[Hessle Audio]

Dubstep at 124 beats per minute? What with Pinch’s recent releases on Swamp 81 and this Hessle Audio debut from London/Berlin wunderkind Objekt, you’d think this almost were a “thing.” Sure, “Cactus” isn’t really dubstep, but it sure sounds like it. Lurching to life with a demented swagger — those tough, deadened drums halfway between techno and metallic dubstep that have become Objekt’s trademark — “Cactus” lets off little squiggles of LFO that sound like they crawled out from under the remnants some old Coki dubplate. When it finally drops, it’s a doozy, all thundering subs and mean, wiggling LFO: it doesn’t get much more dubstep than this, really, except that it sounds like a garage track having a conniption fit. The track is remarkably unfriendly to DJs, unpredictable and strangely built, but chances are you’ll know it from Ben UFO’s Rinse CD from last year, where its brutal second drop made one of the highlights of an already fantastic mix.

A slow, pounding track with obnoxious LFO wobbles might not sound like the most ideal thing in 2012, but “Cactus” pulls it off perfectly, largely thanks to Objekt’s absolutely incredible sound design skills. There’s a stark spatiality that renders every move inflated and fearsome, but there’s also a vivacity to his sounds that feels missing from so much limp, lifeless bass music these days. Every sub-bass squall is gut-wrenching, the drums are like pistons, and the slowly swimming hi-hats slice through eardrums like butter. It’s that grasp of mixing, pacing and structuring that makes the single’s B-side even stronger: “Porcupine” immediately feels like a speed demon in comparison, cycling through a demonic military march looped at all the wrong points so it has a similar terrifying stagger to “Cactus.” It continues in this fashion for a while, as the bass line mutates and contorts behind it; but the track’s really all about the breakdown, wherein the drums dissolve into billowing pockets of dub techno gloss, slippery, iridescent chords that dissipate and bloat at will until the drums come crashing back in coated in filmy synths. It’s the best dub techno never made.

Exhilaratingly propulsive and powerful without resorting to outright brutality, there’s some sort of alchemy involved in the way Objekt fuels his tracks, the sort of building energy that’ll have you doing embarrassing air drumming moves before you even realize it. Previous tracks like “CLK Recovery” showed a restless spirit venturing through epic techno odysseys, but his Hessle Audio debut has him more focused and ferocious than ever, the distilled essence of a producer whose sound was already reduced to the point of monochrome. No producer since Peverelist has made cold grey machinery sound so brilliant, and “Cactus” is an incredibly exciting return for a label that’s been quiet for over half a year now.

[Hemlock Recordings]

As co-owner of Hessle Audio (alongside Pearson Sound and Ben UFO), Pangaea has helped curate some of the most seminal bass music of the past decade. His personal catalog is just as vital, though, and his sparse productions are among the absolute highlights of the Hessle catalog. But this, his first release for Untold’s Hemlock imprint, marks perhaps his creative apex thus far. “Hex” is as uncompromising a track as you are likely to hear this year: a taut wall of sound referencing the outposts of the hardcore continuum with devastating aplomb. The track opens with a syncopated garage rhythm before dropping into a bass line that would not have sounded at all out of place on True Playaz circa 1996. Midway through, dancehall vocals are cleverly spliced into one of Pangaea’s trademark synth drones, taking the action down a notch and adding a moodier dimension into what is a relatively playful piece of music.

“Fatalist” takes the energy of “Hex” (the rhythm track is strikingly similar) but where the A-side hinted, this simply drips old school menace — a stifled roar of a tune. Rolling tribal percussion gives way to the unmistakable (to listeners of a certain age, at least) sound of MC GQ intoning you to “listen, listen, LISTEN!” while a tightly wound groove unfurls at 140 bpm. Signposts of jungle and vintage DMZ emerge to form a wildly compelling document of bass memories past. Perhaps what is most sticking about this release is that, although experimental, Panagaea is still working within tightly controlled boundaries. These tracks reference a breadth of influence, but this is still very much dubstep. While an ever growing number of his contempories have moved toward a more house focused aesthetic and tempo, it is exciting to hear such vital music being made within the upper echelons of the tempo range. Exhilarating, original, and simply crying out to be played peak time, this comes highly recommended.

