Cleopatra Records[1] is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records,[2]Purple Pyramid Records, Deadline Music Records,[3]X-Ray Records,[4] and Goldenlane Records,[5] encompassing a variety of genres with emphasis on unique and experimental artists.
Cleopatra has also promoted underground and British punk rock bands such as The Vibrators, U.K. Subs, and The Damned, as well as dozens of lesser known bands that had never before been released in the U.S. market.
Partnering with European labels such as Lifted Music and Hard Records, Cleopatra established the Hypnotic imprint for a series of electronic music compilations as well as full-length albums by The Future Sound of London, Paul Oakenfold, DJ Keoki, and Talla 2XLC as well as the first ever feature-length documentary on rave culture: Better Living Through Circuitry. Most recently, Hypnotic has been the home of high profile, and highly prolific, metal-turned-electronic music act Blackburner.
The Cleopatra label group has expanded in a variety of directions, working with artists such as Sly Stone and William Shatner. R&B singer-songwriter and guitar hero Shuggie Otis released a live concert DVD, CD & LP Live In Williamsburg through Cleopatra in 2014, as well as the 2018 instrumental studio album Inter-Fusion featuring drummer Carmine Appice and bassist Tony Franklin.
The label has also become home to producer/songwriter Todd Rundgren, starting in 2016 with a 3-CD box set of unreleased vintage live material called Box O' Todd and a new concert CD/DVD called An Evening with Todd Rundgren Live at the Ridgefield. That was followed by Todd's newest studio album White Knight, released in 2017 and featuring a host of guest appearances by artists including Trent Reznor, Robyn, Dâm-Funk, Daryl Hall, Donald Fagen, Joe Walsh, Joe Satriani and more.
Cleopatra remains a strong champion of avant garde, underground music such as psychedelic groove band Brainticket who re-released their catalog through Cleopatra, and was even brought over for their first US tour in 2011. A new Brainticket album titled Past, Present and Future was released in 2015. San Francisco noise-art band Chrome also saw Cleopatra release numerous reissues of the band's late '70s and early '80s output on both vinyl and CD over the last few years, culminating in the massive seven LP vinyl box set, a reissue and expanded version of the historic Chrome Box. Amon Düül II, one of the most influential German experimental bands of all-time, partnered with Cleopatra in 2014 for a series of deluxe, limited edition vinyl reissues of such albums as Yeti, Phallus Dei, Wolf City, and others, along with the group's newest effort Düülirium, released in June 2014.
Cleopatra owner Brian Perera has also been well known as a longtime champion of Hawkwind. Cleopatra released the final album by original Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton, a 2-CD collection of rare tracks and new recordings, before his passing in late 2012. And reviving a relationship that first began in the mid '90s with the release of several of his solo albums, the label is once again working Hawkwind alum Nik Turner. Turner's newest solo efforts, the most critically acclaimed of his career, were released through Cleopatra including 2013's Space Gypsy and 2015's Space Fusion Odyssey. Both albums were supported with U.S. tours alongside neo-Krautrock band Hedersleben (featuring Nicky Garratt of UK Subs) whose catalog was also recently picked up by Cleopatra. 2015 also saw publication of The Spirit Of Hawkwind 1969–1976, Turner's definitive account of his years in Hawkwind told through the words of music journalist Dave Thompson as well as numerous rare and unpublished photos.
Expanding its interest in punk, Cleopatra acquired the entire catalog of releases by esteemed San Francisco Bay Area punk label, New Red Archives, formerly owned by Nicky Garratt. The label was home to the debut album of politically charged punk band Anti-Flag, early 1980s NY-based hardcore groups Kraut, and Reagan Youth, as well as an early project from Sunny Day Real Estate / Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel called Christ on a Crutch. Recent signings include Slaughter & the Dogs and Anti-Nowhere League, plus hardcore icons The Casualties and Down By Law. That same year, an exclusive licensing deal for the hugely popular Kung Fu Records label brought bands such as The Vandals, The Ataris, Tsunami Bomb, and more into the Cleopatra family.
In a nod to their gothic-industrial roots, the label acquired the complete Wax Trax! recordings of Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen, including several unreleased Ministry songs as well as albums by Revolting Cocks, 1000 Homo DJs, PTP, Pailhead (with Ian MacKaye), and Acid Horse. This culminated in the release of the Ministry Trax! Box, a 7 CD plus bonus LP compendium of 101 tracks from the 1980 to 1985 period including 29 previously unreleased recordings all packaged in a patent leather, foil-stamped box with a 64-page book. The label also published a massive tome of unreleased photos and ephemera of Bauhaus, entitled Bauhaus Undead, curated by founding member Kevin Haskins. That led to a record deal for Haskins' project with Daniel Ash, Poptone, featuring newly recorded versions of songs by Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, and Love & Rockets.
