11/29/06 10:54 PM
Every year, in the back of my head, in a place that really doesn’t matter to anyone other than myself and possibly a couple of my more seriously hardcore music friends, I pick out my favorite record labels each year. I comprise this list in a rather rough way, based on how many releases I enjoy by that label out of their total slate for the year, the packaging on those releases, and if the label has been putting out interesting stuff on a consistent basis (this last qualifier makes it hard for a new label to shoot to the top of said list during their first or even second year).
Having said all of the above, I’m going to have to pick out Rune Grammofon as my favorite label of 2006. While none of their releases knocked me for a loop as much as some of their past efforts, I enjoyed every single thing that they put out this year (okay, maybe not so much the Moha!), and most of their releases were simply outstanding. Supersilent’s 7 is worth watching at least once simply to see the mindblowing senergy of great live, improvisational musicians, the re-issue of the self-titled album from Phonophani is killer, Come Up For Air by The White Birch will be among my favorites for the year, and both Humcrush (Hornswoggle) and Susanna and The Magic Orchestra (Melody Mountain) put out excellent second albums. Throw in continued great packaging design from Kim Hiorthoy and the result is an adventurous label putting out some of the more exciting music being released over the course of the past couple years (Deathprod still has sections of just about every single gloomy day all carved out to himself).
In a close second place this year is long-time favorite Kranky Records, who not only largely moved to a different packaging look, but had one of their strongest batch of releases in several years. The latest Charalambides (A Vintage Burden) is a stunner, the debut from Benoit Pioulard (Precis) is outstanding, and Keith Fullerton Whitman released some of his best work (in my opinion) on the Lisbon EP. Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, the label continued their track record of mind-melting ambient releases with great stuff from Chihei Hatakeyama (Minima Moralia) and Tim Hecker (Harmony In Ultraviolet). Hopefully they’ll just keep on kicking my butt in 2007…
Lastly, I figure I should mention Type Records. They’re still kinda the new kids on the block, but they’ve been coming on strong the past two years with some excellent releases and a constant great look with their packaging (and their website). As a smaller label, it seems like they’re doing just about everything right and have some nice little branches that extend out from their regular release schedule (from the excellent downloadable podcasts to the limited 7″ releases). They’re definitely someone to keep an eye on.
December 13th, 2006 at 5:28 am
I can’t really argue with those choices.
Your comments on Type are interesting. I was listening to an album last week, and I thought to myself “This sounds like it should be on Type” (it wasn’t, but goes to show the impact this new label is having).
You even managed to miss out my two favourite Rune Grammofon releases – Thomas Stronen’s Pohlitz and Svalastog’s Woodwork – so they can’t have had too bad a year. Oh, and seeing Supersilent live this year was an incredible experience.
December 13th, 2006 at 8:36 am
Both the “Pohlitz” and “Woodwork” were both very good, they just weren’t my favorite releases on RG this year. I also enjoyed the Huntsville album in places, and I’m still planning on listening to the In The Country disc here in the near future at some point.
I’m really really jealous that you got to see Supersilent live. The DVD will probably have to suffice for me, unless I can make it to Scandanavia sometime in the near future, though…
January 5th, 2007 at 6:54 am
I’ve been a fan of Rune Grammofon for a good few years now, and they still don’t seem to be able to put a foot wrong, whatever the direction the artists choose to follow. Perhaps the closest to putting aforementioned foot slightly out of line came this year with the rather disappointing Susanna & The Magical Orchestra’s largely uninspiring second album (imo). However, as Mapsadaisical mentioned, didn’t they just kick arses with Thomas Stronen and even more so with Svalastog.