| RVNG Intl. | |
| Founder: | Matt Werth, David Pianka |
| Distributor: | Secretly Distribution |
| Genre: | Electronic, experimental |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Location: | Brooklyn, New York City |
RVNG Intl. is an independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2003 by Matt Werth, the label is run by Werth and focuses on experimental dance and electronic music, often incorporating avant-garde genres. Release formats include vinyl, CDs, and digital downloads. In 2011, they were named one of the top 50 indie labels in America by Billboard.
In its nascent years, the label released the mix tape series RVNG PRSNTS MX, which was later followed by the Rvng of the Nrds 12" edit series. The ReRVNG archival series and FRKWYS series continue to this day, the latter of which pairs contemporary artists with influential musical pioneers. RVNG Intl. has also released original albums by artists such as Blondes, The Body, Holly Herndon, Julia Holter, Maxmillion Dunbar, and Stellar OM Source. In 2011, the label began releasing vinyl singles under the Beats in Space imprint, which Werth co-owns with Tim Sweeney.
RVNG Intl. was chosen as Resident Advisor's label of the month in January 2014 and Tiny Mix Tapes included RVNG Intl. amongst their favorite labels of 2015.
In 2016 Gideon Coe hosted “Label of Love is RVNG Records” on BBC Radio 6 and The Vinyl Factory featured RVNG as one of the top “20 Record Labels to Follow on Instagram”. The same year Apple Music Experimental Spotlight was on RVNG Intl.
In 2017 RVNG Intl. was listed as one of the best things/happenings of 2017 by The Ransom Note. The label also participated in the Prelude to Sleep series at Moogfest. An LGBTQ benefit compilation entitled “Peaceful Protest” was produced by RVNG Intl. in 2017, while in the same year RVNG pledged all profits from Bandcamp to benefit the ACLU.
The label is also noted for its charitable program Come Mend,[1] in which a portion of record sale profits are donated to causes chosen by the label's artists.
The record label RVNG Intl. was launched in 2003 by Matt Werth. Werth was born in Madison, Wisconsin and spent his formative years in Little Rock, Arkansas. When he was 15, he started the punk 'zine Potluck and took over the record label File Thirteen. First established as what Werth called a "self-reflective journal fanzine" in 1989, File Thirteen was operated by Werth for 8 years.
In 1996, Werth moved to Philadelphia at the age of 18 to play bass for Aspera Ad Astra. While attending Temple University he met Dave Pianka, and together they came up with the idea of RVNG Intl., which was originally an event production company. A mutual friend, Michael Zwizanski, recommended the name, which is an anti-voweled version of "revenge", much in the style of Primal Scream's XTRMNTR, which had come out around the same time.
Werth said that the label's very first mix was intended for event clients, as proof that the label could select and manage good DJs. According to Werth, "Julian Grefe put together the first RVNG mix ―RVNG PRSNTS MX1, which was basically a spray-painted CD in a spray-painted case." Following the initial mix release, MX CDs became an infrequent series of albums from artists such as Tim Sweeney and DJ Twitch. After six years in Philadelphia, Werth moved to Brooklyn in 2002 in order to work at Flyer magazine.
The record label RVNG Intl was launched in 2003 by Werth. The label is based in its original location of Brooklyn, New York, Packaging is frequently detailed and unique. For example, a 7" vinyl from Purple Brain came with a hand-crocheted case by designer Dani Griffiths and 1000 prints of Pink Skull's Endless Bummer were letter-pressed with 1000 different variations on the album title phrase.
By 2010, the label had put out two original releases: These Are Powers’ Candyman EP and Pink Skull’s Endless Bummer LP. In 2011, they put out albums by Mirror Mirror and Bronze and were named one of the top 50 indie labels in America by Billboard. In 2012, the label released Blondes by Blondes, which Sean Adams, the founder of Drowned in Sound, lauded with a 10/10 review, praising the music as "bliss" and his "eureka moment."
Other notable albums in 2012 included Ekstasis by Julia Holter, which was named Pitchfork's Best New Music and described as "music that's both haunting and life-affirming, something to make you dream and think", in addition to the critically acclaimed "Movement" by experimental composer Holly Herndon.
In 2013, the label released Swisher by Blondes, and notable albums from Maximillion Dunbar, Blondes, Gardland, and Holly Herndon. As of 2014, RVNG has also released a number of singles and albums from the likes of Bing & Ruth and others. Preserving past works from pioneering musicians is another focus, as exemplified by the release of a double LP set from artist and producer Craig Leon (Nommos and Visiting), titled Anthology of Interplanerary Folk Music Vol. 1 and K. Leimer's A Period of Review.