[Hessle Audio]

Peverelist’s two weighty twelves in 2010 seemed to hint at a slightly more energetic direction, where the power that used to lay dormant and stationary beneath the Punch Drunk label head’s stony beats began to surface in twitchy percussion. Tom Ford’s first release of 2011, weirdly enough, comes on Hessle Audio, and it’s appropriately a departure from his past work, taking the nervous tics of “Better Ways Of Living” or “The Hum” and jetting off with them into full-on rave hysteria.

“Dance Til The Police Come” is the sound of the Bristol producer fleshing out trembling junglisms into heart-racing river rapids. Peverelist’s typical array of shaking metallic percussion is suddenly beefed up with synths, a blurred mid-range that feels noticeably lusher than the prehistoric sticks and stones of previous work. You can still tell it’s him: the demented, stumbling chord progression, snares that seem too hesitant to do anything other than hint at a rhythm, and grumbling sub-bass, but the rushes of ghostly synth that fly by are definitely something new. The whole thing flies by in a frenzied blur that flipside “Fundamentals” somewhat disavows, staking its claim in more familiarly dubby territory but still working off an expanded synth palette that’s almost symphonic in Peverelist terms. Ford sketches out a vision of primitive garage that staggers through periods of mournful organ saturation and unnervingly empty dub chambers. It always struck me as odd how Peverelist was grouped with the techno/dubstep people when his music clearly owed more to traditional dub than most others, and with tracks like these it’s becoming apparent that his move is less one towards techno than a bloodletting of the jungle and UK hardcore music that runs through his veins.

[Hessle Audio]

As far as bass music goes, it’s hard to think of a more consistent and exciting label than Hessle Audio. 2010 proved to be an incredible year for the currently London based label, mostly by just sticking to their guns and issuing more of the forward-thinking music buyers have come to expect. Hessle kicked off this year in fine form with a sterling 12″ from mainstay Pangaea. While he’s known for penning the more melodic side of the Hessle back catalog, “Inna Daze” is a tough, techno-tinged roller. Voices shout out amidst reverberating air horns and hard hitting percussion, while midway strains of Pangaea’s signature melancholy seep in.

“Won’t Hurt” on the B-side is the most immediately “dubstep” thing to be released on Hessle in quite some time, as well as the most aggressive thing Pangaea has ever done. It suits him well, though; there’s a lot of energy packed into the unstable low-end, and the string samples make it quite a raucous tune. It’s a good track, but “Inna Daze” simply steals the show. It’s seems like a distillation of everything we’ve learned from the past couple years of London/Berlin crosstalk formed into something fresh and exciting. An exemplary release from an artist who keeps getting better and one of dance music’s most vital labels. But then what did you expect?

What’s left to say about David Kennedy? After years spent releasing forward-thinking and consistently genre-defying music, 2010 was the year where his name never seemed to leave the lips of critics and consumers alike. His first years of releasing saw him push dubstep out of its comfort zone and catch the attention of everyone from comrades like Appleblim and wild cards such as Ricardo Villalobos. But when his sound-defining 2×12″ on Hessle Audio arrived in early 2010 he opened the flood gates and let a torrent of tracks like “Work Them,” “Glut” and “Blanked” conquer the world of bass music — a world whose horizons have broadened in no small part due to Kennedy’s work. Helping found and operate the perpetually on-form Hessle Audio with Ben UFO and Pangaea, Kennedy has also played a part in launching the careers of now household names, from Untold to future-pop-star James Blake. All this, and he still finds time to make popular house tracks with Appleblim and Midland, launch a vinyl-only party Acetate, and tour as an ace DJ. Late March will see the release of his next major step, a mix for the lauded Fabriclive mix series, and LWE caught up with Kennedy to chat about the CD, vinyl in general, and exactly how much free time he has left.

I would like to first talk about Acetate. First off, what was the impetus for it?

David Kennedy: It was originally just gonna be one party with myself and Floating Points, just as a one-off thing. But then I decided I might as well do a few. I started it just because it would be quite fun and just wanted to play some records, basically. It wasn’t really a statement or anything like that; just wanted to have me and my friends playing our favorite tunes.

You seem to really enjoy that you can use your rotary mixer and isolator at Acetate. Do you find it difficult to play on satisfactory equipment or obtain good enough sound quality when you’re playing at various clubs?

