Best of 2013: 16 Labels

In 2013 we were given more reasons than ever why record labels really matter. The glut of new producers needed sorting and supporting, the ever-oscillating sales of vinyl needed bolstering, and dance music’s tentative re-entry into the mainstream needed careful managing. Luckily, it seemed that there were more great labels and label-heads on hand to deal with these problems than ever before. It’s been a phenomenal and varied year in the world of dance, and here White Noise wants to pay tribute to the people behind the artists who make it all happen.

A good label can be many things: it can be a stamp of good taste, a reliable source of fresh tunes which earns the trust of the listener. A label can also be brought success by a discerning A&R man, who diligently picks out talented fledglings and nurtures them to greatness, or spots the glittering gem in a mire of soundcloud also-rans. A good label can be a stable which defines a style, whether local or global, better than anyone else – or even creates a home for exploring brand new sonic territory. It doesn’t even have to be all about the music: some labels are appreciated because of the care they put into their packaging and cover art, marrying great music to bold aesthetics. In 2013 more labels opened their doors than ever, while a few stalwarts clung to their positions among the industry's very best.

Before we begin, it’s worth spreading the word about a few labels not on the list that are looking promising for next year: the likes of Argot and Nous have been offering quality releases with a tight grip on quality control, while Sued has upped its output of superb techno EPs. Elsewhere new imprint Berceuse Heroique has had a memorable first year, with excellent slices from MGUN and Gesloten Cirkel pressed onto high quality 12”s. Another new label which attracted our attention was Fifth Wall, a Brooklyn-based imprint whose steady stream of roughneck techno has carved out a singular sound, demonstrated memorably on Divvorce’s Used Experience EP. Finally props go to Berlin’s Leisure System, who scored two home-runs this year with Visionist’s grime-trip Snakes and the blistering Tetrahymena, which marked the welcome return of electro vets Dopplereffekt.

Following from those worthy runners-up, we now present WN’s favourite labels of 2013:

16: R&S

Tessela - Horizon

‘In order to dance’. Many will recognise the slogan emblazoned on R&S’ vinyls, a statement of intent which has held true across the label’s lengthy career. R&S held onto its reputation as a dance institution this year by branching out, offering a more diverse range of records than ever before. While not all of these hit the mark (albums from Vondelpark and the promising Airhead proved blandly sentimental), R&S’ year was still far more hit than miss. They excelled in the singles department with superb offerings from Lone, Tessela and Paula Temple, while Welcome To Mikrosector-50 gave the delightful Space Dimension Controller some room to really let his imagination run wild. It was the most impressive year since the label’s recent relaunch, proving without a doubt that the old horse still has legs.

Essential Releases:

Tessela – Nancy’s Pantry

Lone – Airglow Fires

Space Dimension Controller – Welcome To Mikrosector-50

15: Mister Saturday Night

Dark Sky – In Brackets

After a debut release as impressive as Anthony Naples’ anthemic Mad Disrespect, many labels would spend the rest of their time desperately playing catch-up. Not so with Mister Saturday Night, a label run by the men behind Brooklyn’s popular loft party of the same name. The imprint showed their versatility through an impressive second year, with Lumigraph, Hank Jackson and a returning Naples demonstrating a tougher, noisier side of MSN, while Dark Sky and Alex Burkat’s releases plied an unparalleled softness.

Essential Releases:

Anthony Naples – Moscato

Dark Sky – In Brackets

Lumigraph – Yacht Cruiser

14: Wicked Bass

Innershades – That Girl

Kiev’s Wicked Bass stepped their game up a notch in 2012 with the release of Huerco S’ sublime No Jack EP, but all three of the label’s 2013 offerings show an imprint going from strength to strength, summoning the rawness of the lofi house scene without ever sacrificing a fierce lust for the groove. Two of this year’s releases come from big new talent Innershades, whose Dancemania-indebted That Girl turned into one of the year’s most compelling anthems. Elsewhere newcomer Raw Music Theory pumped out a scintillating debut EP, backed with ace remixes from fresh blood Greg Beato. Wicked Bass’ year was all about new talent, and they clearly had it in spades.

