The first two EPs under Housewerk Records, the house imprint of key Birmingham techno and experimental label Downwards Records, have been reissued. One Day Away and Pipeline by label bosses Regis and Female under the respective aliases Reality Or Nothing and AH Corp originally released in 1996.
One Day Away includes a demo mix and “Filthy Remix” of the title track, whereas that of Pipeline is accompanied by the singles “Airline” and “Feline.” From the vantage point of the artists’ Downwards releases each effort could be considered house, but they both exhibit dissonance and sterile sonic textures uncommon to most of the music categorized as such.
Downwards and Onward
Regis and Female (real names Karl O’Connor and Pete Sutton, respectively) founded Downwards in Birmingham in 1994. The label inaugurated with Surgeon‘s self-titled debut EP, which alongside releases by O’Connor and Sutton helped shape the influential “Birmingham sound.” In addition to electronic music, it expanded into to shoegaze, garage rock and industrial.
One Day Away and Pipeline are but two of the six Housewerk Records releases from when the sub label was active in 1996-98. Two others were offered up by O’Connor along with an EP by Dan Nurse as well as a collaborative EP by both O’Connor and Dan Nurse.
Preview or purchase One Day Away and Pipeline via Hardwax.
