Most Influential Labels in Dubstep

[murky21]

This has probably been covered before, but could not find anything..

Interested to hear people's thoughts on which which Labels have been the most influential in formulating the Dubstep sound, and which labels are moving things forward...

i'll kick things off by doing a very rough top 10 kind of list but would welcome edits/ any discussions on the two points above..

Also which labels are people's auto-bag choices? For me at the moment it's either Chestplate or Osiris UK....

cheers...

1. Tempa
2. Hyperdub
3. DMZ
4. Tectonic
5. Deep Medi
6. Planet Mu
7. Boka
8. Disfigured Dubz
9. Punch Drunk
10. HENCH

(as I said, just a quick rough list, dont get angry if I have missed anything particularly seminal..!)

[qwaycee_]

i'm interested in seeing the mark/impact swamp81 will leave/have down the road. already a serious label...for serious.

[murky21]

i'm interested in seeing the mark/impact swamp81 will leave/have down the road. already a serious label...for serious.

yeah definitely, a lot of strong releases on this one, Loe seems to be going down a pretty house influenced direction atm which is cool, be interesting to see if the label follows.....lots of high quality, well produced stuff on swamp, thought the Kryptic Minds release was brilliant....

[apmje]

i'm interested in seeing the mark/impact swamp81 will leave/have down the road. already a serious label...for serious.

yeah definitely, a lot of strong releases on this one, Loe seems to be going down a pretty house influenced direction atm which is cool, be interesting to see if the label follows.....lots of high quality, well produced stuff on swamp, thought the Kryptic Minds release was brilliant....

I am cool with Loefah doing his house tings but I hope he also keeps the dark and the experimental stuff.

I think you pretty much summed all of the labels up man. Maybe add Hessle/Hotflush just because they are pushing a totally different sound to the traditional dubstep.

[Hibbie]

This has been done before however Tempa and Big apple records are without doubt probably the most influential labels for the scene directly or indirectly. Obviously Dmz, Hyperdub, Deep Medi, Tectonic, Hotflush and Planet Mu are a major influence. I think the 3 biggest labels pushing things forward right now are Hyperdub, Hessle and Swamp81.

Autobag labels for me:

Dmz
Deep Medi Musik
Hessle Audio
Night Slugs
EDIT: Hemlock Recordings

[joeki]

Here is my list of what I consider the bare essential labels of dubstep. It was unfortunately impossible for me to cut this down to 10 names. I've selected labels based on overall and average quality, number of releases (+ running time) and finally, Personal taste. Most of them all have a particular sound that covers one (or more) aspects of the broad dubstep spectrum.

Berkane Sol
Blackacre / Team Acre
Boka Recordings
Deep Medi Musik
Digital Soundboy
DMZ
Dub Police
Hyperdub
H.E.N.C.H.
Hessle Audio
Hotflush / Hotflushtwo / Scuba
Immerse
Ninja Tune
Planet Mu
Punch Drunk
Skull Disco
Souljazz
Tectonic
Tempa
Texture

These are 10 labels that have done particularly well in 2010 and could be future candidates for the upper list.
Apple Pips
Blackbox / Box Clever
Chestplate
Disfigured Dubz
Naked Lunch
Night Slugs
Osiris Music UK
Pushing Red
R&S
Swamp 81


I'm sure I'm forgetting something here and there so apologies in advance.

[murky21]

This has been done before however Tempa and Big apple records are without doubt probably the most influential labels for the scene directly or indirectly. Obviously Dmz, Hyperdub, Deep Medi, Tectonic, Hotflush and Planet Mu are a major influence. I think the 3 biggest labels pushing things forward right now are Hyperdub, Hessle and Swamp81.

Autobag labels for me:

Dmz
Deep Medi Musik
Hessle Audio
Night Slugs

good shout wiv big apple, bit of an omission, although dont know how active it is nowdays, but yeah massive hub back in the day for all the Croydon lot...

Hessle audio definitely moving things forward, often see room 3 at Fabric occupied just by that lot, and a lot of talented producers (espesh Ramadanman) in there representing....

[joeki]

I considered Big Apple but I own no releases of that label (which hasn't been active for years). It was essential for the development of the sound, but not for me personally.

