Can we really intervene in the mechanisms of machines, and technology.? There seems to be a belief that such actions are possible, or at least, for some, desirable. Such is the background to producer and label head, John Howes’ (aka Paperclip Minimiser) first-ever release under this moniker. The challenge of such propositions is of course that the results need to be audible, regardless of what goes into their making. 

The album is a minimalist landscape of clicks and beats that feels strangely familiar, though most often, things never really go anywhere. I can’t imagine that this was not intended by Howes, he is simply too familiar to be dilettantish. Is it hoodwinking, then, or just getting back to basics? The impossibility of deciding is exactly the charm of Paperclip Minimiser.  

For most of the thirty-five minutes of the album, all seems quiet on the Manchester front – nothing sonically challenging or overwhelming. The music could easily fit into a number of settings, like a hair salon or a halfway house, without deliberately disturbing the atmosphere. Things really get moving by the penultimate track, which bubbles like early Aphex Twin or Autechre, without the edge. 

The music on S/T is easy, in a way that belies the sequencing and mixing that went into its production. If you are a fan of early 2000s IDM or other similar bents, this will definitely appeal to you. Like a message in a bottle, Howes has summoned the ghosts of a form of music that once required a sender and receiver, and one of those tended to be what we might call “human”. What changed? Just listen closely, it’s all there.