Judging the best record labels in any given year is not an easy task. The necessary combination of established labels reaching their peak and fresh imprints flourishing in their infancy is not an easy one to reach; inevitable comprises in the age old quantity vs quality debate are liable to be discussed ad nauseum. This year’s list came together slowly but surely, and we believe it provides a neat snapshot of all that is good about electronic music right now.
The aforementioned upstarts are visible in force (Hivern, Long Island Electrical Systems) as are their more established counterparts (Clone, Planet Mu, Honest Jon’s). Their combined reach is truly global, with our selected labels based in cities as diverse as Barcelona, New York, London, Glasgow, L.A. and Bristol – their respective rosters have an even broader reach and they collectively touch on too many genres to mention.
Anyone with a finger on or someone near the pulse of electronic music right now won’t need us to tell you the importance of record labels these days. They serve as what Andrew Weatherall describes as a “cultural filter”; the best labels wade through oceans of sameness to illuminate the interesting corners of music, earning our trust and admiration in the process. There are, of course, many, many more labels worthy of end-of-year coverage, but here is the Juno Plus selection of the labels that impressed us most in 2011.
As we revealed last week, Juno Plus was handed the reins for curating a free seven inch featuring exclusive tracks from FaltyDL and JD Twitch, which our office partners Juno Records are giving away with any order over the festive period.
It’s not even Christmas yet, but the organisers of Field Day have just announced the first wave of act for their sixth festival, taking place in London’s Victoria Park on June 2, 2012.
Clone Records boss Serge has posted up a unique bit of history on his Soundcloud page, in the form of this house mix circa 1993/94, recorded onto cassette.
Artist: Kowton & Tom Dicicco Title: Untitled Label: Project Squared Genre: Techno Format: 12", Digital
Two different but compatible interpretations of underground house and techno feature on this latest Project Squared release. The common bond is the absence of track titles – perhaps a reference to the slew of anonymous techno releases of recent years - but that’s where the similarities between Kowton and Tom Dicicco’s “Untitled” tracks end.
First up it’s Dicicco’s contribution, a rolling dubby groove underpinned by doubled up claps and subtle yet effective filtering. Its strength rests on its ability to integrate elements of Chicago jack and the cheeky swagger of late 90s London tech-house. By contrast, Kowton’s “Untitled” is more distinctive. The Bristol producer also borrows from familiar sources; there are slowly arcing acid lines and a repetitive ‘you make’ vocal sample - which sounds very like the one used on Spooky’s progressive house anthem “Land of Oz” – but the synths swirl about in such a haunting manner and the beats are so heavy that the end result is truly different.
Kowton proves his mettle again with his take on Dicicco’s “Untitled”. The arrangement is more stripped back, but it achieves the same effect with less, as its humming bass and lead-heavy beats bring Dicicco’s groove back to a mid-tempo rumble. Dicicco then brings the release back to where it started with his version of Kowton’s “Untitled”. Filters sweep in over a dense, tracky rhythm as percussive ticks and claps show that while Dicicco may not be operating at the outer limits like Kowton, his understanding of underground dance music is second to none.
Nite Jewel will continue their label hopping endeavours next year, arising on the Secretly Canadian imprint with their second album One Second Of Love.
At a time when podcasts are available for every day of the week it seems even harder for the commercially released mix album to remain a viable entity. The majority who still see reason in the endeavour are doing themselves little favours in endlessly commissioning triple CD mixes put together on Ableton with little ingenuity when there are similarly accomplished, if soulless, efforts available for free for the nuisance of subscribing via iTunes?
Equally, the art of a finely curated compilation with a central concept that intrigues and a tracklist that excites becomes ever more difficult to pull off in age where the New Boring permeates deep into all reaches of electronic music. Aside from the more thought out label showcases, perhaps the most interesting compilations to surface this year have been those that take their cue from reissue culture. In an age where retro-futurism has become a standard term, it’s perhaps labels taking the time and patience in acquainting new ears with sounds from days gone by that helps provides the necessary context.
