Top Labels

Circus - Brownswood is the eclectic label run by the BBC's peddler of all things underground, Gilles Peterson. Through the medium of his radio show, Peterson gives a platform to all manner of leftfield artists operating on the periphery of the mainstream. The Brownswood imprint, founded by Gilles in 2006, gives further exposure to artists he believes are deserving of more attention (and he's usually right). Starting off as a broken beat fanatic, Peterson was one of the first to showcase dubstep in all its forms to a wider audience. Probably best known for its fantastic compilations, most notably the Brownswood Bubblers, the label has also released superb music from Jose James, Heritage Orchestra, Elan Mehler and Ben Westbeech and the Havana Cultura Band.

Cocoon Germany - Cocoon Records, founded in 2000, is just one branch of the Cocoon behemoth overseen by iconic German trance/techno figure Sven Väth. Since it's inception, Väth has maintained a philosophy of assisting young producers in releasing their work without the constraints of major label politics and Cocoon has played host to a slew of producers who have gone on to become established acts amongst the techno cognoscenti; amongst them Dinky, Tiefschwarz, Minilogue and Timo Maas. Added to this is the label's strong arm of compilations and mix CDs released in conjunction with their infamous summer events on the White Isle, all of which makes Cocoon an imprint that is here to stay.

CR2 - The 50% of MYNC Project called Mark Brown formed CR2 Records in 2004, after several years of success bringing the likes of Dirty Vegas, Par T One, Green Velvet and Alan Braxe commercial attention whilst at Credence Records. This success continued at CR2 with huge releases from chart house icons such as "Put your Hands Up For Detroit" by Fedde Le Grand, "Walking Away" by The Egg, "Woz Not Woz" by Eric Prydz & Steve Angello and most recently "Let The Bass Kick In Miami Girl" by Chuckie & LMFAO all bothering the Top 40.

Critical Music - Established by A&R star Kasra Mowlavi in 2002, Critical Music has swiftly risen through the ranks to become one of the most highly respected and professionally run D&B labels in the business. Focusing on the more leftfield, deep, soulful and experimental side of D&B, Kasra has an enviable roster of artists releasing on the label: Rockwell, Sabre, Inside Info, Icicle, Silent Witness, Calibre, Break and Spectrasoul, to name but a few. Tight quality control is at the heart of the Critical ethos, and the label still places a great value in releasing on vinyl. 2007 saw the release of the All Sounds Electric compilation album, followed up by the second instalment in 2008 and Critical Sounds in 2009. Sabre's groundbreaking concept album A Wandering Journal in 2010 was another key addition to the Critical catalogue and spawned a great deal of attention from across the board.

Crosstown Rebels - East London boy Damian Lazarus re-launched Crosstown Rebels in 2008 and since then it has been in prolific form, releasing a slew of music from the likes of Phonique, Pier Bucci, Kiki, Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones and of course the boss himself. Lazarus has proved to be a sharp A&R man (he performed the role with aplomb at City Rockers) with an eye for releasing music from emerging talents ala Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler and Deniz Kurtel alongside legends of the scene like Laurent Garnier, each of whom have put their own slant on the label's aesthetic of deep house and techno.