House Music Label Odyssey

I was born in the very last year of the 60’s and thus had the good fortune to live through three major evolutions of dance music. First came Disco in the mid to late 70’s and this was followed by synthesized dance music in the very early 80’s; the two would then combine and evolve in around 1983/84 to form the many flavours of House Music. I took dance lessons early - from around the age of 6, and after Saturday Night Fever, lived in the shadow of Tony Manero - I was that disco kid - I loved to dance, and above all I loved that dance music. To add to my good fortune, I started University in 1988 - the second summer of love, and the era of Acid House, orbital and warehouse raves. With university came DJ’ing - typically 3-4 slots a week for the next few years, and I started building my record collection for real.

 

Since I started amassing 12" records in ’88, the collection has grown to somewhere in the region of 10,000 currently - I frequently started the count, but never quite got to the end. Throughout these years, I have covered pretty much every sub-genre of House, from the noodliest jazziest deep house, through ravey breakbeats and the funkiest of vocal house to the hardest of techno. You may have read in one of my earlier blog posts that the new Apple Music update totally wiped all my iTunes / Music playlists and I had to build them all up again from scratch - all 350 of them. In fact much of this year has been taken up with building a variety of playlists, which is kind of what brought me around to doing this mammoth post. I though I would do a fairly quick overview of my collection - as much as a reference for me as for other fellow enthusiasts, and for those that are relatively new to House, or have a fairly superficial relationship to it so far, and would like a more solid grounding.

 

This is just the first draft really, and I expect it to be updated fairly frequently, I am pretty sure I must have overlooked something in all of this, even though I have kept on moving the goal-posts and adding more detail over this period of two weeks.

 

What we have here is a listing of the leading record labels that put out the various records I acquired, listed in order of significance to me - i.e. how many records / tracks from those labels do I have in my collection on a relative bar graph scale. Even though the majority of records I own are on UK labels, the concentration or number of releases per label, puts legendary Belgian House and Techno label R&S right at the top of the pile - I collected this almost religiously for all of those earliest years and have somewhere in the region of 200 releases on that label alone plus its subsidiaries. This is nearly double that of the next closest - Subliminal. So we have labels by importance and in the most concentration per country. I think it only fitting that USA - the home of Disco and House tops the list, followed by the UK, and then Belgium - largely on the merits of R&S, but more of that later. These last couple of years have seen a marked change in my own music consumption habits too, as I buy very few vinyl records nowadays, it’s nearly all electronic now - I really only get vinyl when I can’t get the music any other way.

 

Just a few provisos when reading this list - record labels are really quite incestuous in what they put out, and as many as 40 different ones will have released the same track, sometimes several sister labels within the same group. Licencing tracks is a big part of the dance music industry, and the truth is that most tracks you know on Positiva or Manifesto, or one of the many other major-label dance off-shoots started its life on one or more of the minors. I tried to bias my curation towards original tracks on the right / original labels, although this was not always possible, there is some very small degree of duplication / overlap - possibly 2 or 3 tracks here.

 

Where possible I have always given priority to original music on the original label and by as diverse number of artist as can be done. With so many super-producers / DJs running their own labels - these will obviously be saturated with own output. It is and was also quite common for labels to licence a track and add their own remix/es - and as any proper DJ knows, it’s the right version of the right remix that matters, this is a significant factor too, when some tracks can have as many as 100 different remixes, often re-edited a couple of years in a row - so the year of edit is important. On the question of originality and provenance, original recording take precedence too, such as the original Loletta Holloway sampling Black Box ’Ride on Time’ vs the re-cut, re-sung and re-processed Heather Small versions - if you have the release with the Massive, Epsom and Ascot Mixes, this is the inferior re-hashed version.

 

All in all there are currently 159 highlighted labels below with a total of around 480 recommended tracks.

 

Here is a brief guide to what you see below:

 

COUNTRY
-------
Label Name +{Occasional 4th track listed here!} (> arrow points away from Parent label to sub/s)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII = Significance Scale - approximate
[3 of my favourite tracks on said label - with abbreviated Remix > Rmx notations where relevant]

 

Note - no remix indicated means preference for original version, occasionally means there are several excellent versions of that track available.

 

My Top 10 Labels / country

1. R&S (Belgium)
2. Subliminal (USA)
3. Axtone (UK)
4. Oxyd (Italy)
5. Tribal (USA)
6. Twisted (USA)
7. Yoshitoshi (USA)
8. Junior Boy’s Own (UK)
9. Strictly Rhythm (USA)
10. Defected (UK)

 

By Country ...

 

 

USA

 

As I said in the intro - USA is the home of Disco and House, and the Home of the most successful label in the late 90’s - Subliminal. A lot of purists will argue that Strictly Rhtyhm should be top, I was too busy following R&S when Strictly was at its peak, and luckily a number of key Strictly tracks made it onto R&S - none more important than Phuture’s - Rise From Your Grave (video below). I would also say that Strictly Rhythm was often guilty of simply swamping the market with too many releases, and too many of indifferent quality. When it comes to quality, I am a massive Danny Tenaglia, Deep Dish and Club 69 / Peter Rauhofer fan - which explains the next 3 labels in the list - Tribal, Twisted and Yoshitoshi. Strictly requires no further explanation, nor does Henry Street - which was slightly more disco-house but largely up to similar things. There’s a smattering of techno here too, with the emphasis on ’Jacking’ - I really loved Relief Records when they were at their peak - all tracks listed are my personal favourites, many are considered all-time classics by most, but there is also a smattering of more left-field choices. As a dancing DJ, my mind is always on total dancefloor devastation ... in terms of fuelling the dance and keeping things interesting and rhythm-centric. Too many DJs currently out there can’t really dance, and can’t properly feel the groove ...

 

 

Subliminal (> Subliminal Soul : Subliminal Subsonic : SubUSA : Bambossa : Groovilicious)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Constipated Monkeys - Cro Magnon (What About Love?) | Kid Creme - Austin’s Groove | Herd & Fitz - I Just Can’t Get Enough]

 

Tribal America (< Twisted America Records)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Liberty City - If You Really Love Someone | Underground Sound of Lisbon - So Get Up (DT Rmx) | E-N - The Horn Ride (DT Rmx) ]

 

Twisted America (> Tribal America)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Funky Green Dogs - Fired Up! (Cl69 Rmx) | NYLX - Goosebumps (JV Rmx) | Danny Tenaglia - Music Is The Answer (DD Rmx)]

 

Yoshitoshi (> Shinichi : Yo!)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Alcatraz - Giv Me Luv | Eddie Amador - House Music | Brother Brown - Under the Water (DD Rmx)]

 

Strictly Rhythm
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Logic - The Warning | Photon Inc - Generate Power | Phuture - Rise From Your Grave]

 

