Marionette Records is a Canadian record label, founded in 2013 in Toronto. The puppet master behind the label would like to stay anonymous, but at least mentions the people who help him with his work; the marketing is taken care of by Lobster Distribution, the mastering and cutting of the releases by Mike Grinser from Dubplates & Mastering and Jake Fried “adds a haptic dimension to the project”, as it reads in an email. It is exactly these artworks which absolutely catch the aesthetics of Marionette; Jake Fried’s playful, low-keyed black and white illustrations care about a coherency but at the same time also allow alterations, which shape the musical programme by Marionette. A glance at the first three catalogue numbers reveals a disparate image; the shallow techno EP of the Weimar group Deer is followed by stunning modular excursions by the Hungarian musician Laurine Frost and the electro-acoustic ambient sketches of the Berlin-based Maxim Wolzyn. “It is not intentional” is the answer to the question, why a Canada based label actually only publishes music by European artists. “Collecting records and digging for more music which is not already constrained was the motivation,” they say. There are also exciting things happening in the Canadian scene. In fact plans for more are entirely devised. “It’s about creating a natural flow and at the same time paying attention to the details. To stay realistic in regards to our own range and aims but nevertheless keeping an eye on the bigger picture,” says the person behind Marionette. “It all revolves around patience and transparency.” This also explains the fairly sedate progress of the back catalogue, since a lot of work is put into each release by the one man company. “Asking artists for releases is an unforeseeable and delicate thing. It is ultimately not about making a finished record rather to create a permanent memory.” So no wonder that the founder of Marionette emphasises the role of his art director, since her/his work lends the records indeed a thoughtful and memorable appearance in close style of its fundamental concepts. Nevertheless the Marionette player allows himself/herself a small dream; “It would be a great reward one day to have a Marionette department in a dusty record shop crate.” A modest and definitely not unrealistic hope.