| Founded: | 2002 |
| Founder: | Kasra Mowlavi |
Critical Music is a British independent record label based in north London, England. The label is the owned and run by DJ and producer Kasra Mowlavi and releases mostly drum and bass records. Since the label was founded in 2002, it has grown significantly and become a widely recognized name on the underground music scene. Critical Music has released tracks by artists including Enei, Rockwell, Spectrasoul, Calibre, and Break, and has a reputation for finding and developing new artists.
Resident Advisor has described the label as "A wealth of innovation, growth and experimentation abounds at 170 beats per minute right now, and you can't get a much better—or more comprehensive—approximation of it all than through the discography of London's Critical Recordings."
Kasra Mowlavi started Critical Music in 2002. The label's first release was a single by Dphie – Five Faces / Evolve.2 and from there Critical began slowly but surely gathering fans looking for quality, fresh drum n bass releases. Critical's early years were more about a deeper, underground sound, but with the release of Spectrasoul – Alibi (Break remix) / Organiser in 2009, the label began to take a more dancefloor friendly turn and its profile became much more heightened. Despite this, Critical has never given in to the temptation to mass release cheap, high speed adrenaline rush tracks that other labels have in order to bring recognition and cash. Instead, it has gone for a more sophisticated version of the dancefloor smash with releases like Enei's Cracker in 2011.
In 2010 the label began running Critical Sound nights at venues around the UK and Europe. Critical now has a residency at Fabric London,[1] and there are Critical Sound nights at clubs in other cities in the UK like Life in Brighton and Basement 45 in Bristol.
The label has gained considerable profile for its releases, a number of which have won recognition within the industry. Mob Justice by Foreign Concept was included in KMag's Best Singles of 2011 and the magazine said Critical 'could do no wrong this year.'[2] FACT Magazine listed the Rockwell Aria EP as one of the 50 Best Tracks of 2011.[3]
In 2011, the label signed the first of its exclusive artists, Russian DJ and producer Enei (Aleksei Egorchenkov). Enei won the Best Newcomer Producer award at the Drum n Bass Arena awards 2011, where Critical was also nominated for Best Label.[4] The label has also been integral in the careers of Rockwell and Sabre.[5]
In April 2020, Critical Music were named 'Label of the Month' by Beatport.[6]
Following artists are among the Critical Music roster :[7]
In 2010, Modulations was set up as a sister label to Critical Music. Label owner Kasra described Modulations as "the DnB version of a singles club" and has emphasized the collectability of the 10" vinyl only releases which all have high quality packaging.[8] Artists releasing on the label include Lenzman, Dub Phizix, Vicious Circle & Jubei and June Miller. Its last release was in 2013.
Critical Music would also release 2 other series under the Critical name. Those being Binary and Systems. Both of these continue to this day.