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(02.02.05) Net.Labels are undoubtedly a great concept: as a label, your costs
are low; as an artist, finished material gets published quickly alongside other
like-minded souls, where people are more likely to find it; and as a listener you’ve
got the opportunity to get great music for no more than the cost of your internet
connection!
Another positive aspect for the listener is that net labels are a
lot less hit-and-miss than vainly digging through individual artists’ sites.
Finding music by people you have never heard of is easy enough, but finding
something you like can be a lot harder. In this regard, one of the benefits of a
label of any kind is it involves some kind of editorial stance on the part of
whoever runs the label. As with a conventional label that releases CDs or vinyl you
will undoubtedly come across entire stables that are not to your taste at all, but
conversely you may find a net label where you are at least interested in every
release.
In practice there is one huge stumbling block to net labels’
popularity and it is a simple one. Where do you start? The number of net labels
out there borders on the absurd. Do you have the time to download everything on the
off chance it might be appealing? Sturgeon’s Law suggest that finding anything you
like is going to be a frustrating endeavor. Even trying to hunt around on key
words by genre can be a nightmare, particularly for those of us who are monolingual
English speakers. We can’t expect the copy on every site from Belgium, Portugal or
Japan to be phrased the way we expect.
Trying to get my head around what is actually out there, I have
spent a month or two downloading well over 20 giga-bytes of music from net labels.
Even now I am not sure if I have done more than scratch the surface. If I were to
write up this article in a couple of months I might have a completely different
impression of what’s good and what’s not, not just because of what I have yet to
download but what I have yet to take in. I have listened to everything I’ve
downloaded at least once, though, so let’s get on with it!
I have broken this overview into three parts, which I hope will
give you some starting points for finding music you like.
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A lot of net labels operate with the support of
href=”http://www.scene.org”>scene.org and the
href=”http://www.archive.org/audio/netlabels.php”>Internet Archive. Both sites
host all kinds of files and material, so this may not be such an easy way to browse.
The fastest way to dip into scene.org directly is through the
href=”http://www.scene.org/showforum.php?forum=43″>forum where net label
announcements are posted. The main net label page at the Internet Archive has a
message board as well, below a complete list of their hosted labels with
descriptions of each. Under each label there are also user reviews of different
releases and so on.
Web magazine
href=”http://www.phlow.de/”>Phlow hosts the
href=”http://www.phlow.de/netlabels/”>Net Label Catalogue which has a
large list of labels that can be browsed by genre. I found the labels’ ideas of
what genre they fitted into were often at odds with my own, but nonetheless, if you
want a big list of sites, this is the largest I found.
Elektrobong maintains another
href=”http://www.elektrobong.com/home.php?id=links”>database of net labels, as
well as having an easy to view
href=”http://www.elektrobong.com/home.php?id=globalnews”>news page outlining new
releases from around the world with detailed write ups.
The list of links provided by
href=”http://www.rowolo.de/”>Rowolo is a little more idiosyncratic, as they have
taken on a policy of only putting up links to music they like. One of the things I
appreciate about this site is the key to genres included in the labels list. Easy
to browse.
The net label
href=”http://www.subsource.de/”>Subsource streams mixes which are often
exclusively net audio, with comprehensive track lists and credits. So if you like
net radio this is a great option for dipping your toes into a variety of artists and
labels. The label and their mixes tend towards the ambient end of things, but
within that general area there is still a raft of material on offer, ranging from
smooth synth based IDM with soft beats, through slightly abrasive beatless material,
to processed environmental recordings.
There is also a
href=”http://groups.yahoo.com/group/net_label_releases”>Yahoo group where labels
publicize their new releases and a
href=”http://groups.yahoo.com/group/netaudio”>free audio Yahoo group where both message archives are publicly accessible.
Once you have got started check out any links you can find. Your
new favorite net label may well point you to other labels that will suit your
tastes. Likewise, a fair number of artists have releases with more than one net
label, so checking out the artists’ pages can be a good way to discover material by
like-minded artists.
