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Sullen Tone

Browse the latest digital releases on Sullen Tone
Realise
Chicago - (4:32) 60 BPM Hot
Found - (5:56) 90 BPM
Holding - (4:19) 80 BPM
Realise - (6:32) 62 BPM
Review: The second release of Old Apparatus's Sullen Tone imprint sees the first of a trilogy in which a whole record is given over to a different member of the collective. It's still attributed to Old Apparatus, but the difference audible across Realise is stark; although opener "Chicago" still growls and lurches like the alternate reality dubstep of their previous releases, its piano riff and 4/4 beat references the house music of its namesake, while the percussion of "Found" rattles like a steampunk pinball machine. "Holding" meanwhile sounds like a combination of Druqks-era Aphex Twin and King Tubby dub, funnelling tight D&B breakbeats through cavernous brass, and closer "Realise" stacks layer upon layer of atmospheric pressure on its funereal clockwork motions.
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ST 002EP
30 Sep 15
Experimental/Electronic
Derren
Zimmer - (3:53)
Derren - (6:23) 112 BPM Hot
Dealow - (4:35) 92 BPM
Bodah - (7:37) 69 BPM
Review: Having previously befuddled dubstep purists with releases on Mala's Deep Medi Musik, Old Apparatus are now striking out on their own with their freshly minted and aptly titled Sullen Tone imprint. There's rarely much joviality to be found in the murky underbelly of electronic 'composition Old Apparatus inhabit, and this 4 track Derren EP is their strongest artistic statement yet. There are moments on Derren where you can hear discernible links to the UK bass world that Old Apparatus seem have slid out from under. "Dealow" has a tribal-industrial rattle that captures the finest dread-fuelled DMZ workouts, falling around the 140 bpm mark without making it too obvious. What makes this EP so engrossing is the deft crossover between organic and electronic - it's nigh on impossible to tell where the found sound ends and the synthesised tone begins. There's also a staggering dynamism to these tracks; they rarely sit still on the same idea for long before turning down another darkened corner where the walls crawl with forlorn drones and wraith-like percussion hovers in and around you.
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ST 001EP
30 Sep 15
Experimental/Electronic
Compendium
Zimmer - (3:56) 64 BPM
Mernom - (5:06) 68 BPM
Derren - (6:21) 112 BPM
Dourado - (5:36) 92 BPM
Lingle - (3:49) 80 BPM
Cauliroot - (2:50) 58 BPM
Boxcat - (2:31) 63 BPM
Chicago - (4:12) 60 BPM
Octofish - (3:55) 78 BPM Hot
Realise - (6:32) 62 BPM
Review: Since first appearing on Mala's Deep Medi in 2011, Old Apparatus have shown themselves to be one of the most interesting outfits operating at the fringes of dubstep, instrumental hip hop and ethereal electronic sounds. Last year saw the launch of their Sullen Tone imprint, which has since become the primary home of their recorded output, with four EPs showcasing the group's uniquely democratic approach, with one being attributed to the group and three to individual members, but all bearing the Old Apparatus name. Compendium sees the outfit collect highlights from those releases in one handy release, and acts as the ideal gateway for those yet to be entranced by their unique sound.
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ST 006
10 Jun 13
Experimental/Electronic
IAO
Gone To Seed - (3:03) 133 BPM
Morning On Mercury - (4:03) 78 BPM
Metal On Oxtongue - (4:16) 100 BPM Hot
Front Page Expression - (5:10) 77 BPM
Review: After teaming up with Mowgli for their second appearance on Deep Medi Musik, Old Apparatus have made good their partnership with the leftfield British rapper for a dedicated release that marks the first release on their Sullen Tone label to move away from material under the OA banner. It's unsurprisingly murky material, shrugging off convention in pursuit of unexplored middle ground between drone, industrial, hip hop and dubstep. From the bleakest use of autotune ever recorded to extravagant deployment of snatches of instrumentation, this is a bold step forward into the unknown. Mowgli's lyrics step up to the occasion, unleashing streams of consciousness with poetic weight for a devastating end result.
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ST 005
15 Apr 13
Hip Hop/R&B
Harem
Sunday Service - (6:53) Hot
Mernom - (5:15)
Dourado - (6:59)
Octafish - (4:04)
Played by: Kryptic Minds
Review: Harem is the fourth release for Old Apparatus on their own Sullen Tone imprint, and the third to come from an individual member of the collective. This time it's the turn of Harem, who also lends their name to the release and provides one of the label's most atmospheric releases to date. "Sunday Service" places spectral female vocals in a desolate soundscape, while "Mernom" continues the funereal atmospherics with lumbering beats and acoustic instrumentation placed within a vast echo chamber. "Dourado" offers the most propulsive cut of the EP, with galloping drums and deep subs providing a steampunk take on classic dubstep, leaving "Octafish" to round off another superlative EP with a brooding combination of scorched strings and distant, simmering percussion.
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ST 004
19 Nov 12
Industrial/Noise
Alfur
Boxcat - (3:22)
Schwee - (4:57)
Cauliroot - (3:11)
Coalapps - (4:38)
Lingle - (3:58)
Review: The third Sullen Tone release in as many months from the anonymous Old Apparatus collective is the second to come from an individual member of the group - this time attributed to A. Levitas. Showing an even starker change in tone than the previous EP, Alfur sees the Old Apparatus sound shed the caked on grit to reveal something significantly lighter in tone; the stumbling beats of "Boxcat" seem to experiment with cloudy hip-hop structures, while "Schwee" combines foggy murmurings with firm square waves and starry arpeggios recalling early grime gone shoegaze. "Cauliroot" provides a sparse arrangement of breezy windchimes and hesitant broken-beat, while "Coalapps" takes melodies drifting just out of focus and combines them with lush 2-step beats. Finally, "Lingle" takes pitchshifted vocals and a ghostly atmosphere that isn't a million miles away from the ghostly steppers R&B of Tri Angle artists Holy Other and oOoOO - but in this case the atmosphere is even more pressurised. Another essential EP from the Old Apparatus camp.

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ST 003
08 Oct 12
Experimental/Electronic
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