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After a recent, acclaimed EP on Madrid’s Analogical Force label, Suction Records is thrilled to announce “Grey With Breaks,” the 8th full-length album by Lowfish. The electro veteran, who’s been programming 808s since the early ‘90s, returns to Suction Records, the label he co-founded and debuted on in 1997. “Grey With Breaks” is an electro record, with thick analog basslines and TR-808 boom tschak front & centre, but Lowfish’s electro-style stands out from the pack. Not only is the LP devoid of the Drexciya/Dopplereffekt worship that permeates the scene these days, it also rarely hits above 110bpm, oozing with melancholic melody.
2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Suction Records, the Toronto-based electro/IDM label founded in 1997 by two emerging producers, Lowfish (aka Gregory De Rocher) and Solvent (aka Jason Amm), the latter still overseeing the label to this day. The label’s inaugural release was a split Lowfish/Solvent 12”, marking both artists’ debut vinyl appearance. Gregory and Jason had known each other since high-school, but a deeper friendship was forged during their university years, after Gregory introduced Jason to early Rephlex releases by Aphex Twin and µ-Ziq. Gregory had been making electronic music in his bedroom for more than a decade, but it was those Rephlex releases that ignited Jason’s passion to do the same. After several years of obsessive gear buying, music making, and playing tracks for each other, Lowfish and Solvent had hit their stride, and their demos even attracted the interest of legendary early IDM labels labels Skam (for Lowfish), and Isophlux (for Solvent). But things were slow-moving in those days — letters, faxes, phone calls… nothing was panning out. So that’s when they decided to start their own label, and put out 300 copies of this 12”, suction001.
Alan Harman is the solo minimal synth project of Ethan Harman from the small town of Port Hope, Ontario, about 1.5 hours outside of Toronto. Suction Records’ minimal synth/post-punk sublabel, Ice Machine, is proud to present Alan Harman’s debut physical release, “Human Research Program,” a full-length cassette compiling selections from a series of self-released digital EPs and singles. The project came to our attention via an interview in Legowelt’s Shadow Wolf zine. The interview was conducted by Legowelt himself, who wrote: “Buried deep in the snow of the Canadian internet one will occasionally find a great authentic undiscovered artist who lives in obscurity devoted to their art. An artist like ALAN HARMAN.” Alan Harman cites the influence of early-Martial Canterel (aka the solo project of Xeno & Oaklander’s Sean McBride), Belgian minimal synth project Snowy Red, and Canadian cult synth duo (and Ice Machine label alumnus) Ceramic Hello, who Harman described in his Shadow Wolf interview as, “a perfect embodiment of Canadian sound because it gives you this cold, distant feeling which is exactly how it feels living here; isolated and far away from the rest of the world.” The project came to be when Harman found himself disillusioned with the lack of band-mate prospects in Port Hope, realizing that synthesizers and drum machines could afford him the opportunity to become his own one-man-band. With a small set-up including a Korg MS-20 synth, a TR-808 drum machine clone, and a homemade spring reverb unit, Harman writes and records his songs alone, always beginning from scratch, and usually the tracks are written, recorded, and mixed within half-an-hour. The spontaneous nature of the recordings, and the raw tone of the electronics and vocal delivery, gives the music an authentic, early-‘80s synth DIY feel, at times reminiscent of minimal synth genre classics by Thomas Leer and Robert Rental, Absolute Body Control, and John Bender.
Kübler-Ross is a minimal synth/wave/industrial three-piece from Glasgow, Scotland, featuring Craig Clark, Katie Shannon, and veteran electronic producer and remixer producer Dave Clark, best-known for his Sparky moniker, and as one-half of the production/remix team Optimo (Espacio). First emerging in 2015 with a couple of compilation appearances, Kübler-Ross released their debut, self-titled album in 2020. Originally released as a limited-edition cassette on the Glasgow label Akashic Records, the album — now resequenced and released on vinyl via Suction Records’ minimal synth sublabel Ice Machine — is a collection of tracks recorded over a three year period in a variety of studios, rehearsal rooms, and gigs, documenting the musical variety and ferocity of their incendiary live performances. The Akashic tape, despite being low-key, under-the-radar, and released in limited quantity, managed to earn them a Long List nomination for SAY (Scottish Album of the Year) for 2020.
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