Essential Releases:

Innershades – That Girl

Raw Music Theory – Raw M.T.

Innershades - Gravure

13: Tri Angle

Forest Swords – Thor's Stone

The inimitable Tri Angle may have had a quieter year than last year’s musical masterclass, but each of the imprint’s releases was still a compelling invitation to the enigmatic darkness of Tri Angle’s sound. Genre-defying newcomer Fis closed the year with an intriguing offering alongside The Haxan Cloak’s heavyweight Excavation LP, yet Tri Angle’s biggest coup of 2013 was undoubtedly the return of the singular Forest Swords, whose album Engravings surpassed even our lofty expectations.

Essential Releases:

Forest Swords – Engravings

The Haxan Cloak – Excavation

Fis - Preparations

12: 100% Silk

Les Level – Fever Baby

Amanda Brown’s 100% Silk released an awful lot of music in 2013, perhaps too much, but the hit-rate was still more impressive than almost any other stable. Not Not Fun’s little sister is a dream for fans of retro house and synth-fed live jams, and this year gave us some gorgeous albums by Octo Octa and Coyote Clean Up, while Les Level, Bobby Draino and Bobby Browser were responsible for just a handful of the imprint’s run of ace EPs across the year.

Essential Releases:

Octo Octa – Between Two Selves

Les Level – House Of Need

Bobby Draino – Brain Drain

11: Opal Tapes

Patricia – Plural

Teeside’s Opal Tapes continued their unrivalled dominance of the cassette game in 2013, with an enviable slew of releases that straddled the worlds of noise, ambient and techno. OT’s quality control is always admirable, but some of its releases this year shone particularly bright, including those of Lumigraph, Karen Gwyer and Shapednoise, alongside a stellar debut for the more floor-focused material of Patricia. The latter garnered so much praise that label-head Stephen Bishop is launching the new Black Opal vinyl run next year, which sets expectations high for another bumper release schedule in 2014.

Essential Releases:

Patricia – Body Issues

Manse – Lying In Wait

Karen Gwyer – Kiki The Wormhole

10: Warp

Oneohtrix Point Never – Chrome Country

Sheffield’s venerable music outpost has surfed electronic music’s vanguard for almost fifteen years, and in 2013 it was the imprint’s ability to welcome talent both old and new which secured its ever-growing reputation. New albums from electronic legends (and label stalwarts) Boards of Canada and Autechre were worthy standard-bearers of the Warp tradition, but it was new work by the likes of Mark Pritchard and Oneohtrix Point Never which proved the imprint’s most exciting new releases.

Essential Releases:

Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven

Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest

Mark Pritchard – Lock Off

9: White Material

White Material EP Clips

While Brooklyn’s White Material have released less this year than any other label on this list, their position is secured by the quality of those two EPs and the strength of the label’s aesthetic. Starting out peddling self-described ‘working man’s techno’ in 2012, this year saw WM come to prominence in the underground scene, their limited-issue releases quickly reaching exorbitant prices on discogs (though a series of represses is apparently on the way). It’d be easy to pass it off as a case of the hype machine gone wild if it weren’t for the brilliance of their records: this year saw Galcher Lustwerk follow a superb mix with a debut EP that twinned gorgeous deep house grooves with languid spoken word accompaniment. Later came White Material, a collective statement that defined the label’s sound in four concise, compelling excursions into 4/4 territory.

Essential Releases:

Galcher Lustwerk – Tape 22

White Material – White Material

8: Keysound

Wen – Commotion

After almost fading away for a few years, grime has been on a very exciting upswing of late. The fresh new producers are undoubtedly to credit – free to produce without making sonic space for an MC’s vocals, the likes of Beneath, Wen, Logos and more have been charting strange, seductive territory in their lethal new grime hybrids. Yet these disparate producers are brought together by a few key voices in the scene: one is undoubtedly Slackk, whose Grimetapes blog continues to be an inspiration, while the other is Dusk and Blackdown’s dependable Keysound imprint. Keysound has been on ruder form than ever this year, with great EPs from Etch and Wen bookending the year and debut albums from E.M.M.A. and Logos. The latter’s Cold Mission was a particular triumph, and alongside the label’s vital This Is How We Roll comp, capped off what might just be the best in the label’s six year history.

