Crammed Discs


Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 375 albums and 275 singles, working with artists from all over the world.
Crammed Discs is run by Marc Hollander with Hanna Gorjaczkowska and Vincent Kenis.
Marc Hollander and Crammed Discs received the WOMEX award in 2004 at the World Music Expo international music trade fair, for being "one of the seminal players on the world music field". However, the label has always systematically worked with electronic music, indie pop and rock artists, and "doesn't see itself as a world music label: it just happens to enjoy working with artists from around the world, some of whom sing in languages other than English". Crammed has been described as "one of the most boldly eclectic independent labels around", as "innovative and groundbreaking" and "visionary", a.o. for steadily avoiding to confine its roster "to one, potentially homogeneous category" and encouraging artists with plural identities to create new forms of music.
In 2011, Crammed Discs celebrated its 30th anniversary by setting up the Congotronics vs Rockers project, a "superband" including ten Congolese and ten indie rock musicians, who collaborated to create a common repertoire and performed at 15 major festivals and venues in ten countries.
From 2008 to 2014, the following artists have joined the Crammed Discs roster: Chicago band Allá, indie pop act Lonely Drifter Karen, London-based Moroccan electronic artist U-cef, Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili, musician/composer/producer Mocky, Belgian band Hoquets, Belgo-Congolese rapper Baloji, Belgian-Colombian band La Chiva Gantiva, French-American artist Maïa Vidal, US bands Skeletons & Megafaun and, more recently, South African/Dutch band SKIP&DIE, Belgian band Amatorski, Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan, Argentinian artist Juana Molina and Ghanaian/Swiss band OY.
The label's latest signings are Parisian electronic music collective Acid Arab, Portuguese singer & musician Lula Pena, young French-Welsh band Fauna Twin, French experimental pop band Aquaserge, Matias Aguayo & The Desdemonas, the new rock band founded by the German-Chilean electronic music producer, Berlin-based Spanish experimental musician Don The Tiger, French-Chilean band Nova Materia, Lagos/London project Ekiti Sound, Ugandan/British band Nihiloxica, Californian musician Scott Gilmore, renowned producer Pascal Gabriel and his new Stubbleman project, and Palestinian techno duet Zenobia.

Sub-labels

Because of the diversity of the label's output since its early days in the 1980s, its founders chose to create several sub-labels. This policy was discarded during the latter part of the 1990s, because Crammed felt that genre-blending had finally become acceptable.
A composers' series specializing in instrumental and ambient music, soundtracks and works commissioned for films, ballets etc..
Notable artists are: Hector Zazou, Arto Lindsay, John Lurie, Yasuaki Shimizu, Minimal Compact and Fred Frith. 36 volumes were released between 1984 and 1995.
Launched in 1988, this electronic music label was A&R'd by DJ Morpheus and Marc Hollander. 47 albums and numerous singles were released, ranging from early new beat to downtempo, techno, house and hip hop, by artists such as Snooze, Juryman, Carl Craig, Tek 9, DJ Morpheus, Kevin Saunderson and Telex.
SSR is short for Sampleur & Sans Reproche.
This 'avant dance' sub-label was A&R'd by Tony Thorpe.
10 albums and 22 singles/EPs were released between 1995 and 1999, by artists including Buckfunk 3000 and Circadian Rhythms.
Launched in 1998 in collaboration with Brazilian A&R/Producer Béco Dranoff, Ziriguiboom's aim was to present original and as-yet-unexposed aspects of Brazilian music to international audiences. It quickly became one of the global hubs for the new wave of Brazilian music, and has brought Crammed its biggest commercial success to date with Bebel Gilberto's debut album Tanto Tempo. Ziriguiboom also signed and released albums by artists such as Celso Fonseca, Cibelle, Zuco 103, Trio Mocotó, Bossacucanova, DJ Dolores, Apollo Nove and the late Suba.
Crammed also had several specialized and one-artist sub-labels:
Currently the only subsiding Crammed Discs imprints are Congotronics and Made To Measure. Congotronoics is not a sub-label per se, but a collection of releases by Congolese bands who play their own respective styles of electrified traditional music. The series is curated and produced by Vincent Kenis.
As for the Made To Measure composers' series, it is being discreetly revived since 2013, as 6 new volumes have recently come out.

Discography (albums)

1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Crammed Samplers
Awards
Nominations