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“Howes tips his hat to the likes of Aphex Twin and Delia Derbyshire” - The Guardian

“The singularity of Howes’ vision is readily apparent in a way that’s both visceral and psychedelic” - Spin

“Eclectic hiss covered techno which draws as much from afrobeat as 90s electronic experiments” - Dazed

Having released a more house-oriented 12” on Melodic a couple of years ago, Howes' (the solo project of Manchester-based John Howes) debut album proper is a record that is as expressive as it is cohesive. It’s a release that floats between nocturnal stillness and insomniac driven intensity.

Howes says “Most of these tracks come from finishing work on Friday, going home and starting a patch, working on it till the sun rises, sleeping a couple of hours, waking up and working on it all day and through the night until Sunday night. By this point you've honed down all the madness into something you understand and control in real time. Then I record live to a cassette machine I've had since I was a kid. There's only two tracks on the record that have any editing and overdubbing, the rest are just recordings of the cassettes.” The referred to patches come from Howes’ experiments with modular synths, “I started making my own software to make tracks on, then I got into modular stuff and building my own bits of proper kit. I wanted to have a setup that works like my head and the only way to do it was to start making these bits myself.“

Howes’ work method has resulted in a record that feels at times personal and melancholic, charged with emotion and humming with a warmth that comes from such a labour intensive and solitary work routine. There are elements of house, techno and ambience here, but stripped back to the point where they lose resemblance to established music forms

STAFF COMMENTS

Patrick says: Howes treats us to an octet of constantly evolving modular jams in the spirit of Border Community or Aphex Twin on this accomplished debut LP.

TRACK LISTING

1. Concagnis
2. Source 000535
3. Zeroset
4. OYC
5. DVR 16
6. Overveen
7. Green Lense
8. MP CD 13