Thirteenth Hour Recordings started life in the summer of 1993, as a label within Mute which would act as a pool from which new talent could evolve. The impetus was a demo tape from the newly formed RANCHO DIABLO, and the mission for Thirteenth Hour was to seek out new purveyors of guitar-led thrills and allow their music to progress on a committed, long-term basis.
The label's conviction in Rancho was easily understood. Four distinct individuals with a taste for the mondo bizzaro, singer Stephen Martin, bassist Geraint Roberts and clashing guitarists Adam D.John and Ad Jones have a wild appetite for creating savage beauty out of infernal chaos; and their early gigs were often marked with on-stage inter-band punch ups.

The first fruits of this union, the "Plan B EP" hit the shelves on January 17th, 1994 and was immediately hailed as a "swaggering combination of electro-noise and guitar debauchery" by Melody Maker, who were prompted to note them as upcoming stars in their annual tipsheet. Further accolades came from Time Out, which made Plan B single of the week, and the NME, who enthused over Rancho's "sleazy noisenik" personas.

The "Plan B EP" was followed in July, with "One And A Half/Two And A Half", a limited edition seven inch single, by which time Rancho's live shows had grown to stunning proportions with the additions of freaky film shows and rapping exchanges between Stephen and sometime guest vocalist MC Brainiac.

Encouraged by Rancho's early promise, Thirteenth Hour looked for another highly individual act with a talent for warping perceptions. That band turned out to be ROSA MOTA, who, artistically, couldn't be more different from Rancho, but nonetheless had something very special; an indefinable quality that set them apart from their peers. Rosa Mota are five; Ian Bishop on vocals, guitar and clarinet, Justin Chapman on drums, percussion and clarinet, Sacha Galvagna on guitar, basuki and Indian banjo, Michelle Marti on bass and vocals and Julie Rumsey on vocals, guitar and flute. Together - and almost despite each other - they thrive on musical and personal contradictions.

Happily for all concerned, Rosa Mota had just parted company with their previous label, Placebo, for whom they recorded one single "Stop/Start" and a mini-album "A Drag For A Drag", which they were mightily unsatisfied with. Thirteenth Hour signed them in May 1994, releasing their first single for the label, "Asbestos Frenz" that October.

The label ended 1994 on a high note, with a packed Christmas party at Camden's hip watering hole The Monarch. Both bands raised their own personal brands of heaven and hell, and punters were further rewarded with a free copy of the double sided seven inch single "Last Blood" by Rancho Diablo and "Deepness" by Rosa Mota.

Thirteenth Hour began 1995 with the release of Rosa Mota's debut full length album "Wishful Sinking' on January 23rd. A vast, mesmerising opus, this album took all the extremes of Rosa Mota's music, from the eerie melancholy of "Deepness" to the searing "Stripped And Bleeding", together to make one of the most challenging and inspired records you'll hear all year. It was recorded with Robin Proper-Sheppard, formerly of The God Machine, who instinctively understood the unique nature of the band.

Rancho Diablo come back to the fore in April, with the release of the awesome "Can I?" single; an aural challenge to anyone who feels they've already heard the ultimate in provocative noise terror. This was followed by their debut album "Chicken World" , which lived up to the bizarre and funky connotations of it's title through not just the audacity of the tracks themselves, but also through the stunning (and revealing) sleeve artwork of Stephen Martin.

Rosa Mota's next single release was "Hopey"/"Traction" in June 1985, and the band made their first US appearance at the prestigious CMJ convention in New York in September. CMJ's magazine noted that; "the band's willingness to forge ahead, tempering it's gut wrenching noise with basouki or flute lines and stray samples, marks it's ultimate triumph with surprisingly cohesive results."

Meanwhile, another bunch of dissonant characters were busy evolving a ferocious noise/pop assault in a rehearsal garage in Whitburn, West Lothian. They were FOIL, and their debut gig, at London's Underworld in February 1996 attracted the attendance of Daniel Miller and the Thirteenth Hour crew. So pleased were they with what they saw and heard, the four piece of Hugh Duggie (vocals/guitar), Colin McInally (guitar), Shug Anderson (bass) and Jim Anderson (drums) had signed to Thirteenth Hour within the week.

Their first move was to release the veritable boilermaker of a single "Reviver Gene" on July 29. Backed with the malevolent "Sneck" and "In The Ground" and produced by Jamie Watson of Eugenius, Vaseline and Long Fin Killie fame the single was aptly described by NME as "splendid" and pushed the Kerrang!-ometer up to 4/5. It also attracted the attention of the Evening Session's Steve Lamaqu and Jo Wiley, as well as John Peel and Gary Crowley. Foil's next single was the mighty "Let It Go Black"/"Man Overboard", released on October 28 to co-incide with a major UK tour. After this, they will return to the studio to record their debut album which is set to arrive early in 1997.

Rosa Mota, meanwhile, have spent 1996 at work on the follow up to "Wishful Sinking", the aptly titled "Bionic", which will be released early next year, and was recorded in France and England with Steve Albini at the controls. As well as finding a kindred spirit in the Shellac/Big Black noisemiester, the band also forged a new alliance on "Bionic" with former Altered Images singer Clare Grogan. She sings on the album track "This Grudge", and has co-written another which is earmarked for a single release. Describing the contents of Bionic, Ian Bishop says: "We haven't restricted ourselves, we've left ourselves with plenty of scope. I know a lot of people wouldn't like that, they want to know what they're being served up, they're happy in a safe world..."

Luckily, Rosa Mota have a label who are just as much an anathema to playing it safe. Thirteenth Hour remain committed to unearthing musical malcontents and taking them public. It's the label where style subversion rules.