Ankst
Illustration — Ankst logo Ankst was a Welsh independent record label formed in 1988 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by Alun Llwyd, Gruffudd Jones and Emyr Glyn Williams. After a handful of low key cassette releases, the label relocated to Cardiff and became a more serious concern, providing a launch-pad for several popular Welsh artists, including Llwybr Llaethog, Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The Rough Guide to Wales described Ankst as "one of the most prolific, eclectic and innovative" of the 1990s Welsh music labels.
Ankst
- Founded
- 1988
- Headquarters
- United Kingdom
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Ankst logo Ankst was a Welsh independent record label formed in 1988 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by Alun Llwyd, Gruffudd Jones and Emyr Glyn Williams. After a handful of low key cassette releases, the label relocated to Cardiff and became a more serious concern, providing a launch-pad for several popular Welsh artists, including Llwybr Llaethog, Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The Rough Guide to Wales described Ankst as "one of the most prolific, eclectic and innovative" of the 1990s Welsh music labels.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Ankst. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2850364
In this article
Overview
Overview
Between 1988 and 1997, the label put out some 80 releases before splitting in 1997 into two separate companies. Ankst Management (run by Llwyd and Jones and responsible for Melys, Super Furry Animals, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Los Campesinos!, The Longcut, and, for a time, Cerys Matthews) and Ankstmusik, the label, that Williams ran from his house in Pentraeth on Anglesey, converting the garage into an office and store-room. Ankst remained true to its low-budget not for profit ideals at a time when the 'Arts' in Wales fell to corporate control and public funding. In all, the label released over 170 records by a huge assortment of bands and performers, such as Tystion, Ectogram, Zabrinski, Rheinallt H Rowlands, MC Mabon and Wendykurk. Ankst moved into film making in the 2000s, releasing the Bafta-winning Y Lleill in 2005. Alun Llwyd also co-managed, with Kevin Tame, the Cardiff-based indie label Turnstile, home of Perfume Genius, Christopher Owens, Gruff Rhys, Cate Le Bon and others. He is now chief executive at PR/distribution label Pyst. Emyr 'Ankst' Williams died at his home in Pentraeth on 17 January 2024, whilst receiving treatment for cancer. He was 57.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1988
Ankst established.
1988
Ankst is recorded from 1988.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United Kingdom
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Adams, Owen. Label of love: Ankst. The Guardian. 2010-05-06.
- 2.Whitfield, Paul. The Rough Guide to Wales. Rough Guides. 463. 2012. 978-1409359029.
- 3.RIP – Emyr Ankst – a tribute – link2wales.co.uk. 18 January 2024.
- 4.Owens, David. The death of Emyr Ankst has robbed Wales of one of its leading cultural driving forces. Nation Cymru. 18 January 2024.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,307 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- AnjunabeatsOrganisation
- Anke HelfrichPerson
- Anke SieloffPerson
- Ankit TiwariPerson
- Anla CourtisPerson
- Ann AyarsPerson
- Ann BlythPerson
- Ann CallawayPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Ankst?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.