Ten Rvng of The Nrds albums were released, including works by Todd Terje, Greg Wilson, and Pilooski. Each artist also contributed to re-edits of songs by artists such as Wire and R.D. Burman.
| "The guiding concept behind [''FRKWYS''] is to bring contemporary electronic artists together with their creative fore-bearers of sorts and allow them to collaborate as inspired." | |
| — Fact Magazine |
In May 2010, the label released FRKWYS Vol. 3, an album-length collaboration between Arp and Anthony Moore.[2] [3] Arp reworked both original and unreleased music written by Moore in the 1960s, which was the result of working together at Atlantic Sound's Brooklyn studio in September 2009. FRKWYS Vol. 9 had Los Angeles-based artists Sun Araw and M. Geddes Gengras travel to Jamaica to record with the notable reggae vocal group, The Congos.
The label has been active in organizing art and music shows, partnering with the likes of the White Columns Gallery in New York City, the Barbican Center in London, and MoMa PS1′s Summer Warm Up series. RVNG worked with the Unsound Festival in Kraków, Poland, and presented a label showcase in April 2014 at Moogfest in Asheville, North Carolina featuring Blondes, Holly Herndon, and Craig Leon performing "NOMMOS" with the Asheville Symphony. Also in 2014 the 15th Anniversary of Beats In Space was celebrated at Corsica Studios in London. In 2018 RVNG featured artists and collaborated with Le Guess Who music festival. RVNG was also featured at MoMA PS1 Come Together Music Festival and Record Fair.
The following artists are current as of August 2018:
The following is a complete list (as of August 2018) of artists who have released music as part of the Beats in Space Records series.
The following is an incomplete list of artists who have been included in the FRKWYS series:
The following is an incomplete list of artists who have been included in the Freedom to Spend imprint:
| Notes | |||||
| RVNGNL01 | 2009 | Endless Bummer | Pink Skull | ||
| RVNGNL02 | 2010 | Candyman | These Are Powers | EP | |
| RVNGNL03 | Hideous Racket | Allez-Allez | single | ||
| RVNGNL04 | The River | EP | |||
| RVNGNL05 | 2011 | Lover / Hater | single | ||
| RVNGNL06 | Clean Plate | Clean Plate | single | ||
| RVNGNL07 | Business / Pleasure | single | |||
| RVNGNL08 | Psychic Welfare | Pink Skull | |||
| RVNGNL09 | Interiors | Mirror Mirror | |||
| RVNGNL10 | Copper | Bronze | |||
| RVNGNL11 | Wine / Water | single | |||
| RVNGNL12 | 2012 | Blondes | 10/10 review by Drowned in Sound. | ||
| RVNGNL14 | Ekstasis | ||||
| RVNGNL15 | Movement | Holly Herndon | |||
| RVNGNL16 | Woo | Maximillion Dunbar | single | ||
| RVNGNL17 | House of Woo | Maximillion Dunbar | |||
| RVNGNL18 | Ekstasis | expanded edition | |||
| RVNGNL19 | 2013 | Elite Excel | Stellar OM Source | single | |
| RVNGNL20 | Joy One Mile | Stellar OM Source | |||
| RVNGNL21 | Swisher | ||||
| RVNGNL22 | 2014 | Improvisations | Gardland | live album | |
| RVNGNL23 | Syndrome Syndrome | Gardland | |||
| RVNGNL24 | "Chorus" | single | |||
| RVNGNL25 | I Shall Die Here | ||||
| RVNGNL26 | Rewire | Blondes | EP | ||
| RVNGNL27 | Tomorrow Was the Golden Age | Bing & Ruth | |||
| RVNGNL28 | Home | Holly Herndon | single | ||
| RVNGNL29 | 2015 | Platform | Holly Herndon | ||
| RVNGNL30 | Nite-Glo | Stellar OM Source | EP | ||
| RVNGNL31 | City Lake | Bing & Ruth | |||
| RVNGNL32 | Persuasions | Blondes | EP | ||
| RVNGNL33 | We Are Not the First | Hieroglyphic Being & J.I.T.U. Ahn-Sahm-Buhl | |||
| RVNGNL34 | 2016 | Zelalem | Mikael Seifu | EP | |
| RVNGNL35 | The Enlightening Beam of Bobby Brown | Various artists | |||
| RVNGNL36 | Catalog Compendium vol. 1 | Various artists | |||
