Features
The Top 20 Record Labels Of 2016
These imprints have driven dance music forward this year
6 Timedance
Bristol is a fertile origin point for exciting club movements. Pioneers like Peverelist and Roni Size still reside in the city and are pushing things on. But in 2016, a new force has risen to prominence. Batu’s Timedance has been responsible for the most interesting, mind-bending records to emerge from the city, or anywhere, this year. The imprint was founded on the core principle of fighting stagnancy, designed as a launch pad for Batu, who was struggling to get his foot in the door of any labels outside Bristol, to foster his futuristic vision.
He was right to be confident. Without compromising, Timedance has become a first class destination for sounds that blast through boundaries and send dancefloors spiralling into the stratosphere. “[Dance music] needs to have forward momentum.” Batu asserted in our Timedance feature earlier this year, and this ethos is reflected in the propulsive sounds the imprint has unleashed.
Take Bruce’s ‘I’m Alright Mate’, which even when breaking down into silence feels like being caught in an asphyxiated moment on the brink rather than a pause in intensity, or Lurka’s ‘Beater’ which stomps with the force of a giant donning size 100 Timberlands. With further searing outings coming from Laksa, Ploy and Batu across the past 12 months, the latter backed with a Lee Gamble deconstruction, Timedance has led the pack for innovation and club devastation. P Hinton
