- Hardway Bros EPs are always a treat, both for their quality and their relative rarity: they've released just one per year since 2009, along with consistently top-notch remixes and edits for the likes of Alien Alien, Wintermute and Toy. These days Hardway Bros is a solo project of Sean Johnston, one half of A Love From Outer Space, though he used to work alongside Jake Davies and a third member, known only as Rico. This is his first EP for James Friedman's excellent Brooklyn-based Throne Of Blood label.
Both tracks look to '80s Belgian New Beat for inspiration, with "A/B Musique" lurching along at a deliciously regal pace. Its steady beat and layered analog synth riffs combine with intermittent guitar work courtesy of The Asphodells' Timothy J. Fairplay. On the flip, "Shorty" is a rumbling revelation, its thundering acid bass and fuzzy vocal loops calling to mind early '90s R&S tracks. Scotty Fraser's "Above The Clouds" remix morphs the track into a majestic, nine-minute synth-and-drums workout complete with a woozy spoken-word monologue. With output like this, Throne of Blood deserves to harvest the same buzz currently enveloping L.I.E.S.—that label's fans would be well advised to give this a listen.
Tracklist A1 A/B Musique
B1 Shorty
B2 Shorty (Scott Fraser's Above The Clouds Remix)