Throwing Snow – Shadower eview

With just a small legacy behind him, Throwing Snow is already a firm fixture in the intergeneric hinterland of UK electronic music, and it’s not hard to see why. His first release proper for Ho Tep charmed all who heard it with a shimmering collision of downtempo funk and Detroit techno wistfulness.

Having inaugurated that label, the man known in reality as Ross Tones heralds the start of yet another imprint, Sneaker Social Club. As a personal project from one member of the Hypercolour/Glass Table team, it’s clear that all bets are off as to what kind of output we can expect in the future. Whispering to life on an ectoplasmic synth line, “Shadower” continues the Throwing Snow penchant for ghostly ambience, while the beats are positively direct and simple. A straight drum-machine-electro rhythm plays second fiddle to the gently building melodies, which dutifully blossom into soaring chimes with the pastoral quality that early Four Tet sported.

On the flip, “Sanctum” takes just as long to reveal its true colours, letting the melancholic vocal interplay ride out before an Irish-jig kind of cello signals the drop. It’s a sizable beast, driven by a fulsome bassline and a lean 2-step shuffle, which could certainly get some rumps shaking in the right setting. Really though, these tracks are anything but club bangers, opting for a more emotive and thoughtful place in your collection than the usual set fodder. The progressive and meandering nature of the tracks will leave you more than happy without the need to blast them over a loud system.

Oli Warwick