals from Patrick Watson, which became the band's most successful song.
Following Jason Swinscoe's vocal appreciation of Jaga Jazzist's 2001 album A Livingroom Hush, the Norwegian jazz band signed to Ninja Tune to re-release A Livingroom Hush in 2002, followed by The Stix later that year, and their fourth album What We Must in 2005.
Coldcut returned with the single "Everything Is Under Control" at the end of 2005, featuring Jon Spencer (of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and Mike Ladd. It was followed in 2006 by their fifth studio album Sound Mirrors, which was quoted as being "one of the most vital and imaginative records Jon More and Matt Black have ever made",[64] and saw the duo "continue, impressively, to find new ways to present political statements through a gamut of pristine electronics and breakbeats."[65] The fascinating array of guest vocalists[64] included Soweto Kinch, Annette Peacock, Amiri Baraka, and Saul Williams.
Ninja hooked up with L.A. filmmaker and photographer B+, who had filmed Keepintime: Talking Drums Whispering Vinyl, a short movie documenting a meeting between jazz/funk drummers
Back in London, having previously scored a place with his college band E.V.A. on the 1996 Ninja 12" One Track Mind, Fin Greenall subsequently signed to the label as a solo artist, under the name
On the topic of sound, noise manipulator
Kevin Martin began developing his sound further as The Bug, after other projects such as GOD, Techno Animal, Ice, and Curse of the Golden Vampire. The Bug's second album in 2003, Pressure, demonstrated a fully formed aesthetic – stark spaces, gleefully subsonic bass[67] – holding collaborations with vocalists such as Toastie Taylor, Wayne Lonesome and Daddy Freddy. 2008's London Zoo, meanwhile, was The Bug's third album – and first for Ninja Tune. Recorded over three years with its maker living in his studio, without a kitchen or shower, the album included collaborations with Warrior Queen, Tippa Irie, Burial, Kode9 collaborator Spaceape, and even singer-toaster Ricky Ranking showing up on three tracks.[68] Erik Martiny said it is a "multivocal, spoken-sung, collaborative album."[69] It appeared in many outlets' "best of 2008" lists.[citation needed]
The year 2008 launched Ninja Tune's You Don't Know, their sixth official label sampler, and, like its predecessors, contained high-quality picks from their major releases, with select remixes and a few rarities. While 2007's Well Deep multimedia package shed light on Big Dada, Ninja Cuts drew a healthy cross-section from all three Ninja-associated labels.[70]
2008 also marked Daedelus' first official Ninja album, Love to Make Music To, after his previous albums Exquisite Corpse and Denies the Day's Demise had been licensed by Ninja Tune. The album showcased the L.A. artist's diverse nature and his skills as a multi-instrumentalist[71] as well as his engrossing stylistic shifts.[72] Additionally that year (a year after their 2007 Stompbox 12"), The Qemists released their debut album, Join the Q. All Music Guide, at the time, said that the group had constructed "some of the most energetic breakbeats of the late 2000s."[73] The vinyl version of the album came as four super-heavy platters, weighing nearly a kilogram.[citation needed]
In 2008, an international group of party organizers, activists, and artists – including Coldcut – received a grant from the Intelligent Energy Department of the European Union, to create a project that promoted intelligent energy and environmental awareness to the youth of Europe. The result was Energy Union, a piece of VJ cinema, a political campaign, a music tour, a party, an art exhibition, and social media hub. Energy Union toured 12 EU countries throughout 2009 and 2010, completing 24 events in total. Coldcut created the Energy Union show for the tour, a one-hour Audio/Visual montage on the theme of Intelligent Energy. In presenting new ideas for climate, environmental, and energy communication strategies, the Energy Union tour was well received, and reached a widespread audience in cities across the UK, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, and the Czech Republic.missing reference
Speech Debelle's debut album, 2009's Speech Therapy, finally scored Big Dada a Mercury Prize, after prior nominations for Roots Manuva's Run Come Save Me and Ty's Upwards. With the album, NME called her: "one to seriously watch."[74]
2010–present
A book entitled Ninja Tune: 20 Years of Beats and Pieces was released on 12 August 2010, and an exhibition was held at
As part of the 20th anniversary, Ninja Tune produced 20 different events around the world. Ninja Tune sold out
In October 2011, Ninja Tune's massive "Ninja Tune XX" campaign won "Innovative Marketing Campaign of the Year" at the 2011 AIM Awards.[79]
It was around this time that Ninja Tune began expanding its roster in an interesting new direction, co-signing underground labels with whom they felt artistically aligned. In February 2010, LA-based producer
Also in 2010, Bonobo's own Black Sands album marked his fourth full-length. It pushed Bonobo's sound "much more steeped in beat-making, creating deluxe, post-dance soundscapes",[84] and achieved worldwide commercial success. In February 2012, Ninja followed up with a remix album, Black Sands Remixed, which featured re-imaginings from producers such as Lapalux, Mark Pritchard, Machinedrum and FaltyDL.
