Ninja Tune imprint Counter Records is lining up a busy 2015, with two new signings added to its growing roster.
Matt Black, one half of Coldcut and co-founder of Ninja Tune, said: “Ninja Tune’s imprint Counter Records have just made two exciting signings in Howling and Maribou State, so this is a good time to let people know what Counter is about.
“The imprint really took off with The Heavy blowing up in the States. ‘How you Like Me Know’ became an anthem, yet in a different musical style to Ninja’s signature sound. With this vote for Ninja’s wider tune spotting ability, yet wanting to keep the Ninja sound recognisable, Counter was established.”
Original Counter signings The Heavy have scored a Gold Single in the US for their widely-synched ‘How you Like Me Now?”
In 2014 they sold 40,000 of their latest album, The Glorious Dead, in Japan alone, playing the main stage at Fuji Rock and making huge inroads into the territory for the first time.
The two most recent signings to Counter are Maribou State (pictured) and Howling.
Hailing from the UK, Maribou State are hotly tipped by tastemakers Bonobo and Zane Lowe, amongst others, for their marriage of the organic and the electronic.
Berlin-based Howling is the project of singer songwriter Ry X – whose song ‘Berlin’ was recently featured on a hit ad for Sony Bravia – and Ame’s Frank Wiedemann, who also runs the Innervisions label.
Counter has teamed up with Berlin’s pioneering Monkeytown label, founded by Modeselektor, to release Howling’s album.
Autumn 2014 saw North American success for Counter, when Seattle duo ODESZA’s ‘In Return,’ entered the Billboard top 50, and reached the number 1 spot of the Billboard Electronic chart.
Matt Black added: “With Howling and Maribou State on board, and our first Billboard Top 50 album with ODESZA, it’s brilliant to have another outlet for music we love to sit alongside the goodness at Ninja, and craft its very own story.’’Music Business Worldwide
