Undefined - A Twenty-Four Track Unlabel Compilation - Celebrating Twenty Years Of Unlabel.

We decided to put together a relatively short sampler from the catalogue of over 200 releases on Unlabel and give it away for free on a limited edition CD.

It was available at Unfest 2016, which was held in Tunbridge Wells over the weekend of 27th-30th May.

It's also available here as a pay what you like download (free is fine).

Please have a listen to what we've been doing for the past 175,000 hours of our lives.

Thanks,
Unlabel xx

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The players:
01. Joeyfat - Gin Rummy For Beginners (from un001 - Gin Rummy For Beginners 7”).
02. Unhome - Inland (from un003 - A Short History Of Houses CD album).
03. Rebus - Lift Music (from un008 - Arima CD album).
04. Ye Wiles - Screenplay (from un009 - Fine Words Butter No Parsnips CD EP).
05. Jason And The Astronauts - Nice Night For A Knife Fight (from un015 - Burn Down The Boys School 7”).
06. Moth - Hurricane 1987 (from un021 - Wading Songs CD album).
07. Charlottefield - Clipper (from un029 - How Long Are You Staying LP).
08. Songs Of My Lap - One Summer I Was Spiderman (from un030 - Songs For A Child CD EP).
09. Headquarters - Leftovers (from un047 - Booker One Time LP).
10. Deadboy Racer - Strong (from un048 - Strong 12”).
11. Klaus Says Buy The Record - Run Home (from un070 - Into The Wood CD mini album).
12. Hills Have Riffs - Black Curtain (from un074 - Volume One CD album).
13. Tom Williams And The Boat - Concentrate (from un079 - Concentrate 7”).
14. Cove - Yes, I Am A Survivalist (from un082 - Show Me Your Nature CD album).
15. Everyone To The Anderson - Let’s Take This To Smithereens (from un091 - The Man Born From Inside Of A Horse CD album).
16. House Reverends - Hairam (from un097 - Happy Christmas Christmas Cats CD album).
17. Hymmel - 7 (from un099 - Hymmel CD EP).
18. Gavin John Baker - With A Nod (from un100 - It Took A Thousand Years To Make And A Fucking Short Time To Break CD album).
19. Sutcliffe Jugend - Amuse Gueule (previously unreleased).
20. Box - Fruit Canoe (live at Unfest 2013) (previously unreleased).
21. Twenty One Crows - Alma Rubens (previously unreleased).
22. Hunter’s Loaf - Unknown (previously unreleased).
23. North Atlantic Maritime - Hunters (previously unreleased).
24. Joeythin - g.a.l.a.x.y. (previously unreleased).


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I really don’t know how Unlabel has been a thing for twenty years.
In 1996 I was a vinyl obsessed college kid and I remember the first Unlabel release, the hand painted Gin Rummy 7” from Joeyfat appearing in Tunbridge Wells - I bought it at a gig or in Longplayer and played it to death.
The first Unlabel compilation followed in May ’98 and the beautiful Unhome album and Cove 12” a year or so later, and then the Joeyfat album in the summer of 2000 - all music that had a massive impact on me and made me want to be involved in this cool little underground scene that was evolving out of The Forum.
Following the two self-released Ye WiIes EPs and a 7” from Cove, I was soon on board and overseeing things from around release un011 onwards, alongside my best mate Jason Dormon, and somehow I joined Joeyfat too - one of my favourite bands of all the bands in all the land, which they remain to this day.
I love this label and the many brilliant artists that have passed through it, often via The Forum, and I have made many good friends because of it.
We’ve been pretty quiet of late for a number of reasons, some musical, some personal, but I wanted to put this compilation together as a reminder of the great music that has been released and the fantastic shows that have taken place over the years - cherished memories of
wonderful times in Tunbridge Wells and beyond; times that were often hard work but always fun and rewarding, times that looking back on now and talking to others that were around, really were something special.
I also wanted to do it to show folks who don’t know much about the label or weren’t around a few years ago what happened in the Wells and just how good the real alternative bands have been over the years. This is a tiny sample, there’s loads more.
My involvement with the Tunbridge Wells music scene has been a massive amount of fun on the whole, but in recent times less so, to the point where it’s been hard for me to be around a place I dearly love. Having ensured the label made it to twenty, it’s time for me to hand over my baton to someone else. I was only a curator anyway; a music fan let loose to release whatever I fancied, and what a great job that was.
Thanks to just about everyone that’s been a part of it.
I hope you enjoy this compilation as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together.
unJohn x
Unlabel 1996 – 2016 and beyond…