Label Realm: music haBits

Off to letter B:

Baroque Records was founded in 2000 by Keith McDonnel (Innate) and Mick Parks (member of Tilt and Parks & Wilson projects). Oriented towards the progressive side of EDM, it hosted the first releases of Leama and Andy Moor, with occasional appearances by Tilt and Quivver. The label continues to exist in digital format.

Barely Breaking Even started in 1993 as an idea of Peter Adarkwah and Ben Jolly, in order to promote parties in the local scene of UK. Three years later, the homonymous label was created, releasing compilation albums from various genres. While it is mostly known for comps by hip-hop DJs, my contact with the label was through the third installment of City 2 City series by DJ Deep (a brief review of a track included in this part may be found here), a tribute to Detroit/New York/Chicago house scene.

Bedrock is the alias of the progressive house/trance duo Nick Muir and John Digweed. They have produced several anthems under the alias, such as For What You Dream Of... (1993) and Heaven Scent (1999). In 1999, they established Bedrock Records, releasing high quality tracks by prominent artists. The golden age of Greek progressive house can be detected in the releases between 2000-2006, by Stelios Vassiloudis (Stel), John Douskos (Dousk) and George Pallikaris (G-Pal).
The high standards of the label are maintained till this very day, especially by Diggers' Live At series.

Black Hole Recordings was set up by Arny Bink and DJ Tiësto in 1997. In 2009, Tiësto sold his part of the company to Arny, making the latter the head honcho of the label. I was never a fan of Tiësto's DJ output (with some exceptions) and the Dutch "Supersaw" trance sound in general. However, the first releases (Magik/In Trance We Trust series) are very solid. The label continues releasing new material, under the supervision of Arny.

Bonzai Records is a seminal label that shaped the dance scene of Belgium since the early nineties, releasing material in Hardcore, Techno, Progressive Trance and Hard Trance. It was founded in 1992 by Christian Pieters (DJ Fly) as a sublabel of Lightning Records. On March 2003, the mother company faced hard times, as it went bankrupt. However, the Bonzai label was re-launched 2 months later under the Banshee Worx company, along with Marnik Braeckevelt (Marnix B), who served as A&R of Lightning Records, and DJs Yves Deruyter & Laurent Véronnez.
As an incurable proghead, I was mostly into the progressive sound of things, presented by Bonzai Progressive (one of the many Bonzai sublabels). Artists like Yves Deruyter, Laurent Véronnez (Airwave/Lolo/Velvet Girl), Mike Dierickx (Push/Plastic Boy/Solar Factor), Philippe Van Mullem, DJ Phi-Phi and Jurgen Leyers (DJ Fire) rocked the Belgian and European dance floors with their music!

Label Realm: numerical stArt

An effective way for searching great tracks is through the labels. My taste in music has evolved through the years, but some labels are memorable for their output, regardless of the genre they represent. If you are a new listener in electronic music, I have compiled a list (based on my Discogs collection) for your reference. Here we go (in alphanumeric order)!

4 Real Communication was a short-lived trance label, set up by David Gates and Malcolm Stanners, mostly known as Salt Tank. Unfortunately, the lifespan of the label was limited, as per the output of Salt Tank...

Additive was a sublabel of EMI, focused on progressive trance music. Under the label, several known artists of the genre were introduced to the masses, such as Chris Cowie (X-Cabs), Oliver Huntemann (Kay Cee), Ralph-Armand Beck (Taucher) and Laurent Véronnez (Velvet Girl). The declined popularity of trance in the mid-00's led to the closure of the label.

Armind is a Dutch trance label, which was the first imprint of Armada Music, the colossal EDM label. It was founded by Armin Van Buuren (prior to his superstar DJ status) and serves as home of his all own productions. While the current output of Armind and Armada Music in general does not seem inspirational, the very first releases were instant classics (Alibi - Eternity, Rising Star - Touch Me, Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes).

Audio Therapy was a label run by Dave Seaman, from 2000 until 2010, specialized in progressive house. It was the first production home of Stelios Vassiloudis, one of my favorite Greek artists of the genre. Additionally, the progressive breaks classic Habersham & Phil K - Cloudbrake can be found in the label.

Avatar Records was founded in 1997 by Israelis Avichay Avigal and Peter Eibenschutz. The label is mostly popular for its psy-trance output, massively produced in Israel. I am not very familiar with the genre, it is worth mentioning that the label hosted the first studio album of Astropilot (Fruits Of The Imagination), a solid release.