Essential Releases:

Logos – Cold Mission

Wen – Commotion

Various Artists – This Is How We Roll

7: ava.

Damiano Von Erckert – The Dude Loop

You might have guessed from our recent label profile that we love Damiano Von Erckert’s ava imprint. In 2013 ava sailed through another beautiful year, pushing their signature house sounds all drenched in soul. Murat Tepeli spun gold on his Fee Fi Foe Funk For Me EP (backed by a monster Prosumer remix), but ava’s year belonged to label-head Von Erckert, who released not one but two stellar albums: his misty-eyed collaboration with beatmaker Tito Wun and his debut proper, the sublime Love Based Music.

Essential Releases:

Damiano von Erckert & Tito Wun – Mr. Pink, What Have You Been Smokin’?

Murat Tepeli – The Fee Fi Foe Funk For Me EP

Damiano Von Erckert – Love Based Music

6: Trilogy Tapes

Anthony Naples - Busy Signal

Will Bankhead’s impossibly tasteful Trilogy Tapes imprint completed its transition to vinyl this year, with stunning leftfield releases drawn from old talents and new. Tuff Sherm and Anthony Naples produced two of the label’s most compelling listens since MM/KM, while the likes of Eomac, Levantis and Rezzett brought that crunchy lofi sound in inimitable style. 

Essential Releases:

Anthony Naples – El Portal

Tuff Sherm – Burglar Loops

Levantis - Believe

5: Crème Organization

D’Marc Cantu – Alternate Frequency EP Clips

DJ TLR’s fantastic Crème label ran through a kaleidoscopic 2013 with all guns blazing, never once letting slip either their wild energy or their strict quality control. Almost all of Crème’s 2013 offerings were gold, with Willie Burns, D’Marc Cantu, Xosar and Simoncino peddling their distinct brands of off-kilter house, while floor-focused work came courtesy of Legowelt and Innershades. As if that wasn’t enough Crème went further– christening Orgue Electronique’s addictive Henry Saiz remix with a white label release, and offering a searing EP courtesy of The Exaltics. Then of course there’s R-Zone, the Crème-affiliated imprint which let out a quickfire schedule of top-notch ravework across the year under its own anonymous banner. Every year we think that TLR can’t possibly keep up the pace, and each year he proves us wrong. Here’s to an even madder 2014.

Essential Releases:

D’Marc Cantu – Alternate Frequency

Innershades – No Stopping

R-Zone – R-Zone 06

4: Hyperdub

DJ Rashad - Every Day Of My Life

In its nine year history, Kode9’s Hyperdub has yet to have a dull year. The label has managed to hold onto the bleeding edge of electronic music for nearly a decade, and its enviable position was held fast in 2013. The last twelve months were particularly bountiful on the album front, with superb long-players coming from talents as diverse as DJ Rashad, Jessy Lanza and Walton. It’s not just Hyperdub’s forward-thinking music which deserves plaudits, but also its dedication to showcasing female talent. Alongside Lanza’s sterling debut, this year saw great LPs from label-stalwarts Laurel Halo and Ikonika, who, alongside the likes of Inga Copeland and Cooly G, show that Hyperdub is interested in breaking more than just sonic boundaries.

Essential Releases:

Walton – Beyond

Jessy Lanza – Pull My Hair Back

DJ Rashad – Double Cup

3: Livity Sound

Pev & Kowton – End Point / Vapours

Pev, Kowton and Asusu have been quietly building their Bristol stronghold for the last two years, but it took this year’s superb compilation for us to take stock and realise just how brilliantly consistent the label’s output has been. Each club-tooled release seems better than the last; a blend of raw dancefloor know-how and inventive textures which never fail to hit the sweet spot. Besides four of the label’s best singles coming quick and strong over the year, their eponymous compilation showed just how singular Livity’s vision is: three distinct voices combined in a raging, vital roar.

