Wikipedia

XL Recordings

XL Recordingsis a Britishindependent record labelfounded in 1989 by Tim Palmer andNick Halkes.It has been run and co-owned byRichard Russellsince 1996. It forms part of theBeggars Group.

XL Recordings
IndustryMusic & Entertainment
GenreVarious
Founded1989;35 years ago(1989)
FounderTim Palmer and
Nick Halkes
Headquarters
Key people
Richard Russell(CEO)
ParentBeggars Group
Websitexlrecordings.com

It releases an average of six albums a year. The label releases albums worldwide and operates across a range of genres.[1]

History

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1980s and 1990s

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Originally launched in 1989[2]to releaseraveanddance music,the label began as an imprint of Beggars Banquet's more commercial dance label Citybeat, which was known for records by acts such asFreeez,Rob Base & EZ Rock, Starlight, Dream Frequency and theUltramagnetic MCs.However, with the success of acts such asthe ProdigyandSL2,XL superseded Citybeat in its lineup.

During the early 1990s, XL releases were dance-oriented, ranging from Belgiantechno(T99's "Anasthasia" ) tobreakbeat hardcore(SL2's "On a Ragga Tip")[3]todrum and bass(Jonny L's "I'm Leavin'" ). This period of XL's history has been recorded on theXL Recordings Chapterscompilation series. In 1993, Halkes left XL to form theEMI-owned commercial dance labelPositiva,[3]and subsequently his own independent commercial dance labelIncentive.After Palmer retired in 1996, Russell took over the business.[4]

Russell later broadened the label's musical horizons, whilst maintaining a credo of working with artists he saw as original and inventive.[4]In 1994, the label releasedthe Prodigy's second album,Music for the Jilted Generationwhich debuted atop theUK Albums Chart,and in 1997 it released the group's third album,The Fat of the Landwhich entered atop the British and American charts and went on to be number one in 26 countries.[4]

2000s

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June 2000 saw the release ofBadly Drawn Boy'sThe Hour of Bewilderbeastwhich won the 2000Mercury Music Prize.[5]The next year,the White Stripes' third albumWhite Blood Cellswas released together with reissues of the band's previous albums,The White StripesandDe Stijl.In 2003, XL Recordings won theMusic WeekA&R award,[6]and also released the White Stripes' fourth albumElephantwhich was their first UK number one album and eventually reached doubleplatinumcertification in Britain.[7]That same year, XL releasedDizzee Rascal's first solo album,Boy in da Cornerfor which Dizzee was awarded theMercury Prizefor the best album of 2003.[8]

In March 2005,M.I.A.'s debut albumArularwas released after several months' delay.[9]Thom Yorke,fromRadiohead,released his first solo record,The Eraser,on the label in July 2006. In October 2007, Radiohead completed negotiations to sign with XL for physical release of their seventh studio album,In Rainbows.Radiohead subsequently went on to release through XL, and have so far released everything since their eighth studio albumThe King of Limbson the label. As director of XL Recordings, Richard Russell was included in a 2007Evening Standardlist of the most influential people in London,[10]and in August of that year M.I.A.'s second albumKalawas released—Rolling Stonenamed it the ninth best album of the decade.[11]

In March 2008, XL addedFriendly Firesandthe Horrors.In 2009 the label won the "Music Week"Best Independent Label award;[12]Adele won the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 51st AnnualGrammy Awards,and at the same ceremony Radiohead won Best Alternative Album forIn Rainbowsas well as Best Boxed or Special Edition Album.[13]Also in 2009,the xx's debut albumxxwas released on XL Recordings partner labelYoung,and in SeptemberGiggswas signed.

2010s

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On 11 January 2010, XL Recordings releasedVampire Weekend's second albumContra,the band's first album to top the USBillboard200chart.[14]Gil Scott-Heron's thirteenth studio albumI'm New Herewas released in February; it was Scott-Heron's first release of original material in sixteen years and would ultimately be his last studio album before his death the following May. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2007 and 2009 and production was handled by XL Recordings-ownerRichard Russell.