Henry Street (> Muggsy Records)

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[The Bucketheads - The Bomb! | Armand Van Helden - The Funk Phenomena (DH Rmx) | Norty Cotto - Let It Out]

 

Sondos (< Subliminal)
IIIIIIIIII
[HCCR - Suck My Clock | Richard F - Cookie Dough Dynamo | Antranig & Pons - Do It To Me]

 

Relief Records (< Cajual Records)
IIIIIIIIII
[Green Velvet - Flash (DT Rmx) | DJ Sneak - The Lights Part I | DJ Rush - Show Me A Man]

 

Trax (> Maad)
IIIIIIIIII
[Frankie Knuckles - Your Love | Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body | Phuture - Acid Tracks]

 

Nervous Records +{Kim English - Natural High}
IIIIIIIIII
[Masters At Work Present Nu Yorican Soul ‎– The Nervous Track | Winx ‎– Don’t Laugh | Byron Stingily ‎– Get Up]

 

Nu Groove +{Lost Entity - Annihilate (L.E.S Mx)}
IIIIIIIIII
[Bäs Noir ‎– My Love Is Magic | Aphrodisiac ‎– Song Of The Siren | Tech Trax Inc. ‎– Tech Trax Inc.]

 

Nite Grooves
IIIIIIIIII
[Level 9 - Don’t Stop | Urban Soul - My Urban Soul (C69 UMx) | Ananda Project - Cascades of Colour (DT ESMx)]

 

KMS (> Transfusion)
IIIIIIIIII
[Inner City - Big Fun | Reese / Santonio - Rock To The Beat | E-Dancer - Grab The Beat (JB Rmx)]

 

King Street Sounds
IIIIIIIIII
[Mood II Swing - Closer (STM Db) | Dennis Ferrer - Underground Is My Home | Less Hate + Valentina Black + Grace Ashaye - Oxygen]

 

Underground Resistance (> Red Planet)
IIIIIIIIII
[UR - Electronic Warfare | Aztec Mystic - Knights of the Jaguar | Galaxy 2 Galaxy - High Tech Jazz]

 

Sleeping Bag Records
IIIII
[Dinosaur L - Go Bang! | Joyce Sims - All and All (UK Rmx) | Kariya - Let Me Love You For Tonight (Hse CMx)]

 

Easy Street Records
IIIII
[Adeva - In and Out of My Life | Joanna Law - First Time Ever (12" Bpy Mx) | Pandella - This Way That Way]

 

Objektivity
IIIII
[The Martinez Brothers - My Rendition | Dennis Ferrer - Hey Hey | Ane Brun - To Let Myself Go (DF Rmx)]

 

Made
IIIII
[iiO - Rapture (DD Rmx) | iiO - At The End (S&LH Rmx) | iiO - Smooth (P&D Rmx)]

 

Eightball Records
IIIII

[Joi Cardwell - Jump For Joi (Mln Mx) | Joi Cardwell - Soul To Bare (Hni Mx) | Joi Cardwell - Run To You (EvD Mx)]

 

 

Also considered - 4 Play Records, 83 West, 430 West, Addictive Records, Aquarius Recordings, Armed Records, Astralwerks, A Touch of Class, AV8, Axis, Basement Boys Records, Bassline Records, Big Beat, Cajual, Catch 22, Classic, Cutting Records / Trax, Dancefloor, Dance Mania, Deep Dish Records, Defender, Definity Records, Dim Mak, Dirtybird, Distant Music, DJ International, Dopwewax, Doubledown Recordings, Easy Street, Electrik Soul, Emotive, Emperor Norton, Environ, F-111, Filtered Records, Fools Gold, Fourth / 4th Floor, Freeze Records : TNT, FXHE, Gherkin, G-High, Gossip, Guidance, Hot ’N’ Spicy, Ibadan, Industrial Stremgth Records, Influence, International House Records, Juicy Music, Kidology, Kult Records, Large Records, Mad Decent, Madhouse, MAW Records, Maxi Records, Metroplex, Micmac Records, Mixology Recordings, Moody Recordinsg, Murk Records, Naked Music, Narcotic, Nettwerk, Nite Grooves, Om Records, Organized Music, Ovum, Pandamonium, Planet E, Power Music, Powertraxx, Purpose Maker, Quark Records, Red Planet, Retroactive, Serious Grooves, Shelter, Siesta Music, Soufuric Recordings / Trax, Star 69 / *69, Stealth, Stickman Records, Submerge, Tango Recordings : Nightshift, Tommy Boy Silver, Transmat, Ubiquity, Ultra Records, Ündo Music, Vendetta Records, Vicous Muzik Records, Waako, Warehouse Records, Wave, West End, Westside Records, Yellorange, ZoëMagik Records

 

 

UK

 

The majority of my collection consists of UK-based labels, but it’s spread over a hundred or more. It is kind of ironic that two of the more significant labels here - Axtone and Pryda could by rights be considered Swedish, but they are actually based right here in the UK. In terms of pure-bred UK labels, none has more pedigree over all these years than Junior Boy’s Own - which I still collect to a degree all these years later. Defected has nicely morphed into the UK’s biggest proper dance label - becoming a sort of UK version of Strictly Rhythm. I also have a lot of respect for anything that Basement Jaxx touch, the early bleepy masterpieces from Warp and enduring classics on XL, Deconstruction and Champion. There is also a shift towards more digital music here, with Axtone Records, Pryda and Sleazy Deep all being good examples of that. Within the UK overview is most likely also the last significantly vinyl label I will ever collect - Hot Creations, from which I have amassed some 20+ releases by now in that old traditional vinyl format. Unfortunately vinyl puts a serious tax on space - digital is simply more transportable, stowable and versatile - and the vast majority of listening I do these days is via iPhone and on Headphones. There are a couple of significant rave labels name-checked here too - Vinyl Solutions and Shut Up and Dance - to touch on that very important part of UK House Music heritage.