Essential Releases:

Various Artists – Livity Sound

Pev – Aztec Chant

Pev & Kowton – End Point / Vapours

2: Houndstooth

Akkord - Hex_ad

No label in recent memory has had a stronger first year than Houndstooth. Helmed by Fabric and Rob Booth, what Houndstooth lacked in anonymous underdog appeal it more than made up for in quality releases, with a staggeringly impressive collection of records coming over the last twelve months. Houndstooth’s guiding vision is a dark, vigorous vein of dance that mines the UK’s rich tradition while never taking its eyes off the future. Call Super offered two EPs of sublime techno that kept us dancing through the cold, while UK dance history was dealt two monumental tributes in the hi-def dread of Akkord’s self-titled debut album and the raucous grit of Special Request’s Soul Music.

Essential Releases:

Call Super – Black Octagons

Special Request – Soul Music

Akkord - Akkord

1: L.I.E.S.

Florian Kupfer – Feelin

Like it or not, Ron Morelli’s L.I.E.S. is here to stay. The Brooklyn imprint released over twenty records in 2013, and while they weren’t all to everyone’s taste, the label released more music we loved than any other this year. Whether it’s the expanding scope of their lofi aesthetic, the compelling fusion of experimental sounds and dancefloor muscle or the label’s dedication to pushing new talent, L.I.E.S. undoubtedly ruled the roost in 2013.

The wonderful Music For Shut Ins compilation closed a year which, somewhat hypocritically, actually saw L.I.E.S. aim more for the dancefloor than ever before, with sterling EPs from Voiski, Legowelt, Delroy Edwards and Terekke among many, many others. The year also saw a new dedication to the long-player in the L.I.E.S. camp, with brilliant work from Gunnar Haslam and Marcos Cabral, all capped off by KWC 92’s phenomenal Dream Of The Walled City. And then there are the anthems: Kupfer’s blissful Feelin, the excellent title track from Samantha’s Vacation, Greg Beato’s murky Gimme A Light – any label would be hard pressed to have a better year than L.I.E.S. did in 2013. Despite the enormous amount of hype surrounding the label, in our view there’s no imprint currently more worthy of attention.

Essential Releases:

KWC 92 – Dream Of The Walled City

Florian Kupfer – Lifetrax

Various Artists – Music For Shut Ins

Terekke – YYYYYYYYYY

Voiski – IAI Movement 

Best of 2013:

* Best Labels of 2013

* Best EPs of 2013
* Best Tracks: 85-26
* Best Tracks: 25-1

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Special Request - Soul Music

Label: Houndstooth

Under his own name, Paul Woolford has proven himself a gifted producer working in the techno mould. From 2006’s pitch-black Erotic Discourse to this year’s summer anthem Untitled by way of mutant Psychatron collaboration Stolen, Woolford is responsible for an enviable catalogue of rugged club hits. Yet it was when he first donned his pirate radio-homage moniker Special Request that Woolford’s music really came into a league of its own. Prefiguring the current hardcore revival, the Special Request canon harked back to the raucous 90s UK scene that birthed hardcore and jungle, setting these familiar sounds – ricocheting breakbeats, undulating bass sweeps – into crushed technoid moulds. As much a work of tribute as of innovation, the success of early Special Request tracks (here included in a second bonus disc) was due to Woolford’s eminent ability to channel the period’s reckless abandon, curating a thrilling confluence between past and present sounds which made for some of the last few years’ most essential listening.

Now Woolford introduces his most complete Special Request statement to date in the form of the sublime Soul Music, an album whose title hints at Woolford’s emotional relationship to this music. A dedication to the unsung heroes of pirate radio, this music harks back to a sound which was the foundation of almost all contemporary UK dance, giving birth to the energy, dread, and south London atmospherics that can be heard today in garage, dubstep and grime. Despite its wild pace, Soul Music is evidently a labour of love, as Woolford works within a rough style, referencing illicit radio by arming himself with backspins and MC shoutouts, and even going so far as to sample his own sounds as heard through an FM transmitter. It works brilliantly: a complete statement which at once elegises, lionises, and ultimately reinvigorates the hardcore sound Woolford loves so much.