Thus this list draws together ten of those releases over the past twelve months whose approach has side stepped the aforementioned problems facing the two mainstays of electronic music, and perhaps provide an insight into how others could follow suit.
Further presenting himself as a production talent to watch out for in 2012, Auntie Flo will release a debut album in the shape ofFuture Rhythm Machine for the ever impressive Huntleys & Palmers imprint.
Artist: The Analogue Cops & Blawan Title: Cursory EP Label: Vae Victis Records Genre: Techno Format: 12"
The Cursory EP is the second collaboration between Italians in Berlin The Analogue Cops and UK bass producer Blawan. It’s the debut release on a new label run by another Italian duo, Raw People, but what is more notable is that the release maps out new possibilities for that grey area where house, techno and bass meet. “Aurum”, with its loose, organic drums, could be easily mistaken for a Workshop release were it not for the wired vocal sample and interplay between the spacey, ambient chords and the arrangement’s cheese-wire percussive licks. “Illy” is straighter and more representative of the Analogue Cops’ approach, with its filtered groove and insistent stabs underscored by firing percussion, but it sounds functional when played next to “Quarto”.
The standout cut on the EP is based on a driving but more offbeat rhythm, while viscous acid lines cosy up to crashing cymbals, creating a woozy, edgy feeling. Put simply, “Quatro” is the kind of track that captures lost moments from late nights without making the listener feel uncomfortable. Finally, “Sickle” sees the trio return to dance floor techno, but with a difference. Blawan’s input ensures that the rolling rhythm is fluid and less regimented, while the rasping percussion that tracks the building chord is rougher than a Ryanair red-eye out of Berlin on a Monday morning.
Call us Luddites, but the editorial team here at Juno Plus still places great importance on the amount of love and care put into a physical record release, and we’re liable to swoon at the very mention screen printing, hand numbering or obtuse run-out groove inscribing. For that reason we’ve decided to commence our Best Of 2011 fiesta with a gallery devoted to our favourite record sleeves from the past 12 months. Each week we are privileged enough to see and listen to dozens of new records, and it has become increasingly apparent that vinyl is now a boutique medium. The pretenders have long since departed, leaving only those who care passionately about their music and art putting out 7″s, 10″s and 12″s. In our list you’ll find inclusions from imprints well known for their stylish design principles (Minimal Wave, Swamp 81, 4AD) as well as a few that may just have slipped under your radar, with Fine Art Recordings, Acidicted, Public Release, Baud and Pacific Wizard Foundation among those represented.
It is ironic that just as Marcel Dettmann appears to be branching out from the Ostgut stable, through his mix for Music Man and now this EP for 50 Weapons, he comes out his purest, most refined techno record yet. No one is suggesting that the Berghain resident has split with Ostgut or is neglecting his own MDR label, but it is an undeniable fact that no matter what he releases on, classic 90s techno influences form a key part of his musical DNA.
This is audible on “Duel”; functional yet subtle, it owes a debt to the loopy techno of the 90s, caught somewhere between Mills’s Purposemaker releases and the UK variant it spawned, as a dense, filtered groove rolls to a backdrop of tight claps and insistent riffing. This being a 2011 release, the tempo is slower than the records it is influenced by, with the drop in bpms lending “Duel” a mushier, groggier feeling.
“Deluge” on the other hand, is far closer to its source material. A wiry, squelchy serving of minimal techno, it recalls Dan Bell in pared back, 7th City mode, while its jarring, jack-knifing central riff is every bit as visceral as Robert Hood. Irrespective of where he’s putting out music, the purest sounds are at the core of each Dettmann track.
While we could bask in the plaudits for a good job all round on the free Christmas seven inch we curated for the customers at Juno Records, laurel resting is just not our style. Monday will see the onset of a week’s worth of 2011 round-ups, lists and galleries which is no easy task when you consider the Juno Plus editorial team also has the hard job of listening to new records every working day.
