Creeping Bent

Creeping Bent, a.k.a. The Creeping Bent Organisation, is an independent record label set up by Douglas MacIntyre in 1994, based in Glasgow, Scotland. The label has been described as a successor to earlier Scottish indie labels Postcard Records and Fast Product. Creeping Bent was officially launched with an event at Glasgow’s Tramway theatre on 12 December 1994 called "A Leap Into The Void" in homage to Yves Klein, and featuring film, theatre and pop music. "Frankie Teardrop", a 1995 collaboration between Suicide vocalist Alan Vega and Altered Images drummer Stephen Lironi, was an NME single of the week in 1995.

Creeping Bent was chosen by John Peel as a featured label when he curated the 1998 Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall.

(Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel

In July 1998, the Meltdown festival curated by Peel included a Creeping Bent label live special featuring Leopards, Adventures In Stereo, Nectarine No.9 and Secret Goldfish. The Scottish indie operation was the only label other than Warp Records to be selected by the DJ for a dedicated night at the event.

Early in 2000, Peel’s Radio One show featured a Creeping Bent fifth birthday special with live sessions from Maida Vale by Element and Speeder.[1] There was also airtime for a Nectarine No.9 version of a Captain Beefheart classic from the label’s current double sampler compilation, which included a full CD of cover versions.[2]

Peel’s strong support for Creeping Bent reflected his longstanding interest in Scottish indie music, going back to the Postcard and Fast Product labels of the late 1970s. Creeping Bent tapped directly into this proud heritage, with label founder Douglas MacIntyrea a former member of Article 58 (who were played by Peel in 1981[3] and toured with Josef K [4]) and also involved in the Electric Honey label that released the debut album of Peel session band Belle & Sebastian in 1996.[5]

The Creeping Bent roster included former members of Scottish session bands including Fire Engines (David Henderson, with Nectarine No. 9), Altered Images (Stephen Lironi, Revolutionary Corps Of Teenage Jesus), Bourgie Bourgie (Mick Slaven, Leopards), Primal Scream (Jim Beattie, Adventures In Stereo), Soup Dragons (Sushil K. Dade, Future Pilot A.K.A.), and Mackenzies (Graham Lironi and Paul Turnbull, Secret Goldfish).

The Glasgow label also came to work with pioneering non-Scottish figures from the original punk generation, such as Alan Vega (Suicide) and Vic Godard (Subway Sect), as well as Edinburgh-born Gareth Sager (Pop Group, Rip Rig + Panic).

In 2016, Douglas MacIntyrea recalled the “thrill” of Peel asking Creeping Bent to participate in Meltdown ‘98 and then meeting the DJ for the first time:

"I’d corresponded with Peel and his producer Alison Howe several times to organise the many sessions by Creeping Bent groups, to meet him in person was a pleasure. He was shy, self-effacing, and funny." [6]

Sessions

(Creeping Bent artists who recorded Peel sessions, including sessions when the artists were on other labels. As noted above, individual musicians on the label also recorded sessions with other bands. Please add more information if known.)

Adventures In Stereo: (1 session, 1994)
Appendix Out: (1 session, 2001)
Element: (2 sessions, 2000)
Leopards: (2 sessions, 1997-98)
Nectarine No.9: (5 sessions, 1993-2001)
Secret Goldfish: (2 sessions, 1997-99)
Speeder: (1 session, 2000)

Compilations

(Plays by Peel of various artists (v/a) compilations released on Creeping Bent. The DJ also gave airtime to many of the label's Singles Club split releases featuring two bands.)