DANCE LABELS OF 2012

​In a year that saw the emergence of a number of great dance entities, the one label that impressed us the most in 2012 was without a doubt Los Angeles' own BODY HIGH. In their first full year as a label, the west coast collective (headed by Samo Sound Boy and Jerome LOL) wasted no time in becoming America's goto source for innovative, club-oriented dance music, debuting a total of 10 releases on the year that were each as unique and pleasing as the last. The hardest thing for a newly introduced label is to establish a unified vision, and this year BODY HIGH did so impressively, tying in everything from the stripped down sound to the occult imagery to amount toward the overall BH mentality.

Other labels we loved this year included Hotflush Recordings, who tallied yet another monster year to their scoreboard with a career cementing release from Scuba and introducing a feast of promising newcomers such as Locked Groove and Shelter Point. The legendary Hyperdub label could also do no wrong in 2012, proving that even after years of domination they could still evolve and inspire with breakthrough projects from the likes of Cooly G and Laurel Halo.

Below, check out our favorite dance labels of 2012 and the releases that made them so.

01. BODY HIGH

a. DJ Funeral - RIP Tribute EP

b. Todd Edwards - Shall Go EP

c. DJ Sliink - Vibrate EP

d. Floyd Campbell - Drifted EP

02. Hotflush Recordings

a. Scuba - Personality

b. Jimmy Edgar - Majenta

c. Locked Groove - Rooted EP

d. Shelter Point - Forever for Now

03. Hyperdub

a. Cooly G - Playin' Me

b. Laurel Halo - Quarantine

c. Burial - Kindered EP

04. Night Slugs

a. Jam City - Classical Curves

b. Girl Unit - Club Rez EP

c. Lil Silva - Club Constructions Vol. 2

05. Friends Of Friends

a. LOL Boys - Changes EP

b. Shlohmo - Vacation EP

c. Groundislava - Feel Me

06. Hypercolour

a. Mosca - Eva Mendes EP

b. Huxley - Let It Go EP

c. George FitzGerald - Needs You EP

07. Hessle Audio

a. Pangea - Release

b. Elgato - HES020

c. Pearson Sound - HES022

08. PMR Records

a. Jessie Ware - Devotion

b. T. Williams - Pain & Love EP

c. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith - "Latch"

09. Turbo Recordings

a. Duke Dumont - Only For Club Plays Pt. 1 & 2

b. Locked Groove - Different Paths EP

10. TriAngle

a. Holy Other - Held

b. Evian Christ - Kings And Them

11. LuckyMe

a. TNGHT - TNGHT EP

b. Baauer - Dum Dum EP

12. Dirtybird

a. Dirtybird Hatched Vol. 1

b. Justin Martin - Ghettos & Gardens

13. Ostgut Ton

a. Nick Hoppner - Panorama Bar 04

b. Marcel Dettmann - Rang EP

14. Brainfeeder

a. The Gaslamp Killer - Breaking Through

b. Lapalux - When You're Gone

15. Ninja Tune

a. FaltyDL - "Straight & Arrow"

b. Jesse Boykins III & MeLo-X - Zulu Guru