5 Great Underground Techno Labels

year founded:1998
owned by: Michael Mayer, Jurgen Pappe, Wolfgang Voight

Starting from the Koln record shop of the same name, Kompakt has grown into perhaps the best know techno label in Europe. As they go past their tenth year they've released everything from ambient, house, techno, and even pop electronic music, in addition to almost 200 releases on the main label, and many more on spin off labels like K2, Autrieb, Kompakt Extra. They have also been pivitol in the growth of other small labels through their fine distribution network.

Notable artists include. Jonas Bering, Thomas Feldmann, Dj Koze, Michael Mayer, Gui Boratto.
Website: http://www.kompakt-net.com/

M_nus (Canada and Germany)

year founded: 1998
owned by: Richie Hawtin

Initially quite a conceptual label formed by the popular artist Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) it has grown to encompass a large and close knit stable of artists. As a label they are associated with a more stripped back and minimal production values. However as the years have gone on, the techno community have largley become critical of their often over the top marketing practices, such as their 10 year anniversery concept "The Cube" This perhaps is slightly unfair as the quality of music has generally been quite high, despite the fact they have more mass appeal than some of their peers.

Notable artists include.Plastikman, Geiser, Heartthrob, Magda, Troy Pierce
Website:http://www.m-nus.com/

Cadenza (Switzerland/Germany)

year founded: 2003
owned by: Luciano and Serafin

Cadenza, despite a relatively recent history compared to Kompakt and M_nus, deserve a place on the list due to their increasingly interesting and risky output and the general high quality of their releases. Started by the well-known dj and producer Luciano and Serafin, their sound has grown from the rougher experimental early outings to the more smooth and soulful recent releases.

Notable artists include: Luciano, Thomas Melchior, Ricardo Villalobos, Loco Dice
Website:http://www.cadenzarecords.com

Klang Elektronik (Germany)

year founded: 2003
founded by: Ata, Heiko Schafer, M/S/O

Klang must be seen as one of the true pioneers in the techno scene, releasing a huge range of raw and dancefloor focused tracks over an incredible 15 years. Like its sister label, the more house focused Playhouse, they have been instrumental in the launching of many careers and spreading the popularity of the music around Europe and the world. To stay relevant after so long is a monumental achievment.

Notable artists include. Alter Ego, Dan Bell, Farben
Website: http://www.ongaku.de

Perlon

year founded: 1997
founded by: Zip and Markus Nicolai

Perhaps the premier techno label in Europe, to many Perlon have consistently redifined the boundries of dance music. Starting in Frankfurt, and despite being a vinyl only label, its consistently interesting and versitle releases have endeared it to many. The production is always immaculate and often comes from a small group of artists colaborating together under a varity of names. Consistantly outstadning releases.

Notable artists include. Ricardo Villalobos, Zip, Pantytec, Baby Ford, Thomas Melchior.
Website: http://www.perlon.net