In July, XL signedJai Paul,who was shortlisted for BBC'sSound of 2011,and in Septemberthe xx's eponymous debut album won the BarclaycardMercury Prize,acquiring best British and Irish album of the year.[15][16][17]

On 24 January 2011, XL Recordings released the album21byAdele.In February the (then) 19-year-oldOFWGKTAmemberTyler, the Creatorwas signed for a one-album deal for his debut studio album and commercial debutGoblin.[18]Singer Gil Scott-Heron died in May and his final recordings,I'm New Here(produced by Richard Russell), and the remix album, "We're New Here"made withJamie xxwere released on XL Recordings.[19]The label also released new albums byRadiohead,Friendly Fires,andthe Horrorsand singles byJai PaulandPortishead,as well as the Adele Blu-ray/DVD,Live at the Royal Albert Hall.[20]

On 24 April 2012, XL releasedBlunderbuss,the debut solo record byJack White.It entered the UK album charts at number one, displacing21byAdele.[21] In 2012, XL Recordings was named 'Label of the Year' at the Music Week Awards in London. XL also won awards for 'Best A&R' and 'Best Artist Campaign'. Label head,Richard Russell,became the youngest ever recipient of the lifetime achievement 'Strat Award'.[22]

Sales of Adele's21helped increase XL Recordings' bank balance from £3 million to £32 million over 12 months.[23]As of March 2011, XL Recordings had released three albums that had sold over a million copies in the UK:The Prodigy'sThe Fat of the Land,Adele's19,and Adele's21.[24]

In April 2016,Radiohead'sParlophonealbums transferred to XL Recordings. A month later, on 8 May, the band released their ninth studio album,A Moon Shaped Pool,through XL to critical acclaim.

XL Studio

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In early 2008, Russell transformed the rear garage of the label'sLadbroke Groveheadquarters into a small, in-house recording and mixing studio calledXL Studio.It served as a makeshift studio space for the label's various artists and his own projects until producerRodaidh McDonaldwas assigned in September of that year to manage and properly equip it in preparation forthe xxto record theirself-titled debut album.According to McDonald, "before Richard brought me in to be Studio Manager, it was just a bit of a free-for-all. Artists could come in and rehearse, demo or write here and things like that... but it was good idea and we decided we should be stepping it up and making records here."[25]Russell and McDonald were inspired by the success of modest studios such asHitsville U.S.A.and wanted to create an economic, non-commercialspace.[26]

Set up specifically with the xx in mind, XL Studio features littleoutboard gearand is equipped with a Neotek Élan custom 24-channelmixing console,Yamaha NS10studio monitors, and instruments that include anupright piano,Roland Juno-60,Moog Prodigy,Vox Continentalorgan, andSequential Circuits Pro-Onesynthesizer.[25]Russell and McDonald augmented the studio to twice its original size after the xx's album, which was done in what became the studio'scontrol room;they incorporated an adjacent office as the studio's live room for musicians.[26]

In 2016, theWSDGcompleted the construction of a new recording studio in the basement of the XL Recordings offices in New York City.[27]

Roster

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Notable artists

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As of 2024, XL Recordings is home to a range of artists including:[28]

Alumni

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See also

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Affiliated labels/imprints

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Formerly affiliated labels/imprints

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Inactive affiliated labels/imprints

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  • Abeano
  • Concept In Dance
  • HXC Recordings
  • Merok Records
  • New Gen
  • Ore Music
  • Platinum Projects
  • Rex Records
  • Salvia