| RVNGNL37 | Reassemblage | Visible Cloaks | RVNGNL37-1 is Valve / Valve (Revisited) single | ||
| RVNGNL38 | 2017 | The Gradual Progression | Greg Fox | ||
| RVNGNL39 | Private Energy (Expanded) | ||||
| RVNGNL40 | UkabazUmorezU | Sugai Ken | |||
| RVNGNL41 | Peaceful Protest | Various Artists | |||
| RVNGNL44 | Lex | Visible Cloaks | |||
| RVNGNL43 | Shelly's On Zenn-la | Oliver Coates | Album | ||
| RVNGNL46 | 2018 | Anticlines | Lucrecia Dalt | Album | |
| RVNGNL50 | для FOR | Kate NV | Album | ||
| RVNGNL60 | 2020 | Sea to Sea | Sign Libra | ||
| RVNGNL81 | 2022 | Salutations | Various Artists | ||
| RVNGNL83 | Volume II | Flore Laurentienne | |||
| RVNGNL84 | Advanced Myth | Dialect | |||
| RVNGNL85 | ¡Ay! | Lucrecia Dalt | |||
| RVNGNL95 | Comradely Objects | Horse Lords | |||
| RVNGNL103 | bouquet | Kate NV | |||
| RVNGNL82 | 2023 | WOW | Kate NV | ||
| RVNGNL86 | soaring wayne phoenix story the earth and sky | Wayne Phoenix | |||
| RVNGNL93 | Paradise Crick | M. Sage | |||
| RVNGNL96 | Hidden Beauty | Sign Libra | |||
| RVNGNL99 | Reflections Vol. 1: Let the Moon Be a Planet | Steve Gunn & David Moore | |||
| RVNGNL105 | Tin Iso and the Dawn | Tristan Allen | |||
| RVNGNL106 | SEASON: A letter to the future (Original Soundtrack) | Spencer Doran | |||
| RVNGNL108 | Live in Leipzig | Horse Lords | |||
| RVNGNL112 | 2024 | Quantum Web | Discovery Zone |
| Mx1B | 2003 | Rvng Prsnts Mx1B: Julian S. Process | Julian S. Process | CD, 12" vinyl |
| Mx2 | 2004 | Rvng Prsnts Mx2: Diabolic & Julian S. Process | Julian S. Process, Diabolic | CD, 12" vinyl |
| Mx3 | 2003 | Rvng Prsnts Mx3: Tim Sweeney | Tim Sweeney | |
| Mx4 | 2005 | Rvng Prsnts Mx4: Crazy Rhythms | Crazy Rhythms | |
| Mx5 | 2007 | Rvng Prsnts Mx5: Justine D | Justine D | |
| Mx6 | 2008 | Rvng Prsnts Mx6: JD Twitch | JD Twitch | Subtitled 60 Minutes of Fear |
| Mx6TEN | Rvng Prsnts Mx6TEN: JD Twitch | JD Twitch | Subtitled 10 Inches of Fear | |
| Mx7 | 2009 | Rvng Prsnts Mx7: Purple Brain | Purple Brain | |
| Mx7SEVEN | Rvng Prsnts Mx7SEVEN: Purple Brain | Purple Brain |
| NRDS01 | 2006 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 1 | The Flying Squad | 12" vinyl | |
| NRDS02 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 2 | Betty Botox | 12" vinyl | ||
| NRDS03 | 2007 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 3 | Mock & Toof | 12" vinyl | |
| NRDS04 | 2008 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 4 | Lovefingers | 12" vinyl | |
| NRDS05 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 5 | Wade Nichols | 12" vinyl | ||
| NRDS06 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 6 | Jacques Renault | 12" vinyl | ||
| NRDS07 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 7 | Greg Wilson | 12" vinyl | ||
| NRDS08 | 2009 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 8 | In Flagranti | 12" vinyl | |
| NRDS09 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 9 | Jackpot | 12" vinyl | ||
| NRDS10 | 2010 | Rvng of the Nrds Vol. 10 | Pilooski | 12" vinyl |
| Artist(s) | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRKWYS02 | 2009 | FRKWYS Vol. 2 | 12" + MP3 | ||
| FRKWYS03 | 2010 | FRKWYS Vol. 3 | Arp, Anthony Moore | 12" + MP3 | |
| FRKWYS04 | FRKWYS Vol. 4 | Psychic Ills | 12" + MP3 | ||
| FRKWYS05 | 2011 | FRKWYS Vol. 5 | Mirror Mirror | 12" + MP3 | |
| FRKWYS06 | FRKWYS Vol. 6 | ||||
| FRKWYS07 | FRKWYS Vol. 7 | ||||
| FRKWYS08 | FRKWYS Vol. 8 | Blues Control, Laraaji | |||
| FRKWYS09 | 2012 | FRKWYS Vol. 9 | ICON GIVE THANK | ||
| FRKWYS10 | 2013 | FRKWYS Vol. 10 | David Van Tieghem x Ten | Fits & Starts | |
| FRKWYS11 | 2014 | FRKWYS Vol. 11 | Steve Gunn & Mike Cooper | Cantos de Lisboa | |