Not really. The rotary mixer just is a different style of mixing. Especially for more house-y stuff, the rotary mixer was designed for it, and it’s what they used back in the day. The sound quality is a lot better, especially if you’re playing vinyl through them because their preamps are of really high quality. The sound is one of the reasons for doing the night, just because it sounds amazing. Especially down in the club, where it’s got a really nice Funktion One sound system. The combination of the two just sounds wicked. It’s not very harsh; it sounds very warm. When I’m DJing otherwise it’s not too much of an issue, other than the fact that I don’t really like Pioneer mixers. It’s not that I’m playing on unsatisfactory equipment or anything; more just that I have this mixer and I would like to use it. I use Serato when I DJ out, and yeah, I’ve had quite a few problems with turntables in the past couple of years. I bring my own needles, but the leads and plugs might not be working very well because they’ve been neglected. So I’ve had some experiences like that, but I’m not playing vinyl out, so it’s not a massive deal for me.

You and many of your Acetate cohorts grew up in the digital age yet instituted a vinyl-only night. What draws you to vinyl?

I’ve been buying it since I was 12 or 13, so quite a long time. I just like its physicality and its presence. I like how if you have a lot of vinyl it takes up a load of space in your room. I like its inconveniences, if that makes sense. I just like the idea of music being pressed physically onto this big disc, and then you somehow put a needle on it and it comes out through your speakers. I just really enjoy that process. If you watch how it’s made and things like that it’s just a miracle that you have this sound file that gets pressed onto this disc. Yeah, I just really love the process and obviously it sounds great. It’s a quality control thing as well, because it costs a lot of money to press stuff on vinyl. Obviously there’s still loads of crap stuff that gets released, but you’ve got to really believe in it to put it out, basically.

There shouldn’t be an opposing thing of vinyl versus digital. They both have their perks, and some stuff doesn’t sound great on vinyl, while some stuff doesn’t sound great on CD. I just don’t think it should be a big, opposing “either-or” thing; you can just use both.

Similarly, your recent music partially brings to mind old-school electro and Chicago house; musics that were almost odes to machines such as the 707, 808, etc. Do you see some of your recent output in that way? Have you been using any old equipment to make it?

No, I’m not really using any hardware. A lot of my music is just about the rhythm, and if I get some sort of rhythm I’m happy with going and letting that be the foundation of a track, which is what some of the recent stuff has been about. My stuff has always been pretty beat-oriented. I don’t use any 808s or anything, just samples, but it’s all how you treat them and process them I guess. It’s quite interesting taking samples of something and trying to make it sound old again. It’s an interesting process of… “retro-fication” or whatever.

A lot of your work in 2010 has been related to juke. How did you first hear juke, what do you like about it, and why have you integrated it into your music?

I don’t like all of juke. I like some of it. Addison Groove was sort of banging on about it to me and it took be awhile to get convinced. I sort of like the more… weird stuff, the more beat-y stuff. I don’t see my stuff as being that influenced by it, in terms of me just trying to make a juke track. It’s quite hard for me to describe, I guess, it being my own music, but I like some juke and I have my own preferences. Some of it has definitely been interesting; to see how at fast speeds you can create quite a crazy groove. Especially it being designed to be danced to; it’s quite refreshing in a way. Like in the juke dances it’s the dancing that takes priority over the music, so the music is there just as a compliment, almost.

Do you see much of a link between your music and juke?

Well it depends on what you class as juke. It seems like now if you just put in some 808s and a sort-of chopped up vocal or whatever then all of a sudden it becomes juke. Juke-influenced or whatever, when those things have been used a lot more previously. It’s just a lot more because juke is in fashion at the moment. I listen to some juke, but it’s not like I’m trying to make it.

Some of your music has also been heavily influenced by jungle and drum and bass (thinking about the Amen break of “Don’t Change For Me”). How do some of these formative influences affect what you put out?

Well I like jungle and drum and bass but I don’t know a whole lot about it. So I guess the more recent sort of jungle-y stuff was just playing with breaks and trying to put some breaks in my tunes for a change, because I had never really used them before. My EP had quite a lot of breaks running through it, so it was a bit of a phase. I’m not a jungle expert; I was pretty young when it existed, so I’m not gonna pretend to be like some old-school junglist.

