Review: La Belle 'Season One'

It’s been 365 days since Parisian label La Belle just appeared in our inbox out of nowhere, created in-part by Herr Styler and Golden bug the label has released some really cool records for some even cooler producers. Thus far they have released music for In Flagranti, Freeform Five, Clap Rules, Justin Robertson, Pete Herbert, Rodion, The Supermen Lovers and Ilya Santana – and then mixed those artists with the label’s own stars-in-the-making In Fields, Earl Grey, Lou Teti, The Elriks and Hannunelauri for an intoxicating blend of youth and experience.

To celebrate the occasion the label have just released their first compilation, dubbed ‘Season One‘, which features 14 tracks cherry picked from the label’s past releases. ‘Season One’ captures the label’s core sound perfectly with In Fields given the job of setting the compilation’s opening tempo, and it’s – how should we say this – excitable. But don’t be fooled, though, as ‘Season One‘ goes deeper and weirder than most, Richard Sen’s remix of FKCLUB’s ‘Strange Art‘ is a testament to this as he tries his best stab at twilight zone disco. Thankfully, Panama Disco Lights are on hand to pull you out of that particular rabbit hole and into their world sassy disco pop – and if you haven’t heard ‘The Mood I’m In‘ you’re seriously missing out.

The compilation hops, skips and jumps through a range of genres from Freeform Five’s playful acid on ‘One Way‘ to Earl Grey’s smokey ‘werkian symphony ‘Through The Night‘. Never a dull moment, ‘Season One‘ is positively brimming full of amazing tracks that quite frankly have remained under far too many radars for too long. Herr Styler make a welcomed return too, the Parisian duo offer ‘Pienzm’, a eccentric piece charming house that flies nicely towards Rokysopp’s more leftfield work – it’s a real joy. The second half of the compilation is just as accomplished with the frenetic electro disco of Moon Runner’s ‘Tlatohua‘ and Golden Bug’s deranged ‘Room 666‘. Other highlights include Peter Herbert’s remix of Lou Teti’s ‘Talk About It‘ and Rodion & Khan’s luminescent ‘Discoteca Romana’.

The diversity on offer with ‘Season One‘ is unparalleled in our eyes, and quite how a label from a standing start can release this amount of music and still not be more of a household name is criminal to be honest. Ultimately, if you rarely go off the musical beaten path La Belle’s vision of anything-goes-disco – without compromising on quality – will serve you very well indeed.

HBF Rating 5/5