Hands Productions is a contemporary independent industrial music record label, founded in the early 1990s, based in Germany. Hands Productions is known for its CD packaging, using cardboard and paper rather than typical plastic jewel cases, and typically elusive and minimalist designs. Most releases' artwork is designed by Nicola Bork, the domestic partner of Udo Wiessmann, director of Hands Productions and a member of Winterkälte. Releases are often rare and sought after as collector's items.
The label's roster grows regularly, often to release pseudonymous or collaborative projects of existing artists. The style of music varies, from minimalist ambient releases from Orphx and m², to occult-inspired releases from Ah Cama-Sotz, to aggressive rhythmic noise from Winterkälte and NKVD, to breakbeat releases from Typhoid and Needle Sharing, to nouveau elektro releases from Shorai, 5F 55, ¥Π¥, and Synth-Etik, and harsh electro dance music from Proyecto mirage and S.I.N.A.. Industrial music mainstays The Klinik joined the roster in 2002.
In addition to regular album releases on CD and vinyl, Hands Productions hosts an annual music festival called Forms of Hands which features actively performing artists on the label, and releases a compilation CD under the same name with exclusive songs recorded by the artists who performed at the festival. Another annual tradition of the record label is the release of a multi-disc and multi-vinyl sampler compilation, showcasing three new recordings of a variety of artists.
Hands acts are regularly featured at the Maschinenfest and Infest underground music festivals.
Related record labels include Ant-Zen, Hymen, Pflichtkauf, and Parametric.
Famous quotes containing the words hands and/or productions:
“We had won. Pimps got out of their polished cars and walked the streets of San Francisco only a little uneasy at the unusual exercise. Gamblers, ignoring their sensitive fingers, shook hands with shoeshine boys.... Beauticians spoke to the shipyard workers, who in turn spoke to the easy ladies.... I thought if war did not include killing, I’d like to see one every year. Something like a festival.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)
“If in many of my productions terror has been the thesis, I maintain that terror is not of Germany, but of the soul.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)