Best Record Labels of the Decade 2000-2009

!K7 - "The label continues to strive towards the goal of bringing the excitement of the best club nights to listeners’ homes." - Stephen Bolles, !K7 media director

~Scape - A fertile breeding ground for self-contained, self-confident music.

4AD - No question that 4AD stays true to the meaning of the phrase "alternative music" - they'll be the anchor of the genre for years to come.

Absolutely Kosher - "I didn't write the records, but I ate them and breathed them and brought them to the people and that feels good. It's not easy being a record man these days, but it's still fucking great." - Cory Brown, founder

Anti - It is by no means a stretch to say that ANTI- is responsible for cultivating a culture of genre-blurring music, embracing good music in its purest form, preconceptions be damned.

Anticon - "anticon is a collectively owned record label dedicated to scrounging up quiet ideas and tiny epiphanies wherever they might be found."

Astralwerks - "It's a classic truism, but it's all about great music and our willingness to adapt when necessary." - Glenn Mendlinger, Astralwerks general manager

Audio Dregs - E*Rock weighs in with a succinct assessment of the label he founded (and on which he records).

Beggars Banquet - Beggars Banquet maintained the same DIY, punk rock ethics that it began with back in 1977.

Big Dada - Big Dada has branched out to sign some of the most genre-warping artists of the past decade.

Carpark - We want to get our hands on whatever drugs Todd Hyman is taking. If you're into the weird and wild, you've undoubtedly come into contact with Carpark Records, and Hyman is running the joint singlehandedly.

Chocolate Industries - "Chocolate Industries is rad because they believe in the art of music." - Hollywood Holt

Definitive Jux - "This is an artist created label and our passion for music is the absolute fulcrum of everything we do." - Jesse Ferguson, Label Manager & El-P, Founder/Artist

DFA - The influence of bands like Talking Heads, Liquid Liquid, ESG, and Blondie can be heard throughout the DFA catalog.

Domino - "I am proud to be part of Domino's rich and influential history." - Adem

Drag City - "Drag City is no joke an that's no joke!" - Jennifer Herrema of RTX/Royal Trux

Fat Cat - "We still listen and respond to every demo we get sent, and that's where the larger percentage of our releases has come from - building artists from the ground up." - Dave Howell, Head of A&R

Fierce Panda - "The label known as Fierce Panda was born in a pub in the West End of London Town at the start of 1994. Somewhat predictably the pub no longer exists and the site of it is now occupied by a Boots chemist."

Fool's Gold - "A-Trak and I started Fool's Gold because there were no other labels for our generation of DJs, producers and performers in this new North American scene." - Nick Catchdubs, Co-Founder

Ghostly - "Ghostly exudes the quintessential Midwest vibe. Not flashy, not in-your-face." - Kate Simko

Hefty Records - "Generally speaking, our music finds it's identity in a strange balance of electronic and organic sounds. Hefty puts an emphasis on carefully crafted recordings / production and innovative album artwork."

Illegal Art - "Illegal Art is a small label that challenges the perceptions of copyright law. We embrace sampling and all its beautiful permutations."

Kill Rock Stars - "It is a place that takes dirt and turns it into life." - Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu

Kranky - "Before I was ever a Kranky artist, I was a Kranky fan, and I anxiously waited for each title to arrive." - Paul Dickow of Strategy

Lex - "Lex lovingly turns out about 4 albums each year. Whenever possible we release records with good looking sleeves. It's about quality over quantity." - Tom Brown, Founder

Light in the Attic - "In short, we're a bit nuts. We spend countless hours on things that most don't value - two weeks fighting over the text on a retail CD sticker; endlessly calling stores in the UK and France at 3am in hopes of spreading the gospel on a new release."

