1989–2001 FatCat originally began in 1989 as a
record store in
Crawley, West Sussex, formed by Alex Knight, Dave Cawley and Andy Martin. It moved to central London in 1990, and originally specialised in
Detroit and
Chicago-based
techno and
house music. The store closed down in 1997, and the record label was born in its place, initially releasing
dance and
electronic 12"s. The label moved to
Brighton in 2001.
2000s As well as Sigur Rós, another Icelandic band,
Múm, were signed and proved successful for the label. The same year also saw the establishment of the 130701 imprint for the
Set Fire to Flames album
Sings Reign Rebuilder. A home for "post-classical" music, the imprint was later appended with the signing of pianist/composers
Sylvain Chauveau,
Max Richter and
Hauschka. In the same period FatCat consolidated its roster with the inclusion of artists like
David Grubbs,
Giddy Motors, and
Party of One. The departure of Sigur Rós to
EMI in late 2004 lead to the label going back to being entirely independent. In 2005, FatCat expanded its set-up with the establishment of a US office in New York, and with the FatCat Publishing arm. That same year saw the release of
Vashti Bunyan's
Lookaftering album. Besides picking up European licenses in
Vetiver and
Blood on the Wall, the label also signed singer-songwriter
Nina Nastasia, as well as new acts like
Tom Brosseau,
David Karsten Daniels,
No Age, the Rank Deluxe, and
Songs of Green Pheasant around this time. In 2007, FatCat put out the first FatCat DVD release by audiovisual artists
Semiconductor, who had previously worked on videos for Múm and
QT?, as well as taking part in a number of FatCat showcases.
2010s In 2012, the project of Meghan Remy,
U.S. Girls, released her FatCat debut LP
Gem and later signed to 4AD to release her second album,
Half Free. 2013 saw
TRAAMS release their debut FatCat release. In the same year TRAAMS released their debut LP
Grin and their follow-up LP
Modern Dancing was released in 2015. In 2014 the Twilight Sad released their fourth studio album,
Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, to critical acclaim and a 10/10 review from
Drowned in Sound. In 2015, Scottish composer and musician
C Duncan released his debut album,
Architect, which was later nominated for the
Mercury Prize. In 2016, FatCat signed
Tall Ships. Numerous complications after the release of their debut album caused a three-year hiatus. The band returned with their second album,
Impressions, in 2017 and marked a move away from a
math rock sound and towards a more
alternative rock sound. Also in 2016,
Honeyblood released their second album,
Babes Never Die, and
C Duncan also released his second album,
The Midnight Sun, both to critical acclaim. Also in 2016, FatCat
sublabel 130171 released albums by a new roster of artists, including Resina,
Ian William Craig and Dmitry Evgrafov.
Ian William Craig's album
Centres was released to critical acclaim and placements on numerous critics' end-of-year lists, including
Mojo,
The New York Times and
Rolling Stone. In 2017, 130701 released
Fiction/Non Fiction, the debut album from Montreal-based composer
Olivier Alary. ==Series and sublabels==