 

 

Axtone Records
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Axwell - Heart is King | Michael Calfan - Resurrection (Ax Mx) | Ivan Gough - In My Mind (Ax Mx)]

 

Junior Boy’s Own : JBO : Jus’ Trax (< Boy’s Own Recordings)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Outrage - That Piano Track | X-Press 2 - Music Xpress | Underworld - Born Slippy]

 

Defected (> 4th Floor Records : Azuli : Fluential : Shifted Music : Soul Heaven)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Roger Sanchez - Another Chance | Kings of Tomorrow - Finally | Fish Go Deep - Cure and the Cause (DF Rmx)]

 

Atlantic Jaxx
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Basement Jaxx - Fly Life | Corrina Joseph - Lonely | House Breakerz - Pay My Dues (Hlg Db)]

 

Warp (> Arcola : Nucleus)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Forgemasters - Track With No Name | LFO - LFO | Coco Steel & Lovebomb - Dub It]

 

XL (> Ore Music)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Flowmasters - Let It Take Control (Hb Mx) | Subliminal Aurra - No Stoppin’ | Prodigy - No Good (Start The Dance)]

 

Deconstruction (> Concrete)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Annette - Dream 17 | Marina Van-Rooy - Sly One | Felix - Don’t You Want Me]

 

Champion
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Raze - Break 4 Love | Robin S - Show Me Love (Sb Rmx) | Sandy B - Make The World Go Round (DD Rmx)]

 

Pryda Recordings (> Pryda Friends)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Eric Prydz - Miami to Atlanta / Animal | Eric Prydz - Lift | Eric Prydz - Liberate]

 

Hot Creations (> Hot Natured : Hot Waves : Hottrax)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Funky Fat & Digitaria - You Bring Me Down | Miguel Campbell - Something Special | Waff - Jo Johnson]

 

Southern Fried
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Mighty Dub Kats - Magic Carpet Ride | Kurtis Mantronik - How Did You Know | Space Cowboy - Crazy Talk (P&N Rmx)]

 

Skint
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Midfield General ‎– Devil In Sports Casuals | Fatboy Slim ‎– Right Here, Right Now (Fm Rmx) | X-Press 2 - Lazy]

 

Perfecto
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Izit - Stories | Robert Owens - I’ll Be Your Friend | Grace - Not Over Yet]

 

Hed Kandi (< Ministry of Sound s2009)
IIIIIIIIII
[Stonebridge - Put ’Em High (JJ Mx) | Late Night Alumni - Empty Streets (H&E Rmx) | Ricki-Lee - U Wanna Little Of This (AP Rmx)]

 

Cheeky
IIIIIIIIII
[O.T. Quarted - Hold That Sucker Down (BLS Mx) | Rollo Goes Mystic - Love, Love, Love - Here I Come (Wk Mx) | Beginerz - Reckless Girl]

 

Dubsided
IIIIIIIIII
[Induceve - How Y’All Funk | Switch - A Bit Patchy | Herve - What You Need The Most]

 

Vinyl Solution (> D.C. Recordings)
IIIIIIIIII
[Bizarre Inc - Playing with Knives (Qd Mx) | Eon - Spice | Secret Desire - White Light]

 

Sleazy Deep (> Sleazy G)
IIIIIIIIII
[Kant - Love Like This | Nolan feat. Amber Jolene - Caught Up | Rob Made - The Boss]

 

Shut Up and Dance
IIIIIIIIII
[The Ragga Twins - Hooligan 69 (Org) | Nicolette - School of the World | Codine - Dream Sequence / Heaven & Hell]

 

Incentive
IIIII
[Joey Negro - Must Be The Music | KMC feat. Dhany - I Feel So Fine | Krystal K - Let’s Get It Right]

 

Lowered Recordings
IIIII
[Jules Spinner - Rollin’ On | Dennis The Menace & Jerry Ropero vs Francesco Diaz - Time To Turn Around | DJ Kuffar - I Saw Your Smile]

 

Also considered - 3 Beat : Boss, 10, 20:20 Vision, 23rd Precinct, Absolution, Additive, Afro Art, Airtight, Alternative Route Recordings, AM:PM, Anjunabeats, Apollo Recordings, Audio Deluxe, Azuli, Back 2 Basics, Back Yard Recordings, BBE, Bedrock, Big Life, Big Love, Black Sunshine Productions, Blunted, Bosting, Breastfed, Breakout, Bush, City Rockers, Cleveland City, Cooltempo, Cowboy, Cream, Credence : CR2, Critical Mass, Crosstown Rebels, Dark Records, Data, D.C. Recordings, Debut, Deep Distraxion, Desire, Destined Records, Different Drummer, Diffusion, Direction Records, Disorient, Distinct’ive, D-Zone, Eastern Bloc, EastWest, Edge Records, Effective, Eglo Records, Escapade, Essence, Estereo, Eton Messy, Eye Industries, Fabric, Factory Records, Feverpitch, FFRR : Ffrreedom, Fluential, Free2air, Freerange, Freetown Inc, Glasgow Underground, Global UNderground, Glow, Go! Beat, Gorgeous, Guerilla, Gut Records / Gusto, Hard Hands, Heat Recordings, Heavenly, Hi Life, Hooj Choons, Illustrious, Incentive, Independiente, Inferno, Ink Records, Intec, Jack Trax, J:Funk, Jumpin’ & Pumpin’, Junk Dog Records, Kickin’ Records, Kingsize, Leftroom, Limbo, Loaded, Lo Recordings, Manifesto, Milk n 2 Sugars, Modena Records, Mondo Records., MOS, Mouseville, Multiply, Mr Bongo, Music For Freaks, Mutants Records, Mute : NovaMute, Network Records, Nice ’n’ Ripe, Ninja Tune, NRK, Nocturnal Groove, Nuphonic, Oh’Zone Records, Olympic Recordings, Open, Oven Ready, Ouch!, Outer Rhythm : Rhythm King, Pacha Recordings, Paper Recordings : Repap, Passion, Peacefrog, Phela, Phonetic Recordings, Phono, Positiva, Production House, Prolekult, Prolifica, React, Real 2 Real Productions, Reinforced Records, Rekids, Renaissance, Rephlex, Reverb, Rising High Records, Rising Music, Rulin Records, Rumour, Sabres of Paradise, Serious Records, Shaboom, Sharp, Shut Up And Dance Records, Skam, Skint, Skunk, Skyline, Slip ’n’ Slide, Smi:)e Communictation, Soma : Fenetik, Sole Music : Tronicsole, Soul Jazz, Spirit Recordings, Stress, Subversive, Swing City, Talkin’ Loud, Tam Tam Records, Tomato, Toolroom : Trax, Transworld, Underwater, VC Recordings, Vivatonal, Volante, Wall of Sound, Westside Records, Whoop!, Wonderboy, Xtravaganza, X:treme, XVX, Young Turks, Zoom, Z Records

 

 

BELGIUM

 

There is no better introduction to R&S than the 3 tracks listed below, never has techno sounded this alive and dynamic before or since. The scale of innovation with sounds and textures has never been bettered over the 5 or so years that R&S was at its absolute peak. Props also to the other Belgian Rave Era labels which gave me so much pleasure throughout those years - Music Man, Beat Box, Hit House, Dance Opera, Big Time International and Trance Mission. A final mention to Eskimo Records too - more on the nu-disco side of the house spectrum, but holding sway with still fairly regular influential releases.