A couple of months before, in November 2011, New York producer FaltyDL had made his debut on the Ninja roster with his Atlantis EP, a "smoother and shuffler"[85] ride than most of his earlier work. His work for Ninja was deemed "calm and focused, a trend that continued on his third album",[86] Hardcourage, released in January 2012. Ruth Saxelby with Pitchfork said the album was "sure-footed and big-hearted, accessible and yet cerebral."[87]
Jaga Jazzist returned in 2010 with their strongest release to date, One-Armed Bandit, which featured new members within Jaga Jazzist's ranks and included "tropical polyrhythms, modernist patterns, and even techno-inspired synth sequences."[40]
Another release that pushed Ninja to new sonic territories came from London-based artist Floating Points at the end of 2010 with 'Post Suite / Almost in Profile'. The Floating Points Ensemble is an instrumental ensemble headed by himself on Fender Rhodes and Sequential Circuits Pro One and Prophet keyboards.[88] The double A-side 10" vinyl single featured two tracks by the full Ensemble, recorded and mixed at Abbey Road Studios for the Ninja Tune XX twentieth anniversary celebration.
In 2010, a sound designer[89] from Berlin (by way of Bristol), Emika, brought a new sound to the label, with her melodic, R&B tinged bass-heavy 'Double Edge.' Her self-titled debut was later released in 2011, Billboard said that Emika came close to "bridging the minimalist menace" of Bristol dubstep to " breathy accessible vocals and classical piano."[90] On her 2013 follow-up, 'DVA,' Emika beefed up her songwriting, focusing on political and personal themes.[89]
In March 2011, another exploratory bass cadet – Dorian Concept – released his first Ninja EP, Her Tears Taste Like Pears. It proved to be a "solid example of the kind of genius Concept, himself something of a child piano prodigy, is capable of."[91]
The following May saw the release of a much-awaited album from Amon Tobin, ISAM, which set a new benchmark for live electronic music.[92] Tobin decided to step away from previous DJ centric performances, and instead provided a large-scale live audio/visual experience to select cities around the world. Developed alongside V Squared Labs, Leviathan, Vello Virkhaus & Matt Daly, Alex Lazarus, Vitamotus Design Studio, and Stefano Novelli, the show featured a 25' x 14' x 8' multi-dimensional/ shape shifting 3D art installation surrounding Tobin and enveloping him and the audience in a 3D experience. Tobin conceptualized the show as a projection-mapped "visual score" to the music from ISAM. The show completed a sold-out 15-show run through US and Canada, in addition to five sold-out UK/EU shows. In 2012, ISAM Live returned with a larger tour, starting at Coachella and traveling to Sydney Opera House, London's Brixton Academy, New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, Greek Theatre (Los Angeles), Sonar (Barcelona), as well as full European and US tours throughout summer and fall. In May 2012, Ninja Tune released an Amon Tobin box set (7 × CD, 2 × DVD, 6 × Vinyl, 10").
At the beginning of 2012, Speech Debelle returned to Big Dada, after much critical speculation about leaving the label. She returned from her Mercury Prize win to release another critically acclaimed album, 'Freedom of Speech,' with – according to Scottish magazine The Skinny – "a verve and vigor that more than justify the early hype."[93] The "refreshingly outspoken"[94] album went on to "trounce all expectations"[95] and was awarded CD of the week by Evening Standard.[95]
In 2009, Ninja's longest-serving artist, DJ Food a.k.a. Strictly Kev, released the 2009 EP 'One Man's Weird Is Another Man's World,' and its 2010 follow-up 'The Shape of Things That Hum' made up two-thirds of a forthcoming album. In January 2012, 'The Search Engine' was released as the first DJ Food album in 11 years. As an album release event, DJ Food created his most ambitious live gig to date:[96] a bespoke AV live show for London's only public planetarium, in conjunction with astronomers from The Royal Observatory Greenwich, using art from The Search Engine, images from Kev's visual archive, plus a wealth of material provided by the astronomers themselves. Kev adapted his content to fit Montreal's Stratosphere in July.
