An imprint that is introducing new artists, patronizing established ability and giving vinyl space to up and coming talent. Quality through and through.
Manchester has a history of industry and electronics. During the Industrial Revolution the once quiet town ballooned into a city of production. Autechre hail from that mechanical metropolis, Skam records forming as a master workshop for budding machine musicians. But since those halcyon days the analogue output has reflected the economic decline of the North. Yet there are glimmers of drum machine and synth bulbs burning amidst the darkness. Plumbing that full heritage is Taff and his III Rivers imprint, the label’s logo mirroring Manchester’s proud past.
To date this fledgling platform has three 12”s. Last year III Rivers began to flow with vinyl debutant Voiceless. This newcomer’s first EP, Shadows of Sounds, treads the boundary between Techno and Ambient. Textured tones take hold from the needle drop, beats supporting the layers of library sound for the opening “Drop Them (Just Like That.) Weightier, yet no less rich, movements occupy the flip. “True Dat” comes from the annals of the 90s, strings curving around fragile percussion. The finale maintains that heady and lost feel of its predecessor. Bars bend, Voiceless finding that medium between the mind and well-past midnight dancefloor.
The ever diverse Hakim Murphy followed. You never know what Murphy is going to serve up. On the likes of Synapsis, Planet Detroit and his own Machining Dreams the Chicago man has explored the gamut of electronics. Freeform Terraforming is no different. Across the 12” you’ll find hovering House introspection, snare soaked smoothness and analogue artistry. This Midwesterner sidesteps the crowd. An alternative floor is chiseled from vintage equipment, rolling pads flexing and surging with a primal energy.
The latest installment, Sequester, comes from Britain’s Mark Forshaw. This man really caught my attention with his excellent debut EP on Tabernacle Records. Since then the Liverpudlian has been releasing with John Heckle and Binny under Phantom Planet Outlaws as well as putting out his second solo 12” on Mathematics. Rhythmic patterns clatter, claps and toms forming a bedrock for strung out 303 squirms and cascading chords. “Fantastic Flake” sees the tempos lowered as Forshaw delivers a late night lounging piece of Chitown twinned with free soaring keys. A launch into the stars ends. Acid lines spear the stratosphere, a steady pulse and swerving cymbals creating the intoxicating “Where Did You Go.”
I was asked by a couple of Spanish friends recently why there isn’t very many decent club nights left in the UK. To this I have no answer, but there are definitely some excellent labels across Britain and new ones starting up all the time. III Rivers is part of this new brigade. An imprint that is introducing new artists, patronizing established ability and giving vinyl space to up and coming talent. Quality through and through.
Visit III Rivers on Facebook or Juno.