 

 

R&S (> Apollo : Global Cuts : TZ)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Joey Beltram - Energy Flash | Outlander - Vamp | CJ Bolland - Horsepower]

 

Eskimo Recordings (< N.E.W.S.)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Aeroplane - Whispers | Downtown Party Network - Days Like These | Brynjolfur - I Love You]

 

Music Man Records (< N.E.W.S.)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Rhythm Device - Acid Rock | Liaisons D - Future F.J.P. | Frank De Wulf - The Tape]

 

Beat Box International (< Antler-Subway)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Miss Lie - Claustrophobia | Trance Trax - AUW | Praga Khan - Rave Alarm]

 

Hithouse Records (< ARS Productions)
IIIIIIIIII
[Holy Noise - Get Down Everybody / The Noise | Problem House - Dayner Overload | Mainx - Liz Goes House]

 

Dance Opera (< Antler-Subway)
IIIIIIIIII
[Little Little - Just The Way / Locked in Love | Hypp & Krimson - Desperanza | Ravebusters - Mitrax]

 

Big Time International
IIIIIIIIII
[Cubic 22 - Night in Motion | Set Up System - Fairy Dust | Circus of Sphere - Spiral Up]

 

Trance Mission
IIIII
[Digital Orgasm - Moog Eruption | MNO - God of Abraham | Zero Gravity - Sensorium]

 

ARS Productions (> Hithouse : Streetbeats)
IIIII
[The Mixmaster - Grand Piano | Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam | Quadrophonia - Quadrophonia]

 

Who’s That Beat (< PIAS)
IIIII
[T99 - Anasthasia | Sequencial - Psychotronic | Jarvic 7 - The Prototype]

 

Buzz (< Indisc)
IIIII
[Mental Cube - Q | Overnite - Pure Climax (Part I) | D.I.D. ‎– Alcyone]

 

Also considered - 541, Antler-Subway : Round And Round ; Sixth Sense, Arcade : Mostiko, Decadance Records, DiKi Records, Hi-Phen Music, Legato Records,Mackenzie Records, MG Records, Mikki House : Two Thumbs, Mouse Music, Noise Traxx, PIAS : Different, USA Import Music : Atom Communications : Natural Born Grooves, Roadrunner Arcade Music, We Play House, Wonka Beats

 

 

ITALY

 

I’m a huge fan of both Italo Disco and Italo House, just as well then that ’Oxyd’ is my 4th most significant label, I loved so many of their releases for so many years - the 3 tracks listed below are a great soundboard for the varied output of said label. Most of the labels and records listed below are very much of the typically sunny, melodic, disco-sampling and laced with piano and endorphine-hooksey sort of stuff best associated with Italo House. The one exception is leading Deep House label ’Rebirth’ whose quality of output is just outstandingly high, if you want to experience some of the best they have to offer check out last year’s album ’Psych’ by Freaks.

 

 

Oxyd (< Time S.p.A.)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Dr Kucho! - Bel Mondo Rulez 2.0 (BS Rmx) | Massive Lust - Never | Beginerz - Doin’ Me Wrong]

 

Discomagic (> Italian Boy : Magic Service : Paradise Project : Ra-Re Productions : Wildflower)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Starlight - Numero Uno | K-Tronics Ensemble - House of Calypso | FPI Project - Rich in Paradise]

 

DFC (< Expanded Music)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Sueño Latino - Sueño Latino | Ramirez - ¡Hablando! | Glam - Hell’s Party]

 

X-Energy (< Energy Production)
IIIIIIIIII
[The Strings of Love - Nothing Has Been Proved | Dilemma - In Spirit | Double Sense - You Make Me Feel (FDW Rmx)]

 

Italian Style Productions (< Time S.p.A.)
IIIIIIIIII
[Dirty Mind - The Killer | Synthesis - Walking Away | Jinny - Keep Warm]

 

UMM (< Media)
IIIIIIIIII
[Alex Party - Alex Party (Read My Lips) | L.W.S. - Gosp (BD Rmx) | Olga - I’m a Bitch (WW Mx)]

 

Rebirth
IIIIIIIIII
[And If - Finest Dreams (SS Db) | A:xus ‎– Suite Disappointment (PH Mx) | Pirupa feat Baz - Clarity Of Love]

 

Irma (> Calypso Records : Onizom Music : Trance Records)
IIIIIIIIII
[Soft House company - What You Need | Double Dee - Found Love | Nikita Warren - I Need You]

 

Groove Groove Melody (< Discomagic)
IIIIIIIIII
[Black Box - Ride on Time | Black Box - I Don’t Know Anybody Else | Black Box - Positive Vibration]

 

Flying Records
IIIIIIIIII
[Kwanza Posse - Wicked Funk | Digital Boy - Gimme A Fat Beat | Funk Machine - N.O.I.D.]

 

Bustin’ Loose
IIIIIIIIII
[Charlie Dore - Time Goes By | Karen Ramirez - Troubled Girl | Planet Funk - The Switch (KU Rmx)]

 

Media Records (> Whole Records : Team Records)
IIIII
[Capella - Helyom Halib | 49ers - Touch Me | Mimmo Mix - My Way]

 

Out (< Discomagic)
IIIII
[Wood Allen - Airport ’89 | Last Rhythm - Last Rhythm | Hi-Liner - Gimme Love]

 

Hi-Tech (< Discomagic)
IIIII
[E.S.G. ‎– Electric Sound Generator | Arkanoid - Limit (IFE Mx) | Electric Choc ‎– Shock The Beat (Q Mx)]

 

Beat Club / W [’dvblju(:)] Records (< Musicola)
IIIII
[A.S.H.A. - J.J. Tribute | The Redmen - You’re My Way | Data Bass - A Piano in the Night]

 

Line Music (< Time S.p.A.)
IIIII
[Beba Sheen - I Need To Talk To You | Volume - Passion | Silvia Coleman - Into the Night (Taira Taira)]

 

Also considered - 303Lovers, Airplane Records, Deeperfect, Dig It International, Do It Yourself Entertainment, Downtown, D:vision, Ego Music, Glitter, Many Edizioni, Mighty Quinn, Motivo Productions, Movimento, Net’s Work International, New Music International, Nitelite Records, Ocean Trax, Outta Records, Palmares, PLM Productions, Rise, Serious Beats, Sound Division, Tambour, Test Records, Time, Top Secret, Urban Vibes, Yo Productions, Who’s Di Selecta?, Wicked & Wild Records

 

 

HOLLAND

 

Holland for me is mostly about René ter Horst & Gaston Steenkist - you may know them as René et Gaston, Zki & Dobre, Jark Prongo, The Goodmen, or their latest incarnation ’Chocolate Puma’ - I have followed these guys since their earliest releases, and even though they miss-step every now and again, their continued innovation through a variety of styles and knack as dancefloor technicians is almost without parallel. Also to note that Mr Movin’ Melodies - Patrick Prins’s two best known tracks did not appear on his own label - listed as +tracks below. There is a magic ingredient to certain Dutch House releases where there is definitely a kind of Dutch House sound ingredient, but it is very difficult to isolate its constituent parts. Props also to Olav Basoski - once the hardest working man in house music, as well as criminally underrated and Dada cover-illustrated Spiritual and Outland records.