In mid-2012, The Bug announced that after "London Zoo," he set out a new genre and sub-label with Ninja Tune: Acid Ragga. Releasing a set of 7"s,[97] in June the first Bug track – "Can't Take This No More" – unleashed featuring the legendary Daddy Freddy, while on the flip "Rise" featured Inga Copeland of Hype Williams. The "Ganja Baby" 7-inch was released shortly afterward, featuring Daddy Freddy, followed by the 2 x 10" Filthy EP featuring rapper Danny Brown and long-time collaborator Flowdan.
In August 2012, London-based band
In 2012, Ninja Tune also struck a deal with the game developer United Front Games and their publisher Square Enix for their game Sleeping Dogs. Ninja Tune was featured as an in-game radio channel available to the player during gameplay, one of the ten total. The station featured a select group of works by the real-life Ninja Tune record and their then-artist lineup, including works by Bonobo, Lorn, Emika, Stateless, Two Fingers, and Cinematic Orchestra among others, for a total of 18 tracks.
Ninja Tune scored well at Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards 2013, with Brainfeeder winning "Label of the Year" – and Ninja Tune scoring 2nd – with the public vote. Invisible's Rispah also won Album of the Year.[102]
In typical pioneering fashion, in February 2013, Ninja Tune spearheaded the launch of Beat Delete – a new service for out-of-press vinyl. The demise of
In April 2013, Coldcut released Ninja Jamm, an iOS music remix app, in collaboration with London-based arts and technology firm Seeper. Geared toward both casual listeners and more experienced DJs and music producers, the freemium app allows users to download and remix "Tunepacks" that feature original tracks and mixes by Coldcut, as well as other Ninja artists,[104] creating something new altogether.[105] With what Billboard called the "intuitive yet deep" remixer,[106] users can turn instruments on and off, swap between clips, add glitches and effects, trigger and pitch-bend stabs and one-off samples, and change the tempo of the track instantly. Users can additionally record as they mix and instantly upload to SoundCloud or save the mixes locally.[107] Tunepack releases for Ninja Jamm are increasingly synchronized with Ninja Tune releases on conventional formats. To date over 20 tune packs have been released, including Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Coldcut, DJ Food, Martyn, Emika, Machinedrum, Raffertie, Irresistible Force, Falty DL.[108][109]
In March 2013, Bonobo unleashed his highly anticipated follow-up to Black Sands, the triumphant and revelatory[110] The North Borders. Hailed as being sumptuous and accomplished,[111] the album featured Erykah Badu, Motion Audio artist Grey Reverend, British singer Szjerdene and Swedish singer-songwriter Cornelia. Visual artist Cyriak's video for Bonobo's "Cirrus" was a cascading visual mantra[112] that hit over 1 million views. The album charted at number 29 on the UK Album Charts.[113] The following November, Bonobo released his contribution to the Late Night Tales series with a 21-track selection, which Bonobo described as ranging "from neo-classical to more abstract electronic pieces to spiritual jazz." Bonobo's popularity in the live spectrum continues to grow, having sold out a Roundhouse Ninja Tune festival in 2013 and Sydney Opera House. He has a live performance scheduled at Alexandra Palace in November 2014.
Another popular Ninja Tune artist,
In January 2014, Big Dada released a deluxe European edition of Killer Mike and El-P's Run the Jewels album, featuring new artwork, a new colour vinyl LP + 12" release plus deluxe CD and download editions.
Ninja Tune also released
In April 2014, new Ninja Tune signing Kelis released a raw soul record entirely produced by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. Kelis says of the signing: "I'm really happy to be partnering with Ninja Tune on my new record. This is the album I've wanted to make for a long time."
In May 2014, "UK festival favorite"
On 2 November 2014, Young Fathers' "Dead" entered the official Top 100 UK album chart for the first time, four days after their Mercury success, debuting at 35.
