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

Christ.: Blue Shift Emissions
Benbecula

Put simply, Blue Shift Emissions, Christ.'s (Chris Horne) full-length follow-up to his Pylonesque debut, is such a marvelous, fully-rounded piece of work it could serve as an electronic standard for other would-be composers to regard as an ideal model. The Scottish artist effortlessly strikes a balance that's seemingly elusive to others, specifically that delicately wrought meeting-point where melodic elegance and refined sound design coincide. Arrangements never drown in excess, but neither are they overly skeletal; beats likewise are never overly complex or too basic. Christ. embroiders multiple layers of glistening synthesizer melodies and chiming chords into lush, enveloping oases of sound in eleven songs (occurring midway, the dreamy “Cordate” is apparently a live, single-take keyboard piece). Singling out individual cuts risks drawing attention to parts whereas it's the whole which counts most; even so, “Blue Shifty Missions” and especially “Vernor Vinge” stand out as particularly ravishing displays of panoramic ambiance. Previously established aspects of Christ.'s sound remain firmly in place, the strong kinship with Boards of Canada being the most obvious (“Making a Snow Angel” merges subtle hip-hop-influenced pulses with gauzy electronic elements in textbook BofC style and a song title like “Holobenthic Grex Venalium” would fit seamlessly into the track listing of any of the group's three albums)—a not surprising detail given that Horne was a part of the group until the mid-‘90s. There's no desperate showboating or grandstanding on display here, just superbly-crafted electronic music of the highest caliber.

December 2006