Also in 2018, the label staged another major foray into the world of hip hop through the imprint X-Ray Records with releases by Gunplay, Riff Raff, Onyx, Luniz, Black Sheep, Brokencyde, Petey Pablo, and R&B icon Case. The year culminated in one of the imprint's highest profile releases ever, the new studio album from Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, The Lost Tapes, and two remix albums released simultaneously as The Ghost Files.
Acquisitions
New Red Archives
In 2012, Cleopatra acquired the entire catalog of releases by New Red Archives,[8] formerly owned by Nicky Garratt of UK Subs. The label was home to first wave punk group U.K. Subs, the debut album of political punk group Anti-Flag, early 1980s New York hardcore groups Reagan Youth and Kraut the first independent group ever in rotation on MTV , as well as an early project from Sunny Day Real Estate / Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel called Christ On A Crutch, and hardcore punk legends Hogan's Heroes.
Wax Trax!
The label acquired the complete Wax Trax! recordings of Al Jourgensen, including several unreleased Ministry songs as well as albums by Revolting Cocks, 1000 Homo DJs, PTP, Pailhead (with Ian MacKaye), and Acid Horse. A 7-CD box set of these recordings (entitled Trax! Box) was released in April 2015. Meanwhile, Cleopatra has continued to work with established artists such as Missing Persons' Dale Bozzio, Thor, The Oak Ridge Boys, Shuggie Otis, and Popa Chubby and Eric Gales.
Cleopatra Blues
When Los Angeles–based independent record label Cleopatra Records, Inc.[9] began attracting talent from modern blues artists and purchased the estate of Junior Wells, the company decided to create a label dedicated to the genre. Cleopatra Blues[10] was established in 2015, using a logo based on a well-known photo of Junior Wells smoking a cigarette.[11]
Saxophone player Big Jay McNeely[17] joined the label in 2016 for his release Blowin' Down The House - Big Jay's Latest & Greatest[18] and will also be releasing a live CD and DVD called Honkin' & Jivin' At The Palomino in 2017.
X-Ray Records
X-Ray Records is an imprint under the Cleopatra Records, Inc. label group that focuses on hip hop and modern R&B. The imprint began in 2000 just as the label was starting to diversify after predominantly focusing on gothic and industrial music throughout the late 1990s. It made a start with SX-10, the hip hop/metal hybrid featuring Sen Dog of Cypress Hill. Releases from KRS-One, Mellow Man Ace, Gravediggaz, Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Westside Connection followed.
In 2018, X-Ray Records staged another major foray into the world of hip hop with releases by Gunplay, Riff Raff, Onyx, Luniz, Black Sheep, Petey Pablo, Lil Reese, Ca$his and R&B icon Case. The year culminated in one of the imprint's highest-profile releases ever, the new studio album from Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, The Lost Tapes, and two remix albums released simultaneously as The Ghost Files.
In addition to well-established artists, the label has begun to partner with new and up-and-coming acts such as Reggie Mills, Goest Ryder Young Syrup, ITSOKTOCRY, Angela Mazzanti, as well as several artists from Chief Keef's Glo Gang roster including Lil Flash, Ballout and others.[19]
Cleopatra Entertainment
Cleopatra Entertainment is the film division of Cleopatra Records. Beginning in 2015, the company has distributed, developed, and produced several films most of which have a strong horror and/or music component. The company has focused primarily on the home video market through partnerships with NY-based film distributor The Orchard as well as AMPED Music Distribution, and MVD Entertainment Group. However, recent projects have shown that the company is capable of theatrical distribution as well.[citation needed]
In 2016, Cleopatra Entertainment released its second music documentary to the home video market, this one about UK punk band The Damned, called Don't You Wish That We Were Dead, which premiered a year earlier at the SXSW Film Festival.[citation needed]
Cleopatra Entertainment also purchased the vampire thriller Blood Trap, starring Gianni Capaldi , Costas Mandylor, and Vinnie Jones, and released it to the home video market in October of that year. Also in October 2016, Cleopatra brought the twisted romantic comedy StalkHer starring Australia's John Jarratt (of Wolf Creek) and Kaarin Fairfax, to US audiences. Finally, the company will also see a theatrical release for the heartwarming, real-life story of a man and his cat, A Street Cat Named Bob, based on the best-selling book of the same name by James Bowen.
Coming productions for the company include more thrillers such as The Devil's Domain (starring Michael Madsen), The Black Room (starring Lin Shaye), and The 27 Club (based on the "27 Club"). 2017 will also bring dramatic offerings including Steven, the biopic of Smith's frontman Morrissey, and "Street Survivors", the true story of the 1977 plane crash that forever changed southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, co-written by Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, one of the few members who survived the plane crash.[21]
