Top 10 Influential Labels Of the Past

Top 10 Influential Labels Of the Past

“All good things must come to an end,” a wise man once said - and that applies to your favourite record labels, too. DJB runs down ten of the most influential imprints to be sadly no longer with us…

1. Moving Shadow
Pretty much regarded as the daddy of all drum & bass labels, Moving Shadow was founded by Rob Playford in 1990. Operating out of Playford’s home in Stevenage, the label initially traded in breakbeat hardcore styles - putting out future classics from the likes of Blame, Cloud 9 and 2 Bad Mice (one of Playford’s own projects alongside Sean O'Keeffe and Simon Colebrooke). Subsequent releases by Foul Play and Omni Trio helped to lay foundations for the emergent ‘jungle’ sound - doing away with the fairground theatrics of hardcore and pushing up the tempo in the process.

More seminal records from Renegade (aka. Ray Keith) and Dead Dred cemented the label’s reputation, as did forays into other forms of media. E-Z Rollers’ “Walk This Land” featured prominently in Guy Ritchie’s 1999 hit gangster flick Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, whilst Playford (as DJ Timecode) supplied music for Grand Theft Auto III’s MSX 101.1 FM radio station, acquainting scores of gamers worldwide with the sounds of Moving Shadow (and drum & bass more generally). Into the new millennium, the label offered more contemporary techstep flavours from artists including Dom & Roland, Aquasky and Calyx, before shutting up shop in 2007.

2. Prescription
The quintessential deep house imprint, Prescription was established in Chicago in 1993 by Ron Trent and Chez Damier. Prior to starting the label the pair had collaborated on a number of singles and remixes - notably “The Choice” and “Don’t Try It” on KMS, the legendary Detroit label managed by Damier in conjunction with its founder Kevin Saunderson. They were inspired to produce Prescription’s inaugural release (“Be My” b/w a remix of D’Pac’s “I Wouldn’t”) following a trip to New York’s Sound Factory club, Damier told RA back in 2010. Their creative partnership (and respective solo offerings) came to form the backbone of the label’s early output - churning out classics like “Morning Factory”, “Feel The Rhythm” and “Sometimes I Feel Like” - though other artists including Abacus, Romanthony, Ralph Lawson (working with Damier as Chuggles) and Heaven & Earth (a.k.a. Luke Solomon, Rob Mello & Zaki D) contributed to the canon, too.

Following differences in opinion between himself and Trent, Damier relinquished control over the label’s operations in 1995, opting instead to focus solely on its Balance Recordings sub-label. Prescription remained relatively prolific until around 2001, with the vast majority of releases coming from Trent himself (often in association with new partner Anthony Nicholson as USG or Konfusion Kidzz). A handful of represses aside, a 2004 EP from Aybee was the last record they put out.

3. Basic Channel
The label that came to be synonymous with ‘dub techno’ - spawning countless imitations in the process - Basic Channel was the brainchild of Berlin’s Mark Ernestus and Moritz Von Oswald. With their first few releases in 1993, the duo wasted no time in defining their own unique and entirely new aesthetic: one that fused the beating 4/4 heart of the Berlin-Detroit axis (BC01 featured a furious Jeff Mills remix) with decayed reverberations and a warm analogue throb borrowed from their dub reggae idols. Even operating within these vague parameters, they maintained plenty of scope for variation - the label’s output ranging from the airy, plaintive ambience of “Radiance II” to the irresistible house swing of “Phylyps Trak II/II” and “Octagon”’s thunderous march.

The Basic Channel label itself was retired in 1995 (not to mention a recent vinyl outing for “Q-Loop”, which was previously only available on a CD compilation) but Mark and Moritz continued to manage a number of other labels - alongside running Dubplates & Mastering and Hard Wax. Chain Reaction provided an outlet for deeply dubbed-out techno manoeuvres from the likes of Substance, Vladislav Delay, Fluxion and Monolake, whereas Rhythm & Sound gave the two founders a chance to collaborate with their Jamaican heroes. The particularly succinct Main Street catalogue was home to vocal house classics like “New Day” and “I’m Your Brother”; Von Oswald’s Maurizio label, on the other hand, served to showcase his own unmistakeable brand of dubby minimal house.