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You may just be looking for a wide range of electronic listening
music as a starter. Somewhere you can browse through and hear a whole lot of
different sounds.
href=”http://www.observatoryonline.org”>Observatory Online has heaps of great EP
releases, with a bit of a focus on more mellow sounds, but still very varied and
often a little edgy.
href=”http://www.interdisco.net/”>Interdisco also has a wide range of worthwhile
tracks, but with more than a couple of four-to-the-floor EPs, including something by
Murcof collaborator Fax. The standard and breadth of music published by
Their compilations are a good way to get a feel for what is available through the
label. A wide range of what can be classed as IDM, as well as
ambient, microsound and music which mixes acoustic instruments with
electronic processing.
There is a lot of what I think is called melodic IDM out
there. You know the drill: soft drum machine rhythms that sometimes go a little
crunchy but are never angry, lush synth chords, chiming melodies, maybe a little
acoustic guitar or piano here and there. I must admit it’s not my favorite kind of
music, but I figure a lot of Igloo’s readers live and breathe the stuff, so it would
be remiss not to give some pointers. By all accounts, the undisputed champions in
this arena are Monotonik,
towards LPs and Kahvi towards one or two tracks per release. The two Sutemos
Invisible Toys compilations have a good range of artists, most of whom are old
hands to the net label game. In fact a few of the artists are on all three of these
labels, from memory.
Even more popular than melodic IDM among net labels is minimal
techno, particularly the dubby variety of post-Chain Reaction sounds. The sheer
volume of material available in this one genre is exhausting. My tastes tend
towards the softer tracks, but if you like something driving try the Stadt releases
on the interesting split label
href=”http://stadtgruenlabel.net/”>Stadtgruen.
href=”http://www.thinnerism.com/”>Thinnerism has a huge catalogue of quality
dubbed-out stuff, but the relatively new
href=”http://www.filtro.com.mx/”>Filtro has some even better releases which span
minimal techno, microhouse and ambient.
href=”http://www.epsilonlab.com/”>Epsilon Lab is another good contender,
sometimes tending more towards the bounce and click of microhouse tracks as
well.
Textone also
releases minimal techno, but my favourite releases there were some great
microhouse sounds similar to what you might find on labels like Perlon,
Playhouse and Force Tracks. They also have a great release by Kero, who makes the
kind of kinky electro associated with artists such as Two Lone Swordsmen.
If you like the idea of deep electronic dub without the doof
doof beats, I would recommend a couple of small labels.
href=”http://www.monohm.com/”>Monohm has some beautiful music, particularly from
the act that shares the label’s name, and is well worth checking out.
the time of writing, but Kyoto 3 and 4 are excellent EPs containing tracks perhaps a
little too similar to Rhythm & Sound. Still, if you like that sound, why pass up on
getting some for free? Kyoto 2 is more Chain Reaction style techno, a little like
older Porter Ricks.
It’s a little harder to recommend a label as a whole for post
rock, folktronica and what have you. I’m thinking here of music based around
the electronic processing of acoustic instruments. There is certainly
which bills itself as “The Ambient & Indietronic Music Netlabel”, but there aren’t
actually many releases there.
href=”http://www.autresdirections.net/inmusic/”>Autres Directions In Music is my
suggestion for your first port of call. They have some fantastic releases with
beats and acoustic guitar and so on, in the territory of artists like Minotaur Shock
and Four Tet, as well as a superb half hour slow building piece by Harpages that
might be at home on somewhere like Kranky or Constellation.
virtual 7″s, including a bunch of mutant electronic pop songs, net audio stalwart
Bauri remixing a slow indie song, and a twisted electro cover of Kelis’s
“Milkshake!” If you are looking for something more free and improvised
sounding then try
href=”http://www.komplott.com/”>Komplott. Their releases are largely beatless,
and although a lot are largely electronic quite a few mix in other instrumentation.
Jim O’Rourke’s electronic work or the more improvisational work Fennesz has done
(eg. his collaboration with Polwechsl) are good guideposts for what to expect.