With but a select few releases to his name, you get the feeling Al Tourettes is still only just shedding light on what he has to offer musically. This EP for the newly invigorated BaseLogic label (from the team behind the mighty Bloc Weekender) offers up four fresh cuts of Al’s mutant electro-funk, and it’s instantly clear that his sound could dart off in any number of directions in the near future.
As it happens, the title track from the EP ekes a nervous intro out over a haunting melodic refrain before allowing the rubber band bass to clear room for a gnarly yet understated break-step beat. The devil is in the details, so they say, and on “Swan’s Sketch” the cumulative elements all feed into the tension that the melodics spell out. It’s certainly not a direct track, swerving convenient dancefloor devices while all the time dangling the carrots of build-ups and breakdowns before your ears. Rather than frustrating, Al’s holding back on obvious drops only serves to increase the drama so heavily sewn into the track.
“Universed” makes things a touch more straightforward, employing a classic synth approach that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Underground Resistance record, while the beat snaps and pounds for maximum physical response. This is no electro by numbers mind you, as a myriad of textures and trinkets buzz around the core elements of the track, coming to the fore in the wide-open space of the breakdown.
Once again taking the direct approach, “Badger” keeps things a little restrained – relatively speaking – as an insanely catchy bass line and crisp-as-you-like snare provide the focus. Of all the tracks on the record, it’s the one most likely to worm its way into the bags of electro minded spinners, but lest we forget this is still Al Tourettes, and a hefty dose of experimentalism comes in from way out west to spice up proceedings as the track evolves.
Having been somewhat off the radar for a while, it’s good to see Datasette back in action to offer up a remix of “Swan’s Sketch”. While his clean and fulsome production ways are still intact, his groove has somewhat staggered itself, as the beat strafes uncontrollably, leaving you to try and play catch up. It’s clear the BaseLogic team are back to champion the sounds of future-minded electro, so on the strength of this EP we should be in for a slew of bass-heavy vitality that’ll teach the juke-inspired ghetto tech heads of 2011 a thing or two.
To celebrate Christmas 2011, the Juno Plus editorial staff have been entrusted with curating a festive release; a little present from all of us at Juno HQ, if you will.
Having spent the year slowly revealing their true musical potential via a trilogy of hypnotic twelves for the RVNG Intl imprint, Blondes will start 2012 in fine style with the release of their self titled debut album.
Artist: Chairman Kato Title: Science & Romance Label: Awkward Movements Genre: Avant Garde Funk Format: 12", Digital
It’s refreshing when the glut of over-familiar music gets blasted away by a starkly original voice in the cramped township of electronic music. It’s fair to say that the level playing field of the 21st century has given rise to a fair few stand out voices; a pleasant reminder of why the so-called democratisation of music can be a truly positive thing. Enter then Chairman Kato, fresh out of the blocks this year with just one digital-only release to his name prior to this EP, the aptly named Science & Romance. The overall feeling exuded by Kato’s music marries a weighty amount of sound manipulation to heartfelt artistic expression, both technologically adept and emotionally rich at the same time.
A quick point of reference might be Actress, who similarly uses the traditions of techno as a springboard for stranger things, although Kato stops short of getting quite so oblique in his outlook. “Pressure Differential”, for example, really kicks underneath the thick, squidgy layer of fuzz, tone and grainy noise, while the lead synth still manages to press its features through the murk to create a discernible outline. “Unspoken” provides a case in point of how Kato manages to combat his avant-garde tendencies with a rock solid funk, maximising on the off-beat in the same way Floating Points does. All the while the bed of noise proffers up mournful tones to ensure the Romance part of the EP is still well catered for.
If the original material is strange enough, then the next logical step is to draft in someone of Ekoplekz’s ilk to really go to town. His own analogue punk aesthetic compliments Kato’s approach perfectly, and the resulting dubby nightmare sounds like a natural continuation of the original track that came before it. After all that murky mess, Andres’ aptly titled Detroit soul rework comes off bright and breezy, although that might not be the case in a different context. Still, the rough, dusty beats fall with ample room around them, and the woozy fuzz gets reined into a dreamy loop that leaves your palette perfectly cleansed after all that sonic jiggery pokery.
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