At the close of its first decade, Marine Parade remains one of the pioneering independent labels driven by new electronic sounds—and beyond. Started in 1998 by Grammy-nominated DJ/Producer Adam Freeland, Marine Parade took its name from a street in Freeland’s homebase of Brighton, England. The imprint has since become a flagship label for quality grooves, home to numerous seminal tracks: its discography spans everything from classic dance-music anthems like Freeland’s iconoclastic 2003 global smash “We Want Your Soul” and ILS’ “Next Level” to Jape’s recent genre-smashing space-folk hit “Floating” (later covered brilliantly by the Raconteurs) and Freeland’s widely-successful club mixes of the Doors “Hello, I Love You.”

Since its inception, Marine Parade’s vision was to push sounds that not only rock nightclubs, but also have the musical depth to move beyond the dance floor. Indeed, Marine Parade has released some of electronic music’s most enduring albums, like Freeland’s Now&Them, Evil Nine’s You Can Be Special Too, and ILS’ Soul Trader, and continues to innovate on the DJ mix CD format. Over the years, the label has continually put out classic tracks from the likes of Beber, Bassbin Twins, and Steve Bug and DJ T, a practice that continues on with the label’s latest releases, which receive support from turntable legends spanning Rob Da BanktoLaurent Garnier; Adam Freeland’s current single, “Hate,” has found itself in DJ playlists stemming from Eddy Temple MorristoEtienne de Crécy. As well, Marine Parade has commissioned remixes from the tastemaker likes of Prins Thomas, Switch and D.I.M, and featured collaborations with the likes of artists ranging from Aesop Rock to Josh Winkand Tom Middleton. Indeed, Marine Parade has proven itself no slave to genre: legendary avant-garde electronic-music producer Bill Laswell is a fan, while drum-and-bass royals from High Contrast and Andy C to Ed Rush and Optical have also created infamous re-rubs out of the label’s best-known tracks.

Year after year, Marine Parade has proven itself a dependable hothouse of new talent, having helped launch the career of esteemed Australian dance-music band Infusion, UNKLE collaborator Richard File (as Forme), and Bjork musical director Damian Taylor (as Stone Lions). The label’s newest artists, like the acclaimed Alex Metric (XFM 2007 “Remixer of the Year”) and Canadian electro iconoclast STA, continue to make waves with their most recent Marine Parade efforts, like STA’s recent buzz cut “In Living Colour.” 2008 looks to be the label’s strongest year yet: with greatly-anticipated full-lengths expected from Adam Freeland and Evil Nine and the storming debut album from Alex Metric, Marine Parade enters its second decade right where it began: on the forward edge of the most groundbreaking music, circa now.