With the exception of Edinburgh’s festival patter, it’s safe to say that it’s all quiet on the Northern front. You’re no doubt aware that half the UK is being torn up by rioting and looting with some of the more apolitical people systematically smashing ten shades of shit out of their local communities.

Luckily for us up here in Scotland there’s no signs of disorder beyond a few little bams inciting trouble on Facebook, and if there was, we’d batten down the hatches and fortify the rig’s shelter tenfold (as there’s no way in hell we’d let the sound system go down without an epic battle to the death). Still, it’s a sad day when our brethren are kicking up some unfocused mess and causing all the ‘little guy’ enterprises to get trampled in the process.

Image taken from LickLibrary post – http://www.licklibrary.com/news/2011/8/1881-sonypias_warehouse_burned_to_the_ground

In the music world there’s at least one of these losses which will be mourned for years to come: the wanton destruction of PIAS stock in an Enfield warehouse owned by Sony. A fire crippled the distribution company which handles much of the work from independent labels and underground artists.

Seeing so much records go up in flame before the start of their playable lifespan is a travesty which is hard to bear for many music lovers. It almost seems as though the company can’t bring itself to write the full story, as of just now (10th August, midday), there are only two small statements on their site which don’t go as far as saying “the shit just hit the fan bro” in as blunt a phrasing. The good news is that they’re looking to be back on track by next week, which is a commendable recovery time in this kind of situation.

To put into perspective the amount of damage that has been meted out to the various labels (some of which is potentially fatal for the smaller ones), here’s a list of the casualties from both companies:

4AD
A Camp
Absynthe Minded
Accidental
AEI Music
Air Recordings
ALC Music
Alsation
Ambush Reality
Ancient & Modern
Angular Recording Corporation
Arcady Records
Ark Recordings
Asthmatic Kitty Records
Atlantic Jaxx Recordings
Bad Magic
Balling The Jack
Banquet Records
Battered Ornaments Records
Beggars Banquet
Best Before
Big Brother
Big Dada
Bird Records
blackmaps
Bloody Chamber
Blowout Music
Blue Chopsticks
Border Community
Borstal Beats
Boysnoize Records
BPM
Brainfeeder
Brassland
Bright Star Recordings
Brille
Broken Sound Music
Bronzerat
Brothers and Sisters
Brownswood Recordings
Buzzin’ Fly
Cache Cache
Cadenza Records
Celluloid Records
Chalkmark / IE
Chemikal Underground Records
Cocoon
Control Tower
Counter Records
Dance To The Radio
Dead Oceans
Deceptive
Defenders Ent UK
DESOLAT
Dessous
Different
Dirtee Stank
Divine Comedy Records
Domino Records
Double Six Records
Drag City
Dreambrother
Drive Thru Records
Drowned In Sound
Dummy Records
Duophonic
Eat Sleep Records
Fabric Worldwide
Fake Diamonds
FantasyTrashcan
Fatcat Records
Fence
Feraltone
Finders Keepers Records
Flock Music
Flying Circus
Freerange Records
Friends Vs Records
Full Pupp
Full Time Hobby
Gang Of Four Recordings
Geographic
Ghost Ship
Glaze Recordings
Groenland Records
G-Unit
Hardly Art
Hassle Records
Helpless
Hem Hem Records
HFN Music
Immune
Independiente
Infant
Infectious
Jagjaguwar
Kartel
Kitchenware
Kitsune
KMS Records / Fabric
Laughing Stock
Lex Records
Lipservice
Little Sister Recordings
LO-MAX Records
Loose Music
Lovepump United
Low Life Records
Lucky Number Music
Lucky Seven Records
Mantra
Matador
Memphis Industries
Merok
Metric Music International
Metroline Limited
Model Citizen
Moikai
Motion Audio
MyMajorLabel Ltd
Nation
Ninja Tune
No Quarter
NovaMute
Nusic Sounds
One Four Seven Records Ltd
One Little Indian
Organs
Outcaste
OVNI
P.I.L.
Peartree Records
PeMa
People In The Sky
People Tree
Pirates Blend Records Inc
Planet Function
Play It Again Sam
Playlouder
Poker Flat
Polyvinyl Records
Poseidon Records
Post Present
Pschent
Raw Canvas
Red Cord Records
REK’D
Rekids
Rekords Rekords
Renaissance
Reveal Records
Riverman Records
Rock Action Records
Roots Records
Rough Trade Records
Rubyworks
Sea Note
Search and Destroy
Secretly Canadian
Setanta
Shape
SideOneDummy Records
Silva Screen
Slam Dunk Records
Smekkleysa
Soma
Sonic Cathedral
Soul Jazz Records
South Paw
Southern Fried Records
Stereo Bang Media
Stolen Recordings
Stranger Records
Streamline
Sub Pop
Suicide Squeeze
Sunday Best
Thrill Jockey
Tirk
Too Pure
Torque Records
Touch & Go Records
Transmission Recordings
Tri Tone
Trouble Records
True Panther
Try Harder
Turnstile
Twisted Nerve Recordings
Universal Sound
Victory Records
Wagram
Wall of Sound
Warp
Watergate
We Love You
Wiiija
Willkommen Records Ltd
Wonderfulsound
XL
Xtra Mile Recordings
Yaala Yaala
Young Turks

Painful ain’t it?

There’s gonna be an arduous road ahead to right these wrongs caused by all the commotion, so all we can do for just now is hope that all the damage to everyone is minimal and when it’s all simmered down there’ll be a chance to go and help restore what we can. If you’re a music geek with some spare shrapnel and fancy some new tracks or t-shirts, you know where to spend it – that list above ^. As for extra time, if you have that you can spend it with a broom and industrial strength cleaning fluids! Here’s hoping the worst is over and that everyone is safe.

Guardian Article | Muso’s Guide Blog Post | LabelLove | Riot Clean Up Site

Image taken from BBC report – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK5ecuxXyYM

Comrade Massie