Joe. With such a short and sweet name one might expect his music to be similarly simple, but these presumptions are turned upside down by his tunes. In fact, Hessle’s fourteenth release is some of the most clever music I’ve heard this year. Bundling together the quite popular styles of funky, juke and, well, flamenco, Joe has created some tightly wound dance music that contains as much tension as releases. His clamorous tracks are almost utilitarian but certainly not just tools for enterprising jocks. Despite their thin foundations, the contents of Claptrap/Level Crossing single can stand alone in DJs’ sets and for me have even emerged as pulse-pounding highlights. Few singles this year can move a crowd as adeptly as this.

The most immediately striking aspect of “Claptrap,” and the one that’s sure to secure it’s place in DJ’s record bags, is its flurry of syncopated claps. Playing smartly against kicks, snare hits and backspins, “Claptrap” is a percussive monster whose few elements wiggle their way into your brain via your hips. Samples of snorts, coughs, whoops and background noise jabbed into its side only further encourage dancers not to wait for a hook and to get busy instead. The barrage of percussion continues on “Level Crossing,” beginning with a typewriter but soon expanding to nimble organ thrusts, whistles, cowbells and the rest of the kitchen utensil drawer spilled out in neat, rhythmic fashion. Dipping in and out of the 4/4 time signature at the behest of a blown out kick drum and sticky bass tones, the track never flags or grows tiresome for the ears (although it might push a few dancers to the edge of exhaustion). Both tunes are crisp, with abundant open space despite the many elements contained within. Joe’s efforts are not entirely innovative — thoughts of Untold’s rhythmic assaults spring to mind — but Claptrap/Level Crossing is nonetheless wholly refreshing and much more novel than his unassuming name.

Six full months into 2010, the record labels that have impressed me the most have one thing in common: from record to record, their releases are as varied as they are superb. With so much music to contend with at any given time, labels that diversify without sacrificing quality stand out from purveyors whose releases are all the same flavor. And while it’s easier than ever to start a label in some form, the tasks of assembling a talented roster, putting together a multifarious yet cohesive release schedule, and turning out handsome finished products requires uncommon artistic vision and business savvy.

Luckily for dance music fans and collectors, there have been a bevy of imprints helmed by managers and A&R teams who have kept us guessing and reaching for our wallets throughout the year. For some labels that’s meant limiting the number of releases and making each one count; others cast their net wider and delved into reissues; others still have challenged listeners to buy music in unexpected mediums. It was ultimately quite difficult to narrow the list down to five, and doing so leaves out so many worthy labels. With apologies to Aus Music, Laid, Ostgut Ton, Workshop, Modern Love, Underground Quality, Planet Mu, Royal Oak, Time To Express, Uzuri, and probably others, here are five record labels, in no particular order, that stood tallest in my memory and heaviest in my collection.

Hessle Audio
No longer the new kids on the block, the London-based Hessle Audio has managed to capture an increasingly mature sound without losing the vitality that made them a label to monitor closely. This was no small feat after Ramadanman, Ben UFO and Pangaea’s imprint released Untold’s barnstorming “I Can’t Stop This Feeling” and Pearson Sound’s cutting PLSN/Wad to a great deal of acclaim in 2009. Their strategy for 2010 was more ambitious, banking on doublepacks from two of the label’s founders while continuing to reach out to innovative outside artists for standout EPs. It was a risk that paid off big time as Pangaea and Ramadanman’s self-titled 2×12″s found each at their sharpest, containing provocative cuts like the former’s “Why” and the latter’s “Don’t Change For Me.” James Blake’s mind-melting Hessle debut, The Bells Sketch, was arguably even more successful, further establishing the young turk as a producer too talented and innovative to ignore. Hessle Audio capped off the first half of the year with a percussive blitz from Joe whose “Claptrap” is strongly vying for the year’s best cut built upon hand claps. Although clearly respectful towards dance music’s past, Hessle Audio has spent most of its time looking forward — writing history rather than obsessing over it — and it’s kept the imprint full strides ahead of its peers.

