Bedlam Tapes

Bedlam Tapes
Information
Owner	OSCOB
Location	Germany
Opening Date	September 3, 2015
Status	Active
Years Active	2015 - 2018 2021
Sublabels	Bedlam Digital

Bedlam Tapes is a vaporwave record label formed in 2015 by OSCOB, oriented around the creation of high-quality physical releases. The label began with the release of the 死と音楽の復活 compilation and released multiple noteworthy projects within its first year of operation, including chris†††'s no lives matter and the republishing of early-genre albums Vacant Places and CONTEMPORARY. The label also had a penchant for publishing more experimental electronic releases and artists, including Reef Frequent, §E▲ ▓F D▓G§, Argiflex, Christa Lee (known in-scene as ショッピングワールドjp), and Japanese artist Jobanshi. The discography expanded further with physical pressings of select Bedlam Digital releases, and was finally "complete" in 2018 with the release of the "Spring Steeze" split.

Removals and Transformation

Bedlam Tapes remained dormant after its final 2018 release until mid-2021, in which label owner OSCOB began using the page to promote his own upcoming releases using Bandcamp's message system. This was generally benign, until a sudden message on December 2021 noting that the entire label would be deleted in the next day, alongside its digital sublabel. During this period, an unreleased ArtFluids album (Dream Injury) was published in its draft form, all albums were set to be unable to be downloaded freely (now each sporting a $5 price tag, or a $25 full-discography purchase), and a series of increasingly taunting messages were sent to email followers of the label.

On December 10th, it was revealed that the deletion would not be done due to "overwhelming support" from fans, and the label launched a series of parodic or "shock"-oriented albums, including a Floral Shoppe parody, the satirical broken transmissions album スーパーシグナルウェーブ!!!, a two-track single by HKE project THE DARKEST FUTURE, and a series of OSCOB remixes by haircuts for men. OSCOB would reveal on Twitter that the publicity stunt brought him at least $1,100 in profit from full-discography purchases alone, none of which would go to the label's cast. Hostilities rising, the label began rapid-fire releasing new submissions alongside archived OSCOB releases, another notable turn taking after Daniel Saylor (Windows 98の) used a Bandcamp DMCA appeal form to remove Spring Rain and The Dream Can't Last Forever Trilogy from the label. This sparked the removal of over a dozen albums from the label, including all but one sampler, the label's initial compilation, and various releases by artists that have come to distance themselves from its owner. The bittered relationships and spite-driven purges and expansion of the label mirror that of Dream Catalogue and night coverage, two labels in the vaporwave scene that received similar treatments even that same year.

Discography

TODO: Discography

External Links

• Bandcamp
• SoundCloud
• Twitter (Suspended)
• Facebook (Offline)
• YouTube
• RedBubble
• Rate Your Music
• Discogs