 

 

Fresh Fruit Records : Psst Music : JP Records : MT Air (René ter Horst & Gaston Steenkist) (< Rhythm Import Records)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[The Goodmen - Give it Up | Fresh Tunes #1 - Do You Know What I Mean? | Klatsch - God Save the Queer!]

 

Work Records
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Unit 46 - Good Inside (OB Rmx) | Pancake - Let You Go | DJ Antoine - Do It (HN Rmx)]

 

Spiritual (< Outland)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Jaimy & Con-An - Melody of Bells (Vcl Mx) | Luvspunge - Didn’t I Give You Love | Kasjmir - Jezebel]

 

Lower East Side Records
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Fierce Ruling Diva - Rubb It In | Frequency - Where Is Your Evidence? | Pallas - Ulysses Horizons]

 

Outland (> Spiritual)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Dimitry & Jaimy - Brazil 2000 | Key to Life - Forever (BC Db) | Deep Zone - Lift Your Hands Up (DJG Mx)]

 

Bordello A Parigi
IIIIIIIIII
[Martin Duvall - All Night | Machinegewehr - Carradine | Irregular Disco Worker feat. Hard Ton - Dimmi Di Si]

 

Movin’ Melodies +{Le Voie Le Soleil, La Luna}
IIIIIII
[Eating Habits - That’s Quite Meaty | Anethum - Silence is a Rhythm Too | Patrick Prins - Bailando Guitarra]

 

Go Bang! (> ESP Records)
IIIII
[D. Shake - Yaaaaaaaaaah / Techno Trance | G.T.O. - Pure | Turntable Hype - I’ll Base You]

 

ESP Records (< Go Bang!)
IIIII
[Format - Solid Session | Energy Storm - Energy Flow (Part II) | The R - Happy (Push Ya Body 2 Da Limit)]

 

Pegasus
IIIII
[PG1 - Keep Hot / Jazz Energy | Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall | Discomaniacs - 1979]

 

Dirty Soul
IIIII
[Martijn Ten Velden ‎– I Wish U Would | Damien Strong ‎– Flashback | Jody Wisternoff ‎– Starstrings]

 

Rhythm Import Records (> Fresh Fruit : Rhythm Records)
IIIII
[Tony Scott - That’s How I’m Living | Sil - Windows | 6 Bells All - Me The Mailman]

 

Flamingo Recordings
IIIII
[Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit | Camille Jones - The Creeps (FLG Rmx) | Ida Corr - Let Me Think About It (FLG Rmx)

 

Big & Dirty (< Be Yourself Music)
IIIII
[Ricky Rivaro - Beat Inside | Benjamin Bates - Two Flies | Dada Life - Cash In Drop Out]

 

Also considered - 100% Pure, Armada, Clone, Clubstitute Records, Crème Organization, Cyber Records, Deal Records, Delsin, Djax : Djax-Up-Beats, EC Records, Little Mountain Recordings, Material Series, Prime, Rams Horn : Street Dance, Rootz Records, Rush Hour, See Saw, Songbird, Spinnin’, Tink!, Torso, Touché, Urban Sound Of Amsterdam, X-Trax

 

GERMANY

 

Many will be surprised that Germany - with all its labels does not feature higher in the table, and more will be surprised to see Sharam Jey’s mostly digital label in the top slot. On the first part, I feel that Italy and Holland have been more significant in their influence to me, as by and large they typically contain more ’funk’ - which by happy coincidence is why Tiger Bunny has ended up in the top slot. I have only been collecting Tiger Bunny for a few years, but have amassed 50 or so releases already - there was an incredibly high quality on so many of the early releases - starting to slow down now though. This is the case with every label - they have their ’golden era’ sometimes just a few months to a year, there are very few labels that continue turning out the goods solidly without some sort of miss-step for a decade or more. Get Physical is one of those truly great labels, whose output has been high for long, most of the other lower-level ones have suffered with creativity in latter years. There is great variety here, and not so much of the minimalist / Teutonic / Berghain Techno which most associate with Germany.

 

 

Bunny Tiger
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Sharam Jey - The Time | Sharam Jey + Kolombo - Nonstop! | Sharam Jey + Night Talk - Gonna Get You]

 

Get Physical Music
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[DJ T. - Philly | Voltique - Be Loud | Chelonis R. Jones - I Don’t Know? (CC Rmx)]

 

International Deejay Gigolo
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Christopher Just - I’m A Disco Dancer (And A Sweet Romancer) | Chris Korda ‎– Save The Planet, Kill Yourself | Play Paul - Love Song]

 

Pickadoll (< Plantage 13)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Dada Life ‎– The Great Fashionista Swindle | Özgür Can ‎– 84 Shots | Ida Engberg ‎– Disco Volante]

 

Force Tracks (< Force Inc Music Works)
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Luomo - Tessio | MRI - Disco Discovery | D:Exter ‎– Things Have Changed (Aj Rmx)]

 

Peppermint Jam
IIIIIIIIII
[Boris Dlugosch presents Booom! ‎– Keep Pushin’ | Mousse T. - Horny | Mousse T. - Is It ’Cos I’m Cool (SD Rmx)]

 

Permanent Vacation
IIIIIIIIII
[Azari & III - Reckless (With Your Love) | Tensnake - Coma Cat | Róisín Murphy ‎– Simulation]

 

Playhouse
IIIII
[Isolée ‎– Beau Mot Plage (FF Rfm) | Spektrum - Kinda New (Tz Rmx) | Recloose - Cardiology (Is Mx)]

 

Milk & Sugar Recordings
IIIII
[Tim Deluxe - It Just Won’t Do (M&S Rmx) | M&S pres. MS2 - Stay Around | Steve Lawler - That Sound (M&S Rmx)*]

 

Force Inc Music Works (> Force Tracks)
IIIII
[Exit 100 - Metamorph | Ian Pooley - Chord Memory (DP Rmx) | D.J. Tonka - Flashback]

 

Plastic City
IIIII
[Desert Storm - Desert Storms (P&D Rmx) | Soundcraft - The Movement, The Message | Future Funk ‎– Black Classical Music]

 

Innervisions
IIIII
[Âme ‎– Rej | Château Flight ‎– Baroque | Ten Walls - Gotham]

 

Gomma (> Gomma Dance Tracks : Toy Tonics)
IIIII
[Headman - It Rough | Severino Horse Meat Disco - Bounce | Gomma All Stars - Maniac]

 

Harthouse (< Eye Q Records)
IIIII
[Spicelab - Placebo | Marco Zaffarano - MZ5 | Futurhythm - Butoh]