Honest Jon’s Records
Had you told me a couple years ago I’d pick what Entertainment Weekly called “the hippest world-music label going” as a top label I’d have laughed my head off. Yet these days there’s no doubt in my mind that Honest Jon’s, Damon Albarn and Mark Ainley’s London record shop-cum-label, is deserving of the title. Although the imprint’s steady stream of hyper specific world music comps and eclectic reissues has been somewhat compatible with dance music fans (who else reissues Moondog records and releases Carl Craig edits of The Congos?), the label’s forays into the dance music world are what won me over. Building on the success of the Moritz Von Oswald Trio album, Honest Jon’s carefully selected some of today’s most beguiling talents — Actress and T++ — and coaxed them into releasing some of their strongest material yet. Actress’s second album, Splazsh, tore up the freshly printed rulebook of UK bass music while interpreting life through the chilly pixels of video games. T++’s Wireless sent nanobots to infiltrate the work of ndingidi player Ssekinomu, blurring the lines between technology and organics, flesh and circuitry. All this while continuing to dig up treasures few knew existed, like hyper South African new wave and sublime Turkish music from the turn of last century. With a live album from Moritz Von Oswald Trio still to come, my money, quite literally, is on Honest Jon’s Records for the foreseeable future.

Further Records
When RA/LWE’s Will Lynch asked Mark Cul of Further Records about choosing of cassette tapes as the main medium for their releases, Cul mentioned how useful tapes can be for pot smokers who get their fix in the car while out clubbing. While he later added, “They’re portable, and they sound great,” what Further has done as a largely tape-based label goes much further than utilitarian reasoning. In a similar vein as vinyl-only labels, the Seattle-based Further convinces music buyers to own a piece of hand crafted art that takes up space and cannot be easily replicated (although sharing the listening experience can be a delight). They share a DIY ethic with punk/noise/black metal groups but cater to electronic audiences, having convinced producers including Aybee, Lerosa, Donato Dozzy and Anders Ilar to commit whole albums to tape. This probably wasn’t easy as each album has been fantastic — hardly the kind of throwaway material one might expect producers to fob off on cassettes. Aybee’s even made our top 5 of the first half of 2010. Further aren’t format hardliners either, with mp3 releases (including by label founder Chloe Harris) and even vinyl versions of Dozzy’s album. Bringing together top notch music with conspicuous release formats that feel as special as mixtape from your sweetheart, Further Records is an unexpected force to be reckoned with.

Hotflush Recordings
It’s not altogether surprising that Hotflush followed up a strong 2009 (and a spot on our top labels list) with a prodigious first half of 2010. Building on the stringent quality control that has always defined the label, Paul Rose (aka Scuba) and Alex Bishop have continued to push Hotflush to the front of the dubstep pack with singles from rising talents Sigha, George Fitzgerald and Sepalcure, not to mention a slew of excellent remixes of Mount Kimbie. But it’s Rose whose shadow looms largest over the label’s discography with his accomplished sophomore album, Triangulation, which offered one of the best arguments for dubstep and its bassy kin crossing over in the electronic mainstream. He’s also delivered the goods on a single for sub-label Abucs and courted tasty remixes for the Offshore Recordings joint label, Hotshore. With a highly anticipated album from crossover wunderkinds Mount Kimbie and a slew of other bits still to come, it’s enough to make you wonder if anything can impede Hotflush Recordings’ dominance over its corner of the dance music arena.

Rush Hour Recordings
Many veteran house heads love to extol the virtues of older, rarer records knowing full well how difficult and pricey it can be to get a copy (you can almost hear them intoning, “It builds character!”). Luckily for newer generations, Dutch label/store/distro Rush Hour Recordings is anything but convinced and seems on a mission to keep some house music’s building blocks accessible for most record shoppers. As in 2009 when RH reintroduced the world to Anthony “Shake” Shakir, Rick Wilhite, and the early works of Daniel Wang’s Balihu Records, 2010 has seen a flood of essential re-releases. Perhaps their greatest accomplishment was reissuing the highly sought after Virgo album, followed closely behind by records from Ron Hardy, Boo Williams, Robert Hood as Floorplan, Jamie Principle, and Mandre. In case that wasn’t enough, Rush Hour has also been doing an exemplary job releasing new records as well. Sure, they got a bit carried away with Tom Trago records (live takes and outtakes?), but they’ve more than made up for it by pushing beyond the old school house sound they’re known for by recruiting Falty DL and Cosmin TRG, not to mention new singles from Kirk Degiorgio and a series of new records curated by Rick Wilhite. They’ve also shined the spotlight on contemporary Chicago talents, releasing the fantastic Tevo Howard Crystal Republic doublepack and new EPs by Gene Hunt and Ricardo Miranda on their Hour House Is Your Rush sub-label. No label has done more in 2010 to bring house music back to its roots while keeping one foot firmly in the present. And for that, they deserve our kudos.

