WestCom

WestCom (full name: WestCom Neue Medien Tonträger- Produktions- und Vertriebs GmbH) was a German recording company that operated the labels Off Beat, Visage Records and other labels.

Company history

Founded around 1993.

In addition to WestCom, its owner also operates NovaTekk and Euromedia. Headquartered in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

In 1999 Stefan Herwig, A&R manager at Off Beat, left the company over differences in promotion, to join forces with Eskil Simonsson (Covenant), Johan Van Roy (Suicide Commando), Bryan Erickson (Velvet Acid Christ) and Ronan Harris (VNV Nation) to form a new label, dependent (which opened January 1999). When he left, most artists switched to the new label, effectively shutting down WestCom.

Labels

Off Beat

Off Beat was a label specialized in electronic music with industrial and experimental rhythmic features which was founded in 1993 by Stefan Herwig and Thorsten Stroht.

After having signed German electronic music group Project Pitchfork as first band to the label, Off Beat took a number of unsigned bands such as Haujobb, Download and Decree under its wing. Also, at the time already well established groups such as Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy and Suicide Commando joined the label.

Off Beat (comics)

Off*beat is an original English-language manga authored by Jennifer Lee Quick, first released September 13, 2005. It is both licensed and published by Tokyopop. The style of its writing and illustration is heavily influenced by urban culture and the fantasy genre. While critical reception to Off Beat has been largely positive, with praise from sources like ForeWord Magazine, it has received some negative criticism for being a stylistic oddity among Japanese manga and OEL manga.

Set in Queens, New York City, Off Beat follows the exploits of Christopher "Tory" Blake, a bright and disenfranchised fifteen-year-old who amuses himself by taking endless notes in a notebook about what he sees and hears each day. Usually a loner, Tory becomes infatuated with the boy who moves in next door in the middle of the night, and devotes all his time to learning what the new boy, Colin Stephens, is hiding.

History

While living in Queens, New York, Jennifer Lee Quick began drawing up ideas for Off Beat. A BFA in animation, she approached Tokyopop when the company was doing portfolio reviews for students and graduates at the School of Visual Arts. Originally, she had intended for the manga to be a joint project with her best friend, Becky Cloonan, but Quick was forced to fly solo due to conflicts with Cloonan's schedule.

Offbeat

Offbeat, originally a music term meaning "not following the standard beat", which has also become a general synonym for "unconventional" or "unusual", may refer to:

See also

Beat (music)

In music and music theory, the beat is the basic unit of time, the pulse (regularly repeating event), of the mensural level (or beat level). The beat is often defined as the rhythm listeners would tap their toes to when listening to a piece of music, or the numbers a musician counts while performing, though in practice this may be technically incorrect (often the first multiple level). In popular use, beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, specific rhythms, and groove.

Rhythm in music is characterized by a repeating sequence of stressed and unstressed beats (often called "strong" and "weak") and divided into bars organized by time signature and tempo indications.

Metric levels faster than the beat level are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels. See Meter (music)#Metric structure. Beat has always been an important part of music.

Downbeat and upbeat

The downbeat is the first beat of the bar, i.e. number 1. The upbeat is the last beat in the previous bar which immediately precedes, and hence anticipates, the downbeat. Both terms correspond to the direction taken by the hand of a conductor.