 

ZYX
IIIII
[Force Legato - System V1_0 | Liberation - Liberation | KMC feat. Dhany - Get Better]

 

Dance Street
IIIII
[Bass Bumpers - Can’t Stop Dancing | E-Trax - Let’s Rock | Fierce Ruling Diva - A Great Man Once Said]

 

Suck Me Plasma (< Music Research)
IIIII
[Dance 2 Trance - Hello San Francisco | Nautilus - Terror / Brain Death | Komakino - Frogs in Space]

 

Superstition
IIIII
[Mind Abuse - The Dance | Jens - Loops & Tings / Psycho Strings | Marmion - T-Dancer]

 

Low Spirit Recordings +{Playboy ‎– A Paco Di Bango’s World}
IIIII
[WestBam - Monkey Say Monkey Do | L.U.P.O - Hell or Heaven | Marusha - Rave Channel]

 

Logic
IIIII
[Snap! - The Power (JF Rmx) | Random Access - Interceptor | The Odd Company - We Are Experienced]

 

Also considered - Abfahrt Records, Alphabet City, Blow Up, Blu Fin, Boysnoize Records, BPitch Control, Caballero Recordings, Casa Rosso, Clubland, Clubstar, Club Tools, Cocoon Recordings, Disko B, Coconut, Compost : Compose : CJR, Dessous, Discomania : DMD, Electribe, Euphonic, Eye Q, Gomma, Great Stuff Recordings : Swings, K7, Kingdom Kome Kuts, Klang Electronik, Kling Klang, Kompakt : Extra, Kontor : Club Tools, Kosmo Records, Ladomat 2000, Midnight Groove, Mille Plateaux, Moonbootique, Musica Diaz Senorita / Toro, Mutekki, Noom Records, Osgut Ton, Overdrive, Poker Flat Recordings, Real Groove, ~scape, Sonar Kollektiv, Souvenir, Stereo Deluxe, Studio !K7, Superfly, Systematic, Techno Drome International, Tiger Records, Tresor, Unlimited Sounds, Urban, Vandit

 

 

FRANCE

 

Again some will question why France is not higher, one of the key reasons is that French favourites Daft Punk release most of their output on major label Virgin. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s and Thomas Bangalter’s own labels - Crydamoure and Roulé respectively, have never been particularly prolific. Which leaves Ed Banger and Kitsuné as the most globally influential French labels, split in the rankings by one of my own personal favourites, smaller independent Versatile - home of i:cube and Chateau Flight. I also have a lot of time for Christophe Le Friant’s (Bob Sinclar) label Yellow Productions, and its amazing high quality off-shoot Africanism All Stars. French house is known for a particular style of cut-up-disco-inflected-funk, pioneered by such stalwarts as the aforementioned Daft Punk. Motorbass and Martin Solveig and continued by newcomers like Madeon.

 

 

Ed Banger Records
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Justice vs Simian - Never Be Alone | DJ Mehdi - Signatune (TB Edt) | DJ Mehdi - Pocket Piano (Jk Rmx)]

 

Versatile Records
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
(Cheek ‎– Venus (Sunshine People) | i:Cube ‎– Disco Cubizm (DP Mx) | Joakim ‎– Come Into My Kitchen]

 

Kitsuné Music
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[DJ Gregory - Attend | Digitalism ‎– Zdarlight | Beni - My love sees you]

 

Africanism All Stars (< Yellow Productions)

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Africanism + DJ Gregory - Tourment D’Amour | Africanism + Cerrone - Love Is The Answer | Africanism + Martin Solveig - Heartbeat]

 

F Communications
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[St Germain ‎– Alabama Blues | Jii Hoo ‎– Let Me Luv U | Mr. Oizo ‎– Flat Beat]

 

Yellow Productions (> Faya Combo : Africanism All Stars)
IIIIIIIIII
[Shazz - Back In Manhattan | Salomé De Bahia ‎– Outro Lugar | Bob Sinclar & Steve Edwards - Together (ET Rmx)]

 

Roulé
IIIIIIIIII
[Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You | Thomas Bangalter ‎– Ventura | Roy Davis Jr - Rock Shock (TB Mx)]

 

Vulture
IIIIIIIIII
[Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Intro ‎| Lifelike & Chris Menace - Discopolis (CL Rmx) | Lifelike - Sequencer]

 

Work It Baby!
IIIIIIIIII
[Patrick Alavi - Power | Menace & Adam ‎– Missile Test (FF Rmx) | Jaunt - Evolver]

 

Crydamoure
IIIIIIIIII
[Play Paul ‎– Spaced Out | Sedat ‎– The Turkish Avenger | Le Knight Club - Rhumba]

 

Different (France)
IIIIIIIIII
[Motorbass - Ezio / Les Ondes | Etienne De Crecy - Punk | Lifelike ‎– So Electric]

 

Source / Lab
IIIIIIIIII
[Air - Casanova 70 | Playgroup - Make It Happen | Demon vs. Heartbreaker - You Are My High*]

 

Mixture Stereophonic
IIIIIIIIII
[Martin Solveig - Rocking Music | Martin Solveig - I Want You | Martin Solveig - Something Better]

 

Royal Flush (< Cyber Productions)
IIIII
[Major Boys - Back Again | Sébastien Léger ‎– Hypnotized | Prax Paris ‎– Running Up That Hill]

 

We Rock
IIIII
[Aloud - Track Lifting | Raw Man - Back to the Future | Raw Man - Beautiful]

 

Kif Recordings
IIIII
[Trouble Men ‎– Do It | Fudge - Ponta Negra | Jay Shah B - Canalism]

 

KLR
IIIII
[Franck Keller Jr. - Vegas | Bel Amour - Bel Amour | Shaï ‎– The Best Of Your Life]

 

Serial Records
IIIII
[Didier Sinclair ‎– Lovely Flight | D’Julz ‎– Reversal Luv (Pl Mx) | Serial Crew - Need U]

 

Also considered - 20000st, Ambassade Records, Big Mix, Bio Records, Disques Solid, Disques Vogue, Distance, Electron Records, Feel The Rhythm, Fnac Music, Full House, Happy Music, Hypnotic Music, More Vinyl, On The BEat, Paradise Records, Poumtchak, Pro-Zak Trax, Pschent, Small, Scorpio Music, Wagram Music, ULM Electro

 

 

SWEDEN

 

Even if we included Axtone and Pryda here (UK-based labels),  Sweden would not go above France in the listings, but the influence of those two is sorely missed in the following list - largely a certain type of club house, with obvious exceptions in the more techno and deep house based - Svek and Drumcode labels. Swedish House Mafia put out most of their releases on Virgin too - possibly taking a leaf out of Daft Punk’s playbook. There are also a number of DJ / producer / artist owned labels here. And while Avicii’s sensibilities are still a little too tuned into the mainstream for my liking, I really liked his proper name ’Bromance’ early release (as Tim Bergling), and the more dancefloor-oriented sounds of some of the ’I Could Be The One’ mixes. It saddens me a little to see the remaining 2/3rds of SHM heading in a more poppy direction. Swede’s have always had a knack with writing hooks though ... just check in on Max Martin for evidence ...