[Hibbie]

I considered Big Apple but I own no releases of that label (which hasn't been active for years). It was essential for the development of the sound, but not for me personally.

This is why I said indirectly,

[hellfire machina]

For me if I had to pick one label it would be Hotflush. From Spectr, Distance, Toastyboy, Search And Destroy and Boxcutter to Mount Kimbie, Untold and Sigha , they have introduced us to so many amazingly talented artists, constantly pushed boundaries and redefined the sound of the label many times over. Not to mention the seemingly effortless creative flow of label boss Scuba.

[dj_ug]

For me if I had to pick one label it would be Hotflush.

all in all immense respect to scuba for the very unique sound that he has given to dubstep music. and what he has done to take the dread bass of dubstep to berlin (in particular the berghain club). plus, he is incredible live.

other than that, i would also like to make an honourable mention to ranking records, because even if they arent quite one of the most influential labels, they certainly are a gem. +10 for their original sound. there hasn't been a single ranking release that i haven't loved. truly epic stuff.

[ruin]

tectonic

[qwaycee_]

i'm interested in seeing the mark/impact swamp81 will leave/have down the road. already a serious label...for serious.

yeah definitely, a lot of strong releases on this one, Loe seems to be going down a pretty house influenced direction atm which is cool, be interesting to see if the label follows.....lots of high quality, well produced stuff on swamp, thought the Kryptic Minds release was brilliant....

I am cool with Loefah doing his house tings but I hope he also keeps the dark and the experimental stuff.

I think you pretty much summed all of the labels up man. Maybe add Hessle/Hotflush just because they are pushing a totally different sound to the traditional dubstep.

ayo hold up.

is loefah actually making non-dubstep stuff recently?

i've been out of the loop for like 4 months.

[badger]

depends if you mean influential and good or just influential

circus records has been pretty influential in the filth scene but that doesn't change the fact that most of its output is....well... not to my taste to put it diplomatically

[Claridge]

Lets not forget about urban scrumping

[joeki]

depends if you mean influential and good or just influential

circus records has been pretty influential in the filth scene but that doesn't change the fact that most of its output is....well... not to my taste to put it diplomatically

Very much indeed. I listed for example Dub Police. I hardly own any releases by this label at all, but it's probably one of the best selling ones out there.
Therefore I listed it.

[badger]

This has been done before however Tempa and Big apple records are without doubt probably the most influential labels for the scene directly or indirectly. Obviously Dmz, Hyperdub, Deep Medi, Tectonic, Hotflush and Planet Mu are a major influence. I think the 3 biggest labels pushing things forward right now are Hyperdub, Hessle and Swamp81.

Autobag labels for me:

Dmz
Deep Medi Musik
Hessle Audio
Night Slugs

this list is pretty much where i stand

interestingly quite a few of those are not dubstep specific which i think is why they've been so important in shaping the sound of dubstep and keeping things moving fwd

so many labels fall into the trap of establishing a sphere of influence and sitting still, putting out the same tired old shit release after release because it's easy to do that and make money without having to take any risks on different styles and new ideas

[hellfire machina]

This has been done before however Tempa and Big apple records are without doubt probably the most influential labels for the scene directly or indirectly. Obviously Dmz, Hyperdub, Deep Medi, Tectonic, Hotflush and Planet Mu are a major influence. I think the 3 biggest labels pushing things forward right now are Hyperdub, Hessle and Swamp81.

Autobag labels for me:

Dmz
Deep Medi Musik
Hessle Audio
Night Slugs

this list is pretty much where i stand

interestingly quite a few of those are not dubstep specific which i think is why they've been so important in shaping the sound of dubstep and keeping things moving fwd

so many labels fall into the trap of establishing a sphere of influence and sitting still, putting out the same tired old shit release after release because it's easy to do that and make money without having to take any risks on different styles and new ideas

[Hibbie]

Also Hemlock Recordings which is another Autobag.

I do seem to autobag the War series but I think it is more from a collectors point, maybe when they get to 20 I'l stop

[impey]

Deep Medi
DMZ
HENCH
Dubstar
Southside