Broken English Club

A driving force in the techno scene since the mid-'90s, Oliver Ho originally made a name for himself alongside Regis, Surgeon, and James Ruskin as part of the new breed of British techno that drew inspiration from not only the techno scene but the rich heritage of industrial and post-punk music from the U.K. After numerous guises -- including Raudive, Birdland, and Zov Zov -- Ho looked back to those early influences with the start of his Broken English Club project. Debuting on the then-fledgling label Jealous God -- which had been set up by Silent Servant, Regis, and James Ruskin -- Ho's first EP, Jealous God #4, appeared in 2014 and saw him referencing the likes of Throbbing Gristle, D.A.F., and Psychic TV. A split follow-up with Silent Servant appeared a few months later as the Violence and Divinity EP, which appeared on Veronica Vasicka's Cititrax label. Buoyed by the success of the EPs, Ho returned to Cititrax with the release of Scars in 2015 and a fully fledged album, Suburban Hunting, a few months later. That same year, Ho took Broken English Club into a live setting with shows in Moscow and at Berlin's Berghain as part of Regis' Downwards showcase. 2016 saw Ho pushing his sound into more extreme territories with the release of the Myths of Steel and Concrete single on his own Death & Leisure label. At the beginning of 2017, he returned to Jealous God, offering up the 16th release on the label, which this time saw him embracing '80s new beat and EBM into his now-signature sound as Broken English Club. The sophomore album, The English Beach -- which appeared on L.I.E.S. -- was released a few months later. The album saw Ho bringing together the industrial and minimal wave elements of his earlier releases, while adding EBM and techno flavors to the mix. ~ Rich Wilson, Rovi