[Hessle Audio] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

I’m not exactly sure how to peg James Blake. But if dubstep professes to be music made for dance floors, then the young British producer almost certainly isn’t making it. His proudly unquantized beats (throbs of crunchy sound more than proper drum-hits) skitter in and out of the mix like confused cockroaches; his melodies, while warm, soulful, and usually ripped from records made in far simpler musical times, float over the proceedings like a minute-old ganja cloud — still pungently present, yet barely there. Despite sounding more than a bit like Untold, who’s championed his productions as labelhead at Hemlock, refashioned as a sleazy lounge act, Blake brings a strangely anthemic quality to productions which otherwise would probably be too experimental (or just downright blazed) for club consumption. Indeed, his latest offering, The Bells Sketch for the seriously in-bloom Hessle Audio label, has already attracted the attention of adventurous jocks like Dub War residents Dave Q and Alex Incyde, who managed to move floors (while simultaneously weirding them out, in a good way) when they each closed out recent sets with the A-side. It’s Blake’s most sophisticated record to date, but that doesn’t mean his dance floor credentials make a whole lot more sense.

What holds Blake’s tunes together is the way his beat just stomps, the awkward rumble of an automaton bounding toward your defenseless village. “The Bells Sketch” has it in spades, but it’s also rather pretty: plaintive chords, weepy vocal flourishes, and bass/treble interplay straight off The Chronic underpin the track’s unwieldy movement, and what results is as much a dirge as a banger. As I mentioned before, I’ve only heard “The Bells Sketch” played out as a closer, and it’d admittedly be a tough one to drop mid-set. But the spooky uncertainty of the introduction would make it just as tantalizing of an opener. On the flip, “Buzzard And Kestrel” finds Blake a bit perkier and more rhythmic, recalling at times some sort of Flying Lotus/Alcachofa-era Villalobos collabo. Off-timbre, squelchy synths rush in during the track’s final third, creating a moment that’s almost surprising enough to warrant a spoiler alert in this review. All in all, it almost steals the show from the A. Mood-wise, “Give A Man A Rod” hazily splits the difference between the first two tracks but never manages to emerge from its bong coma. Despite this brief lapse in craft, The Bells Sketch makes for a standout 12″ — an oddity, sure, and not for any DJ faint of heart, but an extremely worthy listen from a far-out voice you’ll want to give the benefit of the doubt.

[Hessle Audio] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s)

One could argue that dubstep traditionally thrives on massiveness: those seemingly infinite bass lines wobbling up from the deep like tsunamis, those scythe-like snares ripping the fabric of the track at each half-step. But in the years since Skull Disco cut its singular path out of wamp-wamp-stomp, producers have become far more willing to manipulate eardrums on a much finer scale. The world’s subwoofers may continue to suffer abuse, but their previously bored tweeter brothers and sisters have found their work on weekend evenings getting a bit more technical. Kevin McAuley, the young Leeds-based producer, DJ, and Hessle Audio co-founder better known as Pangaea, comes from this school of bass music thought, and his soul-soaked singles for Hessle Audio, Hotflush, and — perhaps most memorably — his as-of-this-writing one-off Memories white label have tweezed ecstasy out of a more whispery sound pallet. His burgeoning discography, however, has yet to feature anything as distinctive and defining as what’s on offer over the four sides of his self-titled Hessle Audio doublepack. Quiet remains the new loud, but Pangaea’s wall-hugging sonics beckon you deeper into his fully-formed musical landscape than any of his records — and many of his peers’ records — have before. Witness the birth of a major contender in bass music. Now witness him contending with the lightest of touches.

