Music

The best new Canadian electronic labels worth checking out

by Josiah Hughes

Ask anyone with a closet full of unassembled records and a credit card full of debt, and they’ll tell you to think twice before starting a record label in 2013. Warnings aside, however, there are countless new bedroom operations popping up all over the country. Some are getting by on fancy packaging, while others eschew physical releases in favour of fancy Bandcamp roll-outs.

This couldn’t be more true in the world of forward-thinking Canadian electronic music, as there are labels popping up across the country. With such varied sizes, distribution models, and release methods, it’s hard to keep track of the many imprints popping up across the nation. Here, enjoy a small sample of the notable new imprints bursting out of bedrooms and office spaces across the country.

Close to Modern

Calgary’s Close to Modern drops its digital-only releases in seasons, curating everything from textural house to instrumental hip-hop to experimental R&B to modern disco for its limited Bandcamp releases. Digital singles are released monthly throughout each “season,” then taken down and replaced with a compilation when the season’s over (they’re currently halfway through season two). Alberta-bred artists like Ninetynine, Chief Navaho, Dominic Pierce, Flutes, Sergio Levels, Boogie Howser, Hunting, Point & Shoot and Windin aren’t quite household names in dance music just yet, but if they keep cranking out hits like they have been it’ll only be a matter of time before they get the widespread recognition they deserve.

 

Modern Math Recordings

Atmospheric electronic experimenters Sanctums released a single on Close to Modern earlier this year, before Dan Solo, the B.C. half of this Nanaimo/Calgary duo, branched out with some friends and formed the Modern Math Recordings imprint. The three-city label collective consists of Nanaimo’s Dan Solo, Calgary’s Sandro Petrillo aka Sergio Levels, and Vancouver’s Matt Hali. Modern Math has only released two EPs so far — a career-topping release from Sanctums and a collection of skittering minimal post-dubstep recordings from Vancouver mainstay Michael Red — but the label’s aesthetic, which pairs stark black-and-white photography with a timeless logo, along with its simple naming system (MM001 and MM002 so far) lend an iconic feeling to the brand new imprint, suggesting it’ll be around for a while to come.

 

More Than Human

It’s not just digital labels cranking out the fascinating new electronic music, however. Vancouver’s More Than Human Records prides itself on treating vinyl EPs as works of art. In their brief existence, they’ve shared three EPs of forward-thinking, experimental sounds from The Passenger, Plays: Four and Kemper Norton, with upcoming releases on the way from Time Attendant and Dieter Moebius. Each LP is pressed on 150 gram vinyl and packaged in a slick black-on-black case complete with the label’s minimal design aesthetic (a running theme so far) and a work of art on the cover (though it’s relegated to the bottom right corner, seemingly in an effort to avoid overpowering the rest of the work). Fans of avant-garde electronic music can do no wrong with a release from More Than Human.

 

1080p

The minimal design aesthetic is hardly a theme with new Vancouver label 1080p. The newly minted imprint, which delivers limited cassettes alongside its digital files, specializes in bright, often absurd illustrations that recall late ’90s/early 2000s computer art. Aside from dropping the indisputable best rap release of 2013 in Young Braised’s Japanese Tendencies, the label’s brief existence has also resulted in some out-there dance music from LOL Boys-related project Heartbeat(s) along with work from M/M, Abstract Mutation, Tings & Savage, Xophie Xweetland and Weed member Bobby Draino. Up next is an EP from the UK’s Perfume Advert. It’s time to experience the sound quality of 1080p.

 

Mood Hut

No other label has had the sort of meteoric rise that Vancouver’s Mood Hut has had in 2013. The collective, which includes former members of the city’s most tropical indie rock group No Gold, have carved out a nice little niche for their lush, wavy and suave take on house in its many forms. Mood Hut’s incredible first batch of releases has launched the careers of Cloudface, Aquarian Foundation, Ttam Renat, Jack Jutson, and the Pender Street Steppers. The performers are also branching out to other imprints — the label’s Hashman Deejay is currently prepping a new 12-inch for fabled Washington, DC label Future Times, while Aquarian Foundation caught accolades for their release on the UK’s Going Good Records earlier this year.

 

Jiaolong

First, a couple of caveats — yes, Jiaolong is the new record label from Dan Snaith a.k.a. Manitoba a.k.a. Caribou a.k.a. Daphni; yes, it has distribution from Merge Records; yes, it’s based out of London, England, and not from the artist’s hometown of Dundas, Ontario. None of that seems to matter, however, when you consider Jiaolong’s fascinating first batch of releases. Aside from killer releases by the artist himself, Jiaolong’s first few years have boasted music from Chaz Bundick’s Toro Y Moi side-project Les Sins and kosmische synth explorers Emeralds, plus acts like Hamilton, Ontario’s Jeremy Greenspan, Bristol-based artist Nozinja’s side-project Xitsonga Dance, and South African crew Tshetsha Boys. It’s the sort of diverse, forward-thinking label that we’re happy to call our own no matter where it’s from.

 

Forbidden Planet

Montreal’s Forbidden Planet is one of the newer imprints on this list, having only existed since last year. In that time, they’ve established themselves as a force to be reckoned with thanks to a hand-drawn visual aesthetic that looks more like hardcore handbills than experimental house. Similarly, their four releases so far demonstrate the label’s firm place in the growing venn diagram of independent noise music and techno. They’ve also got a weekly radio show on CKUT, and present some pretty out-there dance parties with their monthly night. Their work really speaks for itself, but we may as well add at that they also boast a real nice Tumblr.

 

Rare Beef

Founded this year, Toronto’s Rare Beef Records is a new label and management company that prides itself on experimental techno and house. Only two releases in, and they’ve got an impressive track record going – HolloH’s Young Lord is an addictive EP packed with speaker-crackling tech-house, while Imposter(s)’ First is better suited to cross-over appeal with its indie-leaning dance-pop attack. Whatever they put out next, it’s likely that Rare Beef are on to something.

 

Pretty Pretty Records

Anyone who took a chance on Ben Cook’s fantastically goofy synth-pop project Yacht Club clearly knows a thing or two about getting the people to dance, but Toronto’s Pretty Pretty Records goes much deeper than just that project. From the spooky sounds of Sins and the synth-pop of Prince Innocence to the industrial-leaning sounds of Kontravoid and apocalyptic house of Tarantula X, Pretty Pretty is representing dance music in all its myriad permutations.