Various

Vancouver, BC born techno label Wagon Repair has a well-situated global perspective. With an international roster of artists, from Detroit to Chile, an office in London and a studio in Berlin, to call the label "Canadian" is a bit of a misnomer. Started in 2004 by Mathew Jonson, Konrad Black, Loose Change and Graham Boothby, Wagon Repair makes music with skilful production to not only impress electronic music aficionados worldwide but to actually raise the bar. Musical elements vary among tracks on this label comp, from jazz to house to dub, but the root that brings it all together is techno. Mathew Johnson's lumbering "Last Train to Coney" creates gliding movement grounded in bass and percussion, while West coast-raised Montrealer the Mole shares "DirtMap" a playful, house-lite techno track with classic appeal. "El Barrio," by Spain-based Luca Bacchetti, jacks it tribal before fusing with live jazz. The uplifting techno of Berlin's Exercise One comes forward on "Timetrap" and "Leviathan," by Deadbeat, is a dub-y, ten-minute techno journey with airplane samples going full throttle. This is necessary listening.