 

Album Clips

For those looking for the savage hybrids that cemented early Special Request classics such as Lolita (Warehouse Mix) and Mindwash, Soul Music will not disappoint. Soundboy Killer opens with a tongue-in-cheek MC interruption, ‘can you please clear the stage, all you’re doing is jumping the records and we can’t have a good time’, which opens into an explosive hybrid of gender-shifted vocals, gunshots and staggered breakbeat cuts. Throughout, Woolford’s club numbers are bursting with ideas and energy: while Body Armour offers the patient swagger of jackhammer bass hits and cocked pistols, Black Ops seethes over tunnelling filtered synthwork and epileptic break-science.

Yet on one level, we already knew that Woolford could reconfigure these hardcore sounds with the requisite power and grit. As a result some of Soul Music’s most interesting pieces are where he departs from the full-throttle momentum of those earlier releases. Opener Forbidden is a sterling example, as those same breakbeats and growling bass burrow deeper into the mix, adorned by shimmering harp notes and atmosphere to spare. Follow-up Undead is just as intriguing, where it sounds like Untitled’s catchy piano refrain got lost in Special Request’s parallel universe, a treasure whose light filters up from the deep.

While it may have more in common with some of the pacier numbers, third cut Cold Blooded is equally intriguing: like Hessle Audio gone hardcore, its off-kilter beat pattern and insistent melodics make for a powerful trip where Woolford flaunts his sonic inventiveness. This stylistic restlessness is a joy, and evident throughout the album: Capsules filters into existence through deconstruction, as if someone was tuning a radio (achieved with some remarkable panning), while final cut Descent is a curveball of detuned piano notes driven to madness, cannibalised by washes of flickering static.

The album is accompanied by a disc of previous Special Request releases and remixes, and as a result Woolford’s dedication to his hardcore sound palette may fatigue the listener after almost two and a half hours. Yet the quality of these compositions cannot be disputed. It’s a stunningly consistent package, and also a joy to finally get digital versions of the likes of Woolford’s Hackney Parrot VIP or his ace Lana Del Ray remix Ride, among the many gems nestled on the second disc. Soul Music may be composed of songs that aim for the jugular and don’t let go, but the reverence for the source material means that a genuine emotional core glows beneath the brain-frying percussive acrobatics. It’s an astonishing accomplishment, and if this is a window into Woolford’s soul, we might only hope that he continues to bare it well into the future.

9/10
Read this review in context at Inverted Audio

Call Super - Black Octagons

Label: Houndstooth

Since JR Seaton’s stylish The Present Tense inaugurated Fabric’s Houndstooth, the label has gone from strength to strength. Specialising in the darker hues of UK dancefloors, standout releases from the likes of Akkord and Special Request have brought the label a great deal of attention, thanks in no small part to the curatorial expertise of Electronic Explorations’ Rob Booth. It’s been a rich and engaging year for the label so far, but its blueprint sound – darker atmospheres, technoid mutations and unsettling ambience – were all there in Call Super’s classy first release, which showed off a producer with an uncommonly dextrous grasp over atmosphere and structure. While the likes of Threshing Floor are still lighting up dancefloors around the country, with his sophomore outing Seaton has done one better; issuing the kind of refined EP you could only expect from a producer at the top of his game.

Informer / Dewsbury Severance / Black Octagons

There are a couple of key features which make Seaton’s productions stand out from the crowd. The first is the tasteful interplay of light and dark textures, often divided between rough, compressed percussion and fragile, aqueous synthwork. This contrast works a treat, but it wouldn’t be nearly so engaging without the Seaton's other talent: his masterful sense of structure, as he builds a strong percussive section, swaps it out for ghostly melody and then fuses the two for a thrilling climax.  Opener Informer is a perfect example of these qualities coming into play. Beginning with a crushed kick/clap combo, delicate pads are brought in to fill the white space, adorned by an array of supple atmospheric details. Midway the beats give way to a low bass snarl, followed by the unexpected addition of tight snare rolls, not unlike those heard in Chicago’s footwork scene. It’s an intoxicating combination, and when the kick returns Seaton has already won, a mysterious techno triumph aimed to stimulate both the body and the mind.