Luaka Bop - "We try to look at music without prejudice, without saying, 'This belongs in this category and this belongs there'. We'd like to throw things together which is going to be a little confusing for some people, but that's the way we hear." - Yale Evelev, Label President

Mad Decent - "We say Mad Decent is a movement, but that's less of a cocky reference to our legion of fans and more of a way to explain what bubbles up from our home base at the Mausoleum."

Manimal Vinyl - "I have always felt that there are certain artists that deserved to be heard on vinyl; bands and songwriters who perform as if they are reaching out at you from another dimension and time." - Paul Beahan, Founder

Matador - Throughout the current decade, Matador has managed to craft a roster of artists that transcends the indie label/major label distinctions.

Merge Records - Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC.

Modular - "Modular rules because our bands rule. I would like to think our strength lies in our diversity and within that our ability to turn people onto something new they might not otherwise bother with." - Glenn Goetze, head of A&R

Mush Records - "The thing I like most about Mush is the support they have shown me over the years, not just in my musical endeavors, but in the many strange projects I have undertook over the years." - Marc Bianchi from Her Space Holiday

Ninja Tune - Ninja Tune was founded in the early '90s by Coldcut and, to this day, has continued to put out some of the most creative music we've ever heard.

Om Records - "In celebration of Better Propaganda’s first 5 years, I’ve compiled a list of my top 10 albums on Om since we began. I hope this list serves as a jump off point for further musical exploration." - Gunnar Hissam, VP of Marketing

Plug Research - With albums such as Milosh's Meme, Dntel's Life is Full of Possibilities, and Daedelus' Invention in their catalog, Plug Research is undoubtedly one of the most respected underground labels since labels could ever be deemed "underground."

Quannum Projects - "Our next release, which comes out October 7th, is by the Brazilian phenom, Curumin. To help celebrate betterPropaganda's 5th Anniversary, we've asked Curumin to sum up each member of the Quannum crew in a single word."

Rhymesayers - "Rhymesayers is built first and foremost on people. Everyone associated with Rhymesayers are quality human beings who care deeply about each other and the work we do." - Brother Ali

Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans - "No other record label I've been involved with has had anywhere near the dedication to the business than the Jag/SC/Dead Oceans family." - BJ Warshaw of Parts & Labor

Stones Throw - For a while, Stones Throw seemed to be an outlet for Peanut Butter Wolf's beats and Madlib's alter egos, but this decade, Stones Throw has emerged as the premier hip-hop label.

Sub Pop - By putting the emphasis on the music, where it belongs, the rest is falling into place. The last few years have been some of Sub Pop’s most musically and fiscally rewarding since, well, that other time…you know the one.

Temporary Residence - "We first met Jeremy in the winter of 2000. We drove from Texas to Baltimore (where the label was based at the time) in order to record our second album (and the first for Temporary Residence)." - Chris Hrasky from Explosions In The Sky

Thrill Jockey - "We've released everything from alt-country, ambient experimental electronic music, post-rock, jazz, new folk, and punk rock as well as few things that remain outside the boundaries of classification but that always manage to push the limits in one way or another."

Tigerbeat 6 - Since he founded it in early 2000, the Kid has moved towards establishing Tigerbeat6 as a top purveyor of the more offbeat side of electronic music with releases such as a three-inch CD tribute to N.W.A.

Touch and Go Records - "Touch and Go has released or distributed almost everything Bubba and I have recorded over the last fifteen years." - Matt Kadane from The New Year

Vice - "Vice are my Stateside family. They are the reason I even get to go there." - Mike Skinner of The Streets

Warp - "I think Warp has stood the test of time because they allow what they see originally in an artist be the main focus." - G Evelyn of Nightmares on Wax

Waxploitation - "The company was founded a decade ago, with the goal of championing artists who were doing important things outside of the mainstream." - Jeff Antebi, Founder

We Are Free - Ira Wolf Tuton of Yeasayer offers up a bit of humor when asked about what makes We Are Free so great.

XL Recordings - With such a robust roster, XL Recordings is probably the strongest label in the world, at the moment.