These record label names go to eleven.*
(*Well, some of them)
Every year A Hundred Monkeys celebrates the best and worst in naming at our annual Burning Ears event. This year each team member was responsible for unearthing the glorious and ridiculous names in a given industry. As a record collector, I dropped the needle on the good, bad, and ugly in record label naming.
Before crowning this year’s winners and losers, I want to make an important distinction. There is a massive difference between liking a record label name and liking the music it puts out. There are a ton of great artists on labels with god awful names and, conversely, there are labels with terrific names that host some of the worst music you’ve ever heard. This as all about naming. No artists were hurt during this event.
Top Three Hi-Fi Names
3. Thrill Jockey
As far as I know, Thrill Jockey is not a phrase, idiom, or term in the English language. However, it’s a damn fine combination of words. The name of this Chicago-born label captures the thrill of collecting records — spending your weekend digging through crates of dusty lps for the chance of scoring that rare Sun Ra 7”.
2. Sub Pop
A classic. Founded in 1986, Sub Pop has been the home to some of music’s finest including Sonic Youth, Sleater-Kinney, and Beach House. This label has a knack for rooting out artists who are a little left of the dial which is why the name is so perfect. Is it pop music? Nah. It’s sub pop.
1. Secretly Canadian
A fan favorite at Burning Ears. Hilarious and incognito, this name reflects the off-kilter indie artists on the label. Musicians like Jason Molina, the War on Drugs, and Yoko Ono would be out of place anywhere else yet feel at home at a quirky, denim-on-denim label like Secretly Canadian.
Top Three Lo-Fi Names
T2. 4 Men With Beards
I am so conflicted about this name. Although the people have spoken and named another label the most ridiculous record name at Burning Ears, I personally think 4 Men With Beards should take home the gold. It represents everything people hate about the music community — pretentious beardo music snobs. Now, I am torn here. As much as I disagree with the name, these guys put out some fantastic music.
T2. Fat Wreck Chords
Sure, I was 15 once. Fat Wreck Chord artists NOFX and Lagwagon were the soundtrack to my angsty skateboarding years. But then again, that’s the problem. It doesn’t have the broad audience appeal of other labels like Matador, Death Row, or Stone’s Throw. It’s also a name that you have to explain every time or say deliberately slow so people get the joke. At the end of the day, Fat Wreck Chords is a name only a pissed off teen could love.
1. N-Coded Music
This name came in at number one and is the “U-Store It” of record labels. It’s not ok for storage facilities and it’s definitely not ok for record labels. More importantly, I have no clue what’s going on here. Is it about secrecy in music? If so, why do you need an entire label devoted to it? And what type of music would you put out anyways? Perhaps it’s so secretive, I’ll never know.
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