Other

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References

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  1. ^Tim Jonze (16 February 2011)."XL Recordings, the record label that's tearing up the rule book".The Guardian.Retrieved20 November2011.
  2. ^"Vampire Weekend top US albums chart".NME.21 January 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 2 June 2013.Retrieved2 January2012.
  3. ^abColin Larkin,ed. (1998).The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music(First ed.).Virgin Books.p. 371.ISBN0-7535-0252-6.
  4. ^abcDavid Teather (13 July 2007)."The Friday interview: Richard Russell".The Guardian.Retrieved20 November2011.
  5. ^Critic Reviews for The Hour of Bewilderbeast.Metacritic.Retrieved 23 June 2011
  6. ^[1]Archived8 October 2007 at theWayback Machine
  7. ^"BPI".British Phonographic Industry.Archivedfrom the original on 30 December 2007.Retrieved17 January2008.
  8. ^Angelique Chrisafis (10 September 2003)."Rapper wins Mercury prize".The Guardian.Retrieved20 November2011.
  9. ^Metacritic (31 December 2005)."M.I.A.: Arular (2005): Reviews".Metacritic.Retrieved24 February2007.
  10. ^"Music".Evening Standard.29 November 2007. Archived fromthe originalon 5 December 2008.Retrieved20 November2011.
  11. ^"100 Best Albums of the Decade".Rolling Stone.9 December 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010.Retrieved3 January2010.{{cite magazine}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^Mayer Nissim (9 April 2009)."Music Week Awards 2009: The Winners".Digital Spy.Retrieved20 November2011.
  13. ^Jody Thompson (9 February 2009)."Coldplay, Robert Plant, Radiohead, Duffy and Adele win at Grammy Awards after Rihanna pulls out of show".Daily Mirror.Retrieved20 November2011.
  14. ^Caulfield, Keith (20 January 2010)."Vampire Weekend Lands First No. 1 Album".Billboard.Retrieved14 March2010.
  15. ^Cardew, Ben. "CHARTS: Mercury Win Expedites the Xx's Chart Fortunes." Music Week (2010): 3. Print.
  16. ^Paine, Andre. "The XX Factor." Billboard – The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment 122.38 (2010): 42. Print.
  17. ^"The Xx at a Crossroads After Mercurys Win." Music Week (2010): 1. Print.
  18. ^"Odd Future's Tyler the Creator signs one-album deal with XL Recordings".Los Angeles Times.14 February 2011.Retrieved20 November2011.
  19. ^Mike Power (28 May 2011)."Gil Scott-Heron obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved20 November2011.
  20. ^"XL Recordings 2011 Release Schedule".XL Recordings. 4 May 2011.Retrieved20 November2011.
  21. ^"Jack White's Blunderbuss Bumps Adele Off".Billboard.30 April 2012.Retrieved30 April2012.
  22. ^"Adele's label XL is big winner at Music Week Awards".Reuters. 27 April 2012.Retrieved27 April2012.[dead link‍]
  23. ^"Adele's '21' helps boost label XL profits to £41million".NME.3 May 2012.Retrieved21 October2012.
  24. ^"Adele's 19 sells millionth copy".MusicWeek.9 March 2011.Retrieved10 January2013.
  25. ^abFrost, Matt (2011)."Rodaidh McDonald: Recording the xx".Sound on Sound(July). Cambridge.Archivedfrom the original on 26 August 2014.Retrieved27 July2014.
  26. ^ab"XL Studio".XL Recordings.Archivedfrom the original on 24 October 2014.Retrieved21 August2014.
  27. ^Molho, David."XL Studios".WSDG.Retrieved15 June2020.
  28. ^"XL Recordings".XL Recordings. 30 April 2011.Retrieved30 April2012.
  29. ^"Arca (live) & Jesse Kanda (AV)".
  30. ^"With Everything is Recorded, XL Recordings' Richard Russell engages".3 April 2020.Retrieved4 April2020.
  31. ^Paine, Andre (13 October 2021)."Adele says Hello to Columbia Records UK, 30 album confirmed for November 19".Music Week.Retrieved13 October2021.
  32. ^Smirke, Richard (9 December 2011)."XL's Richard Russell On Adele, Six Grammy Noms, What's Next (Bobby Womack!)".Billboard.biz.Retrieved28 May2012.
  33. ^"XL Recordings".www.xlrecordings.com.Archived fromthe originalon 28 February 2014.Retrieved28 February2014.
  34. ^"Rapper Nines inks record deal with XL Recordings - MOBO Awards".MOBO Awards.
  35. ^Joseph JP Patterson."Premiere: Listen To Novelist's" 10 Out Of 10 "".Complex UK.
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