 

 

Size Records
IIIIIIIIII
Steve Angello - Voices (EP Rmx) | Who’s Who? - Sexy F**k (LL Rmx) | AN21& Max Vangeli feat. Julie Knight - Bombs Over Capitals]

 

Svek
IIIIIIIIII
[Forme - Pulse | Brommage Dub ‎– Funky Badja (AB Rmx) | Brommage Dub - Dub One]

 

Joia (> Nero)
IIIIIIIIII
[Eric Prydz feat. Adeva - In & Out | Steve Lawler - That Sound (M&S Rmx) | Sheridan - Flycker]

 

Nero (< Joia)
IIIIIIIIII
[Axwell - Feel The Vibe | Jerry Ropero + Michael Simon + Kathy Brown - Ocean Drums (MD Rmx) | John Dahlback - Hustle Up]

 

Konichiwa Records
IIIIIIIIII
[Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat | Christian Falk feat. Robyn - Dream On | Robyn & La Bagatelle Magique feat. Maluca - Love Is Free]

 

Drumcode (< Truesoul)
IIIII
[Adam Beyer - Remainings III (DK Rmx1) | Maru - Part 1 (TVH Rmx) | Hardcell - Emmin]

 

Refune
IIIII
[Arcade Mode - Your Love | Steve Angello & Sebastian Ingrosso - Yo Yo Kidz (FPU Rmx) | Laidback Luke - Start Me Up]

 

Stoney Boy Music
IIIII
[StoneBridge - SOS (SH Rmx) | Jill Jones vs Funky Junction - Someone To Jump Up (Ww Rmx) | Music Inc - Throw Yo Head Up]

 

So Much Dada
IIIII
[Dada Life - Vode Yes | Dada Life - Kick Out The Epic Motherf**ker | Dada Life ‎– Feed The Dada]

 

Also considered - Labrador, Le7els, Tangent Beats, Tronic, Truesoul

 

 

CANADA

 

Canada has some significant early players in House and Techno - via Hi-Bias, Big Shot and Plus 8 labels; nowadays though it’s all about Deadmau5 and Tiga and their respective labels. Both have a certain type of sound, but can also call on greater depth and width in their delivery, both as producers and remixers, they have a significant influence in contemporary Canadian, even global dance music. As for the featured track - it is a 80 / 20 rule that if the original track was an instrumental, then the added-vocal version has just a 1 in 5 chance of being an improvement over the original - Ghosts ’n’ Stuff is much better as the instrumental original, I feel Rob Swire’s vocals detract from the original’s sense of atmosphere:

 

 

Mau5trap Records
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Deadmau5 feat. MC Flipside - Hi Friend | Deadmau5 - Ghosts ’n’ Stuff | Deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapons (Mdn Rmx)]

 

Plus 8 (> Probe)
IIIIIIIIII
[Kenny Larkin - Rubber Notes | Cybersonik ‎– Technarchy | F.U.S.E ‎– Substance Abuse]

 

Turbo
IIIIIIIIII
[ZZT ‎– Lower State Of Consciousness (Js Rmx) | ZZT ‎– The Worm (EA Rw | Azari & III ‎– Hungry For The Power (JJ Rmx)

 

Hi-Bias Records (> Jinxx : Retro:Active)
IIIIIIIIII
[DJ’s Rule - In Deep | Groove Sector - Release The Energy | Red Light feat. Tyler Watson ‎– Who Needs Enemies (PU Mx)]

 

Play Records
IIIII
[BSOD - This Is The Hook | Deadmau5 - Dr Funkenstein | Melleefresh vs Deadmau5 - Attention Whore]

 

Big Shot Records
IIIII
[Hi-Bias - Drive It Home | Dionne - Come Get My Lovin’ | Landlord - I Like It]

 

Also considered - Definitive Recordings, Harem Records, Last Gang Records, M_nus, Nettwerk, Oral Records, Popular Records, Release Grooves, SPG Music, Unidisc

 

 

SWITZERLAND

 

I had forgotten how much I loved Jamie Lewis’s Purple Music label - the embodiment and combination of great snappy funk, superb studio technique, and next-level disco-house - I have a score or so releases on this label, all of them excellent. Otherwise Switzerland is responsible for some pop-tinged club bangers, but not nearly as pop as Avicii. Then there is the quite superb Deep House label Drumpoet Community, which is almost a twin to Sweden’s Drumcode in terms of quality of output - alongside Rebirth, these are the pillars of the contemporary deep house movement currently. By virtue of Purple Music and Drumpoet Community, Switzerland just pips Spain on my list.

 

 

Purple Music
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Franky Boissy feat. Michael Watford - Back to Roots (Mf Rmx) | Cerrone - Tatoo Woman (JL SW Mx) | Michael Watford + Jamie Lewis - Michael’s Prayer (JL MC)]

 

Drumpoet Community
IIIIIIIIII
[Soultourist - Yeah! (DK Db) | Thaboo - Take Root | Jayson Brothers - The Game]

 

Houseworks
IIIIIIIIII
[Ian "45" Carey - Nonstop | DJ Prom - The Good Life (2K2 Mx) | Ercola feat. Daniela - Every Word (WK SMx)]

 

Egoiste
IIIII
[Erasmo & Funky Junction feat. Surge Sonic ‎– Reaching High | Chris Crime feat. Antonella Rocco - Ready Or Not (MvC OMx) | Jose Amnesia vs Karen Overton ‎– Your Loving Arms (JA 2009 Ed)]

 

Map Dance
IIIII
[Spanky Wonderland feat. Claire - How Many Times (AMV Db) | Yves La Rock - Zookey (C&J CMx) | Yves La Rock - Rise Up]

 

 

Also considered - Relish Records

 

 

SPAIN

 

Spain is one of those countries where a number of its dance labels are simply licensing their output from abroad. At the core of the industry there are really just a handful of local-releasing key producers, including DJ Chus (Jesús López Esteban), Ceballos (Jose Pablo Ceballos Paredes), Dr Kucho! (Daniel Manzano Salazar), Wally Lopez (Angel David López Alvarez), Gregor Salto (Gregor van Offeren) and David Penn (José David Peñín Montilla). There are a plethora of smaller independents, and the way too broad Blanco Y Negro. Recent-ish successful Iberian newcomer Maceo Plex has released several of his bigger tracks outside his own up-and-coming Spanish label Ellum Audio which still looks like a solid tip for the future.

