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

Diebombshelters: Voodoo
Monodecco

Diebombshelters' (Scott Blais and Jesse Johnson) “Voodoo” is a shape-shifting and disturbing collage that was recorded on election night in 2004—a partial explanation perhaps for why its thirteen minutes are so downcast. The piece's sounds are faded and dusted, with collapsing beats, muted horns, field recordings, string flutter, and the bleeding residue of shuddering guitars leaving a soggy trail of evidence for forensic listeners to analyze. Whatever it is, it's certainly evocative: listening to it, the image that mentally forms is of a bound and chained body being dragged through a forest and into some abandoned cellar while vultures circle overhead.

The mood brightens dramatically on the flip side where three Horsepuncher (Mike Gates & Lucas Rathke) remixes re-animate the still-warm corpse. Limiting themselves to parts of “Voodoo” only, Gates and Rathke give the original a wholly altered character. A buoyant house pulse initiates Rathke's opening treatment before an arresting mid-song segue into hip-hop drops, after which the house groove just as abruptly resumes. In his first of two mixes, Gates opts for a grooving mélange of electro, funk, and techno, plus works in some sliced voice edits for added flavour, and then softens the mood in a second mix of downtempo funk and hip-hop that's easy on the nerves. Aside from being sonically interesting, Voodoo bolsters its appeal by pairing such radically contrasting styles on its two sides.

December 2006