Alphahouse News

With 44 releases across 12 years since its inception, Butane's infamous Alphahouse imprint closes its doors this June as he welcomes long time colleagues and friends Alexi Delano and Worldline to shape up the final EP on the label 'Omega'.

Having established the imprint back in 2005, Andrew Rasse aka Butane's Alphahouse has served as an example of unapologetic underground quality and curation for over a decade. With previous releases from the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Ryan Crosson, Ion Ludwig, Quenum, Mark Broom and of course Rasse himself, the final Alphahouse EP welcomes back another staple of the imprints success, Chilean Alexi Delano, and mysterious American talent Worldline who marks his debut on the label.

'Sometimes in order to grow, you have to leave things behind. It's time for a fresh start... the final Alphahouse record. Alpha/Omega' - Butane.

The A-side sees Delano and Rasse effortlessly re-combine and pick up where they left off in 2013. 'Bass Theory' is an energetic, blooming production that lays the focus on raw crunchy drum licks, chunky bass slabs and an ever- evolving melody that eases listeners into a state of trance, before 'Jazz Lick' reveals a lighter aesthetic with a delicate jazz-infused lead line, filtered vocal loops and crisp organic percussion that hold the production in sync.

On the flip Butane is joined by a new collaborator, Los Angeles-based underground fashion designer Worldline for two brooding cuts. 'How Deep' kicks things off showcasing eerie low ends layered beneath tripped out vocals and hypnotic, meandering chords. 'What We Do' wraps up the esteemed Alphahouse catalog in style. An underground manifesto with a trademark Butane groove and Wordline's vocals punctuating over a decade of work. That's a wrap.

In true Alphahouse style, Rasse signs off here alongside two extremely talented artists with an EP that radiates understated sophistication and intricacy throughout, whilst opening the door to his new project 'Extrasketch' in the most fitting and suitable way imaginable. Stay tuned; this is only just the beginning...

Alphahouse imprint deliver the 'YY' EP from Italian duo MFS: Observatory, backed with a remix from label-head Butane & Alexi Delano.

MFS: Observatory is the collaborative guise of Italian duo Matthias Tuchetti, Francesco Cozzolino. The outfit are relative newcomers having only released material since late 2014 and here we see them take a huge leap in their career stepping into international water via the Alphahouse imprint, slotting them alongside heavy hitters like Skudge, Mark Broom, Alexi Delano, Butane, and Ricardo Villalobos on the stellar roster. With a Little Helpers release also confirmed in 2015, this is a duo on the rise.

Opening up the EP is 'Observatory Y1' which see the duo deliver a haunting slice of electronica fueled by smoky atmospherics, meandering arpeggio synth hooks and raw weighty rhythms to smoothly set the tone for what's to come. 'Observatory Y2' provides a more reduced, but still heavy, groove with bubbling synth drones, menacing stabs, a bumpy bass hook and mesmeric vocal murmurs.

On the flip side Alexi Delano collaborates with Alphahouse founder Butane to reshape 'Observatory Y2' into pure vibe. The duo provides a typically infectious groovy number, which evolves over six and half minutes with a subtle dubbed out hook taking over the last half of the track. 'Observatory Y3' rounds things off afterhours-style, laying the focus on a sparse rhythmic foundation while howling sweeps and spaced out vocals fuel the psychedelia.

Butane's Alphahouse imprint kicks off 2015 with Pablo Inzunza's 'Convenience' EP, featuring three original cuts from the Chilean artist and a remix from the label-founder himself.

Pablo Inzunza is a Chilean DJ and producer most notably known for his recent long player on Butane & Someone Else's Little Helpers imprint, but also acknowledged for material on Germany's Highgrade, and French imprint Monique Musique. Inzunza has explored an array of organic and abstract Techno styles across the early stages of his career and here we see him push on with more powerful dance floor focused cuts via the Alphahouse imprint.

The original mix of title cut 'Convenience' opens things up here and sees Inzunza employ a hypnotic 303 hook as the driving force, while ghostly synth textures flutter away in the depths of the composition and sparse rhythms further fuel its undulating groove. 'Hypnotica' follows and as the name would suggest lays its focus on an entrancing, percussion and pad-led groove, which subtly unfolds over its five and a half minute duration.

Opening up the flip side of the release label-head Butane offers up a tougher, heads down take on 'Convenience', treating us to his typically rough and ready production style with gritty drum lines laid over the original's squelchy 303 lick. Then finally to round things off we have the third and final original from Pablo entitled 'Intimate', which takes on a more house tinged aesthetic this time with organic percussion, sweeping synth stabs and stuttering bass tones.

Alphahouse head honcho Butane teams up with upstart label-mate Andras Toth for the essential Futures EP. Intelligent and introspective, yet never losing sight of the dance floor, this is poignant modern dance music.

The next burning slab of wax from Alphahouse sees a new name added to the techno world, as a well-established artist releases here in his own private way.