 

Stereo Productions (> Iberican! : Tribo)
IIIIIIIIII
[DJ Chus & The Groove Foundation - That Feeling (DP Mx) | Chus & Ceballos vs. Richie Santana ‎– Low Frequencies (DF Rmx) | Chus & Ceballos vs. Tedd Patterson ‎– In Stereo]

 

Disc Doctor Records
IIIII
[Dr. Kucho! ‎– Lies To Yourself | Mario Ochoa ‎– Habla Con La Luna (DK Rmx) | Dr. Kucho! & Gregor Salto ‎– Can’t Stop Playing (AF Mx)]

 

The Factoria (< Factomania)
IIIII
[Wally Lopez ‎– Factorizando! | Wally Lopez, René Amesz & Peter Gerdelblom ‎– Strike Me Down | Coca + Villa ‎– Amanece (WL Rw)]

 

T.U.S.O.M. Recordings
IIIII
[DJ Dimas - No Way Out (Dm Mx) | Coca + Villa Feat. Pepe Rubio ‎– La Noche | Aerosoul feat.John Ward ‎– Time Is By Your Side |

 

Urbana (< Zen Records)
IIIII
[Penn + Chus ‎– Esperanza (DK Rmx) | Deux - Sun Rising Up | Penn & Jabato ‎– La Calle]

 

Vendetta (> Electric Spain : Tribal Spain)
IIIII
[DJ Chus & David Penn ‎– Baila (DF Rmx) | Ritmo-Dynamic - Calinda | Spin - 2 Nite]

 

Also considered - Addicted, Bit Music, Blanco Y Negro : GT2, Bubble Soul, Cassagrande, Contraseña Records, Ellum Audio, Infinity Sound Records,Le Club, Quality Madrid, Suara, Tanga Records, Tempo Music : House Tempo, Weekend Records / Breaks

 

 

NORWAY

 

Bar a few ’Mental Overdrive’ (Per Martinsen) releases on R&S, Tellé was my first proper introduction to Norway’s dance music scene. This came via a compilation put out by Wall of Sound, which introduced me to Annie, Röyksopp and Ralph Myerz - all 3 of whom I have been following since - across a variety of labels (many of them majors). I’m also a big fan of Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas, and Bjorn Torske and Todd Terje. Finally, there’s a few more largely unsung Norwegian house heroes whom I am very fond of - including Lars Horntveth / Jaga Jazzist, Mungolian Jetset (Knut Sævik & Pål Nyhus), Finnebassen (Finn Peder Wang) and Rune Lindbaek.

 

Smalltown Supersound
IIIIIIIIII
[Bjorn Torske - Kokt Kveite | Meanderthals - Andromeda (IB Mx) | Lindstrøm & Cristabelle - Baby Can’t Stop (Ae Rmx)

 

Tellé
IIIIIIIIII
[Annie - The Greatest Hit | Röyksopp - Eple | Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band - Nikita]

 

Olsen Records
IIIII
[Todd Terje - Inspector Norse | Todd Terje - Spiral | Todd Terje - Delorean Dynamite (D Mx) / Oh Joy (D Mx)

 

Full Pupp
IIIII
Ytre Rymden Dansskola - Afterski (MI Rmx) | Diskjokke - 1987 (PT DMx) | Marius Varied - No Vi Eg Bort...]

 

Feedelity
IIIII
Lindstrøm - I Feel Space | Lindstrøm & Cristabelle - Music In My Mind (PT Rmx) | Lindstrøm & Solale - Let’s Practice 12" Mx)]

 

Also considered - Beat Service, Internasjonal, Jazzland Recordings, Lørdag, Love OD Communications, Sex Tags Mania

 

 

DENMARK

 

I have nearly 30 album releases from Kenneth Bager’s amazing Balearic-style Music For Dreams label, as well as a dozen or more 12" - it’s early output was of simply phenomenally high quality. Then we have much lauded deep house imprint Noir Music, and equally highly regarded dub-techno label Echocord, both of excellent quality; not much more to my Danish collection really - bar perhaps a couple of early releases on Kenneth Bager’s alter ego Dr. Baker ’Coma Records’ label.

 

Music For Dreams
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
[Kenneth Bager feat. Julee Cruise - On The Floor (Db Mx) | Kenneth Bager - Les Fleurs (JR Rmx) | The Kenneth Bager Experience - Naked Music (PZ&MC Rmx)]

 

Noir Music
IIIII
[Noir & Hayze - Angel (Cl Mx) | Oliver Giacomotto - Bipolar Star | Noir + HRRSN + Cailtin - My Fault (JT VMx)]

 

Echocord
IIIII
[Lowfour - Riddim 1 | Quantec - Lunar Orbiter | Mikkel Metal - Parre Work]

 

 

Also considered - Coma Records

 

 

AUSTRIA

 

Although most of G-Stone’s output is more in the realms of breakbeat and trip-hop, there are a smattering of club house tracks on the label, some largely by way of remixes. Cheap and Klein are kind of cheeky upstarts really, the former being led by punky dance agitator Patrick Pulsinger and Christian Candid’s Klein being equally left-field, but rather more chilled in tone.

 

G-Stone Recordings
IIIIIIIIII
[Rodney Hunter - Huntermatic (Org) - Makossa & Megablast - Like A Rocket | Voom Voom - Best Friend (CW Db)]

 

Cheap
IIIII
[Sluts’n’Strings & 909 ‎- In Your Pretty Face | Louie Austen feat. Peaches - Grab My Shaft | Crowdpleaser - Spiesser]

 

Klein
IIIII
[Seelenluft - Manila (EP Rmx) | Louie Austen - Disco Dancer (Ext Db) | Mel Merio - Domino Dancing]

 

 

PORTUGAL

 

Portuguese House Music is largely about one man for me - Rui Jorge Martins Pacheco Da Silva, whom I was introduced to via Danny Tenaglia and US labels Tribal and Twisted, before finding my way to Kaos and Kismet.

Kismet
IIIIIIIIII
[Underground Sound of Lisbon - The Lights (RDS Mx) | Rui Da Silva feat. Cassandra - Touch Me | Coco Da Silva - @Night]

 

Kaos
IIIII
[Underground Sound of Lisbon - So Get Up (DT Rmx) | Deep In - Midnight (PTZ Rmx) | DJ Vibe feat. Ithaka - You]

 

 

End Notes

 

There were other countries with a smattering of releases - some from South America (continent) some from South Africa (country) and some from Oceania - well Australia really, even a smattering of Mexican and Japanese. Yet I did not feel that as a whole these constituted a significant label concentration per target country, so the list remains at 15 countries so far, and 159 key label references.

 

Apart from referencing my own collection via various means, this process was largely enabled too by Discogs, Spotify, Juno.co.uk and YouTube...