Vernon Yard Recordings

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Vernon Yard Recordings was a UK independent label owned by Virgin Records, named after a small mews off Portobello Road in Notting Hill. It specialized in modern psychedelic rock and related subgenres, including shoegaze (The Verve), slowcore (Acetone and Low), and indie Britpop (The Auteurs). Although Virgin had a controlling stake, Vernon Yard operated like an indie, so most releases weren’t distributed by Virgin. It used several distributors, especially Caroline Records and Capitol, among others.

The label had a close relationship with Hut Records, Virgin’s British indie. Vernon Yard acts often reached the UK through Hut, and Hut’s artists were imported to the US via Hut U.S.A. In 1993, Keith Wood, formerly of Caroline Records, became Vernon Yard’s president. By the end of 1996 the label went bankrupt. Virgin began taking more control in 1997, and several key acts left. The Verve’s big 1997 album Urban Hymns was released on Virgin, not Vernon Yard; Acetone and Low also moved to Vapor Records and Kranky, respectively. With its major artists gone, Vernon Yard released only a few more records, the most notable being Low’s OwL Remix. The label occasionally resurfaced into the early 2000s but never regained its earlier influence.