Swayzak – Himawari

I went through my Swayzak phase 25 years ago. I find it funny how many people slept on this and Snowboarding In Argentina back then, or are just now discovering it. It's a fucking shame they went the direction they did after Himawari, because everything they released after it was a steaming pile of dog shit in comparison.

this is a solid album, side B is pretty incredible. Get yourself a copy.

In the year 2000, the internet and the creation of websites was gaining great momentum. It was a booming year for the internet, we were dialling-up with 4kbps modems and starting to experience the internet for the 1st time.

Between June and August 2000 (I understand), Swayzak did an extensive tour of Canada and North America, and also played in , The Netherlands, and beyond in this year. The years between 1999–2003 for house, techno, tech house, microhouse and electro, were golden years. In these years, music was created, that remains unrivalled. Between these years, we saw a boom in many genres, strains and approaches, within the broad areas of house and techno.

What type of music is this album and where does it sit? Is the music house?, it has elements of house. Is the music techno?, it has techno elements. Is the music electro?, there are some elements of electro. ‘Caught In This Affair’ is even a very confident and accomplished deep house track. Himawari is many things, it is not overly helpful to define exactly what kind of music it was, maybe something like dub house could be closest of all, but what is clear, is that this album actually breaks-free from these genres, this album does not easily fit into what we typically consider to be, house or techno. It actually fits better into international electronic music. Furthermore, if we focus on the tracks ‘Kensai Rising’, ‘State Of Grace’, and ‘Caught In This Affair’, you can hear early elements of a slight electro/raw edge and sound, something Swayzak would explore more using software on laptops in live performances, from around 2003 onwards. Swayzak’s albums like ‘Dirty Dancing’ 2002, and ‘Loops From The Bergerie’ 2004, further explore this electro connection.

Himawari also features interesting and stunning vocal content, see for instance the tracks ‘The Frozen Loch’, ‘State Of Grace’, and ‘Illegal’, and makes this album go beyond a focused exercise in formal musical exploration.

And if we focus on the track ‘Illegal’ with the poet Benjamin Zephaniah. It might sound like a Rasta’s vocals on top of an electronic track (nothing unusual there). But after listening to it for many years, and hearing it on the album, there is actually more to it. For me, this track is really about… ‘make [making] love in the neighbourhood’. For me, it is really about Benjamin Zephaniah and Swayzak saying, this track that we have made, is for the people, the community, the local area, to make them feel good and to… raise the neighbourhood. We have made this music and it is for the often bland, lacking, difficult, stressful and struggling neighbourhood and local community (whatever that might be). I will leave it there and not extend anymore, but it tries to help the listener do good where they are, if they can (do you understand?). But the later points of course, all tie in with the Rasta philosophy, that can often easily be forgot in modernity. It is most remarkable and is about more than what it is, at 1st sight. Even to this day, it still blesses me!

The graphic communication design, artwork and photography, is certainly different, interesting and worth mentioning. It had this great 90s early 2000s look, and in the same year, they had a near-identical website designed like the album’s design, by the London website design company Kleber, that also furthered Swayzak’s presence and international reach.

This album is a gem, pure gold, absolute purity, epic, it excels all expectations. A classic landmark album in the history of house, techno and deep minimal, of astonishing creativity, performance and reward, still good in many decades to come… that even 25 years later, cannot be defined. This album is a highly creative, accomplished and unique creation. Listeners of music cannot ask for much more… Himawari… ‘you would not believe it!’. It just seems very of the year 2000, and that era, but certainly not fixed or stuck there. I cannot see how this album would be made or produced today, in 2023. 1 of those bomb albums, from such a great era, very much of a time and place, but still creating shocks 25 years later.

An original near exact repress 25 years later, with original artwork, on coloured vinyl, with a folded vinyl slipcase, would be great. And maybe, if I may?: an answer to what Betek 2.0 (or Betek 2023) may be (if that is even possible), kept a secret, until a final rerelease. Also maybe some more tracks, using the old hardware samplers..?, to really send fans, into a frenzy, once again. They might even get paid this time, for their truly amazing work!

Great times and a great era. 25 years after Himawari was released, Swayzak are still releasing old and new material, and still continue to deliver the cargo.

Also search on Discogs for their release ‘Selections From “Himawari”’ in 2000, to see my comments on ‘Japan Air’ and ‘Betek’.

(2022 update): for early Swayzak 2000-era purists, there are 5 old mixes available online, of their music made between 1997–2001. Search for:

• Simon, Swayzak, Miss Honey Dijon, Troy Roberts, 7 September 1999, Nikita night, 1015 Folsom club, San Francisco, courtesy of Spundae Productions and Groovetech.com Radio.
• Swayzak at Sonar Club, Vancouver, Canada, 27 July 2000 (cleaned 2022).
• Swayzak, BTTB (Back To The Basics, D-041), 24-02-2004.
• Swayzak Live @ Maffia Illicit Music Club (21.05.1999).
• Swayzak, Solar, Galen at Betalounge, 8 July 1999.

I understand their live performances and tracks from this time were made on 2 large hardware samplers. Amazing stuff, even 25 years later…

For any of you looking for Swayzak's Japan Air, it appears on a VA release compiled by Rob Salmon along some other lovely early TH tracks (for v little £).

Leisure Centre is a warm and happy place. Keeps me coming back to this album over 20 years now! Mysterons is another track I always loved. Cool breakbeat electro cut 🤖

I love the whole album, but 'Leisure Centre' merits special attention for me because it is a sublime piece of ultra-cool 2000s ambient techno.

pure classic!
state of grace - one of the best tracks ever!

For HIMAWARI, Swayzak's second album, the get slightly poppier, introducing vocals, like the dub poetics of "Illegal." But the quality is unchanged, and if anything, the melodies are even more catchy. The immediacy of the bass on "Kensai Rising" is infectious and the looped vocal sample exhorts you to start moving, while Kirsty Hawkshaw brings a coolness to the electro twinkle of "State of Grace." A smooth darkness slides over "Leisure Centre," while "Mysterons" keep the electro thick and moody. "Doobie" keeps the rhythm at a gallop, and the house side of their leanings comes to fruition on "Caught in This Affair," a joyous track that's almost impossible to deny. But "Japan Air" returns to the melodic tech-dub, and "Pineapple Spongecake" digs in deeper and darker. And in a sudden switch, "The Frozen Loch" turns poetic and dreamy, bringing forth the breaks after the recitation. "Floyd" returns us the rhythms, and "Betek" closes the album crisply and cleanly. A stunningly good album.

If you're into the 'basic channel sound', you'd be glad to check out the works of Swayzak. Minimalistic and sometimes dubby four to the flour techno beats, but always arranged with beautiful warm synth sweeps on top. It even gets better when Swayzak includes vocalists, like in 'coaght in this affair', which is more like a deep, warm pulsating house track.
I consider Himawari a 5 star review.