Kranky Records
Kranky (stylized as kranky) is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It was founded in 1993 by Joel Leoschke and Bruce Adams, who both had backgrounds in the music industry. The label releases experimental music, such as ambient and post-rock.
Also recorded as Kranky
Kranky Records
- Name
- Kranky
- Founded
- 1993
- Headquarters
- Chicago
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q1144907
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kranky • Founded — 1993 • Founder — Bruce Adams Joel Leoschke • Genre — * Ambient • drone • post-rock • techno • Krautrock • Country — United States • Location — Chicago
History and operation
History and operation
Kranky was founded in the spring of 1993 by Joel Leoschke and Bruce Adams in Chicago. They created Kranky with the intent of releasing Prazision LP by Labradford, which was the first release of the label. Adams first moved to Chicago from Ann Arbor in 1987. In Chicago, he worked at Kaleidoscope, a music distributor in Des Plaines; Touch & Go Records, after quitting work at Kaleidoscope in a year of working for it; and Cargo Music Distribution, which he started working for in the spring of 1991. Adams and Leoschke were still working for Cargo when forming Kranky. The label's second release was This Is Not a Dream in 1995, a compilation album by Dadamah. In 2006, Adams left Kranky and founded label Flingco Sound. In 2005, Brian Foote joined Kranky to co-operate it. Kranky releases ambient, drone, post-rock, techno, and Krautrock music from musicians and bands such as Stars of the Lid, Loscil, Tim Hecker, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. According to Resident Advisor, "[Kranky] let[s] artists do whatever they want without interfering", and that Kranky rarely runs advertisements.
Artists
Artists
Adapted from Kranky's official website in 2021.
Current
Current
• Clinic Stars • Anjou • Atlas Sound • Autistic Daughters • A Winged Victory for the Sullen • Jessica Bailiff • Belong • Benoit Pioulard • Bird Show • Christopher Bissonnette • Boduf Songs • Ken Camden • Christina Carter • Tom Carter • Charalambides • Clear Horizon • Cloudland Canyon • Greg Davis • The Dead Texan • Deerhunter • Demen • Disappears • Dreamscape • Earthen Sea • Ethernet • Felix • Forma • Grouper • Brent Gutzeit • Chihei Hatakeyama • Steve Hauschildt • Tim Hecker • Chris Herbert • High Plains • Implodes • Gregg Kowalsky • Labradford • Less Bells • Lichens • Loscil • Lotus Plaza • Brian McBride • Mirrorring • MJ Guider • Nudge • Tara Jane O'Neil • Pan American • Andrew Pekler • Raglani • Jonas Reinhardt • Dean Roberts • Saloli • Dawn Smithson • Stars of the Lid • Strategy • To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie • Valet • Christina Vantzou • Justin Walter • Keith Fullerton Whitman • White Rainbow • Windy & Carl
Former
Former
• Aix Em Klemm • Amp • Bowery Electric • Christmas Decorations • Dadamah • Doldrums • Flies Inside the Sun • Fontanelle • Godspeed You! Black Emperor • Growing • Jessamine • Low • Magnog • Roy Montgomery • Out Hud • Philosopher's Stone • James Plotkin • Spiny Anteaters • Mark Spybey • Tomorrowland
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1993
Kranky Records established.
1993
Kranky Records is recorded from 1993.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Kranky Records is associated with United States.
Country
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Kranky (record label), revision 1376055776 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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.KRANKY. Remix. 7. 6. 18. June 2005. 1532-1347.
- 2.Margasak, Peter. Kranky's 20 uncompromising years. Chicago Reader. September 12, 2013.
- 3.Adams, Bruce. You're with Stupid: kranky, Chicago, and the Reinvention of Indie Music. University of Texas Press. 1–8. 2022. 978-1-4773-2616-9.
- 4.Masters, Marc. Kranky. Pitchfork. January 11, 2009.
- 5.Ryce, Andrew. Label of the month: Kranky. Resident Advisor. October 30, 2018.
- 6.Masters, Marc. Kranky Celebrates 25 Years of Independence—and Patient Listening. Bandcamp Daily. November 15, 2018.
- 7.Kranky. Kranky Artists.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
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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 14 August 2026.
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