Doing it the HardWay

 

While I was working on all things Andrew Weatherall, I of course came across Sean Johnston, the UK DJ, cofounder of the tremendously popular A Love From Outer Space (ALFOS) parties / music collective along with Weatherall. 

 

I guess that's how I ended up with this 'murky' collection of music from the Hardway Bros. (Johnston teamed up with Jake Davies & the mysterious "Rico" [rumored to be AW himself] primarily). This is all a bunch of wobbly downtempo dance jams. Hardway Bros were mostly responsible for a trunkload of 12"s.

Sean sez: 
      "Hello – we are the Hardway Brothers. We like to muck around with sound. Once we were House, then we were Balearic, then we were Techno. We fought the Acid House Wars and lost. We made records. We rested. Now we work again…"

I'll start out with a single track full-length set... 

 

 

Hardway Brothers - A Love from Outer Space (We are One), not on label, 2011.
all decryption codes in comments

A Love From Outer Space (We Are One)

 

 

 

 

On A/B Music we find the whole gamut of Hardway Bros. styles, with hints of Industrial, techno, post-punk. All the elements float in & out, around each other like a confluence of different coloured smokes, set at a leisurely pace of 111 BPM, slow dance music for the discerning listener...party music at a mature tempo. 

 

Hardway Bros - A/B Music b/w Shorty, Throne of Blood TOB034, 2013.

Side A -
A/B Music
Shorty

Throne of Blood Side -
Shorty (Scott Fraser's Above the Clouds remix)

 

 

 

 

Hardway Bros - Pleasure Cry EP 12", Throne of Blood TOB053, 2016.

Side A -
Pleasure Cry
Argonaut

Throne of Blood side -
Pleasure Cry (Tuff City Kids remix)
My PNO

 

 

 

 

Hardway Bros - The Laser, Throne of Blood TOB057, 2018.

Side A -
Friedman Feedback Loop Revision
The Laser
Throne of Blood Side -
Friedman Feedback Loop Revision (Max Pask remix)
Afro Sirene

 

 

 

 

 

Hardway Bros featuring Beth Cassidy - Murky 12" EP, REKIDS REKIDS245, 2024.

Side A -
Murky (vocal mix)
Side B -
Murky (Beyond the Wizards Sleeve re-animation)
Murky (Coral Way Dub mix)
bonus track -
Murky (extended vocals) 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy,
NØ