4. Junior Boy’s Own
Born from the ashes of irreverent acid house fanzine Boy’s Own (and its subsequent eponymous label) JBO was founded by Terry Farley and Steven Hall in 1992. Its remit was largely concerned with straight-up house and techno fare - unlike its more liberal-minded predecessor, which was home to a myriad of ravey hits from the likes of Bocca Juniors, One Dove and DSK. No time was wasted when it came to recruiting top-drawer future stars to the label, something that co-founder Farley insists was largely down to luck: “we were just in the right place at the right time” he told DMC World.

Rocky & Diesel (better known as X-Press 2) were already friends of the label owners - whereas former Boy’s Own co-chief Andrew Weatherall had happened upon meeting a couple of lads in Manchester going by the name of The Dust Brothers, who were quickly snapped up for a couple of releases prior to achieving world domination as The Chemical Brothers. Darren Emerson of Underworld was also introduced to JBO via the pair, before going on to enjoy a similarly impressive career in stadium techno. The label had other considerable successes with the likes of Black Science Orchestra, Farley and Heller’s Roach Motel and Fire Island projects, and a number of sub-labels (including the slightly deeper-oriented Jus’ Trax imprint) before going quiet at some point in the mid-noughties.

5. DJ International
Founded by Rocky Jones circa 1985, DJ International was one of the original first wave of Chicago house labels, alongside Larry Sherman’s Trax Records. Early releases from the likes of Sterling Void and Joe Smooth armed Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles with ample fodder for their legendary sets at the Music Box and The Warehouse, as well as providing a soundtrack for the acid house revolution across the pond a couple of years later.

Further classics (all featuring the label’s trademark rimshots-and-repeated-vocal-samples) included Chip E.’s “Like This”, The It’s “Donnie” and Kenny ‘Jammin’ Jason’s “Can U Dance” - a record that recently enjoyed a renaissance, thanks to high-profile airings by the likes of Michael Mayer, Jackmaster and Optimo. There were also a number of excursions into hip-house, more often than not involving Tyree Cooper.

DJ International’s sub-labels were equally illustrious: the short-lived Rhythm Beat (1991-1993) was home to QX-1’s haunting “Love Injection” and a handful of particularly jackin’ releases by Tyree as TC Crew. Underground, on the hand, ran from 1986 until 1995, trading in similar wares from such luminaries as Mike Dunn, K-Alexi, Fingers Inc. and E.S.P - furnishing a treasure trove of house gems from some of the Windy City’s finest.

6. Mo' Wax
Founded in 1992, James Lavelle’s seminal Mo’ Wax label was a truly eclectic affair. Releases ran the gamut from conscious hip-hop and breaks to acid jazz and drum & bass, all tied together somehow by an underlying aesthetic that was smoky, street-wise and sample-heavy. Early releases came from the likes of La Funk Mob (the Gallic downtempo duo later to be reincarnated as Cassius), Attica Blues, Palm Skin Productions and the nascent DJ Shadow, who went onto release one of the decade’s most critically celebrated albums, Endtroducing… via Mo Wax in 1996.

There were also dusty leftfield beats from Japan’s DJ Krush, the demented and conceptual hip-hop of Dr. Octagon (formerly Kool Keith of the Ultramagnetic MCs) and of course, Rob Dougan’s “Clubbed to Death” - which reached no. 24 in the UK Singles Chart upon its 2002 re-release, following its inclusion in The Matrix that year. The label also served as a vehicle for Lavelle’s UNKLE project and its revolving cast of collaborators (DJ Shadow, Tim Goldsworthy, etc.). Their unmatched debut album Psyence Fiction was released on Mo Wax in 1998 and featured additional vocals from veritable superstars of rap (Beastie Boys, Kool G Rap) and indie/rock (Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, Badly Drawn Boy). Musical output aside, Mo’ Wax was also a trendsetter in terms of its strong visual identity: Lavelle commissioned a number of collaborations with streetwear brands like A Bathing Ape, and worked closely with artists and designers like Futura 2000 and Ben Drury to produce striking artwork and other accompaniments.

7. Driftwood
Whilst maybe not quite as well known as some of the other entries on our list, for us Driftwood represents the very pinnacle of turn-of-the-century deep house: an almost sacred label spoke of in reverential tones by those who know. Norman Feller and Jean F. Cochois (aka. Terry Lee Brown Jr. and The Timewriter) operated Driftwood with a firm emphasis on quality over quantity - putting out ten EPs of rich and refined house between 2000 and 2002 before retiring the label for good. The majority of Driftwood releases were produced by its founders under a string of aliases including Elias, Jeremy, Drain Pipe and Da Kine. Other artists included Ronin, Robi Uppin and Håkan Lidbo (as Monsoon).



