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

Cdatakill: Valentine
Ad Noiseam

That Zak Roberts' Cdatakill sound defies easy categorization is one of its most appealing qualities and ultimately a testament to the uniqueness of Valentine's sound. Apparently, there was formerly a pronounced breakcore dimension to Cdatakill's sound but little trace of that remains on Valentine. Instead, Roberts opts for hazily textured and hallucinatory trip-hop and dub soundscapes haunted by anguished moans and scuzzy textures. The album's eleven heavily distorted pieces sound like they're being shredded and splintered into pieces by a gauzy screen as they make their way to the listener. Throughout the 41-minute disc, Roberts drenches the material with poisonous bass snarls, shape-shifting tribal breaks, and convulsive dub-clatter. Disoriented voices moan from the center of a violent vortex in “No Brakes” while “Nefertiti Dub,” pistol-whipped by a hugely distorted bass figure, spreads its macabre tentacles in all directions. In addition, knife-edged beats slip and slide in “Two Hammers” as female voices cast their diseased spell over the helpless listener. The album's most arresting moment arrives with the jarring “Yesterdays,” not only an amazing listen in itself but one that assumes an even more astonishing character once one realizes it's a Cdatakill cover of an infamous Billie Holiday torch song. Could that possibly be Lady Day's voice, stretched and strangulated over a throbbing, nightmarish breakcore pulse? It certainly is, but it's also merely one dizzying moment of many on Roberts' provocative collection.

December 2006