Blocks Recording Club

{{Infobox record label  | name = Blocks Recording Club | image_name =  | image_size =  | image_bg =  | parent =  | founded = 2003-2015 | founder = Steve Kado<br/>Mark McLean | status =  | distributor =  | genre = [[Indie music|Indie]] | country = {{Flag|Canada}} | location = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] | url = [http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/ blocksblocksblocks.com] }} '''Blocks Recording Club''' was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[co-operative]] of musicians, which served as both a collaborative artist community and a [[record label]] for its member artists.<ref name=eye>[http://www.eyeweekly.com/totallywired/article/68371 "Blocks Recording Club: more innovative than Beck, Lady GaGa, Sweden"]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. ''[[Eye Weekly]]'', August 5, 2009.</ref>

The label's name may also be cited graphically as □□□□□□ rather than the word "Blocks". Although this is in fact the label's official name, the word "Blocks" is used where it is not typographically possible to use the graphical series of blocks.

==History== The □□□□□□ Recording Club was founded by Steve Kado and Mark McLean in 2003 as a tapes and mini-cd only label.<ref name=eye /> Shortly afterward, McLean left for Ottawa. Steve Kado ran □□□□□□ with Liisa K. Graham until 2005 when the club incorporated as a worker's co-operative.<ref name=eye />

Since then the club has been run by an elected board of directors. The first board of directors was James Anderson, Steve Kado and Matt McDonough. The second board comprised Katarina Gligorijevic, [[Bob Wiseman]], John Caffery & [[Brian Joseph Davis]]. Blocks' current board of directors is, Magali Meagher, Matt Smith and Patrick Borjal.<ref name=eye />

In 2009, ''[[NME]]'' included the Blocks Recording Club in its annual Future 50 list.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090814123936/http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&p=6901&more=1&c=1 "The Future 50 - The Innovators Pushing Music Forward"]. ''NME'', August 5, 2009.</ref>

Blocks ceased operations in 2015 with a final concert at the Tranzac Club with performances by Austra, Bob Wiseman, Barcelona Pavilion, Nifty, Les Mouches, the Phonemes, Hank, Matias, and Ninja High School with DJ's Maya Postepski (of Austra) and John Caffrey (Kids on TV).<ref>[http://exclaim.ca/music/article/blocks_recording_club_announces_farewell_toronto_concert "Blocks Recording Club announces farewell..."]. ''Exclaim!''</ref><ref>[https://nowtoronto.com/music/blocks-recording-club-is-history/ "Blocks Recording Club Is History"]. ''NOW Toronto'', by Vish Khanna May 8, 2015</ref>

==Artist roster== Artists who have released material through Blocks include [[Owen Pallett|Final Fantasy]], [[Fucked Up]], [[Bob Wiseman]], [[Katie Stelmanis]], [[Barcelona Pavilion (band)|Barcelona Pavilion]], [[The Phonemes]], [[Les Mouches (band)|Les Mouches]], [[Ninja High School (band)|Ninja High School]], [[The Blankket]], [[Hank (band)|Hank]], [[David Dineen-Porter|PDF Format (the Band)]], [[Kids on TV]], [[SS Cardiacs]] and [[The Creeping Nobodies]].

Final Fantasy's second album on Blocks, ''[[He Poos Clouds]]'', was named the winner of the inaugural [[Polaris Music Prize]] in 2006.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/arts/media/blogs/popculture/2009/08/building_blocks_a_little_music.html "Building Blocks: a little Toronto music collective gets NME props"]. [[cbc.ca]], August 7, 2009.</ref> Owen Pallett, the artist behind the Final Fantasy project, announced that he would donate a portion of his prize money to the label to help other artists.

==See also== {{Portal|Music|Canada}} * [[List of record labels]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100307052904/http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/ Blocks Recording Club] * [http://www.fedge.net/blocks/ Unofficial Blocks Recording Club Discography]

[[Category:Record labels established in 2003]] [[Category:Canadian independent record labels]] [[Category:Indie rock record labels]] [[Category:Alternative rock record labels]] [[Category:Media co-operatives in Canada]] [[Category:Musical collectives]] [[Category:Organizations based in Toronto]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 2003]]