Houndstooth – Live For Boiler Room, London

Celebrating new label, Houndstooth

Houndstooth is a newly formed record label spiralling from the creative momentum of one of London’s most recognisable night clubs, Fabric, using a reputation earned since the end of the '90s and turning the cogs to produce a high intensity blend of dance styles. So far they have showcased music with various degrees of experimentalism, almost all of which have been unorthodox in their execution. The label's releases can still only be counted on one hand, but with a string of full lengths and EPs scheduled for May from the likes of Akkord, Call Super (both of whom were in attendance) and Dave Clarke, their output is set to multiply quickly.

In support of an up-coming swell of studio productivity, as well as stamping the opening stages of the label with some memorable parties, Houndstooth arrived at their takeover of the Boiler Room with the weighted influence and gathered talent of the Fabric family resting on their shoulders. The awkward yet recognisable space of the Boiler Room had yet to accumulate a crowd by the time long standing producer Throwing Snow started his live set, an all-round pro at creating unsettling soundscapes and inspiringly strange dance music. If there’s an artist who best personifies this label's origins and the subsequent habit for forward thinking, it’s probably him. The Londoner was at his best when constructing the glisteningly atmospheric ‘Shadower’ with as much of an eerie and suspenseful punch as can be heard on the studio version.

Large metallic gates guarded the stretched path towards the entrance to the building, dotted with security and the smell of hastily smoked cigarettes. The Boiler Room appeal lays in the rarity of its nature, the inability to put a price on the entrance and knowing that the crowd leaks out of the room and across various corners of the globe. The high intensity buzz surrounding both the label and venue made for a particularly stirring atmosphere for Akkord's and House of Black Lanterns’ sets. Mystery still surrounds the music collective Akkord, their three track release last year cemented the talent and backed up the increasingly popular “anonymous” shtick, giving them a much required sense of longevity. Their set raised the stakes and drowned out the quiet chatter which had been fluttering annoyingly around the room. The same slick and futuristically polished techno soundscapes seemed like a taste of what’s to come from them in the coming months.

Each performance could be interpreted as a personality trait, collectively building an identity for the small roster of artists. Descriptions like off-kilter, unorthodox and restless sprung to mind as the closing half an hour of the night was wrapped up by Special Request, and a crushingly pleasing sway into drum 'n' bass. Another of the more notable moments included the new Dylan Richards project House of Black Lanterns dropping tracks from his Truth and Loss EP, dripping with paranoid minimalism and knife edge delivery. The show was a culmination of expectations and excitement, both served up in equal measures and thrown back to some oddball dance music.

 

Words by Charlie Wood

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