Mital-U

mital-U
Founded1996 (1996)
FounderBruno Waser
Distributor(s)CD Baby (digital), CeDe.com (physical)
GenrePost-punk, Dark wave, Electronic
Country of originSwitzerland
LocationLucerne
Official websitemital-u.ch/indie-label/

mital-U (stylized in lowercase) is an independent record label based in Lucerne, Switzerland. It was founded in 1996 by musician and producer Bruno Waser and is known for releasing both new material and reissues of seminal works from the Swiss post-punk and dark wave scenes. The label has released material by influential artists including Grauzone, mittageisen, The Vyllies, and Crazy. mital-U is recognized in the alternative music scene for its focus on post-punk, darkwave, and industrial music. The label's significance within these genres is documented by independent sources such as the Gothic & Industrial Music Archive.[1]

History

Bruno Waser began producing records for underground Swiss bands in the early 1980s, including Crazy and mittageisen. In 1996, he formally established mital-U, among the first European indie labels to adopt web-based music distribution. The label became best known for digitally restoring and remastering key releases from the 1980s, including complete anthologies by Grauzone, mittageisen, and The Vyllies. [2] [3] Alongside the reissue of these compilations, the original videos for 'automaten' by mittageisen and 'Whispers in the Shadow' by The Vyllies have been restored and remastered. mital-U also produced the first official video for 'Eisbär' by Grauzone. [4] In addition to producing music videos, mital-U has worked as an executive producer on music documentaries, including Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché and WIRE – People in a Film.[5][6]

Collaborations

mital-U has partnered with several independent labels and organizations:

  • CSR Records – for co-producing the *Swiss Kult-Hits* compilations.[7]
  • Off Course Records – for licensing and digitizing the Grauzone back catalogue.[8]
  • Creep Records – collaborated on the reissue of The Vyllies’ early recordings as part of the complete back catalogue.[9]
  • EarthPercent – since March 2023, mital-U has supported EarthPercent's activities as a brand partner and participated in the EarthPercent 2023 and 2025 campaigns.[10]

Notable Artists and Releases

  • Grauzone: NDW pioneers best known for Eisbär (1980). mital-U restored and reissued their complete recordings, including the first-time release of 'Polar Bear' with English lyrics.[11]
  • mittageisen: Released the first German-language dark wave album in 1983 and the cult single automaten (1985). Both vinyls were selected as ‘Record of the week’ on the Swiss radio show ‘Sounds!’ and the song ‘automaten’ was played by John Peel on BBC Radio1.[12]
  • The Vyllies: All-female gothic band from Switzerland, active 1983–1988; their back catalogue was remastered and released by mital-U.[13]
  • Crazy: One of the first Swiss punk bands; their first independent SwissPunk LP *No Chance* was produced and released in 1980 by mital-U.[14]

Cultural Impact

mital-U's catalog has been featured in museum exhibitions, such as Oh Yeah! Pop Music in Switzerland at the Museum of Communication Bern (2014–2015), where the songs *Eisbär* and *automaten* were two of the Top 20 songs listed in the 'CH Hall of Fame 80s'. [15] The label's reissues have received positive critical attention in media such as Artnoir, OX-Fanzine, BLACK Magazine, and Dangerous Minds. [16] [17] [18] [19] mittageisen’s work also inspired designer Julia Seemann’s capsule collection for London Fashion Week in 2016. [20] [21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Gothic & Industrial Music Archive: mital-U". Gothic & Industrial Music Archive. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  2. ^ "mital-U at Swiss National Sound Archives". Swiss National Sound Archives. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  3. ^ Papst, Manfred (2013-08-04). "Bewegte Zeiten" [turbulent times] (PDF). NZZ am Sonntag (in German). Zürich: NZZ Mediengruppe. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  4. ^ "mital-U IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  5. ^ "Credits: Poly Styrene – I Am a Cliché". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  6. ^ "Wire – People in a Film". wire-film.com. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  7. ^ "Swiss Kult-Hits". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  8. ^ "Off Course Records". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  9. ^ "Creep Records". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  10. ^ "Our Supporters". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  11. ^ "Grauzone: 1980–1982". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  12. ^ "John Peel RadioShow". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  13. ^ "The Vyllies: The Vyllies 1983–1988". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  14. ^ "Crazy – No Chance". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  15. ^ "Oh Yeah! Pop Music in Switzerland". Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  16. ^ Shark, JHG (2010-12-27). "Grauzone – 1980-1982 Remastered". Artnoir Musik-Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  17. ^ "VYLLIES 1983-1988". OX fanzine (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  18. ^ "MITTAGEISEN – 1981-1986 (2CD)". BLACK online. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  19. ^ "Grauzone: The ice cold sounds of a classic 80s Swiss New Wave group". Dangerous Minds. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  20. ^ "Julia Seemann – London Fashion Week". Archived from the original on 2016-08-11. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  21. ^ "Capsule Collection 2016" (PDF). Archived from the original (pdf) on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2025-07-15.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.