As this is our first blog entry and chances are that besides old friends of Cymbidium, there will be readers who don´t really know much about us, we thought it would be a good idea to go through our history a little bit first.
So ladies & gentlemen, here it is: the Cymbidium story. Hope you enjoy it. As Mr. Bogart once said in a famous movie: “this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship”
Past
Cymbidium Records got started by Costi Snellman, a Helsinki-based singer who co-hosted a chill-out specific radio show in Radio Helsinki during the early noughties. As a Dj she listened to a lot of new records and witnessed first-hand the boom of new electronic music sub genres. Costi, already having extensive connections in Helsinki, got the idea to showcase the emerging Finnish talent by putting together an album of her own.
During that time a young up-and-coming producer called Saine joined the team and as a result the two started working on the company´s first release: the Helsinki Cooler Vol 1. They selected an impressive line-up for the record from household names like Jimi Tenor, Domu, Teddy Rok Seven, Quintessence and Nuspirit Helsinki to upcoming artists like Säätiö Organisaatio and Saine himself. The first Helsinki Cooler got released in 2005 and was chosen as the official soundtrack for the Helsinki Design Week and got good reviews internationally- Cymbidium Records was born.
The Following years Cymbidium released well-received debut albums by Saine and Sora, as well as the second volume to the Helsinki Cooler series. The Cooler compilation series started gaining more attention; Steve Miller from Afterlife was quoted to say: “some of the best music I´ve heard in years.” The releases also solidified Cymbidium´s philosophy in releasing timeless electronic music rather than following short-lasting trends.
2007 saw the release of Electronic Helsinki. This time the focus was more on the alternative dance scene with artists like the electro greats Imatran Voima, current jazz superstars Five Corners Quintet and the eclectic Uusi Fantasia - all hailing from Helsinki Finland. The album was a joint venture with Cymbidium and Octagram- another label from Helsinki -and Ivana Helsinki, a well-known fashion design company who designed the print-on-canvas album covers.
During the next years Cymbidium continued contributing to Helsinki´s cultural scene as well as releasing more albums. A rising Finnish band Happy-Go-Lucky released their sparkling debut Fellow in 2007 and in 2008 it was time to release the 3rd volume of the popular Helsinki Cooler series, to name a few highlights. With help of the Helsinki Cooler Vol 3 and new album releases Cymbidium Records started gaining airplay and the third issue of the Helsinki Cooler series was sold out quickly. Once again the album had a connection to Helsinki: it was released in conjunction with Fennofolk, Design Museum´s exhibition showcasing “new Nordic oddity”- an analysis of Finnish culture with a new perspective.
2009 saw the addition of 3 new names to the Cymbidium Calalog: Calmen´s experimental electronica on his debut Bloom, The Hossni and God Wind´s cultural fusion of reggae, jazz, funk and electronics on their 2004-2008 double CD and Palms-On-Hips´ genre-defying electronic music on Eclecticism. With the decade coming to it´s end Cymbidium Records had made it´s mark on the Finnish music scene and established itself internationally as a label with a unique sound and philosophy.
Present
Entering the new decennium Cymbidium has been busy building contacts around the world. In June 2010 Cymbidium´s representative was invited to introduce the Cymbidium sound on a radio show called Soundfinder Radio on Tokyo´s Shibuya FM. At the time of writing this a distribution deal to Japan is just about to realize. Expect more about Japan in future blog entries!
During the same time Cymbidium made a deal with the French Toolbox Records for vinyl distribution to Paris´s Toolbox record shop and selected stores, like Juno, through Europe.
The first release of the decade was a digital compilation called Summer 2010 Collection. The idea here was to have a good balance between the urban beats and soulful groove, with Finnish and international artists. It proved to be a successful concept as it entered in top ten on the popular Finnish download site, meteli.net´s downloads of the month chart and was chosen as album of the week in Basso Radio, perhaps the leading radio station Finland for electronic music.
Future
Cymbidium´s next release will be once again an interesting co-operative project with great Helsinki-based companies. This time Cymbidium has joined forces with the clothing design wonders of Costo who are especially famous for their funky hats, and Fresh Tunes Finland- an energetic music management company. The compilation will feature artists from both Cymbidium´s and FTF´s roster. This CD release will have a totally unique packing and distribution- wait for a full update in our up-coming blog entries!
Another release to look forward to will be Saine´s up-coming Long Time No See album. On this album Saine will continue to push further his musical concepts and developing his signature sound. At the moment of writing he has just finished the recording process. We´ll cover Saine´s album more thoroughly in our next blog entries- look forward for an interview on the recording process and sample tracks off the album!
As for the future Cymbidium, like all other independent labels, will have to negotiate through obstacles set by the ever decreasing music sales in today´s world. While we, like the others, don´t have the definitive answers, we feel the most important thing is not to stop asking the questions.
We at Cymbidium Records are always on the lookout for fresh vibes, so whether you´re an artist in need of a label or who wants to participate in a project or another label wanting to co-operate- don´t hesitate to contact us!
Cymbidium Records- timeless electronic music & fresh vibes since 2005.
First!? ;)
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