ARTICLE
2006 10 Favourite Labels

ALBUMS
aMute
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Asphalt Jungle
Joseph Auer
Avia Gardner
Tommi Bass
Caural
Cdatakill
Christ.
Conjoint
Contriva
Cursor Minor
DJ Soul Slinger
DJ Wally/DJ Willie Ross
DoF
Electric Penguins
Encre
Flashbulb
Fuckpony
Funckarma
Cedric Gervais
Eglantine Gouzy
Greater Than One
Greg Haines
François Houle
Housemeister
Jan Jelinek
Eleni Karaindrou
Kode9 + Spaceape
Takagi Masakatsu
Mini
Move D
The New Law
Nuuro
Qwel & Meaty Ogre
Rant
Max Richter
Janek Schaefer
Svarte Greiner
Thighpaulsandra
Unwed Sailor
Geoff White
Wilt
Yellow6
Jesse Zubot

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
4 Women No Cry Vol. 2
Analog for Architecture
Assemblage Sessions
Jimmy Van M
King Unique/Nubreed
Monza Club Ibiza
Pop Ambient 2007
Rub-N-Tug
Thankful
The Rorschach Suite

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Baseheadz
Big Toe
Franco Cangelli
Richard Chartier
Deadbeat/Monolake
Depth Affect
Diebombshelters
DJ Koze
Eltron
Johan Fotmeijer
Hellothisisalex
Mitsuaki Komamura
Múm
Ozka
Seekers Who Are Lovers
Strategy
Tandem 5
Andi Teichmann
The Twilight Sad
Ray Valioso

Franco Cangelli: Mondo Guasto
Aesthetik

Ozka: Phutro
Aesthetik

Johan Fotmeijer: Critters
Aesthetik

Operating out of Gent, Belgium, Franco Cangelli and Dj Akî's Aesthetik Records makes an auspicious debut with three EPs that reveal strong ties to classic Detroit techno. There's an undeniably liquid, even aquatic, quality to the label's first release, Cangelli's Mondo Guasto. Sure, there's the requisite driving techno rhythms, but there's also all manner of burbling noises and bright glissandi. “Dysfunctional” swizzles and percolates as much as swings, while squiggly pistons fire on all cylinders throughout the eight-minute “Work It Out.” “The Happy Life Implant” cools the pace though even here the activity level builds to an intricate criss-cross of alien gulping noises and jittery pulsations. Cangelli peppers Mondo Guasto 's rhythms with a non-stop barrage of tiny particles and flitting micro-organisms.

A Motor City stormer (“Indulge”) immediately kicks Ozka's (David Nizet) Phutro into high gear. Listen closely, though, and subtle details come into focus, like the almost imperceptibly slow rise of clockwork patterns in “Criminal” and the house-tinged swing that the swishing patterns bring to the piece. Aesthetik's second EP is refined, precision-tooled techno that oozes locomotive bliss one moment (“Criminal”) and propulsive, space-age euphoria the next (“Phuture”).

December 2006