3 Sticks is a new exploration of the circular brought to life by Howie B and Hiraki Sawa. Recorded live at Konk Studios, London.

Beginning with an organic knock on wood, the project is designed as multi layered audio-visual with the push and pull of analogue visuals and phrasing with digital flourishes. 3 Sticks has moments of droning discomfort which orbit undeniable head shaking rhythm. We travel through three distinct phases of sound: from the initial building euphoric funk through a discordant and thoughtful reprieve, finishing with a curious, questioning dystopian beat.
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"‘The self is zero and infinite at the same time’ – *D.T. Suzuki’s concept serves as the foundation for creating a performance stage that integrates live music and visuals by Howie B. and Hiraki Sawa. This performance delves into the dual nature of the self through a dialogue between live music and visual art, offering a flowing and immersive stage experience.

‘The self is both the point at the center of the circle and all other points. It is a point and a circle at the same time,’ says D.T. Suzuki, likening it to a paradox. To explain it properly, the self is always a fluid
phenomenon: it is zero when viewed statically, but infinite and changeable when viewed dynamically. This
stage will visualize the dialogue between live music by Howie B. and images by Hiraki Sawa in the style of a riddle-like ‘Zen Mondou.’

This stage represents a unique collaboration where the two artists attempt to hybridize the Western view of things—with a constant awareness of their position within the coordinate space of up, down, left, and right, and the perception of relationships through active and passive interactions—and the Eastern view of things, which strives to understand the world through the principle of “you being me, and I being you.”

Prior to the performance, Sawa and Howie began their collaboration by exchanging music and visuals, an
initiative that is part of the ongoing ‘Zen Mondou’ project. This collaborative process lays the groundwork
for a performance that seamlessly blends their contrasting approaches, utilizing live visual performances
and lighting to enhance the fluidity and immersion of the stage experience. This collaboration offers a
unique and enriched artistic experience that challenges and expands the audience’s perception of self and
existence.

When D.T. was dying of severe pain caused by ileus in his old age, his disciple asked him, “Would you like
something, Sensei?” He just replied, “No, nothing. Thank you.” Just like his words of resignation, we look
forward to seeing his view of the world, “Just enough,” at Enfold stage.

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Fabricated and refined over the last few years, 'Cicada Burnt' is Leo's most kinetic offering to date, a suite of freewheeling percussive experiments that situate themselves furtively in the murky musical backdrop of northern England. Each track crackles and pulses with rust-caked post-industrial energy, shifting, shaking and convulsing from Sheffield through Rochdale all the way to Salford, merging hallucinatory polyrhythms with grimy bassline memories, overdriven D&B rasps with dembow syncopations and squelchy acid sequences with eerie cybernetic pads. 'Cicada Burnt' is, at its core, vintage electro for dancers, shaped from the remnants of 16-step drum machine cycles and neck-snapping two-note basses, but Leo works into that raw material by hand with the benefit of time and distance, tweaking and twisting the rhythms to blur the line between a spectrum of overlapping club expressions.

Leo's third album proper, the record follows a run of infamous deployments for Manchester's YOUTH and Tom Boogizm's $hotta Tapes that have already established him as a skilled sound designer who's able to bolt from spiky hardcore to Drexciyan techno without breaking a sweat. And 'Cicada Burnt' materialized as he sharpened his live set, playing routinely at cult Manchester institutions The White Hotel, N/OM and Impiety Hour (fka Peste) against visuals from Sean Clarke, who also handles the album's artwork. It's this context that lends the album its dynamic energy; long before Leo established himself as a producer he was a drummer, and there's a similar dexterity to his structures as twitchy sequences evolve into impromptu fills and veer off the expected grid. Live electronic music is too often bogged down by lofty concepts and technical limitations, so Leo beds the bullshit, zeroing in on the groove itself.

He unhurriedly presents his raw sounds on 'Qwershape', stressing swinging hits and doom-y bass smacks that echo through recent history. Filling the negative space with dubwise feedback trails and prickly melodic remnants, Leo establishes a tableau where rhythm is confidently in the foreground. And that mood is only cultivated further on 'Jetti', via a roll of unstable syncopated kicks and fractal Detroit-via-Sheffield pads that Leo smudges almost beyond recognition, creating a mercurial feet-forward techno hybrid that breathes damp Northern air. The title track meanwhile singles out D&B's most ominous qualities, retaining the retching distortion while rejecting the usual aggression. But it's on the two 'Spirit Level' tracks that Leo really gets to flex, using the slow-burning prescript to establish his unexpected Ligeti-like theme before introducing a whirring, constantly-shifting rhythm that bends in on itself like a möbius strip.

It closes an album that ties the UK's complex club music narrative in knots without ever ripping it from its roots. And at a time when the scene is being transformed and co-opted by malign gentrifying forces hell-bent on cheap nostalgia, 'Cicada Burnt' serves as a timely reminder of the lively and eccentric working class dancehalls and nightclubs where it all began.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Veteran UK producer Darren Roach delivers Archivio Records third installment with a four track EP of certified dance floor gold, heavily inspired by a 2025 trip to NYC to visit the Brooklyn based crew. A1: A Free Democracy pairs a booming bass line with edgy panned strings, trippy melodic elements and a series of politically relevant vocal samples to create a high energy roller, that continually evolves to keep your attention til the very end! A2: Schizzle my Schnizzle is a warm, groovy, deeper take on the classic tech house sound, with fizzling percussion, sparkling melodies and catchy warping bass, reminiscent of vintage E.B.E. A sure fire after hours hit. B1: Feel the Rhythm can best be described as a peak time bomb, laced with dubbed out reggae vocals, a big rolling bass line, lush chords and punchy, driving drums. No dance floor can resist this one! B2: The Train of Thought defines the term chugger. A serious DJ tool, with booming bass, crunchy hypnotic drums, wigged out melodic elements and field recordings of real New York trains recorded during Darren’s trip. A one way ticket to party town! Darren’s been on fire lately and this release continues his run of red hot records. If you’re looking for a multi-purpose tool kit of high quality tech house gems, look no further than the Lovejoy EP

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More