On 30 October 2015, Big Dada's Roots Manuva released his 9th studio album entitled Bleeds, receiving positive reviews in most publications, currently holding an 80% score on Metacritic.[121]
Bonobo released his sixth album, Migration, in January 2017.[124] It was announced on 3 November 2016 with the release of the single "Kerala" and an official video.[125] The official video for the single is directed by Bison (
On 19 May 2017, Ninja Tune Founders
In 2017 Ahead of Our Time released the album Stories From Far Away on Piano by James Heather, and also released its follow-up in 2022, the album Invisible Forces.[132]
After signing to Ninja Tune in 2017, Belfast-based duo
Following the release of the 'Audio Track 5' EP and live performances at the
In December 2017, Ninja artist
The subsidiary label Technicolour released Yu Su's Watermelon Woman EP in 2019.[148]
Design
As the imprint grew, Ninja grew into an 'anti-corporate' brand, supporting the work of visual artists, filmmakers, and mavericks of all media through running its club nights and helping disseminate the work of its artists across the globe. From its very beginnings, Ninja Tune sought a strong visual identity, thanks to Michael Bartalos (whose original logo was a monochrome woodcut of a hooded ninja brandishing his long sword) and Mark Porter, Matt Black's friend from Oxford, Ninja's first art director who defined the logo and overall aesthetic (in addition to creating Ninja's striking yellow and black in-house record bags), and subsequently became Art Director at The Guardian. It was the arrival of Kevin Foakes as an in-house designer in 1994 that developed the logo to its current international recognition and became largely responsible for some of the label's most iconic artwork. Working as Openmind, Foakes has designed many of Ninja's album sleeves, including memorable covers for Amon Tobin, Coldcut, and Funki Porcini's 2002 album Fast Asleep. He's also commissioned acclaimed outside talent for several key projects.
Foakes' Ninja logo has found its way in diverse remix forms onto DJ bags (the "Wax Sack"), cigarette lighters, T-shirts, turntable slip-mats, iPod skins (bearing the slogan "Remember vinyl?"), sunglasses by Japanese company Less Than Human and the label's brand of cigarette rolling papers ("Ninja Skins"). French
Ewan Robertson (a.k.a. Offshore) and Oscar Bauer, were integral co-designers for Ninja Tune or Big Dada, responsible for iconic covers such as the |Playtime Is Over]], the Roots Manuva slime-head for Slime & Reason and Bonobo's Black Sands triptych.
Some Ninja Tune artists, meanwhile, design their sleeves, such as Mr. Scruff, whose cartoon illustrations are emblazoned across much of his catalog and merchandise. Another prodigious cartoonist who designs his sleeves is Kid Koala, whose Nufonia Must Fall graphic novel was published in 2003 by ECW Press in association with Ninja Tune, and whose 2000 debut album, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and its 2003 follow-up Some of My Best Friends Are DJs came accompanied by Koala-illustrated comic books.
Other unique promotional Ninja Tune items include Coldcut's Top Trump-inspired Control Cards, Amon Tobin ear-plugs, Kid Koala-illustrated playing cards, Mr. Scruff-designed jigsaw puzzles, Scruff-branded tins of tuna-in-brine (to promote his 2008 LP
As part of Ninja Tune's 20th Anniversary in 2010, 3500 Ninja Tune XX box sets were released, all housed in limited edition hi-spec packaging designed and conceived by Ninja artwork legend Openmind. In May 2013, golden ticket holders for Bonobo's
Bonobo has collaborated with art director Leif Podhajsky and photographer Pelle Crépin to create covers for some of his albums. The cover of his 2010 album Black Sands was designed by design studio Oscar & Ewan and features an image taken by Crépin. The three cover photographs form a triptych around Derwentwater in the Lake District. They were taken at each point on the map with each view capturing the place of the next photograph and the last photograph capturing the place of the first.[149] The abstract cover for Bonobo's 2013 follow-up album The North Borders was created by Leif Podhajsky using a polaroid image of a wave.[150] Podhajsky also provides the artwork for Bonobo's Flashlight EP in 2014, its cover art is a gold lava effect forming the inside sleeve glimpsed through tiny holes in a dark grey die-cut cover for the vinyl product.[151] Leif Podhajsky again collaborated with Ninja Tune on the artwork for Kelis' 2014 album Food.[152]
For the release of Bonobo's sixth album Migration in January 2017, the album artwork was designed by Neil Krug.[126] The physical artwork included photography of the Mojave Desert, with Krug capturing footage using a drone. This drone footage would come to form the video for Break Apart feat. Rhye.[153] He drove to the desert in the middle of the night to photograph the area just before sunrise, avoiding the sun's intense heat. The shots were then superimposed with various effects such as flames.[150] The LP was accompanied by a special edition booklet containing meditations on themes from the album, the deluxe version housed in a gold-embossed PVC sleeve.[154]
In 2017, Belfast-based duo
The artwork for Young Fathers' 2018 album Cocoa Sugar was created by photographer Noni Julia & creative director Tom Hingston.[156]
Partnerships
Solid Steel
Pre-dating Ninja Tune is the radio show
The show, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013,[157] showcases a varied blend of left-field tunes, the broadest beats, and forward-thinking selections.[158] Being a freestyle eclectic mix,[158] the weekly two-hour show was described by The Quietus as being "the past mashed with the present plus a dash of the future."[159]
In addition to Solid Steel, Ninja Tune has conducted regularly podcast interviews with their roster under the name The Ninja Tune Podcast.[160]
Big Dada
Big Dada began releasing 12"'s in the summer of 1997, the first couple of which were produced by
In 2021, the label was relaunched as "a label run by Black, POC & Minority Ethnic people for Black, POC & Minority Ethnic artists."[161]
Brainfeeder
Werkdiscs
Werkdiscs (formerly spelled as Werk Discs)[167] is a British independent record label based in London. Originally a club night started by Darren J. Cunningham a.k.a. Actress,[168] Ben Casey and Gavin Weale in the early 2000s,[11] Werkdiscs released their first record in the summer of 2004.
