“Only the artefact mattered”: The expressiveness of the 4AD record company

4AD is an iconic name of alternative independent (indie) music. Co-founded by music visionary Ivo Watts-Russell in 1980, it produced some of the most representative records of indie rock. Its catalogue covers names such as Bauhaus, the Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Deerhunter, Sun O))), Scott Walker, Pixies, to name just a few. Over the years the label was able to launch a distinctive “4AD sound”. What is interesting for the purpose of this paper is the fact that, to a great extent, this sound was made material through an equally distinctive artwork. This artwork transformed sound in visual stimuli, which reverberated back to the distinctiveness of the 4AD identity showing how the music sounded. In a sense 4AD became a “place” as the opening quote indicates. This place congregates a community of fans attracted not only by the image but also by the symbolism of 4AD as a combination of aesthetic affinity, musical experience and artistic sophistication. In this presentation we ask: why and how does 4AD materialize with an aesthetic image that acts as a sensegiving mechanism to the interpretation of its sound?