Paperclip Minimiser

(This article’s English version was produced with AI-assisted translation)

Minimal and crackling, the new album by Paperclip Minimiser is an oblique movement, between metallic tones and complex rhythms. Better known as John Howes, with "II" he offers a second chapter that adds organicity to a fractal approach to dub: glitch fragments, ambient fumes and UK bass manipulations, with a hypnagogic stereo field that owes as much to Burial as to Andy Stott. A sound born as a direct antithesis to contemporary electronic production.

Released on Peak Oil, home to Purelink and Topdown Dialectic, Howes builds his sound on a vintage hardware setup, including the Nord Modular G2, Elektron Machinedrum and Monomachine, where each component is programmed to react to the others, planting a kind of ghost in the machine: the internal dialogue escapes the author’s direct control. Everything is recorded live, with no overdubs or corrections: what comes out is final.
The main path is dub techno, but within an algorithmic matrix that looks less to Basic Channel and more to the generative minimalism of Kit Clayton and the ~scape label. The material dates back to 2011, born from scattered sessions in northern England and left unreleased until now. A step below his debut, "II" still offers seven pieces of urban hypnosis that are hard to shake off.

07/05/2026