How The Other Half Lives Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Despite the slightly Germanic name, Herman Brahns is in fact the work of two Peckham dwelling producers, one a resident at Wavey Tones and the other more commonly known as Wolf Music artist Medlar. Surfacing on the always compelling How The Other Half Lives, the genesis for this Herman Brahns material dates back to the summer of 2012 when the pair laid down some productions 'semi-live with the minimum of fiddling after the fact'. There's a desperate, barely audible vocal hook to "Pilot" that anchors a densely packed production driven forth by concrete heavy kicks and synth lines brandishing a searing incandescence. "53py9" is less apocalyptic in tone, opting for a more hypnotic approach lead by a subtle deviating arpeggio and both tracks are complemented by the B Side reworks from Scott Fraser and DMX Krew respectively. Fraser's Worlds Of Galateia take on "Pilot" lends the track a greater sense of momentum, giving the swooping chord lines more prominence whilst the DMX Krew refix of "53py9" will save any floor in danger of lagging

Review: Dan Avery and Justin Robertson further chart their burgeoning production relationship as Stopmakingme and Deadstock 33s with the first release on How The Other Half Lives. Overseen by East London dwelling Lisbonite ZNTN and demonstrating some artistic swagger thanks to design work from Alex Egan (ex Skull Juice and sometime Astronomer) it's an all round impressive debut, which is notable most for a more considered, gritty analogue approach. Both "Mount Rushmore" and "As You Are" deliver a punk funk swagger that's been absent from the disco shelves since the early days of DFA, and sounds decidedly refreshing at a time when disco is dominated by soulless, computerised productions that leave little burn on the memory. They come backed with an equally good pair of remixes from Tiago and label boss ZNTN, with the latter being a particularly potent proto house rendition stripped to the bone.

Review: London label How The Other Half Lives reach their third release and do it in impressive fashion, issuing a double 12" of material from The Draughtsman alongside some high class remixers. You should be familiar with The Draughtsman, the latest project of Alex Egan (Astronomer, Skull Juice) with the bulk of material here originally appearing in digital format last year on Tim Paris' Marketing Music. However Egan's a widely publicized vinyl advocate and it's great to see his music on the format, especially housed in some wonderfully designed sleeves from the producer himself. His original six track suite lines the first plate face up and face down, veering from the playful ("Geschmacklos") to the atmospheric (the triplet of "Frame" tracks). It comes backed with remixes from Cosmo Vitelli, Daniel Avery, Flugel and Tim Paris.

Review: Having launched with in style with On Rushmore one of Daniel Avery's last few releases under the Stopmakingme banner (and a fine collab with Justin Robertson to boot) the fledgling label How The Other Half Lives offers something so much more conceptually intriguing here. For the uninitiated Hounds Of Hate were a short lived improvised electronic act who operated out of East London between 2009 - 2011. A few releases here, a tape collab with Hype Williams there, the promise shown on record and particularly live never really got them where they deserved. "Purple Stuff" originally sat as a B Side to their Head Anthem release and clearly resonated somewhat with HTOHL boss ZNTN who has remastered the track and enlisted Timothy J Fairplay, Photonz and their compatriots Zoda Cade to remix it. It's easy to see why ZNTN was so taken with the track, a jagged slab of pulsating, low slung slow jack which throbs greedily in the direction of anyone looking to pin some sort of genre on it. The remixes are a perfect and diverse compliment too, all being inspired by the original to deliver revisions that never touch on the mundane. Naturally it comes on purple marble vinyl too.