Photo by Rosa Maria Koolhoven

Your collaborations with Appleblim and Midland have been resolutely house-focused. Is this by design?

I dunno, really. I’m not really sure why all those collabs have been house basically. The first one I did with Appleblim we decided to work with those tempos and just see what happened, and “Sous le Sable” was what came out of it. With Midland, he’s more into his house stuff so we thought we would work at that tempo. It’s not really a conscious thing, just what we felt like doing at the time we were writing the tunes.

How do you approach the collaboration process?

Well with both of those they’ve been done at… well, I’ll say “studio,” but on my computer. We just work together really well, especially with Appleblim. He’s got those ideas that you might not think would work at first, but then you put them in, and it’s something I never would have thought of but ends up sounding wicked. So yeah, it’s just about finding someone who has a bit of a different approach. Sometimes you can collaborate with someone and it’s like you’re in competition; each trying to make your own tune. But with Appleblim and Midland it just worked out really nicely in terms of our ideas working together rather than being in competition.

Is there anyone else you would like to work with in the future?

Pretty much just them. I made a tune with Jamie Woon, but that’s about it to be honest. I don’t do a whole lot of collaborations.

Both yourself and Hessle Audio seems to be putting out more records at more house-friendly tempos, such as “Work Them” and the incredible Hessle 15 by Elgato. Is this more of a move away from 140 BPM, or just a desire to allow your records to be played by more people?

Well none of my friends are making anything at 140 anymore. It hasn’t been that way for a good year; everything has slowed down a bit and there’s not much stuff being made at 140 that I would still play, apart from the odd tune here and there. So yeah, it’s just a general slow down really; people are just writing at slower tempos. Once you start playing a bit slower you want to play stuff that’s in that tempo, so maybe you make your tunes slower. You can also do different things at slower tempos; there’s only so much you can do at 140, only so many rhythms. Slowing down gives you a bit more room.

Are there any other sounds that you would like to explore but haven’t gotten to yet?

Not really, to be honest. I’ve been making music for a lot longer than people have heard, in terms of putting stuff out there. So I’ve made most styles of music at some stage. I make music at quite a lot of different tempos all the time, so I guess I just make lots of different genres.

It seems that Hessle Audio likes to get tracks out quickly; issuing records that are fresh and haven’t been around on dubplates for awhile. Is it important to you guys to get things out quickly?

No, we just don’t tell people we’re releasing a record until about a month before it’s definitely coming out. A lot of the tunes have been around for awhile, but generally the people who release on the label don’t give them out very much, so they stay pretty fresh. The way we release is we just don’t jump the gun and say something is gonna come out and then it doesn’t. We’ve had problems in the past with delays, so if there are test pressing problems and things take a lot longer than you thought and you’ve already announced that it’s coming out people tend to wonder where it’s going. So it’s best to keep an element of mystery there, which is nice.

You put out the Grab Somebody/Mir white label in a year where your production rate seemed to go through the roof, leaving you with loads of dubs. Did you like this way of getting the tunes out there, and is it something you’ll do in the future?

No, it was just a bit of an exceptional situation where I wanted to get the tunes out there. Plus there’s a really obvious sample in one of them. [laughs]

What pushes you to keep sitting back down and making tunes?

I think I just work quite quickly. A lot of the stuff released in 2010 was made maybe a year back, so it might have the impression that I work very quickly. I’m always writing a lot of music and when I’m into something I try to finish it just to get the vibe across. Some tunes take months to finish, some you do in a few days. It really depends. I do write a lot, since music is all I do now.

You recently finished university; is your plan just to work on music?

Yeah I finished in June [2010], so, well, I haven’t had a whole lot of free time since then. Since finishing studying I’ve been DJing a lot more in fact, so I’ve kind of had the same amount of free time that I did when I was at uni. I keep quite organized though, so I can keep things balanced.

What is the idea behind the Pearson Sound moniker? What is the difference between your monikers?

There isn’t a difference, sonically or anything. I just first started it to see how people would react if they didn’t know the name or who was behind it. Now it’s the name I’m working behind all the time. I like how when you go on Discogs you see a particular producer worked under a couple different names; I kind of like that mystery of working under multiple aliases.

