Special Requests

Howie B & Hiraki Sawa - 3 Sticks

Originally conceived as an East-meets-West hybrid audiovisual project for Wonderfruit Festival (Pattaya, Thailand) in 2024, veteran producer and remixer Howie B and Japanese born, London based visual artist Hiraki Sawa see the resultant music cut to vinyl and digitally released by Dogtooth Records for 2026. Two long-form, constantly evolving pieces as indebted to early 70s glassy minimalism and film OST’s as they are 90s breakbeat are bookended by a much shorter but no less evocative composition pairing emotive bursts of brass which coalesce around repetitive synth stabs that pulse around the stereo field.

If ‘Stick 2’ acts as the breathing point between the duos much longer A/V forays for the live performance, ‘Stick 1’ is the cinematic glue that begins by conjuring images of Thailand's rice fields, bringing an almost metronome-like consistency upon which Howie adds and subtracts synth layers and FX, eventually shifting into gear with a downtempo beat and treated breaks around a third of the way in. The final piece of the puzzle, ‘Stick 3’, kicks off with echoes of golden era Robert Leiner or Spacetime Continuum, back-room ambient techno propulsions building up tension before a similar downtempo beat drops in and gets us swaying. There’s also a bit of a horror synth / soundtrack atmosphere at play, crawling at a steady sub-100 bpm as the pressure builds with subtle modulations and synth tweaks before everything winds down a bit to an icy, subtractive wet descent as we approach the 20 min mark.

The concept of 'Zero / Infinite' works as both a homage to the teachings of the Zen Buddhist philosopher D.T. Suzuki and a welcome update on classic dance music adjacent motifs from the heyday of the 1990s.

Howie B & Hiraki Sawa - '3 Sticks' is released on the 11th of September via Dogtooth Records.

Release Date	September 11th, 2026
Catalog No	DT004
Label	Dogtooth Records

track	artist
Stick 1	Howie B & Hiraki Sawa	17:31
Stick 2	Howie B & Hiraki Sawa	5:30
Stick 3	Howie B & Hiraki Sawa	23:14

Support

Severino Panzetta

WOW /

Damian Lazarus

Thanks for sending. Xx

Brian d'Souza / Auntie Flo

Great release!

Erol Alkan

Downloading Thanks!

Heidi Lawden

love it

Jim Baron

love thie, extended!

Justin Strauss

very cool ep

Sally Rodgers

Liking the really ambient track here

Chloé

nice , thanks

Craig Morrison (Silicone Soul)

Serious jammz!

Dave Harvey

these sound ace, nice one!

Pete Herbert

Yep, love this, great to hear some new biz from Howie, who is a ledge. Stick 3 especially is epic!

Sasha (via Steve Parry)

quality vibes

Sean Johnston

Stick 1 is magnificent

Radio Slave

Lovely stuff !!!

Nico Stojan (Acid Pauli)

:-):-)

Support from Rich Thair, Benoit C, Apiento, Alexis Le-Tan, Slo Hans, Oliver Humpidge, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Supersonic Lovers, Erodiscotique), Stefan Wagner, Snooba, Stylax, Dj Alex from Tokyo, Si Kurrage, Chad Jackson, Makossa, Laurent Garnier, Jerry Bouthier / JBAG, Dominik Zapadka, Beane Noodler, Kito Jempere, DJ Morpheus, Alex Ruder, Don Andrew, Lava Lava, Nevena Stankovic, J H Pigeonhole, Dave Howell, Ben & Enzo (Balearic Jukebox), Norbert Borzym, Mike Bradbury | Balearic Ultras | Higher Love Recordings, Terry Childs, Steve KIW, David Miller, Andre Langenfeld, John Gosling (Mekon), Simon Morell, Christian Zingales, Keith Matthews, Mark Ratcliff, John Loveless | John Thorp, Tony Pontius (Spatial Awareness), Murray Scott, Andy Baxter, Neil Scott, Tim Faberge, Mark Ruston, Scott Hutchinson, Trevor Fung, Dingo Balearico, Nathan Detroit, Rob Zile, Lost Heroes, Gripper, Andrew Medlock, Raffaele Costantino, Christian Larsson, Karim / DJ Rim-K, Jagz Kooner, Iain Mac, sandrobianchi, Karl Phillips, Miqui Puig, Chris Sweet, Hugo Tasis, Reenie, Mandrax (Shakedown), Blair French, Logan Fisher, airsine, Bill Brewster, Alec Tron, Jonny Mac / Warriors of the Dystotheque, Phil Boyle, Local Suicide, Werner Niedermeier, Christian Homan, Mark Cooper, Bonsai Hi Fi Sound System, Matt Hassall, Trepanado, Achilleas aka Cheap Edits, Kerem Gokmen, Dj Maadraassoo, Red Tin Dave, Jaffo, Andy Pye, Cyril Briscoe, Local Zeros, Chalice, Andy Hickford, Stu aka Silvertooth, Al Mackenzie, Mark Broadbent, Gordon Kaye, Richard, For Mankind, Stinky Jim, Stuart Robinson / Wrekin Havoc, Arveene, Oisin Lunny, Chris Brennan, Michael Donaldson, Dee Macpherson, Nico De Ceglia, Tronik Youth, Jaye Ward, Bernie Connor, Ken Fan, Corin Arnold / ed2000, Timmy Stewart (T-Bone & Black Bones), Gavin Lucas, Mike Tate, Felix Dickinson, Elena Colombi, Kristijan Molnar, Craig Bratley, Haus Of Beats Radio Show, Ilya Rasskazov, Pete Bones, Scott Ferguson, Speaking Minds, Solid State aka Richard Hardcastle, Andy Taylor, Rev Milo, Howler, Stevie Kotey, Tommy Castro (T. Locrasto), and DJ Massari

Currently promoting releases for A Certain Ratio // A Man Called Adam // Factory Floor // Falle Nioke // Fundido & Nieri // Galaxians // Greg Paulus // Heavenly Recordings // Hologram Teen // Howie B & Hiraki Sawa // Jaime Rosso // JIM // Man Power & Emily Emily // Mondo Love & Betrayal // Metronomy // Quantic // Richard Sen // Shadow Child // Spraycan

Established by Alvin Collis to promote cutting-edge electronic music to DJs worldwide, Special Requests aims to bring a personal approach to all campaigns and get your music heard, played and supported by the world’s leading DJs and tastemakers. We like to work with independent labels & artists on music that we love, across a broad range of musical styles, including ambient, balearic, disco, dub, electro, hip hop, house, jazz, soul and techno etc.. Quality over quantity.