Every year we pause in our relentless quest to document the best music coming out of the punk, hardcore and indie scene and ask those on the other side to tell us what they've enjoyed: first the bands and artists, and secondly, the record labels. In this year's instalment we pass the mic to the label owners to tell us about the albums that have defined their 2014, the things we can expect from them next year, and the trends they'll associate with 2014 when they look back on the year.
Here are a few highlights:
Halo of Flies records
"Mainstream media outlets dabbled or dove headlong into extreme music coverage, which is awesome, and partly due to a few strong personalities/writers as well as a change in tastes."
Rich Loren Balling (Handmade Birds)
"For too long it seems art across the board has become so deeply postmodern that everything is overtly homage or a straight-up remake of something that came before. Influence is one thing, but evidence of truly unique thought in more than a handful of artists was becoming absent in my life, but that was renewed this year."
Tim Clarke (Hidden Shoal Recordings)
"Streaming services like Spotify and SoundCloud are an incredible discovery tool, but it’s easy to forget that you can further support an artist you love by purchasing a download or CD via Bandcamp or at a bricks ’n’ mortar record store – if you can find one!"