At the heart of Pangaea’s appeal is his surprisingly un-radical approach to bass music. While his intricate beats, liberally lubricated with deep house and techno, grind forward at manic garage pace, he stops short of the kind of full-on embrace of those genres we’ve seen from the likes of Scuba and Martyn, and he’s also abstained from falling down an Untold-ian rabbit hole. The Pangaea EP sounds like dubstep, and calling it that requires very few caveats or groans about how meaningless that tag is these days. But from the opening measures of “Why,” it’s clear Pangaea wishes to rub, not slap. He sets his cymbals and snares stepping with quick, jazz-like taps, not the smashes of so many Skream-biting meatheads. But you sense he’s after more than just not disturbing the neighbors. Allowed to ring softly, Pangaea’s percussion conveys all kinds of alluringly tiny details while leaving room for equally expressive bass lines and atmosphere. “Sunset Yellow,” caned to great effect by Scuba on his new Sub:stance mix, makes use of this softness brilliantly: unhindered by compositional massiveness, the purple chords of so many recent Hyperdub records can make colorful waves despite broadcasting more ambiently, and from much deeper within the mix, than we’re used to. On “Dead Living,” those same chords return before dissolving into resonance and atonality; their lightness, though, allows the melody to melt down without taking the entire track with it. With such a handle both on his genre and his influences, Pangaea proves a producer doesn’t need big, wacky sounds to make a huge statement.

Still, it’d be easy to imagine Pangaea veering too far into sedateness; Shackleton’s Three EPs, for example, possesses incomparable sonic detail, but it’s a trio of late night records better suited for your bedroom than the club. Pangaea manages to steer clear of all this chin-scratching, and he does it allowing one element to stand confidently in front of his others: ghostly, steamy, nearly orgasmic vocals. On “Why,” a disembodied voice wants us to tell her something, while on “Sunset Yellow,” she wants to get something off her chest without ever managing to elucidate it. And on “Neurons,” an authoritative narrator just wants to freak out anyone who’s pilled up. Executed with great confidence and care, they manage to avoid sounding like the gimmicks such vocals all too often are. Operating neither as chorus nor verse, these disembodied howls magnify the energy so tightly packed within Pangaea’s tense arrangements. Kevin McAuley just wants to make sure you’re paying attention, that you’re feeling these moody burners just as much as he thinks you should. When presented with four sides of dubstep this tantalizing and finely crafted, well-something tells me you won’t need too much convincing to get on board.

Untold, aka producer Jack Dunning, released his first record a little over a year ago on Hessle Audio (the fabulous “Kingdom”), and soon after started Hemlock Recordings, specializing in his own brand of experimental dupstep. Now he’s back for more on Ramadanman and Pangaea’s label with “I Can’t Stop This Feeling,” pushing his sound, and indeed the sound known as dubstep, further into uncharted waters. That Untold’s music sounds unlike most of his peers is a given, but on “I Can’t Stop This Feeling” he manages to surprise even those who’ve followed his releases, turning in two absolutely mad tunes bursting at the seams with creativity.

A side “I Can’t Stop This Feeling” starts simple enough with a kick drum and rising synth stabs, but after a flurry of hand claps the track explodes into an onslaught of percussion and constantly shifting bass lines. Halfway through the track simmers down to nothing but a punchy, tense woodblock pattern and descending bass line until all of that tension is suddenly released in another storm of snugly programmed drums. “Anaconda” is less tense and no less interesting, a menagerie of out-there animal noises, whistles and tribal drum sounds loosely held together by lunging syncopations. As listeners run into squeaks, pan flutes, digitized voices and the edge of a piano riff, some might wonder if they’ve gotten lost in Untold’s sample locker. It will take many listens to absorb everything going on in these two tracks, making it an extremely captivating listen, each time revealing more of itself. Untold seems intent on rewriting the rules of dubstep entirely, and with “I Can’t Stop This Feeling” he has crafted one of the most out there and enjoyable releases this year.