Elgato’s vehement and repeatedly stated view is that club experiences are best in small venues with a direct connection to the DJ, hopefully shared between people with a passion for music and who may even be friends. One dominant theme that emerged from our chat was a desire to pursue a musical career adhering as closely as possible to that ideal. His time spent in Bristol seemed like it came close; there he helped run a night called Bruk which sold tickets without letting on who would play, relying instead on trust to draw in the crowd. But if he’s keen for music itself to do most of the talking, LWE’s 70th exclusive podcast is a good start. What Elgato prepared for us showcases only old U.S. and UK house and garage, genres he thinks claim a shared history, remaining closely entwined after growing from shared roots in the Paradise Garage. The fertile aesthetics of both house and garage, on both sides of the Atlantic, can also be felt in his tracks “Tonight” and “Blue” (the latter of which stunningly grabbed the #3 spot in LWE’s top tracks list). That the programming of this mix makes so much room for not-always-appreciated music at the intersections of these styles might go some ways to explaining the parallel emotions of recognition and surprise that made his debut release so good.

LWE Podcast 70: Elgato (56:09)

Tracklist:

01. Classic Man, “Here’s The Sample” (Bassment Jam Mixdown)
[Nervous Records]
02. Norma Jean Bell, “Dreams” [Peacefrog Records]
03. Kerri Chandler, “Downtown” (Dark Mix) [Downtown 161]
04. Oscar G, “Movin’ On” (Original Vocal Mix) [Kumba Records]
05. Janet Rushmore, “Joy” (Choice Mix) [Released For Pleasure Music]
06. Rick Wade, “Harsh Thoughts” [Harmonie Park]
07. Underground Solution, “Paradise ’97″ [Quench Recordings]
08. Mood II Swing, Do It Your Way” [Groove On]
09. A Baffled Republic, “Sweetness (I Wanna Ho)” [Catch]
10. Tuff & Jam, “Track No Name” [Unda-Vybe]
11. DJ Disciple, “Keep On Movin” (Laid Back And Funk Mix) [Interstate Records]
12. Anthill Mob, “Promise Of…” [Confetti Records]
13. US Alliance, “All I Know” (N.Y.S.C. Dub Mix) [Locked On]
14. Groove Chronicles, “The Beginnings” [Old Dog Recordings]
15. Indigo, “Fly To The Moon” (The Mood II Swing Sentinal Dub) [Defender Music]
16. Jovonn, “Don’t Wanna Let U Go” [Goldtone Records]

There’s not a lot of biography about you available online so far? What do you want to tell me about yourself?

Elgato: That’s a difficult question to answer! I’m not sure to be honest.

I read that you’ve been involved with the people behind Bruk for a while?

Yeah, although it’s actually a different group than the one who publish Bruk Magazine, ‘cos I’ve seen some confusion over that before. But yeah, we’re just a group of friends who started putting on parties in Bristol, irregular things across a few different venues for about four years. We did it for the longest at this spot Take 5 Cafe, which was basically just a little cafe that happened to have a tiny basement underneath it. Our mate had a soundsystem (out to Joe!) he used to do free parties with, so we would take that down and run it out of there, do two or three pound door fee, sometimes book a DJ and have a party, all of us playing on rotation. I felt we were able to do something a bit different in that place; I loved the parties we did there. We’ve also been doing a show on sub.fm for a while, four of us on rotation now. It’s a very loose affiliation of people, just me and my mates! A lot of my experiences of dance music have been with or from the people involved with Bruk. And all of them are heavy DJs, and we all bring quite different styles.

I also read that you’ve been gradually absorbed into a Hessle Audio universe?

Yeah, I’ve known Ben [UFO] and those guys for a while now. It’s a funny thing with the record coming out though, to read how these things are perceived from the outside. I see them just as individuals really, friends, but then obviously they also have the music thing going on.

So it wasn’t a case of I’ll go down to the gig, and bring a CD-R…

No no, I’d been good friends with Ben and the other guys for a while before I sent them anything I’d done. It wasn’t like, ‘I’ve done these tracks, and these ones are ready.’ At first I shared them unfinished, just as a friend asking for impressions and feedback on the production and that.

A lot of your sets seem to take in a lot of 90′s UK Garage. As a DJ, do you see yourself as primarily part of that heritage?

