Features
The Top 20 Record Labels Of 2016
These imprints have driven dance music forward this year
3 Whities
Whities is a sublabel of Young Turks and Young Turks is a sublabel of XL Recordings. If that doesn’t give you a good indication of what to expect then we’re not sure what will. Founded in 2014, this year has seen London DJ and Whities boss Nic Tasker take the label from strength to strength, through an amazing aesthetic identity and music that doesn’t stay sat in one category.
Reckonwrong recently released an amazing four-tracker (sleeve above) and Minor Science's 12" in July flipped the low-end techno script completely. And towards the start of the year Avalon Emerson made her intent for 2016 very, very clear. ‘The Frontier’ is easily one of the most inventive and fascinating techno tracks we’ve been treated to over the last 12 months and its forceful progression coupled with unique, screeching riffs helped it creep into our top ten tracks of 2016.
Every release from Whities seems carefully considered and that’s a rare, beautiful thing in a record label. Funster
2 Mixpak
It’s been wonderful watching the Mixpak discography unfurl. The New York label, which is helmed by Dre Skull, began its life in 2009 as a vehicle for the producer’s work with dancehall artists Sizzla and Vybz Kartel, as well as releases from artists making zingy club music indebted to the sounds emanating from Jamaica.
That’s basically been it’s MO until this year: Dre Skull has pursued his work with the most eminent dancehall stars on the planet, producing and releasing Vybz Kartel’s seminal ‘Kingston Story’ in 2011 and following up with Popcaan’s smash ‘Where We Come From’ in 2013, all the while putting out a steady stream of red-hot, club-ready EPs by the likes of Jubilee, Murlo, Dubbel Dutch, Palmistry and Schlachthofbronx.
Away from the huge success of those Vybz and Popcaan full lengths, the label has remained at a steady simmer for the best part of a decade. But in 2016 something changed and Mixpak became a real force to be reckoned with. Critically, this has been its best year for releases yet. We’ve been served albums by Jubilee (rampant party music), Palmistry (sweet bedroom pop) and GAIKA (the raw sound of London). There’s also been a set of twisted, post-club electronics from Wildlife!, made to soundtrack an exhibition that took place in NYC. Publicly, Mixpak found itself on the world’s stage when it won the Red Bull Culture Clash in London, complete underdogs who took the crown thanks to a bag of dubs and intimate knowledge of how to wreck a dance (and get the crowd squarely on side). Locally, it’s been running regular parties in New York, with line-ups featuring the best club DJs and rappers the city has to offer, as well as scores of special guests flown over from Europe and beyond.
Having followed the label since its inception, this felt like the year that the Mixpak vision really crystalised. “Who the fuck is Mixpak?!” people asked during the Culture Clash. As ’16 draws to a close, they now definitely know. S Wheeler
1 Dekmantel
In terms of ‘whole packages’, this year’s Label Of The Year is perhaps the perfect definition. Dekmantel has established itself as one of the most in-demand clubbing brands in the world.
This year, it celebrated four years of its stellar Amsterdam weekender, expanded to Croatia with the impeccably good Selectors festival, announced a Brazilian edition of the festival in São Paulo and, most notably, continued to curate a record label that’s been responsible for some of the best releases of '16. Robert Hood and Matrixxman both embarked on quests to create a series of techno records, across several volumes, where they explored every aspect of the genre. Dekmantel favourites Palms Trax and Young Marco built upon their sterling reputations with more acclaimed originals and long-awaited albums came from Makam and Vakula.
All this music and still time to put on the world’s best festivals. For such a small team, the possibilities seem endless and if world domination isn’t at the top of Dekmantel’s to-do list next year, then they’re not aiming high enough. Funster
