At the forefront of Industrial and dark electronic music since the 1980s, Cold Spring Records emerged from the cassette underground to become a significant independent record label.
We unpack the story of label founder Justin Mitchell, an underground music dot connector who started in the UK tape trading and mail art networks, and working within the influential Temple Of Psychic Youth.
Cold Spring stayed close to it’s underground ethos to become a respected purveyor of the strange and the obscure, championing artists like Genesis P.Orridge, Psychic TV, Coil, Satori, and taking in releases by giant talents like William Burroughs, Lull, Merzbow, Mark Almond, British Electronic Foundation along the way.
Along the way, we explore the label’s transition from cassettes to vinyl and CD, the importance of context and curation in their releases, and the organic way in which Cold Spring has connected the dots to create a universe of the wyrd.
Episode hosted by Martin Franklin
Theme music: ”This Is Concrete” The Happy Citizen
VIDEO
You can find video of some of the fanzines and cassette releases we discuss in this episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CassetteCulturePodcast
MUSIC
Rabbits Wear Boots “Why are you here?” Trans-Human Dystopia, 3Rio Art
Hybryds “Wanderers without destinations” Mythopia, 3Rio Art
Psychic TV “Unclean” Live, INRI, Cold Spring cassette (CS 001)
Angels Ov Light and Thee Angry Love Orchestra “VI” (CS002)
William Burroughs, Brian Gysin, Genesis P. Orridge, extract from “Interview & Readings” Cold Spring (CS006) cassette
The Hafler Trio & Willem de Ridder “Report”, …And The Wolf Shall Lick The Jewels From Your Belly… Cold Spring (CSR 1LP)
Sandor Kalios “Northern Tale” ANS Electronic Music, Cold Spring
Sleep Research Facility“B Deck” Nostromo, Cold Spring
The Horses Of The Gods “John Barleycorn”, John Barleycorn Reborn, Cold Spring
The Sea Of Wires “The Nightmare continues”, The Sea Of Wires, Cold Spring
LINKS
Cold Spring Records
https://coldspring.co.uk/
https://coldspring.bandcamp.com/
Rabbits Wear Boots
https://rabbitswearboots.bandcamp.com/
Hybryds
https://hybrydsmusic.bandcamp.com/
“Premonitions: Underground Cassette Network 1989 – 90” SoundImage Tapes cassette reissue, Infinite Expanse, 2024
https://infiniteexpanse.bandcamp.com
Podcast produced by Martin Franklin for East Coast Studio (https://eastcoaststudio.com.au/)
Related Episodes
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like:
Erotic Art, CDr’s and a Mystery Device from Hybryds The full unboxing of the package sent to us from Sandy of the Hybryds in Belgium. Artworks, CDrs and a mystery device from the Cold Spring universe.
Evolution of Noise: The 40 Year Journey of Satori Dave Kirby and Rob Maycock began recording metal as Psychopath. Forty years on, the progression into Satori has built a solid career, Cold Spring releases and a detailed artistic practice.
Wild Planet 1983: The World Gets Weirder Dave Henderson’s Wild Planet column in Sounds magazine captured the moment when musical boundaries were challenged, by Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and more.