Heritage is an interesting word. I think there’s a lot more to heritage than just taking an aesthetic as an influence or playing records of a style. There’s no doubt that music has shaped the way that I feel music, make music, but I don’t know if I could consider myself as a part of that heritage.

Garage seems to be a major influence across a range of key producers in the contemporary London bass scene though. At the same time, I’m not aware of the same number of reissues of classic garage tunes, or DJs who play it on the broader club circuit.

I don’t know, I suppose it kind of depends what scene you’re plugged into. Plenty of DJs in London play garage, people like Oneman and Ben [UFO] have been doing it for a while. And then on the London pirates you hear it all the time, I don‘t think they ever really stopped. I suppose it’s maybe different to the European house and techno scene where you seem to have some big names going that way and putting loads of older house in their sets. But then I bet there are guys all over Europe who never stopped playing that stuff. The reissues thing is kind of interesting, I hadn’t thought of that before really.

I wondered if you’d tell me a bit more about the garage you love, whether there are any go-to producers you’ll always check or that kind of thing?

The thing about UK garage is that it was running — in some ways it’s still running — but what most people would call garage proper came from like ’94 through 2003 or something. So there’s so much amazing music from that period, and so many styles. Tuff Jam were big for me, but there are too many UK 4×4 producers. To name just a few people like New Horizons, Underground Solution, James Lavonz, Anthill Mob and all the Confetti producers, RIP Productions, Jeremy Sylvester, Ramsey & Fen, their tunes still kill it, there‘s nothing that sounds like that stuff. Then all the 2-step stuff, again too many to mention but a lot of the obvious ones like Dem 2, Steve Gurley, Industry Standard, Groove Chronicles, DND, have all been big for me. There are too many to name though, and that’s not even really touching the grimey or darker stuff and what came after. One producer who always stands out in my mind — though not cos he’s necessarily my favorite, although he is one of them, but for how unique his style was — is Wookie. His sound was so different, and it feels fresh even now in a way that I’m not sure many others do.

And then recently the original garage vibes have started making a lot more sense to me, both the vocal disco stuff and the really early New Jersey vocal stuff, stuff like early Blaze and Movin and all of that. But I’ve loved the more tracky U.S. garage and house for a while. With this mix I kind of wanted to show love for some of that music, ‘cos it has done a lot for me.

Is there a particular feeling that helps you draw out a record that you’d play as a DJ?

I dunno really, I wouldn’t say one feeling or vibe, ‘cos as a DJ I tend to play quite differently depending on where I’m playing and what I’m feeling, and I‘ve got a lot of different styles of records. It’s something that having a tune out has put a point on, ‘cos all of a sudden I’m wondering whether I need to have a more consistent style as a DJ. But I think I’ll probably stick to just doing whatever seems right for the vibe.

In this mix, there’s quite a tight focus on old UK and U.S. house and garage, do you prefer a narrower range when you program your mixes?

Yeah, I tend to try to give my sets quite a strong vibe running through them. It’s not that I won’t play different styles next to one another but I strive for something that holds together quite tight in terms of the feeling. I think there’s still a lot that can be done within that, though, in terms of drawing in tracks from different times or places but which have that feeling in common. But this mix was slightly different, ‘cos in my mind it almost became kind of a celebration of this music rather than a showcase of the kind of thing I would necessarily do as a DJ in a club.

What does the immediate future hold for you as a DJ or as a producer?

Just making more tracks, seeing how they come out, hoping they’re good, and playing out as much as I can.

When you fall under the spell of a particular producer, you can follow the arc of their work, from their first tentative steps through to bigger and more ambitious projects. The same is true with a record label, though rather than just presenting you with one particular view, they seek to encapsulate more of an ethos. Their arc is typically more exciting too as they can present you with many and varied styles from the past as well as the present. With the right A&R a label can be a sure-fire go to source of limitless quality, constantly teasing your ears with fresh additions and updates on their philosophy. In 2010 there were a clutch of stand out labels that succeeded in doing this, from small boutique labels that counted barely half a dozen releases to their name, to older, more well established labels whose output numbered several dozen. There were many more who warrant their own column space, but after much deliberation here is the short-list of LWE’s top five labels for 2010.

