Crate Diggin': Laura Jones Details Five Labels That Have Inspired Her

As announced yesterday, after many years of successfully releasing on some of today's most upstanding labels such as Crosstown Rebels and Leftroom, Laura Jones has felt it timely to establish her own vinyl platform. Named Sensoramic, Jones has said of the label that "Sensoramic is inspired by the idea of losing one sense and expanding your others—a panoramic stretching of the sensory boundaries. After spending years devoted to digging through the back catalogues of other labels, it's a pleasure and a privilege to finally be able to unveil my own." So, in the wake of this news we asked the accomplished DJ to talk about the imprints that have played their part in influencing her over the years to set the frame of her next step forward as a selector.

Warp

Warp's greatest inspiration stems from its diversity and the fact it has provided the world with some of its most exceptional electronic music artists ever right from the very birth of rave until now. Warp releases by the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Nightmares on Wax, LFO and The Other People Place are untouchable. Their output is pretty full on and even though I might not buy everything they release, every now and again they pop up out of nowhere and blow my mind. The new Mark Pritchard album promises to a future classic and this lead track is currently sizzling in my ears after discovering it on the weekend: Track: Mark Pritchard - Sad Alron

SVEK

Another label that has been around for a good while but is always consistently top-notch for me. It has tight competition from Börft for the title of my favourite Swedish label mind you which is another imprint crammed full of amazingness. Despite Börft's output being greater than Svek's at 133 releases deep, SVEK has housed classics such as What's The Time Mr Templar from The Persuader, one of my favourite producers to this day along with many others by the likes of Gene Hunt. Both are a reminder to focus on quality over hype as they have always beaten their own paths and allowed the scene to follow them and not the other way around. There are a heap of gems on here but this Jesper Dählback remains a particular fave. Track: Jesper Dahlback - Untitled A2

Playhouse

I first discovered Playhouse in the heyday of the minimal boom in the mid 2000s. I had always been heavily into collecting dance music of various genres as a kid but after travelling around the globe to follow the rave and finding myself in places like DC10, Robert Johnson, Berghain and of course Fabric, I finally found my musical home in underground electronic music. I soon bought turntables and spent every penny I had on Phonica mail-orders, a good few of which were from this now iconic Frankfurt label. A home for artists like Losoul, Melchior and Ricardo, and curated by Ata, it also just pipped another great influence of mine, Perlon to make it into this list. Where Perlon honed a very distinct sound however Playhouse took a much more diverse approach. It has sadly stopped releasing but that almost adds to its appeal; quitting on a high. Release-wise, "Alcachofa" by Ricardo has always been a true favourite and is actually one of the first vinyl I ever bought. It's where I first discovered "Dexter" which to this day remains one of my favourite dance records of all time. I picked that for one of the last interviews I did for you guys though so this time I'm going with fifth track on the release, Waiworinao: Track: Ricardo Villalobos - Waiworinao

Giegling

Edward's album 'Into A Better Future' will probably end in my favourite albums of the decade undoubtedly. It's possibly fair to say where Playhouse left off, Giegling has carried the baton for eclectic German electronic music. The recent Leafar Legov EP is exceptional and so up my street thanks its sombre pianos and weird tape style production techniques. I've picked out a favourite from the aforementioned album below, I love how there's a slight nod to old Leftfield-esque breakbeat with this one so perhaps that's why I love it so much. Literally love everything that Edward does. Track: Edward - Hecstatic

The Trilogy Tapes

Although it's not exactly a new label, over the past seven years TTT has kept the flag flying for innovative new electronic music. No surprise then that some of our newest stars like Anthony Naples and the Zenker Brothers have contributed to its back catalogue. My current favourite is Ondo Fudd and his latest release Blue Dot is amazing as is his previous for them, Coup D'Etat. I'd go as far as saying it's one of the UK's leading label lights (with a foot in club music as well as wider world listening) and just about pips another of my UK favourites, Honest Jon's to the title. Deciding this list has killed me seriously! ;) Track: Ondo Fudd - Coup D'etat