FRANCIS HARRIS Vinilo y CD

Review: Francis Harris has been doing a mighty fine job of straddling the worlds of deep house and ambient in the past few years, and his Scissor and Thread label is the chosen vessel for his continued explorations. Four years after Trivial Occupations, he comes back with Thresholds, which ploughs wholeheartedly into abstract, beatless territory in a world filled with twinkling piano, languorous guitar sustain, spectral field recordings and vast swathes of drone. It's a record with plenty of movement, even if it happily avoids anything like the pronounced beats of his past productions, but overall there's a dusty, hauntological feel to the record which will be best appreciated when you take a moment to pause, and we all need an excuse to do that from time to time.

Review: Francis Harris blew plenty of minds with his third LP, "Trivial Occupations", when it dropped last year, and now the German deep house don is revisiting two of the tracks from the record for a pair of smartly chosen remixes. On the A side, the mighty Joe Claussell presents a Cosmic Arts version of "Minor Forms" which bursts with nu jazz stylings, from the bashy drums to the wiggy synth lines pinging into the stratosphere. Switching stance pretty drastically for the B side, deep diving Canadian artist LNS takes "St Catherine & The Calm" down a rabbit hole of head-nodding meditation over the course of 11 minutes smattered with electro touches, mystical flute and more ear-snagging delights besides.

Review: On previous albums, Francis Harris has tackled some weighty subjects, including memory, loss and grief, intertwining these artistic inspirations with a woozy, organic and multi-layered deep house framework. "Trivial Occupations", his third full-length excursion, is not only less conceptual in tone, but also marks a conscious attempt to move away from the constraints of the dancefloor. Of course, there are still hypnotic, ultra-deep house beats scattered around the album, it's just that they largely operate at a more leisurely pace and usually come smothered in crackling field recordings, ambient chord sequences and slowly shifting melodies designed to worm their way into your consciousness. Combine these cuts with some superb, beat-free ambient explorations, and you have a hugely atmospheric and entertaining set.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** Back in 2012, New York deep house hero Francis Harris released his critically acclaimed debut album on Scissor & Thread - the now defunct label he ran with French DJ Anthony Collins and Shawn Schwartz of Halcyon Records. A much sought after LP since its limited release, the reissue of this evocative sonic journey will no doubt be to the joy of many collectors with this repress. A requiem to his late father, it is a deeply personal journey with an organic and soulful feel throughout featuring a variety of traditional and classical sonic elements over its deep house framework. From blissed out armchair drifters like "Plays I Play" or "Pensum", to more upbeat expressions in deepness as heard on the gorgeous "Lostfound" featuring Danish singer Gry's sensual vocals or the bittersweet groove of "Close Air". This truly is Harris' masterpiece.

Review: ** REPRESS ALERT ** On Francis Harris' second album, the Scissor and Thread label founder continued to grapple with the subjects of memory, loss and profound grief similarly explored on his debut Leland (dedicated to his recently passed father) in 2012. This follow up was in tribute to his mother, who sadly passed the following year - with Harris revisiting deeply personal territory. Danish vocalist Gry Bagoien, trumpeter Greg Paulus (of No Regular Play) and cellist Emil Abramyan returned to provide truly inspiring passages throughout this album. Harris even contributed to the sessions himself, with some guitar and piano work. Across the 10 song opus, Harris works organic and synthetic elements into his compositional framework, relying less on percussive elements to define his moods, whilst solidifying his signature blend of house, modern classical, shoegaze and noise.

Review: Astonishingly, Minor Forms is Francis Harris' first solo appearance on Scissor & Thread for four years - an astonishing fact when you consider that he was one of the label's founders. Opener "Move We Cannot Do" is almost astonishingly deep, with Harris's delicate melodies and undulating, cymbal-heavy rhythm track struggling to rise above enveloping chords and dub techno style aural textures. "Minor Forms" is a little chunkier and more bass-heavy, but still jaw dropping in its bluesy, late night deepness. Valentino Mora serves up two flipside interpretations of that track, first giving it a clanking, metallic techno makeover (the "Underwater Rephase") before diving headfirst into dreamy dub techno waters (the "Cosmic Trans Rephase").

Review: Minutes Of Sleep is the second album from Francis 'Adultnapper' Harris and much like his 2012 debut long player Leland, this is a set that explores themes of loss, grief and memory, with the Brooklyn based producer recording the music in reaction to his mother's death. Despite the personal tone, Harris has chosen to work with other musicians, with vocals from Gry Bagoien on some of the tracks whilst the trumpeteering skills No Regular Play's Greg Paulus are a notable presence - see the skippy "Lean Back" and "Dangerdream". This edition of the album also ends with a special remix of the latter track from Harris' good friend DJ Sprinkles, AKA Terre Thaemlitz, titled "How Che Guevara's Death and Bob Dylan's Life Militarized Brigate Rosse."

Review: Tbilisi's infamous Bassiani spot already has its own label, but now the queer-centric Horoom space within the club is launching an imprint of its own. Opening up the A side of this split 12", Francis Harris is a great choice for the first drop on the label with his smoky take on deep house sinking under the skin and leaving a chill in the air. Adamo Golan takes this seductively spooky mood and injects it with uptempo but equally submerged broken beats via his remix of "Archive Fever". Hamatsuki presents two original tracks on the B side, and while very different "Kandzaia" and "Picnic Attack" both project a more mellow side-room ambience that's a joy to sink into.