Hardway Bros A/B Musique

Sean Johnston has been DJ'ing since his formative years in the frozen North of England. Acid House Veteran, Techno Survivor, Hardway Brother, Beard Scientist and Freelance Disco Consultant, he has played at some of London's landmark clubs and was one of the founding residents at London superclub Cable. His productions have graced Sabres of Paradise, Third Mind, Flashcomm, Beard Science, Pointless Edits, Aniligital, History Clock, Astrolab and cult Norwegian act Mungolian Jetset's label Luna Flicks. Alongside Andrew Weatherall he runs and DJ's at A Love From Outer Space, a cult monthly residency at The Drop in North London. The night's manifesto is to never knowingly exceed 122bpm and is home to a multitude of genres including ambient, balearica, dub, krautrock, post punk, proto house, un-disco and other curiosities from the pair's extensive record collections. For Hardway Bros first ep for Throne of Blood, Sean looked back to the late 80s Belgian New Beat scene as well as Chicago’s storied Wax Trax imprint for inspiration, turning in two walloping originals that could just as easily soundtrack a gothic club night instead of an acid house rave. On the A-side, “A/B Musique” kicks off the proceedings with a steady lurching rhythm, driving the dancefloor to ecstacy thanks to densely layered synths and the contributions of Timothy J. Fairplay of The Asphodells fame. The flipside features the absolutely devasting rhythms of “Shorty” backed by an utterly epic nine-minute remix by Scott Fraser which manages to fuse the disparate sounds of new beat and the lush analog house vibes of classic Mr. Fingers even as it name checks the latter’s legendary “Above The Clouds” LP.