Follower Dewsbury Severance arrives fully formed, lying on a bed of hissing static mist. For these five minutes Seaton allows himself to ply those fathoms-deep atmospheres, as the hushed piston-kick rolls under aquatic bass hits and seductive synthnotes. Finally on the title track Call Super claims the hat-trick, as a coiled techno thump is eroded by detuned melodies and a wandering bassline, culminating in a perfect display of controlled chaos which brings the track shuddering to a dramatic, dubby halt. A heavenly ambience takes hold, stray scifi bleeps leading to the drum pattern’s welcome resurfacing. The Present Tense showed an unrivalled promise of control and atmosphere, but the interplay of textures and mature composition of these three tracks is stunning, leading the listener down a murky rabbit-hole from which he will not gladly return.

8/10

Special Request - Hardcore

Label: Houndstooth

After the astounding success of his viciously compelling 2006 single Erotic Discourse, Paul Woolford somewhat disappeared from view. While the producer continued to work, notably issuing 2011’s excellent Stolen collaboration with Psychatron, it wasn’t until Woolford donned his Special Request guise last year that the world really started paying attention. Across a series of four self-released, vinyl-only singles, Special Request evoked the crushed, blistering power of the warehouse rave through a modernisation of classic jungle and DnB templates. With standout tracks Lolita and Mindwash, Woolford has decimated many of the UK’s discerning dancefloors over the last year, and now for the first time he turns to the rising star of Fabric-affiliated label Houndstooth to issue his fullest Special Request excursion to date.

Woolford offers two original cuts here, opening the EP with the hefty stomp of Wall To Wall. All the Special Request trademarks are here: the sunken kick compressed to within an inch of its life alongside a stark, brutal percussive field, all mixed with a healthy dose of distortion. The clipped, syncopated vocal cuts and swandiving bass hits towards the close cap off a tune of powerfully destructive proportions, yet the track is still somehow outshone by Woolford’s other offering, the nasty pirate-radio homage of Broken Dreams. Here rebounding bass notes underpin a mutating array of surgical break cuts, resulting in a tune that conjures the breathless energy of the UK’s hardcore continuum at its best without ever sounding like pastiche. The energy just lets up once, as the rhythm is interrupted by a blissed-out breather of a female vocal, serving to prepare the listener and the ‘floor for another three minutes of mayhem.

So far, this is what we’ve come to expect from Special Request; a pair of formidable excursions into breakbeat science, even if this is indeed an uncommonly fine pair. Yet this is where Houndstooth’s expert guiding voice makes itself heard, as the two original cuts are backed by a superb pair of remixes every bit as fascinating as Woolford’s original pieces. Firstly Brooklyn house youngster Anthony Naples takes on Mindwash in his ‘Eternal Mix’, an appropriately titled rework that looks at hardcore through a thick gauze of nostalgia and deterioration, sapping the strength of Woolford’s breaks and layering mournful pads and vocal clips over the top. It’s a brilliant idea, and more than anything proves Naples’ capabilities outside of the house mould, but one can’t help but feel that the track is over far too soon, disappointingly fading out after only three minutes.

The second choice of remixer is just as inspired, as Houndstooth invites jungle distortionist Lee Gamble to take on the unreleased Capsules. This beautifully patient rework builds a detailed field of ambience, both glossy and desiccated, rounding off a powerhouse EP on a sublimely atmospheric, introspective note. Woolford seems unstoppable at the moment, as his junglist tendencies rule the underground while his latest Hotflush release Untitled is set to take over Ibiza. What Houndstooth have drawn from him is another stellar addition to the Special Request canon and an exceptional pair of remixes, a package that rejoices in the power of real ‘ardcore while simultaneously mourning its loss.

8/10