05. R&S
It’s interesting what a little time can do for your profile. Ten years ago the golden days of R&S were far behind them, back with the likes of Aphex Twin, Joey Beltram and CJ Bolland. Lackluster releases, an open-minded genre policy that eroded the tastemaking that made the imprint what it was, and financial hardships all soured the future of R&S to the point where they went into a lengthy hibernation. Emerging from their extended disco nap in 2008, R&S have slowly been clawing back respect from the dance music community they played such a pivotal part in shaping during the late 80′s and early 90′s. 2010 saw the label climb ever skywards in no small part due to the release of two of the best records of the year in James Blake’s CMYK and Klaiverwerke EPs. Blake’s highly experimental post-dubstep releases weren’t the be all and end of R&S this year though. Model 500, who first released on R&S back in 1993 with a compilation of their early work reincarnated this year as a proper group, with Juan Atkins adding Mike Banks, DJ Skurge and Mark Taylor to the fold. Their only release so far is the Detroit electro funk of OFI/Huesca, which was infused with more than a dash of dubstep, effectively bringing together the vintage sound of R&S with the new. Part of that new sound was also thanks to having Untold, Pariah and Space Dimension Controller all issue highly acclaimed records, showing the way forward for the veteran label and proving that there is plenty of life left in the old horse yet.

04. Ostgut Ton
The ebbs and flows of dance music trends can easily make last year’s hero this year’s villain, but in the case of Ostgut Ton, they have gone from strength to strength over the past few years, with 2010 showing no let up in their quality. The steady stream of twelve inch releases that emerged throughout the year, contained such gems as Steffi’s moody, deep house vocal “Kill Me,” Tama Sumo and Prosumer’s off-kilter, synthetic “Rarified,” L.B. Dub Corp’s tripped out, cosmic “Take It Down (In Dub)” and Ben Klock’s spooked out, concrete textured Compression Session EP. Album-wise, Shed followed up his 2008 masterpiece Shedding The Past with the predictably hard to pin down The Traveller, which showed the producer edging further into techno secularism. Marcel Dettmann unleashed his debut album to mixed reviews, some claiming it was too, err, Dettmann-ish, though it contained all of the precision and grit found on his impeccable twelve inch releases that helped define the Ostgut sound. The Ostgut compilations didn’t fail to impress either, with Scuba delivering an impeccable mix of the tracks that keep his Sub:Stance nights on a rolling boil, and Ben Klock giving us the restrained but masterful Berghain 04 mix. Ostgut even entered the cassette market with a retrospective of the tracks that made the club what it is mixed by Ryan Elliott. The jewel in their crown for 2010, though, was the recent Fünf compilation, which had almost every artist who has appeared on the label over the past five years devise an exclusive track based on field recordings made in the club after business hours. It pulls together the full scope of the club, from the frosty, bleek bang of Berghain to the more welcoming warmth of Panorama Bar, and I dare say if this was the only thing the label had released all year you may well still have found Ostgut Ton in this list.

Photo by Jurriaan Persyn
03. Honest Jon’s Records
True testament to just how worldly a world record label really is comes not by how many corners of the globe are represented but by the scope and diversity of that far flung music itself. Honest Jon’s, the modest record store and label based out of Portobello Road in London, long ago proved itself as an excelsior of the worldly groove, but in 2010 their sizeable contributions to the electronic arts helped push them into our top labels short-list. Glossing over the contributions that fleshed out their reggae and folk divisions, the reasons Honest Jon’s endeared themselves to LWE in 2010 came down to the crushingly dense sophomore album by Actress (Splaszh), which sounded like Theo Parrish and Moodymann meting out sonic abuse to swamp monsters from the year 3050. T++’s ultimate rumination of erudite, unblinkered breakbeat, Wireless was poignant not only for many being able to finally grasp the artist’s motives, but for the fact that it contained samples from the Honest Jon’s archives. The infectious, rubber-limbed, African stomp of Shangaan Electro was immediately arresting for its precipitate, marimba-led rhythms and coarse polish that proved to be one of the best cultural zeitgeist compilations in recent history. That’s not to mention the incredible live recording of the Moritz von Oswald Trio in New York (themselves a highlight on the label in 2009 with their debut album, Vertical Ascent) mixed down and recorded by Francois K, or the space-hopping madness of Actress’ Paint, Straw & Bubbles EP which featured the first incarnation of the incredible “Maze.”

