According to a press release, Regis (real name Karl O’Connor) produced the tracks comprising the EP back in 1999. The euphoric synths of “Beyond The Reach Of Time Pt. 2” clashed with the harder style of Tresor Records, for whom O’Connor was producing an album, but they did not fit his Housewerk Records label either.

Interestingly, the Beyond The Reach Of Time EP‘s title track shares about as many elements in common with its accompaniment, “At The Side Of Silence,” as its prequel on the EPM20 compilation. “No Love From Above” is the outlier as far as the EP is concerned – but its subtle, grating textures liken it to O’Connor’s usual fare.

O’Connor began producing music in the early ’90s and founded Downwards Records alongside Female in 1993. In addition to key releases like 1995’s Montreal, his early support of artists like Surgeon cemented his status as a key personality in Birmingham techno.

The Beyond The Reach Of Time EP will be available for purchase via EPM Music Bandcamp.

Selector’s Sounds series follows a procedure that puts music quality before status or industry relationships. Learn how it works.

2012 saw the “glorious death” of Sandwell District after its ten-year lifespan as an imprint of renowned Birmingham techno label Downwards Records. On April 23rd – nearly another decade later – cofounder Regis delivered three previously unreleased tracks from its archives.

A Hollow Moment EP encapsulates the slow-burning, industrial-tinged style of minimal techno Sandwell District helped popularize. The title track’s skittering percussion and diffused textures are stripped down to a handful of core elements in the dub, offering a more danceable incarnation of the source material. “The Empty Centre,” meanwhile, pairs an eerie atmosphere with static-like drum hits in regular intervals.

Sandwell District Revisited

Regis (real name Karl O’Conner) founded Downwards Records alongside Female in 1993, helping develop the “Birmingham sound.” They launched Sandwell District as a sublabel in 2002, furthering their track record as techno innovators.

“From my initial discovery of Sandwell District at local record shops in Berlin, their consistency has had a visceral effect on my appreciation of techno,” Nigerian DJ Jerome Sydenham told Billboard in 2013. “Hearing this fresh sound at the Berghain club really took me back to early moments at the Paradise Garage in NYC, and hearing a Marshall Jefferson or Fingers Inc. production for the first time against the other sounds of the day.”

A Hollow Moment EP is sold out in vinyl format. Digital purchases can be made via boomkat, Hardwax or Bleep.

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.