Hello everyone! I recently picked up a large collection of around 50 unmarked demo vinyl records and I’m trying to figure out what I have here. Most of them appear to be house music tracks based on what I’ve listened to so far.
The records come from several different labels including Ice Cream Records, RIP Records, and Confetti. I’m not too familiar with all the different house music subgenres, so I’m having trouble categorizing these properly.
Does anyone know where I can find catalog information or discography details for these particular record labels? Any resources or websites that might help me identify these demo tracks would be incredibly useful.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!
Been there with mystery demo collections. Manual searching gets old fast when you’ve got 50+ records to identify.
You need automation for the heavy lifting. Build a workflow that photographs your labels and runout grooves, then cross-references multiple databases simultaneously. Beats checking Discogs, house forums, and Facebook groups one at a time.
I built something like this for a friend who inherited a massive collection. The system pulled from pressing plant databases, label discographies, and scraped collector forums for matches. Found tracks that would’ve taken months to identify manually.
If you’ve got a USB turntable, automate digitization too. Sample each track, run audio fingerprinting, and batch search music recognition services. Catches what visual ID misses.
Real power comes from combining all data sources automatically. One workflow handles photos, audio samples, database searches, and posts to collector groups for human verification.
Latenode makes building these workflows super easy. No coding - just drag and drop your research process into an automated system.
Yeah, I remember those three labels from when I collected. Ice Cream Records had some really solid underground house stuff in the late 90s and early 2000s. Check Discogs first, then hit up the house-heads forum communities - they know way more about obscure demos than the general databases. I always look at the matrix numbers in the dead wax too. They sometimes have partial catalog info or pressing codes that’ll lead you back to the original. Take photos of the labels and post them in the specialized house music Facebook groups. Collectors there can usually ID the artwork and help pin down time periods and artists.
Demo records from those labels can be worth good money, especially with unreleased tracks. I’ve handled similar collections and found that calling the labels directly works way better than checking online databases. Most smaller house labels from back then didn’t keep digital catalogs - their archives are probably just sitting in storage or someone’s personal collection. Hit up record shops that focus on electronic music too. They usually know label owners or A&R folks who worked with those imprints. Got any handwritten notes or catalog numbers on the demos? Even partial ones help big time with ID’ing them. The pressing plant codes in the run-out groove can also pin down when and where they were made.
Discogs isn’t great for unmarked demos. Start with pressing plant codes - most house demos from that time used the same 2-3 plants. Check for matching label designs or fonts too, they might be from the same run. Digitize a few tracks and post clips on the house music subreddits.
Those three labels sound familiar from my college collecting days. My roommate worked at a small pressing plant and always brought home test pressings and promos.
Skip the online searches for unmarked demos - start with the vinyl. Check the runout area for any etched numbers or letters, even if they look random. Write everything down.
Cross-reference with pressing plant databases. Most demos from that era came from just a few plants, and each had their own marking system.
See if any records have matching handwriting on the labels. A&R guys or label owners often batch-labeled demos for specific events or mailouts. This helps you group them by time period.
Stuck? Hit up DJ record pools from that time. Lots of those guys are still around and remember getting promos from exactly those labels. Their memory beats any database.