Owen Howells – The Seen EP

Three mixes on offer of this deep gem from Owen Howells.

In its Original form, The Seen is a tech-tinged low-end rumbler with a distinctive "I've seen things/things you'll never, ever see" spoken vocal looping pretty much throughout and a slightly dubby kinda vibe. Rico Casazza's remix takes us even deeper into late-night territory – though there's still a fairly strong 4/4 if you think your afterhours floor can take it – and has a dreamy, proggy feel, and plenty of distortion applied to the vox. The standout for me, though, is the Dexter Kane Remix, which is similar in vibe to the original but leaning a little more to the house-y side.

Quality tackle for sofa-surfers everywhere, whichever mix you go for.

Out: This week

About: This comes on UK label Shades Of Grey, which is co-run by Owen himself along with Fybe:One and Duct, and which shouldn't be confused with the Aussie/Czech production outfit Shades Of Gray. Or a certain book. Anyway you can find 'em here (Facebook) and also here (Soundcloud)

Alex Over – 24 Steps

The title here refers to the fact that Alex Over is just 24 years old. Despite such tender years, he's managed to craft some truly forward-thinking grooves here, aided and abetted by a strong remix line-up.

In its Original form, 24 Steps is an experimental-sounding piece of electronic music that's more about sound design than songwriting, if you see what I mean. As such it'll reward those who enjoy a more challenging listen, but for this reviewer it's all about the more floor-friendly remixes. Josh Butler's rub is a heads-down, techno-tinged workout with bags of bass and fractured percussion, Michael Scott takes us into moody, cinematic deep house territory, while my boy Owen Howells (Shades Of Grey) ups the weird n' wonky factor, as is his wont. But the standout for me is Al Bradley's 3AM Deep Remix, which really doesn't need much explaining!

Out: This week

About: This comes on Alex's own Over Recordings, and is number four from the label. Here's the usual website, Facebook and Soundcloud links.

Owen Howells – Zipped Up EP

Fans of deep/glitchy/minimal techno step right this way, as Owen Howells serves up this three-tracker for Zipped Records.

I'll be honest and say the Stanky Remix of Deptford isn't for me – too glitchy by half I'm afraid. But never mind, because you also get Bam, which somehow manages to infuse its spastic techno rhythms and disconcerting (backwards?) vocal samples with something of the spirit of classic b-boy electro. And more importantly, you also get It's All Kicked Off Now.

Easily overlooked if you don't give it a chance to linger, the latter turns out to be as fine a piece of sparse, dubbed-out deep techno as you'll hear this week. Skin up, sit back and enjoy…

Out: This week

About: You can find Zipped Records on Facebook, and you can currently HEAR THIS on their Soundcloud page

FREE TRACK from Owen Howells & Stanky

More free goodness for you, this time from Owen Howells & Stanky. Caffeine Persuasion is a forward-thinking slab of experimental/abstract techno with a dub influence, tailormade for late nights, sofas and jazz cigarettes…

It's being put out there to help raise awareness of their recently-formed Shades Of Grey collective/label – not to be confused with Shades Of Gray the artist who we had a freebie from last week! And when I say 'out there', I mean here, obviously… enjoy!

Owen Howells & Stanky - Caffeine Persuasion [FREE DOWNLOAD] by OwenHowells

Owen Howells - Chips, Beans & Cheese EP

Sitting right on that house/techno crossover point, this is a strong offering from this upcoming producer.

Few Good Man works samples of disturbing film dialogue over a menacing midtempo that's like late 90s NYC tribal meets Belgian new beat… well, a bit like that, anywway... all a bit odd but very good. Lose Fun starts out like your typical moody, arty techno chugger before throwing in a whole bunch of unexpected melodic elements taking in jazz, house and more… with this one I'm reminded of the kind of leftfield house peddled by the excellent Star-Fi Recordings (who don't seem to love me any more BTW, if you were wondering why they'd not cropped up on here lately).

And then best of all, there's Grumpy Tac, a thumping dancefloor deep houser with an old skool feel and a Martin Luther King (I think?) speech sample that older heads will remember from the DJ Rush track, But It Really Doesn't Matter With Me Now, to which it gave its name back in the days when Cajual/Relief reigned supreme (see here if you don't know what I'm talking about)

Out: This week

About: After downloading this one I got a very friendly and polite email from Mr Howells asking if there was any chance of it getting a review because "it would be a big help to a relative newcomer such as myself". Well after he asked so nicely how could I refuse… especially that I'd already flagged up the EP for a write-up anyway.

So yeah, this is on Isle of Man-based Wunderkammer Recordings, it's their 9th release I believe, and you can find out more about 'em by clicking here.