Torus EP

A 8 track alternative rap/hip-hop ep (32m 33s) — released March 12th 2012 on Sonic Router Records

Like all good things, it's taken a while to surface, but after three years of existing on the internet as a website, mix blog and general theatre of opinion, Sonic Router is now also a record label. To quote one of our good friends our label was 'established after receiving the sort of demo that makes you want to start a record label'. The demo in question came from 18 year old Torus, (formerly known as Deadstokdonut - the moniker under which he released 'Television Spleen' on Lowriders Record's Beatitude compilation) and his self titled debut EP.

6 tracks long it's a deft exploration of mood that sets a torrent of found samples, ambient swirls and little wayward riffs to post-Dilla drum patterns. It's hazy, crackly hangover music. A collection of tracks that manage to sound archaic before they've even been mixed down, fusing Joeri Woudstra's unique approach to production with a sense of isolation and introspection.

"I've been making a lot of music over the past year and a half, which includes a lot of stuff I wasn't really proud of when I listened back to it after it was finished;" Woudstra offers when asked about the vision for his music. "The idea behind this EP is that I wanted to make tracks that were deeper than just some throw away beats. I wanted to go in and truly create an environment; tracks that I really put some emotion into and that I could be proud of to be released as a whole."

"I come from The Hague in the Netherlands and we kinda have all the environments you could think of put together," he continues. "We've got the beach, we got forests and woods, we got plains and we've got downtown and sometimes the whole city is covered in snow. In my music I move away from the crowdedness of the city to create a more natural and organic environment; but I also like taking a bit of the static interference from the bustling city and putting it all together into some sort of ambience."

“amorphous and synthy… something like hollowed-out, drugged-up skweee” - Resident Advisor

“beautiful, glacial hip-hop with a meandering approach to rhythm that suits its frosty exterior perfectly” - The Quietus

“8/10 …[a] highly individual and accomplished debut” - Drowned In Sound

“4/5 …the definition of concision” - FACT

“4/5. Killer record.” - Mixmag

“its pretty lush!” - Huw Stephens BBC Radio 1

“I especially like the way Forests is scaring the sh*t out of my cat!” - Jen Long BBC Radio 1

“I think it’s a bit special” - Jon Hillcock BBC 6Music

“8/10 …like a studio session between Vladislav Delay and J Dillla” - The Veal Pen

“aligns the young producer nicely with UK beat scene players like Lapalux, Deft, Seam and more” - Hyponik

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