Following on from labels like Komplott, there is a surprising amount
of microsound, electro-acoustic and what gets called dark
ambient music available on the web. As with the melodic IDM, this is an area of
only passing interest to me, so I’m not sure what to recommend in particular. From
the four or five labels I checked out
href=”http://www.tiln.aesova.org/”>Tiln seemed to be the most varied and
interesting.
If you are at all interested in hip-hop, broken beats, or jazz
influenced dance sounds the best label by a mile is
href=”http://www.tokyodawnrecords.com/”>Tokyo Dawn Records. They have expanded
into other formats, but there is a lot of music there for free, including some nice
mixes which include tracks otherwise unavailable online.
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:: Anders certainly deserves an award for the most transparent track names –
“Kärrsilja — Metal Bowls, Electronics, Bouzouki,” “Kärrsilja — Electronics, Piano,
Guitar” and “Kärrsilja — Sinewave, Bottles, Guitar, Harmonica.” The names give you
an instant entry point to what the artist is up to. Anders leaves a lot of space in
the material and despite the fact that each of the layers is improvised by himself
it is easy enough to imagine a quirky little ensemble were playing all of this live.
:: This release is accurately described on the site as “minimal’n’dry
techno-inspired superfunk”. The four tracks are downtempo, swaggering rhythms with
punchy synths adding flavour and fun. I would have tended to consider it
instrumental hip-hop, but there is certainly that Detroit feel in the music. I was
reminded of artists such as Dabrye and Anthony “Shake” Shakir.
:: Now this is my idea of melodic IDM! Strange textures and creative beats are
mixed with a lot of melodic and harmonic variation. The mood is light and often
energetic, buoyed up by the shifting rhythms. While there are heaps of digital
effects throughout they are never a substitute for great compositions. The results
sit somewhere between the good old days of early Plaid and the perverted pop
sensibilities of Mouse on Mars. My favorite is the sedate “Watersine.” The other
two Deework albums on Bedroom Research are much more moody and not so much to my
taste.
:: The StadtGruen site is worth a look just for the beautiful design, but if you
enjoy contemporary ambient sounds then it would be a travesty to not check out
Lomov’s releases. While he has releases on other labels, it is Free Port that
grabbed me most. Aesthetically, the tracks have some similarities with SND – those
tiny tinks and blips that sneak around the upper range of your hearing; the rounded,
dry bass sounds – but many of the compositions are much less focused on rhythm and
overall Lomov shows a wider stylistic range. The particularly yummy “Charger” is
reminiscent of Electric Birds with its record crackle percussion and somber echoing
chords.
:: Coming across an EP this distinctive is truly refreshing, when so much digital dub
sounds interchangeable. The sounds used here are an inviting mix of sampled piano,
bright synths and dusty noise, assembled into slowly shifting patterns. The rich
quality of the textures and slightly off-kilter rhythms reminded me a little of the
fantastic Kompakt producer Dettinger, but this music is truly Lufth’s own. While he
also has many releases on Thinner as Digitalverein I must confess that these tracks,
where he ditches the doof doof of minimal techno, are far and away my favourites.
If you like this EP a good follow-up is the Silent Season Dub album, which
collects down tempo tracks by most of the main Thinner contributors.
:: This album is intriguing enough for the rare opportunity to check out 14 different
Mexican electronic artists, but as it turns out the music presented here is
excellent in and of themselves. The starting point is a contemporary ambient affair
with some soft percussion. The remixes take in the whole gamut of contemporary
electronics – glitchy IDM, noisey drones, microhouse, and some acoustic guitar in
there somewhere – but most importantly the vast majority of them have their own
individual character rather than just sounding like tame genre workouts. The fact
you have 14 takes on one track does get a bit much, but part of the joy of the
digital file approach to listening is it’s so easy to listen to one or two tracks at
a time or shuffle them up among everything else you’ve downloaded.
:: The comment on the Test Tube label site says all that needs to be said about these
two lengthy tracks: “An ambient work along the lines of those of Akira Rabelais,
Rafael Toral and other minimalistic guitar players. Highly recommended.”
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