These days, second-hand copies of Driftwood records generally start at around €35 and go all the way up to €100+ for some releases (a copy of drift001 once sold for €170 according to the Discogs statistics): illustrating just how collectable and sought-after these tracks are. For those who’d like to get acquainted with the catalogue (without having to take out a second mortgage) we’d recommend Eric Cloutier’s excellent tribute mix - in his own words, “a long overdue homage to one of the best house labels ever conceived”.

8. Svek
It may have been founded by Stephan Grieder “for a laugh” (according to this interview with Jesper Dählback), but there’s nothing funny about Svek’s enviable track record when it came to putting out high-grade house and techno (not forgetting the odd bit of atmospheric drum & bass). Based in Stockholm, the label ran from 1996 until 2003, with early releases comprised of knife-edge minimal and dubby tech house endeavours from the likes of Jesper Dählback, Chicago legend Gene Hunt and Stephan himself. But one of Svek’s greatest strengths was to be found in its diversity - the same period also featured chaste techno workouts from Alexi Delano and Ari Jukka’s own take on Dance Mania-indebted ghetto house, amongst further styles.

Svek had its fair share of bona-fide club hits: Jesper Dählback’s “What is the Time, Mr. Templar?” (as The Persuader) immediately springs to mind - a taut, serpentine roller of a track, a true masterclass in restraint. And then there’s Air Frog’s “Bon Voyage” (later licensed to R&S Records): devastating big-room techno with a bassline that could have been nicked from a jungle record. Here is a video of Ricardo Villalobos mixing it into the “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s theme from Star Wars) in Fabric in 2012 - says it all really.

9. Skull Disco
Established by Sam Shackleton and Laurie “Appleblim” Osborne in 2005, Skull Disco (the name was Shackleton’s doing - “he is a lover of a good pun”, his label partner told RBMA) carved a singular path through the rapidly proliferating dubstep/140bpm landscape: marrying a murky and macabre aesthetic (both musical and visual) with a bass weight that’s even deadlier still. Skull Disco essentially released dubstep, but not as we knew it - heady, paranoid and intense music incorporating ethnic percussion, political references (track titles included Shackleton’s “Hamas Rule”) and occasional frenzied mutterings from guest vocalist Vengeance Tenfold.

The label presented ten vinyl releases (plus two CD compilations) before closing its doors in 2008. Almost all of them came from Shackleton and Appleblim, save for collaborations with Peverelist and W. Scott Cree (as Gatekeeper). The Soundboy’s Gravestone Gets Desecrated by Vandals CD compiled a number of forward-thinking remixes of the catalogue, from the likes of Pole, T++ and Brendon Møller - acknowledging the techno influences detectable in the label’s later output. Post-Skull Disco, Appleblim immediately went about starting his own label - the excellent Apple Pips. Shackleton, on the other hand, released an album on Perlon before founding Woe To The Septic Heart! in November 2010.


10. Roulé
Launched by Thomas Bangalter in 1995 (a whole two years before Homework hit the shelves) Roulé laid the foundations for the emergent ‘French house’ phenomenon: disco-sampling dancefloor bombs with the filter resonance turned right up. The first release, Bangalter’s own Trax On Da Rocks EP, pushed a raucous, distorted and machine-driven sound, in apparent homage to the old-school Chicago greats later name-checked in “Teachers”. Later came the clattering funk of fellow Frenchman Alan Braxe’s “Vertigo” and further heat from Bangalter with “Spinal Scratch” - as well as additions from Roy Davis Jr. and the late, great Romanthony.

Roulé’s biggest hit, of course, came in the shape of the Chaka Khan-sampling filter house behemoth that was “Music Sounds Better With You” - a collaboration between Bangalter, Braxe and vocalist Benjamin Diamond as Stardust. Bangalter came close to replicating such success with “Together” and “So Much Love To Give”, both produced in conjunction with DJ Falcon (who also had a solo EP on the label). In terms of new material, the label’s been dormant since 2002 - the last release was Bangalter’s Irreversible soundtrack.