V/Vm

In league with plunderphonic pirates and dancefloor punks like Stock, Hausen & Walkman, <a href="spotify:artist:7kDf1ziRxPFtWbbZB1XmrM">Kid-606</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7hiBBRGcEpBft3kgoWhbSF">DJ Olive</a>, Manchester's V/Vm ("volume versus mass") crew brought a well-needed boot to the backside of the increasingly humorless dance scene of the late '90s, polarized on one side by mindless club trance and on the other by self-serious bedroom boffins. A duo comprised of James Kirby and Andy McGregor (aka Jansky Noise), V/Vm produced a series of releases notorious for their crude (but lovingly detailed) packaging, high collectability (usually only 100 to 500 copies), and, in many cases the music itself, a devastating assault on both copyright laws and hearing levels.

<a href="spotify:artist:35MId59wx5Xyn6zlxGOfJy">Kirby</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6pnGLS7ORH3pAL3hkreAkR">McGregor</a> founded the label known as V/Vm <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Test+Records%22">Test Records</a> with Up-Link Data Transmissions, a five-track 12" issued in 1997. V/Vm's next release, the "compilation" Privileged Frames for Reference, inaugurated a label tradition by alternating tracks from real producers (like <a href="spotify:artist:6ZYOrTXjWodrWyCuxGY5Yx">Jega</a> and Datathief) with a variety of productions by V/Vm (and friends) issued under aliases. Chart Runners, V/Vm's first LP, appeared in mid-1998. Another compilation, 0161, was a joint release with fellow Manchester collector's label Skam. V/Vm also appeared on a split single with <a href="spotify:artist:1C4Ix8pbUGqzAP79elcpcm">Third Eye Foundation</a> for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fat+Cat+Records%22">Fat Cat Records</a>. The label's first CD releases, the compilation AuralOffalWaffle and the artist album Selected Memories from the Haunted Ballroom by the Caretaker, appeared in 1999. <a href="spotify:artist:35MId59wx5Xyn6zlxGOfJy">Kirby</a> toured the United States later that year, and the label was offered legitimate remix roles for everyone from <a href="spotify:artist:2jK54ZlZhTF1TxygsVeR05">Hawkwind</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:6tbjWDEIzxoDsBA1FuhfPW">Madonna</a>. An assortment of compilations (The V/VM Christmas Pudding, The Green Door, Hate You) followed during 2000-2001, and a proper album of sorts -- Sometimes, Good Things Happen, released in two volumes -- appeared in early 2002. ~ John Bush, Rovi