Ntone
Notable artists
Ninja Tune: current
- Actress (Werkdiscs / Ninja Tune)[171]
- Amon Tobin
- Anz
- Andreya Triana
- Ash Koosha
- A Winged Victory for the Sullen
- Ben Böhmer
- Bicep
- Black Country, New Road[172]
- Blockhead
- Bonobo[173]
- Bronson
- The Bug
- The Cinematic Orchestra
- Coldcut
- Congo Natty
- Dedekind Cut
- DJ Food
- Dorian Concept
- FaltyDL
- Fink
- Floating Points
- Forest Swords
- Georgia Anne Muldrow
- Glass Beams
- The Heavy
- Helena Hauff
- Hiatus Kaiyote
- Iglooghost
- India Jordan
- The Invisible
- Jaga Jazzist
- Jameszoo
- Jayda G
- Jordan Rakei
- Julianna Barwick
- Lee Bannon[174]
- Kadhja Bonet
- Kae Tempest
- Kamasi Washington
- Keleketla!
- Kelis
- King Geedorah
- King Midas Sound
- Lapalux
- Leon Vynehall
- Letherette
- Little Dragon
- Lorn
- Lou Rhodes
- Louis Cole
- Lukid
- Machinedrum
- Maribou State
- Marie Davidson
- Martyn
- Metronomy[175]
- Modeselektor
- Mr. Scruff
- Nabihah Iqbal
- Nathan Fake
- Octo Octa
- ODESZA
- Onyx Collective
- Peggy Gou
- Phantoms
- Portico
- Róisín Murphy
- Roots Manuva
- Ross From Friends
- salute
- Sampa the Great
- Sarathy Korwar
- Speech Debelle
- Taylor McFerrin
- Teebs
- Thundercat
- Tycho
- Young Fathers
Ninja Tune: alumni
- 9 Lazy 9
- Animals on Wheels
- Antibalas
- Cabbageboy
- Daedelus
- The Death Set
- DJ Kentaro
- DJ Vadim
- Dwight Trible
- Emika
- Eskmo
- Funki Porcini
- Grasscut
- The Herbaliser
- Hexstatic
- Hint
- Jesse Boykins III & MeLo-X
- Kelis
- Kid Koala
- The Long Lost
- Portico
- Raffertie
- Neotropic
- Pest
- Poirier
- The Qemists
- Quannum
- Saul Williams
- Sixtoo
- Skalpel
- The Slew
- Stateless
- Super Numeri
- Submotion Orchestra
- Toddla T
- Up, Bustle and Out
- Wagon Christ
- Yppah
- Zero dB
Big Dada: current
Big Dada: alumni
See also
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{{cite web}}
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Works cited
- Ackerman, Marianne (2011). Minority Report: An Alternative History of English-language Arts in Quebec. Guernica Editions. ISBN 978-1-55071-355-8.
- Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Bush, John; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2001). All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-628-1.
- Bogdanov, Vladimir (2003). All Music Guide to Hip-hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap & Hip-hop. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-759-2.
- Larkin, Colin (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Virgin. ISBN 978-0-7535-0427-7.
- Martiny, Erik (13 October 2011). A Companion to Poetic Genre. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-4429-5.
- Reynolds, Simon (1998). Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Picador. ISBN 978-0-330-35056-3.
- Meikle, Graham (2008). Boler, Megan (ed.). Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-51489-7.
- Shapiro, Peter (1999). Drum 'n' Bass: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-85828-433-0. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
- Verweire, Kurt; Berghe, Lutgart (23 December 2004). Integrated Performance Management: A Guide to Strategy Implementation. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4129-0155-0.
External links
- Ninja Tune – official site
- Ninja Tune discography at Discogs
- Ping Pong – promotion agency of Ninja Tune in France
- Ninja Tune feature in Rip It Up Magazine
- Ninja Tune discography & review at Djouls.com (Fr)
- Ninja Tune Archived 12 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine reviews by the BBC