By Peter Nicholson

THERE'S A LOCAL music journalist who consistently beats me to the punch on discovering hot labels. Let's call him Bill Sherwin. From Perlon to Kompakt (he's got a thing for those wacky Germans), Bill is consistently one step ahead of me. Which irks me to no end. So when he sent an enthusiastic post about Ghostly International's new releases to one of my favorite music message groups, I slapped my forehead in exasperation and immediately e-mailed Sam Valenti IV, Ghostly's chief spook. The resulting press pack – complete with precious vinyl and übercute stickers – left me almost speechless. Almost. My nemesis Bill may have been there first, but damn, who cares about primacy when the music is this good?

While I had been impressed by Ghostly's Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau, which found Legowelt and Memory Boy exacting a futurist toll on dance music, it wasn't until Valenti sent me Idol Tryouts: Ghostly International Vol. 1, released early this year, that I realized the true scope of what was happening just outside of Detroit. From the skeletal hip-hop of Dabrye to the minimal techno funk of Matthew Dear and on to the electro indie-pop of Midwest Product, the range of Ghostly's stable is only matched by the individual accomplishments of each artist. Pretty impressive for a label that began at a frat party.

"It was my first week of college, and I was doing the 'Welcome Week' nonsense," Valenti explains over the phone from his Ann Arbor, Mich., office, having just returned from a three-week European tour with Matthew Dear and Tadd Mullinix, a.k.a. Dabrye. "Matt was just trying to gig and get some money, and [the fraternity] thought he was a DJ, but he brings his synth and his drum machine and sets up in the basement. And it was empty, but I was like, 'This is great!' " At the time, Valenti had already been thinking about starting a label, and his newfound friendship cemented the plans, with Dear soon turning him on to Mullinix.

Despite the decidedly lowbrow setting for the birthplace of Ghostly, Valenti's intellectual passion for the music he releases is clear, and his careful, articulate manner is a welcome change from the many label heads who are constantly in bullshit mode. He talks of the "rave" stigma attached to techno in the United States and, while acknowledging rave culture played a role in exposing it to new audiences, bemoans the typical American response to techno as repetitive music for drugged-out kids. "I really take this music seriously. I think it's important and needs to be treated with reverence," he says. He hadn't seen many American labels taking techno seriously outside of companies like Plus 8. "I wanted something that reflected the more eclectic influence, that wasn't pure IDM, wasn't pure techno, that was more artistic, perhaps. It was just meeting the right artists – I've always followed their lead. And when I met Tadd, it just pushed things in a whole different direction."

By bringing Mullinix on board, Valenti ensured that Ghostly would be multidimensional. Crafting minimal, tactile hip-hop as Dabrye (pronounced dah-bree), the 24-year-old Mullinix found critical success with his 2001 debut album, One/Three, while also making chunky, blasted techno for the dance floor as James Cotton and introspective, experimental IDM under his given name. A dervish of creativity, Mullinix could probably fuel a label all on his own.

I traded e-mail with Mullinix as he was preparing to return from a summer stay in Berlin that Valenti suspected might turn into a permanent residence. (Memo to self: never do an e-mail interview with someone who's been enjoying Berlin nightlife all summer.) "I'm taking a break from the U.S.," he managed after a few monosyllabic answers, "and enjoying the music community here. The people are a bit more responsive and a eager to dance." As he detailed the different types of music he releases, Mullinix also admitted that he decides which of his various monikers to attach after he has finished composing. And his musical influences are appropriately diverse: Eric B and Rakim, Cologne acid music from the early '90s, and his former cello teacher who "showed me the fruitfulness of written music and eventually made clear my need for change from classical music."

While I'd love to hear what kind of havoc Mullinix would have wreaked on classical music, the fruits of his chosen path are astounding in their own right. Two upcoming 12-inches underscore the diversity of his output: As James Cotton, Mullinix carves chunks of static into driving techno on the EP Buck! for Ghostly's sister label, Spectral, and on Dabrye's "Game Over" (Ghostly), the first single off his next album, he warps hip-hop into outer space, providing a startling backdrop for hard rhymes from Jay Dee of Slum Village and Phat Kat. With its thickly drawn horn sounds and pitch-bent triangle pings, Mullinix's work on "Game Over" easily stands up to the rough delivery of its MCs, and the instrumental versions demand equal play on the turntables.

Though Mullinix referred to his James Cotton work as "deep, dark, dirty, and sexy," these terms could just as easily apply to Dabrye, or for that matter, almost any Ghostly release. For despite the seriousness with which Valenti and company produce records, in the end, the result is pure sonic delight. Not the light, fluffy, gone-tomorrow kind of pleasure but the gritty, complicated, smells-funky-the-next-day sort. The best kind and the only kind that lasts.

Dabrye performs with Manitoba Sat/20, 9 p.m., Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St., S.F. $10. (415) 626-9618.

Upcoming Ghostly International and Spectral releases

Midwest Product, World Series of Love (Ghostly) This Michigan three-piece band seamlessly welds guitar hooks and crystalline electronics into a futurist power pop that recalls the impact of "Blue Monday"-era New Order. Despite the mildly forced humor of "I Work at the Bank" and song titles like "Avant Poop," WSOL is a hugely entertaining record and proves that pop shouldn't be a dirty word. Unless you like it dirty. Oct. 7 release.

Twine, Twine (Ghostly) The haunting, audio equivalent of darkly hued, abstract watercolors, Twine's first release for Ghostly breathes life into the corpse of ambient. With a catalog including work for Chicago's Hefty and France's Bip-Hop, this Baltimore-Boulder, Colo., duo's latest evokes the ethereal float of the Cocteau Twins while adding a hint of menace. Real intrigue follows the introduction of ricocheting beats, as on the epic, 12-minute-long "Kalea Morning." Oct. 21 release.