Beppu - IPOP (2025)

On IPOP, Organic Analogue uncover a hidden gem of dubbed-out electronica and fried-circuit techno from deep in the late-00s Manchester underground.

Beppu is the work of Andrew Hargreaves, and IPOP gathers together three EPs he put out in 2009 in limited runs of 50 CDrs. At the time, CDrs were the format of choice for DIY electronic music. The lo-fi resurgence of tape was a way off, and CDs offered maximum fidelity at a minimum cost. Beppu is emblematic of that era and the nascent democratisation of music distribution, when technology meant you could do the entire process from creation to delivery yourself. Dubby, outsider electronica especially found a home amongst this network of independent operators, where similarly spirited artists like Pub and Remote_ capitalised on the format to put out their insular techno-not-techno.

You can practically run your fingers over the grainy textural influence of Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus in the blown out pads and tones that shape out the space around Beppu, but Hargreaves was making something far less derivative than what we generally think of as 'dub techno'. You might find a tweaked acid line or warbling 101 adding a braindance tweak to 'Speed Tolerance' or catch a hint of Jan Jelinek's strung out micro-loop reveries on 'Consumption'. There are no straight-forward formulae being adhered to — the staunch independence of Beppu's circumstances rings true in the seductive sonic silt that swirls around these mixes. Comfortably ahead of the trendy distortion boom of the 2010s, Hargreaves elicited an evocative kind of noise from his mixes that becomes an emotional layer within the music.

These are mixes which delight in pushing frequencies the 'wrong' way, respectfully guided to a final form by the careful hands of Hargreaves' long-time mate Miles Whittaker of Demdike Stare on mastering duties. Alongside his work on the mastering, Whittaker and Sean Canty took to Hargreaves' source material to create two Demdike versions that round out the album's fourth side with their much-celebrated verve and leftfield swagger.

Scuffed and soulful, wrenched from unknown zones and rooted in the craft, IPOP is everything OA lives and breathes. In line with past archival digs with DJ Guy and Jean-Louis Huhta, we're proud to help shine a light on the lesser-known talent of Beppu and give these incredible sonics the pressing they deserve