02. Hessle Audio
The Hessle Audio imprint may only be three years old and sport 16 titles to their discography but when each release hits as hard as theirs do, that’s a lot of weight to be throwing around. Since 2007 Ramadanman, Ben UFO and Pangaea have been releasing some of the most advanced strains of bass music forged out of the worlds of dubstep and garage. This year the label delivered a bumper crop of goodness, with both Ramadanman and Pangaea themselves both putting out vital double twelves that only spelled the start of bigger things to come for their label. Even though he’d released the outstanding Air & Lack Thereof single on Hemlock mid-way through 2009, it was James Blake’s The Bell’s Sketch 12″ on Hessle Audio that truly opened up peoples ears to the gifted young producer. As they had done previously with TRG, Untold and Joe they also broke two new artists in the form of Blawan and Elgato, the latter who made a late rush to burst into year-end lists with the mighty “Blue.” As if this wasn’t enough Ramadanman even found time to sneak in one last disc under his Pearson Sound moniker after going off-piste all year with killer efforts for the likes of Aus Music, Hemlock and Swamp 81. All this heat and yet it feels like Hessle Audio are just warming up.

01. Rush Hour Recordings
Rush Hour, Dutch purveyor of fine electronic music for over ten years went on the charm offensive in 2010, scoring massive points among collectors by reissuing a staggering number of quality records, many of which not just filled in the want lists of many audiophiles but also introduced a large number to a selection of past classics they’d never heard before. Mandré, Boo Williams, Rick Wilhite and Virgo all got the reissue treatment; in the case of Mandré and Virgo, Rush Hour unearthed these long since unavailable classics, allowing many to hear their albums for the first time. Daniel Wang and Anthony Shakir also got special treatment by having their 2009 Rush Hour compilations broken down into EP or 12″ release, Shakir most recently also getting some of his classic tracks remixed by the modern day talents of Falty DL and Space Dimension Controller. Rush Hour also paved the way forward with stellar output from Falty DL, Cosmin TRG, Aardvarck, Nebraska, Hunee and Dexter all pointing to just why the imprint was such a vital part of electronic music in 2010.

[Hessle Audio]

It would be easy for the story of his label to overwhelm that of Elgato, when trying to make sense of the producer’s debut on the Leeds-cum-London dubstep powerhouse Hessle Audio. After all, the identity and back story of Elgato is being held close to the chest: all we know so far is that he’s had a longtime commitment to the London scene via the crew behind the Bruk blog. What’s more, even a cursory listen will reveal that this latest is just one more rabbit out of a hat for a label that has built its identity from a habit of outdoing each previous release with the next. But Hessle — which so far seems by far the most persuasive choice for label of the year, in a year when it’s set to release as much again as it has from 2007 to 2009 — inevitably fades into the background as soon as the needle drops onto Elgato’s tracks.

The B side, “Blue,” is the more prepossessing of the two tracks. It’s the more talked about so far, and is undeniably the deeper effort. A plundering bass organ settles deeply into a beat skeleton held aloft by a steady 124 bpm kick drum; its suppliant skank is counterpoised perfectly by a chopped, looped female vocal, “my dreams,” which snakes in and out of the track ensconced in puffs of sublimating synths. The sound design recalls in tone and texture Norma Jean Bell’s “Dreams.” A similar opiated, bass-weighted dreamscape aesthetic rules both. Where “Blue” really emerges into its own, however, is in the admirably subtle musical structure that guides its extraordinarily reduced components into an exponentially engrossing eight minutes, until they weigh on the mind like the shivering stammer suggested by the intensely looped vocal.

A side “Tonight,” however, is far too rich a dish to think of as an appetizer for the flip. The more I listen to “Blue”‘s more rustic counterpart, the more it becomes clear that diners at this platter had better be hungry enough for two dinners. “Tonight” is as spare, or more so, than “Blue,” and what begins pretending to be a dance floor shockout quickly frustrates this easy label, eventually settling into a mess of bubble and tweak. A thoughtful bass presence eventually takes over from the attention grabbing chords that begin the track; the participation of these low frequencies in the emotional language of the track would make James Blake or Mount Kimbie proud. In short: a superb effort worthy of every plaudit I can give, but even more so of immersing abandonment in front of the nearest big system where you can hear it.

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’ 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.