| FRKWYS12 | 2015 | FRKWYS Vol. 12 | Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma | We Know Each Other Somehow | |
| FRKWYS13 | 2016 | FRKWYS Vol. 13 | Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani | Sunergy | |
| FRKWYS14 | 2018 | FRKWYS Vol. 14 | Tashi Wada with Yoshi Wada and Friends | Nue | |
| FRKWYS15 | 2019 | FRKWYS Vol. 15 | Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano | serenitatem | |
| FRKWYS16 | 2020 | FRKWYS Vol. 16 | Ian William Craig & Daniel Lentz | In a Word |
| Artist(s) | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIS001 | 2011 | "Parfait Tirage" | Paradis | 12", mp3 |
| BIS002 | 2012 | "Nebula Sphynx" | Secret Circuit | |
| BIS003 | "Hemisphere" | Paradis | [4] | |
| BIS004 | "Macsat Ring Down" | Lauer | ||
| BIS005 | 2013 | "Afterlife" | Secret Circuit | |
| BIS006 | Tactile Galactics | Secret Circuit | ||
| BIS007 | "Sum of Love" | Jee Day | ||
| BIS008 | Desperate Pleasures EP | Tornado Wallace | ||
| BIS009 | "The Noughties" | Gonno | ||
| BIS010 | "Break the Dawn" | Crystal & S. Koshi | ||
| BIS011 | 2014 | Domino EP | Dukes of Chutney | |
| BIS012 | So What EP | Hidden Fees | ||
| BIS013 | "Holding On" | House of Spirits | ||
| BIS014 | "So You Say" | Matt Karmil | ||
| BIS015 | "Yin Yang Theatre" | Jaakko Eino Kalevi | ||
| BIS016 | "Gin 'n' Tears" | Guiddo feat. Georges Perin | ||
| BIS017 | "Hands & Feet" | Lauer | ||
| BIS018 | 2015 | "Kangaroo Ground / Ferntree Gully" | Tornado Wallace | |
| BIS019 | Palmbomen II | Palmbomen II | ||
| BIS020 | 2016 | "Shoot the Freak" | T & P | |
| BIS021 | Beats in Space 15th Anniversary Mix | Tim Sweeney | Mix of previous releases | |
| BIS022 | BIS: 001–020 | Various artists | Collection of previous releases | |
| BIS023 | Primavera EP | Antenna | ||
| BIS024 | "Memories of Cindy Pt. 1" | Palmbomen II | ||
| BIS025 | "(Eerie) For Your Love" | Mount Liberation Unlimited | ||
| BIS026 | "Good to Me" | Shan | ||
| BIS027 | 2017 | "Dawning Light" | Jacques Bon | |
| BIS028 | "Memories of Cindy Pt. 2" | Palmbomen II | ||
| BIS029 | 2018 | "Memories of Cindy Pt. 3" | Palmbomen II | |
| BIS031 | Memories of Cindy | Palmbomen II | ||
| BIS032 | Who Are You | E Ruscha V | ||
| BIS032 | Midnight Markers | Shy Layers | ||
| BIS032 | Woo are you | E Ruscha V. And Woo |
| Artist(s) | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RERVNG01 | 2011 | Synthesist / Re-Synthesist | Harald Grosskopf / Various artists | ||
| RERVNG02 | 2012 | Music Is Painting in the Air (1974-1977) | Sensations' Fix | ||
| RERVNG03 | 2014 | A Period of Review (1975-1983) | K. Leimer | ||
| RERVNG04 | Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music vol. 1: Nommos / Visiting | Craig Leon | |||
| RERVNG05 | An Evolutionary Music (1972–1979) | Ariel Kalma | |||
| RERVNG07 | 2015 | Artificial Dance | Savant | ||
| RERVNG06 | 2016 | Breadwoman & Other Tales | Anna Homler and Steve Moshier | ||
| RERVNG08 | Tumblers from the Vault (1970–1972) | Syrinx | |||
| RERVNG10 | 2017 | Trans-Millenia Music | Pauline Anna Strom | ||
| RERVNG11 | 2018 | Few Traces | Mark Renner |
| Artist(s) | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMMND001 | 2016 | For Haku | RAMZi | |||
| CMMND002 | Water Falls Into a Blank | 7FO | ||||
| CMMND003 | 2017 | Parcel | Melanie Velarde |
| Artist(s) | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTS001 | 2017 | Eye Chant | Michele Mercure | ||
| FTS002 | Music Works for Industry | Marc Barreca | |||
| FTS003 | Poiemusia La Nau Dels Argonautes | Pep Llopis | |||
| FTS004 | Eros in Arabia | Richard Horowitz | |||
| FTS009 | 2018 | Music and Poetry of the Kesh | Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton |