 |
I can't really think of a reason NOT to like Coldcut really. Oh, you haven't heard them? Fair enough, happens to the best of us. You see, like all the worlds greatest innovators, Coldcut didn't and don't feel the need to run around telling everyone how great they are, instead they invented sampling in the UK, made stars out of Yazz and Lisa Stansfield, made a single purely out of sounds from a rainforest being chopped down, were the first people to release an album with mulitmedia bonus disc allowing you to remix their tracks and play games, and founded the label everyone loves to love; Ninja Tune.
Who, when, where, how and why? Lets rewind back to 1987. Some of you (me included) were young, and some of you might not have even been born. It was a shameful year musically. KLF had put out their groundbreaking and illegal (hee hee!) LP; 1987: "What The Fucks Going On?", and Coldcut, a couple of hip hop freaks who wanted to push things out a bit, had released their debut single; 'Say Kids (What Time Is It?)'. Never before had Deacon Blue and Dire Straits sounded so ridiculous. No one had heard of The Stone Roses yet. Hip Hop was the garage punk of the 80s, and Coldcut were cooking up the funk.
Any of you who have regulary been to my clubnight; Buttoned Down Disco, would have almost certainly heard 'Say Kids..', it's the one with the 150% feelgood factor and the 'Jungle Book' sample. Put simply, it's one of the most brilliant tracks to have been released that decade, and they had plenty more like that.
'Smoke Dis One' featured Queen Latifah and brilliantly fused Hip Hop, Funk and Reggae, whilst making people think about political awareness and freedom. AND you can dance to it. After setting the scene for UK white hip hop, Coldcut went on to produce a number of up and coming stars, as well as being a stable influence in the hip-house movement of the late 80s.
When Coldcut bound back into the public spotlight in the mid 90s, it was with the excellent 'Let Us Play' album, working with Tortoise, Kid Koala and T-Power on the exciting 'More Beats and Pieces' single, a live recording which scratched and cut up everything from The Mohawks to Peter And The Wolf with a healthy slab of funk and hip hop. By now, Coldcut were breaking down new barriers with visual art, and had built their own VJ/DJ software VJamm, allowing the live recreation of whole audiovisual pieces. By now, Coldcut were jamming and scratching with live video, and the crowds lucky enough to witness the tour of them doing this were gobsmacked by it's effect.
At the end of the 90s, the BBCs 'Tomorrows World' invited Coldcut to create a song on the internet in under an hour. Using Rescroket virtual studio technology, the challenge was met by musicians 'jamming' together in realtime in London, San Franscisco, South Africa and Los Angeles.
In short, Coldcut are the daddies in many ways, and if it is to be believed that they have a new album in the pipeline, then they are soon to be blowing minds and dominating the music press all over again. In the meantime, check out some of their stuff from either 'Let Us Play' from 1997, or a compilation of their early stuff from the 80s, and find out why they have been such a huge influence over the years. Failing that, get yourself to one of my parties, where I will have Coldcut in my DJ box for at least the next 50 years. Bless 'em.
Who, when, where, how and why? Lets rewind back to 1987. Some of you (me included) were young, and some of you might not have even been born. It was a shameful year musically. KLF had put out their groundbreaking and illegal (hee hee!) LP; 1987: "What The Fucks Going On?", and Coldcut, a couple of hip hop freaks who wanted to push things out a bit, had released their debut single; 'Say Kids (What Time Is It?)'. Never before had Deacon Blue and Dire Straits sounded so ridiculous. No one had heard of The Stone Roses yet. Hip Hop was the garage punk of the 80s, and Coldcut were cooking up the funk.
Any of you who have regulary been to my clubnight; Buttoned Down Disco, would have almost certainly heard 'Say Kids..', it's the one with the 150% feelgood factor and the 'Jungle Book' sample. Put simply, it's one of the most brilliant tracks to have been released that decade, and they had plenty more like that.
'Smoke Dis One' featured Queen Latifah and brilliantly fused Hip Hop, Funk and Reggae, whilst making people think about political awareness and freedom. AND you can dance to it. After setting the scene for UK white hip hop, Coldcut went on to produce a number of up and coming stars, as well as being a stable influence in the hip-house movement of the late 80s.
When Coldcut bound back into the public spotlight in the mid 90s, it was with the excellent 'Let Us Play' album, working with Tortoise, Kid Koala and T-Power on the exciting 'More Beats and Pieces' single, a live recording which scratched and cut up everything from The Mohawks to Peter And The Wolf with a healthy slab of funk and hip hop. By now, Coldcut were breaking down new barriers with visual art, and had built their own VJ/DJ software VJamm, allowing the live recreation of whole audiovisual pieces. By now, Coldcut were jamming and scratching with live video, and the crowds lucky enough to witness the tour of them doing this were gobsmacked by it's effect.
At the end of the 90s, the BBCs 'Tomorrows World' invited Coldcut to create a song on the internet in under an hour. Using Rescroket virtual studio technology, the challenge was met by musicians 'jamming' together in realtime in London, San Franscisco, South Africa and Los Angeles.
In short, Coldcut are the daddies in many ways, and if it is to be believed that they have a new album in the pipeline, then they are soon to be blowing minds and dominating the music press all over again. In the meantime, check out some of their stuff from either 'Let Us Play' from 1997, or a compilation of their early stuff from the 80s, and find out why they have been such a huge influence over the years. Failing that, get yourself to one of my parties, where I will have Coldcut in my DJ box for at least the next 50 years. Bless 'em.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment