Nic Potter

Nic Potter - The Blue Zone - 1990 - Voiceprint

On "The Blue Zone" Gordon Dennis, among others, his former bandmate Guy Evans and Peter Hammill Hammill Potter and longtime musical companions Stuart supported. The result pleases me far better than the pop of "Mountain Music" (which is the only Potter album is that I can use for comparison). The elegiac synth sounds of "Blue Ocean" are characteristic of the entire album. Hammill liefert dazu dezente Gitarreneinsätze, Guy Evans steuert etwas Perkussion bei. Hammill returns to subtle guitar stakes, Guy Evans contributes some percussion. With "A Whiter Shade of Blue" is about something more upbeat. A slightly trendy pieces, comparable to the better things of ex-Camel keyboardist Peter Bardens. The highlight of the album are the three parts of the title track. Part 1 begins with a quick, sequencer-like rhythm changes, then in a powerful piece with a slight classical influence.Towards the end there is a short but beautiful guitar used by Huw Lloyd-Langton (ex-Hawkwind). The other two parts are kept much quieter. In Part 2, Potter provides only going a few gentle and forth flowing background sound to a long acoustic guitar solo. Similarly, part 3 is constructed, then come here to oboe, bassoon and violin. A very elegiac piece of already partly mystical atmosphere. With "Hard as Irony" it will be something more conventional, the saxophone I find this somewhat kitschy. This piece reminds us of solo stuff from Peter Bardens. Overall, a beautiful electronic record, with a fall season, just over half an hour but plenty of short! © Jochen Rindfrey Babyblaue Seiten, January 2005 [translated from German]

Everything is right: The Blue Zone is a CD filled with wonderful music. Nic Potter, former bassist of VdGG, creates haunted, dreamlike soundscapes and must be for it - unlike me not be ashamed because of the previous pompous phrase - in the least. The color blue is the focus of this work. The ocean is deep blue. In terms of music it is a piece like "Ocean Blue" out which borrows its musical theme, although lovingly made "Das Boot", but get along before his judges. Pure atmosphere grabs the listener and pulls him deep under the water, always sun rays break through the surface and I forget that I have no air to breathe for several minutes more had around me. Again bombastic? But if it's so ... The three "Blue Zone" titled pieces are not a cohesive movement, there are three individual beads, which certainly stands out part 2. Listening to this piece lying on a pleasant summer afternoon on the back, one must simply close its eyes to get fancy in a Greek olive grove Just the atmosphere begins a Nic at this piece, shaped by the acoustic guitar by Duncan Brown. Part 1, however, reminds us of the rightly At exceedingly popular "Watermark" album by Enya. Great, atmospheric instrumental music, which unfortunately was perceived to be wrong by as much as anyone on this blue planet is, and will be. Therefore, rather VdGG-lover, fan of instrumental music, BBS reader who likes chillt times and last but not least, all who are not heavy guitars and incredibly complicated, Oblique even need to elated listening to: strike looking, listening, and agree snatch this album from oblivion. © Günter pod Rating : 11/15 © 1999-2009, all text copyright by their respective authors, Babyblaue Seiten [translated from German]

Ex-Van der Graaf Generator's Nic Potter's "The Blue Zone" was recorded at sessions between 1989 and 1990. The album has been described as progressive folk music. It could also be described as New Age or electronica. Regardless of definitions, this is an album worth absorbing. Nothing groundbreaking or innovative here, but it's a pleasant aural experience, and a good instrumental album played by Nic Potter with contributions from experienced musicians like Peter Hammill, Snowy White, Lindsay Cooper, and Duncan Browne. Try and listen to Nic Potter with Peter Hammill's 1971 "Fool's Mate" album, and also Van der Graaf Generator's "The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other" album

TRACKS

Ocean Blue [6:11]
A Whiter Shade of Blue [3:50]
Blue Zone: One [5:47]
Blue Zone: Two [3:30]
Blue Zone: Three (Gods and Ancestors) [11:13]
Hard as Irony [4:42]

All tracks composed by Nick Potter

MUSICIANS

Nick Potter - keyboards, bass
Peter Hammill - guitars (tr. 1)
Snowy White - guitar (tr. 2)
Huw Lloyd-Langton - guitar (tr. 3/6)
Duncan Browne - spanish guitar (tr. 4/5)
Guy Evans - woodblock percussion (tr. 1)
Malcolm Duncan - saxophone (tr. 6)
Stuart Gordon - violin (tr. 5)
Lindsay Cooper - bassoon (tr. 5)
Catherine Milliken - oboe (tr. 5)

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Nic Potter (born 18 October 1951 in Wiltshire) is a British bassist, composer and painter, best known for his work with the group Van der Graaf Generator in the 1970s. Before joining Van der Graaf Generator, Potter from a very early age (1968) played bass in The Misunderstood, and that's how he met Guy Evans who played the drums. He had left school at age fifteen to become a bass-player. In 1969 Potter and Evans both left The Misunderstood to join Van der Graaf Generator for the recording of their album The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other. Halfway during the recording of the following VdGG-album H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970), Potter left VdGG, leaving the a-side of the album with his bass-guitar-sounds (tracks: Killer, The Emperor in his War Room and Lost) and side b with the organ-bass-pedal sounds by Hugh Banton, which would become one of the signature sounds for Van der Graaf Generator. In 1971 he played bass-guitar on Peter Hammill's first solo-album, Fool's Mate, on Colin Scot's album Colin Scot and with the band Magna Carta. In the 1970s he also played with Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, Rare Bird and Steve Swindells. In 1973 he collaborated on The Long Hello project. His playing can also be heard on Peter Hammill's album Over (1977). In 1977, after Hugh Banton and David Jackson had left Van der Graaf Generator, Potter was asked to re-join. He plays on both The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977) and the double live-album Vital (1978). Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s Potter continued to record and tour with Peter Hammill, including being the bassist for the K-Group (from 1981-1985), and with the Tigers (in 1980) and Duncan Browne (in 1984). In 1983 he started a solo-career, and released a number of albums with mostly electronic music. In 1995 Nic produced and played the bass on the posthumous album Songs of Love and War by Duncan Browne. In 2008 Nic Potter published the live album "Live in Italy", together with many musicians like David Jackson and Tony Pagliuca (Le Orme).

Various Pork Artists

Various Pork Artists - Sty Wars: A Collection Of Pork Medallions - 1998 - Pork Recordings

For years now, A.O.O.F.C has been extolling the virtues of artists on the Pork Recordings label. Britain’s Pork label gave us some wonderful original downbeat electronic recordings, exploring dubbed out mellow territories well outside of the normal music media spotlight. Often fusing electronics with live instruments, many of these releases are from Hull based artists, in England. Check out releases from Fila Brazilia, Moss, Baby Mammoth, The Solid Doctor, Heights Of Abraham, Leggo Beast, and more. There is info on Heights Of Abraham "Two Thousand And Six" album @ HOA/2006 HOA's stunning classic album, "Humidity" can be found @ HOA/HUMY Bullitnuts "A Different Ball Game" album is @ BULNTS/ADBG Baby Mammoth's "Swimming" album is @ BABMAM/SWMG These are all superb albums from Pork Recordings. You can also find Moss' wonderful "East Coast Chip Shop" album, a Pork classic, on this blog.
"Sty Wars: A Collection Of Pork Medallions" is an 11 track collection of some of Pork's best artists' works. Eleven tracks of the funkiest, grooviest, laid back, and original downtempo cuts you will ever hear. Check out PORK RECORDS Check for info on the Pork Recordings connections with this album @ Sty Wars/Tree You will find a very informative Pork "music tree" there.

ARTIST - TRACK - COMPOSER

1 Muzz - Bizarre Love Pentangle - Clarke
2 Bernard Moss - Tread Lightly - Moss
3 Bullitnuts - Drawing Straws - Clarke, Ellerby
4 Baby Mammoth - Cinquante Piquante - Burdall, Blissenden
5 Brazil Nuts - Poodle Calf - McSherry,Clarke, Ellerby, Cobby
6 Akotcha - Sound - Aldred, Jones
7 Fila Brazillia - Kingsblood Royale - McSherry, Cobby
8 The Solid Doctor - Punctus Contra Punctum - Cobby
9 Mammoth Nuts - Honey Melon - Burdall, Blissenden, Clarke, Ellerby
10 Sheik & Beige - Aim Low - Marrs, Ellerby
11 Third Face - Tone Poem - Young

Akotcha

Akotcha - Sound Burger - 1997- Pork

Britain’s Pork label gave us some wonderful original downbeat electronic recordings, exploring dubbed out mellow territories well outside of the normal music media spotlight. Often fusing electronics with live instruments, Pork released many brilliant downtempo releases, mainly from Hull based artists. Check out releases from Fila Brazilia, Moss, Baby Mammoth, The Solid Doctor, Heights Of Abraham, Leggo Beast, and more. Akotcha's "Sound Burger" is a from a crew composed of Jude Aldred and Russ Jones, who had been involved in the London and Brighton live music scenes playing keyboards and guitar in a variety of bands. The two met up, and shared musical tastes led to them setting up a studio together. Their "Sound Burger" debut is immediately more melancholy than other Pork releases and at times is reminiscent of the soundscapes conjured up by DJ Krush. Slow breakbeats tick away under creeping loops in combinations of fantastic chill-out grooves that will grab your mind. There is info on Heights Of Abraham "Two Thousand And Six" album @ HOA/2006 HOA's stunning classic album, "Humidity" can be found @ HOA/HUMY Bullitnuts "A Different Ball Game" album is @ BULNTS/ADBG Baby Mammoth's "Swimming" album is @ BABMAM/SWMG These are all superb albums from Pork Recordings. Check out the PORK RECORDS website, and Moss' wonderful "East Coast Chip Shop" album, a Pork classic can be located @ MOSS/ECCS

TRACKS

1. Sound Burger
2. Kobyashi Maru
3. Entirely Synthesized
4. So Far So Good
5. Spy Movie
6. Pork Fiend
7. We Have the Technology
8. IMG.00.37
9. The Breather
10. Gosub

CREDITS

Producer - AkotchHefner
Written-By - Jude Aldred , Russ Jones

REVIEWS

As this CD begins, if I closed my eyes and made believe, I would swear that Zapp had come back to life and was run through a rack mount. The steady bass and computer vocal cinch it. As the CD progresses, you can look forward to precariously looped bass samples along with some seriously wicked-awesome Moog and old-school analog whooshes. This whole CD has a kind of 1970's players feel that has been drastically reworked for the here-and-now. In the same respect, Sound Burger possesses its fair share of mellow, electro easy-listening. Not quite ambient, not quite drum-n-bass, not quite, well anything... which is good! Actually, if I had to say it sounded like anything, I would say it sounded like a Pork Records release. Pork have slowly come into their own by playing host to an impressive roster of musicians making really cool music for the '90s and beyond. The best thing about their releases of late is that I don't think they will sound dated in 3 years, like many current electronic releases will. Always cool, never dull and feeling very fresh, about the only thing missing from Akotcha's Sound Burger is a bag of chips and a pickle. Highly recommended. © Christopher Juul, © 1991-2009 Ink 19

A rainy and gray afternoon on the first day of the new year 2001 and after all the superficial excitement of the year-change is extinguished by now, it's time to sit down and present some music for your mind and soul. I'm taking you back to 1997 for a forgotten pearl on the monumental British Pork label being Akotcha and Sound Burger. Recently discovered at the freshest music store in Belgium at this time, Stereophonic at Antwerp, Sound Burger is the type of album you listen to and making you say the long big time shout wwhhhaaaaaawwwwww. Sound Burger captures the pre-"lounge hype"-type of musical spirit of back in 1997. Being released on the Pork label, you already know this album has that little extra that makes it different from the rest. It presents an atmosphere of slow smokey beats all spiced up with funky, jazzy and dubby ingredients that satisfy every music sensitive braincell in your head. But let's not keep the nec plus ultra for the last this time, but we'll throw the absolute killer track of this album right in your face : "Entirely synthesized". Trippy, funky and deep breakbeats with long swirling complex atmospheric moogs that not only make you say wwhhhaaaaaawwwwww but whhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwh. It's simple. Hear this, and you're sold, as well as the album if you're in a record shop. But that's not all J. Aldred and R.Jones of Akotcha and Hefner have for you. Discover "Gosub" for trippy dubby slow beats, subtle scratches and spacey gimmicks. Or "Sound Burger" itself, for an equally slow deep beat in a funky outfit, sounding a little monotone at first but the subtle changes and styling will take your mind slow but sure. Or the "Spy Movie" for a more jazzy groovier experience. Or "IMG.00.37" for a touch of electro and future jazz on slowish beats. If you liked the Deadbeats and "Lounging" album, you'll without doubt like "Sound Burger". Enjoy your meal of phat slow beats. © ez, jan 2001, © www.freestylegrooves.com

Bullitnuts

Bullitnuts - 1st Of The Day - 1996 - Pork Recordings

Another incredibly good slice of brilliant electronic downtempo jazzy rhythms for the 21st century from the legendary Pork Recordings label. Bullitnuts were an electronic music duo from Kingston upon Hull UK, consisting of Robert Ellerby and Murray Clarke which split up in 1999. They recorded some of the most innovative and original downtempo electronic music ever heard on disc. Bullitnuts recorded 3 albums for Pork Recordings before splitting up in 1999. Check out Bullitnuts' outstanding "Nut Roast" album, amd there is info on Bullitnuts' 1998 "A Different Ball Game" album @ BNUTS/ADBG Pork Recordings specialised in electronica, mostly in the downtempo or chill-out styles. Formed in the early 90's by David "Porky" Brennand, its most significant artists include Fila Brazillia, Baby Mammoth, Bullitnuts and Leggo Beast. David " Porky" Brennand also records with Steel Tiger Records. If you have never been interested in electronic music or think of it as boring and negative then check out "1st Of The Day". You will be surprised. Rob Ellerby and Murray Clark never failed to satisfy with their smooth blend of funked-out beats. Murray Clarke started recording as Leggo Beast and Robert Ellerby started Momma Gravy together with Remko Schouten. Check out the amazingly brilliant "Humidity" album by "Heights Of Abraham" @ HOAB/HMDTY and any of Baby Mammoth's recordings. You can find Baby Mammoth's "Swimming" album @ BABYM/SWMG For info on some of Pork Recordings best releases go to GREAT DOWNTEMPO ALBUMS FROM PORK RECORDINGS "1st Of The Day" is VHR by A.O.O.F.C

TRACKS

1 Pizzle Road Rhapsody (10:38)
2 Fortean Daze (9:13)
3 Swivel Hip (6:16)
4 Scattered (7:52)
5 Rhesus Perplexus (7:59)
6 Donkey Stroke (6:17)
7 Joker In My Yard (6:34)
8 Pipin' (11:29)
9 Feathered Up (7:17)
10 Semantic Pearls (3:44)

All tracks written-by, arranged by, and produced by Rob Ellerby, & Murray Clark

Olive

Olive - Extra Virgin - 1996 - RCA

A good album in the vein of Portishead and Morcheeba. It is not groundbreaking , but it is a well above average album of it's type. Most of the tracks are well constructed musically, with some nice jazz influences, helped by British vocalist Ruth-Ann Boyle's angelic voice over a wide variety of beats and loops. Check out "You're Not Alone." The album has received mixed reviews, - more critical than complimentary, but many critics are looking for a second "Dummy" or "Walking Wounded, " and that's not being realistic. It's a cool, calm, relaxing album, and very enjoyable. Even if you're not into the techno/electronica/trip-hop scene, you may be missing out on a lot of good music by discounting albums like Extra Virgin. If you like Sade, you might just enjoy this album. For other music in this genre, check out Sade's "Diamond Life," Morcheeba's "The Antidote," and "Walking Wounded" by Everything but the Girl. Olive released a second CD, "Trickle" in 2000, on Maverick Records.

TRACKS

1 Miracle (7:31)
2 This Time (4:43)
3 Safer Hands (5:02)
4 Killing (4:17)
5 You're Not Alone (4:25)
6 Falling (4:52)
7 Outlaw (5:08)
8 Blood Red Tears (4:41)
9 Curious (5:00)
10 You Are Nothing (4:19)
11 Muted (3:37)
12 I Don't Think So (13:37)
13 You're Not Alone - TRACK 13 [This is a hidden version of Track 5, with no rhythm track on it.]

All compositions by Kellett/Taylor

CREDITS

Ruth-Ann Boyle : Vocals
Darren Campbell : Bass
Duke Quartet : Strings
Tony Foster : Bass, Guitar
Louise Fuller : Violin
Adrian Hackett : Drums
Tim Kellett : Flugelhorn, Keyboards, Trumpet
Richard Koster : Violin
George Lambert : Digital EQ
Henrik Linnermann : Flute
Ivan McCready : Cello
John Metcalfe : Viola
Omith Mukherjee : Guitar
Heitor Teixeira Pereira : Guitar
Ruth-Ann : Vocals
Mark Sheridan : Flute, Guitar
Robin Taylor-Firth : Keyboards

REVIEWS

A year after its initial release, Olive's debut album, Extra Virgin, finally produced a number one British hit with "You're Not Alone," a low-key lite trip-hop number with a graceful melody. It's a strong single, and there are similarly strong moments on Extra Virgin, yet Olive don't stand out from the post-Portishead pack. Like Everything but the Girl, they are essentially a folky, pop-oriented group that uses the stoned rhythms of trip-hop as hip window-dressing. Since that rhythm is appealing on its own terms, it doesn't matter that Olive use it as ornamentation, especially since they use it well. What is a problem is their lack of consistent songwriting. Only a few songs match the singles "You're Not Alone" and "Miracle" in terms of memorable, melodic construction, and the weaker tracks tend to float by on their admittedly entrancing production. And that leaves Extra Virgin an intriguing debut, but not necessarily one that promises great things from Olive. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
There are all the standard trip-hop ingredients--two guys who could probably stand to get out of the studio a little more often, lots of keyboards, drum machines, and samples. And there's a female singer, who's been compared to Sade--rather unfairly, since Ruth-Ann can manage more than a monotone and still be sultry. But there's also guitar and--wait for it--real strings. And, um, songs. Granted, they're not your conventional verse-chorus-verse, but like an insect bite, they get under your skin until you're scratching away and can't ignore them. © Chris Nickson, Amazon.com

BIO (Wikipedia)

Olive were a dance/breakbeat/trip hop group from Sunderland, North East England. The founding membership consisted of producer, instrumentalist and songwriter Tim Kellett, producer and keyboard programmer Robin Taylor-Firth, and singer Ruth-Ann Boyle. The band released two albums, the second without Taylor-Firth, before ceasing activity. They are best known for the UK number-one single "You're Not Alone". Following Simply Red's 1991 album Stars, which garnered the band's greatest commercial success in the UK and worldwide at the time, Tim Kellett, last among its original lineup (as trumpet player), left the band. Meanwhile, Robin Taylor-Firth had just come off of George Evelyn's techno/hip hop project Nightmares on Wax.The two met through a mutual friend who had recently joined Simply Red as bassist, and formed a musical collaboration (Taylor-Firth cites the disparity between his relatively "underground" work among Sheffield's electronic music and DJ community, and Kellett's mainstream history). By 1994, three demos (which would become "Miracle", "Falling" and "You're Not Alone") were recorded in Kellett's cellar studio, upon which the two began their search for a singer. At this time, Kellett went on tour as keyboardist with Vini Reilly's The Durutti Column (which he played for a decade ago prior to joining Simply Red). While playing back pre-recorded keyboard samples on stage, Kellett heard a favourable vocal sample; the voice was that of Ruth-Ann Boyle, who had provided the samples for The Durutti Column's 1994 album Sex and Death. Kellett contacted Boyle about singing for the collaboration; at the time working in a bar, and though disillusioned from past experiences singing in bands, Boyle accepted. After a "kind of an audition" with "Miracle" Boyle's membership in the band was set. The completion of the three initial demos attracted the interest of various UK record labels, and Olive signed with the top bidder, RCA, in September 1995. The songwriting and recording process concluded with the completion of their first album in January 1996.The first single, "You're Not Alone," was released in 1996. Although the song took a year for audiences in England to catch onto, it eventually made number one in 1997, after the release of a new, remixed version, selling over 500000 copies. Popularity in America and Australia was muted, with the track falling short of an American Top 40 position and being restricted to a small musical niche with Australians. "Outlaw" followed not long after, with similar responses, as well as their first album, Extra Virgin in 1996. The band also toured with Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison in 1999. Going along with the success of the remixed single, Extra Virgin was re-released with a bonus disc of remixes (by producers including Monkey Mafia, Roni Size, and the famed duo of Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne) in 1997. The band went on tour to promote the album with a seven-piece band, playing three episodes of Top of the Pops ("You're Not Alone" twice in May 1997, "Outlaw" in August), a ten-date UK tour, as well as legs in Germany (alongside Faithless) and the U.S. In the time leading up to the release of the follow-up album, Taylor-Firth had left the group to return to Nightmares on Wax, bringing it down to a duo. Meanwhile, they lost the support of RCA's UK branch, which dropped the band; however, they were then picked up by Madonna's Maverick Records (supposedly, with Madonna's personal approval after she attended one of their concerts in Germany). In 2000, their presciently-named second album Trickle was released. While Trickle still displayed the distinctive Olive sound, the tunes were more dance-oriented. The best known song on this album was a cover of the 10cc song "I'm Not in Love"; it reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and was featured on the soundtrack to The Next Best Thing. Since then, like many trip-hop bands, little has been heard of them. The band has entered an extended hiatus. Kellett is focussing on songwriting for other artists so that he can spend more time with his family. Ruth-Ann joined Enigma as a vocalist, and released her first solo album 'What About Us' on June 4th 2007. It was released exclusively through iTunes. At the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards (May 28, 1998), Kellett and Taylor-Firth received the Best Dance Music award for "You're Not Alone". The song was also covered as a 2002 single by German dance producer ATB. During the American leg of the Trickle promotional tour, the band suggested that 60-70% of their audience demographic at the time was gay. This was recognized to the extent that the final show of the tour was played at the San Francisco Pride festival. Today, Olive is generally placed alongside mid-1990s trip hop/electronica artists such as Moloko, Beth Orton, and the Sneaker Pimps.

MORE ARTIST INFO

The epitomy of the quieter, coffee-table side of singer/songwriter electronica and trip-hop, Olive was formed by producers Tim Kellett and Robin Taylor-Firth (former members of, respectively, Simply Red and Nightmares on Wax) with vocalist Ruth-Ann Boyle. Kellett connected with Boyle while playing keyboards for a live incarnation of the Durutti Column (he manipulated her tape-looped vocals while on stage), and asked her to join him in a new recording project. With Kellett writing lyrics and the addition of Taylor-Firth, the trio recorded three songs and found plenty of labels ready to bid for their services. RCA Records won out and released "You're Not Alone" in 1995. Though it took almost a year to catch on with British audiences, the single eventually hit number one and sold half a million copies. America proved passingly fond of the track as well, making a home near the Top 40 for it. Their second album Trickle arrived in 2000 on Maverick Records. © John Bush, All Music Guide

Heights Of Abraham

Heights Of Abraham - Electric Hush - 1995 - Pork Recordings

Pork recordings produced some amazing downtempo electronica albums. Electric Hush is a good one, although it doesn't have the same impact as their brilliant "Humidity" album. But then albums as good and original as "Humidity" are a rare commodity, and HOA would have found it hard to better that particular album. Nevertheless, "Electric Hush" shouldn't be missed by any lover of quality modern chill-out electronica. Check out their classic downtempo "Humidity" album @ HOA/HUMIDITY
It is worth listening to another Pork release, "East Coast Chip Shop" by Moss, and "Seven Up" by Baby Mammoth. There is info on a great compilation album by Pork recordings @ VA - PORK 100

TRACKS

1.The Cleric
2.Boogie Heights
3.High Times
4.Dolphins
5.What's The Number
6.Olive Branching
7.EVA
8.700 Channels
9.Sunyatta
10.Make Love

Composers - Fred Neil (tracks: 4) , Harries (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10) , Lister (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10) , Cobby (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 10)
Producer, Mixed By - Heights Of Abraham

BIO

The Heights of Abraham is an electronica collaboration based in Sheffield and Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire in North-East England. Formed in the mid 1990s by Steve Cobby, Sim Lister and Jake Harries, they play electronica, ambient techno, and chill out. Formed in 1992 their debut releases (Tides EP and Humidity LP) came in 1992 on the ambient-downtempo label Pork Recordings (also based in Hull). With David McSherry; who forms Fila Brazilia with Cobby; Cobby and Lister created their own music label, Twentythree Records.

Ingrid Schroeder

Ingrid Schroeder - Bee Charmer - 1996 - Warner Music UK Ltd

In the late 90s, Ingrid cut this excellent chill-out drum and bass influenced ambient album, with .its attendant 12" singles of material. If you like Zero 7, Portishead, or Morcheeba, you just might like this album. Ingrid Schroeder was a well regarded American session singer resident in England since the early 80s when she was one of the female vocal group annexed to the Fun Boy 3. She also recorded sessions with the Dream Academy before she put out this album. She also had links with Ravishing Beauties, and Virginia Astley via the Silent Poets, who released the brilliant "For Nothing" album in Japan. Goldie has produced some of her songs, & ‘Paint you Blue’ and ‘Thing in the Middle’ were produced by Muggs (Soul Assassins/ Cypress Hill). It is extremely difficult to find any detailed information on this great vocalists recordings. She seems a bit of an enigma! Please post any info you may have to A.O.O.F.C.

TRACKS

1 Bee Charmer (4:39)
2 Unforgiven (4:57)
3 Not a Day Goes By (4:30)
4 Paint You Blue (3:39)
5 Presence (4:03)
6 Average Bear (4:00)
7 Waterbaby (5:56)
8 Thing in the Middle (4:00)
9 Move into the Light (6:04)
10 Time Passes (6:25)

9 Lazy 9

9 Lazy 9 - Electric Lazyland - 1996 - Ninja Tune USA

A very enjoyable, and better than average album of this genre. Electronic hip-hop with a touch of smooth jazz. Reissue of the 1994 record. "Electric Lazyland is without a doubt one of the best down-tempo records to ever emerge on Ninja, or on any label for that matter. Even if you're not a hip-hop fan, there are enough different musical elements here to keep you interested. Check out their albums, " Paradise Blown ," and " Sweet Jones. "

TRACKS

1 Life Goes On & On
2 Electric Lazyland
3 Skarakesh
4 B Hip & Shop
5 NO.2
6 Monk's Dream
7 Train
8 Very Gently
9 Swingpool
10 Checkin' On You
11 Special 8
12 NO.9
13 What's New
14 High Fashion
15 Meet The Voda
16 Roughport Invention
17 Golden Oldie

All tracks written, arranged and produced by Braddell & Fraser, except Track 8, written, arranged and produced by Braddell, and Track 6, written by Thelonius Monk, and arranged and produced by Braddell & Fraser

9 Lazy 9 includes: James Bradell.

Additional personnel: Julie Barton (vocals); Giuliana Pella (piano).

Recording information: Studio Joy 9, Rome, Italy.


BIO (Wikipedia)


9 Lazy 9 is an acid jazz/downtempo group on the Ninja Tune label. Operating out of Italy in 1992, they soon gained respect for their first album Paradise Blown. Their sound, distinctively more sun than North Sea, is a smoky Mediterranean mix of vines and good times. Keir Fraserello and James Bradell (also of Funki Porcini and performing here under the guise of Giacomo Braddellini) had been making music for many years in different guises before combining forces in Rome in the early nineties. They have been working with some of Italy's finest musicians on their latest album, Sweet Jones, recorded in the Umbrian Hills near Orvieto. Gianluca Petrella plays trombone, Mishael Levron guitar; Manù Bandettini plays flute with Adriano Tirelli on bassoon.

Flanger

Flanger - Templates - 1999 - Ntone

Call it neo-jazz music. Call it avant garde futuristic jazz. It doesn't matter. Don't let any of these somewhat pretentious descriptions deter you from listening to this enjoyable, experimental music. It may be abstract, but it's very listenable, never gets boring, and is full of surprises. A well produced, and unusual album

TRACKS

1.Music To Begin With (9:05)
2.Options In The Fire (3:28)
3.Endless Summer (5:13)
4.Short Note With A Few (6:28)
5.Studio Tan (6:08)
6.Full On Scientist (6:00)
7.Lata (5:48)
8.Quicksilver Loom (8:19)

CREDITS

Atom Heart (Guitar),
Atom Heart (Keyboards),
Atom Heart (Sampling),
Atom Heart (Vibraphone),
Atom Heart (Fender Rhodes),
Flanger (Arranger),
Flanger (Main Performer),
Burnt Friedman (Percussion),
Burnt Friedman (Drums),
Burnt Friedman (Sampling)
Arranged By - Flanger

Special Thanks to John Pain, David Franzke and Marcus Schmickler.

REVIEWS

Flanger's Templates collects the two EPs of the same name into one album of avant-garde electronic music that balances techno and jazz elements in a minimalist, experimental approach. Though the ideas are progressive, tracks like "Full on Scientist" and "Studio Tan" are witty, organic workouts that are as friendly as they are challenging. © Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Imagine a straightforward jazz album. Now filter that jazz album through a 65 Mustang's radio system. Now step on the recording--smash it into your shoes. Now play it again. That's Flanger. This ain't acid jazz. This isn't even Sun Ra. This is jazz that is sampled and cut-up to the point where the traditional jazz drum, bass, keys and horns are obscured with feedback and noise--jazz so confused that it actually sounds interesting instead of monotonous and out-of-date (which is what I usually think when I think about jazz). Apparently, Flanger recorded this album on traditional instruments--drums, bass, piano, vibraphone, etc. But then they "edited" it in the studio, and turned those very familiar instruments into something so unusual that you can barely recognize the original sounds. I've never heard anything like Flanger: an album that starts out blue and ends up red, that starts out traditional and ends up more experimental than even the most experimental of performance artists. From the first track, "Music to Begin With" and its list of musical styles that turns into a cacophony of musical blends, to "Short Note with a Few" and its piano interlude that turns into a time-bomb of muted filter effects, to the end, Templates is filled with surprise after surprise. Once you think the album will settle down into a nice, happy but incredibly boring jazz number, it throws your expectations away and you are left wondering what you'll hear next. In a world where even the most abstract and "fucked-up" beat can render our cynical ears dead, that is high praise indeed. © 1998-2006 Michael Heumann & Haunted Ink

BIO

Atom Heart's and Bernd Friedmann's Flanger project is produced by the combination of traditional jazz elements with experimental filtering and editing techniques. For the 1999 album Templates, Flanger used drums, bass, piano, and vibraphone, then put the product through their own editing process with the end product of unrecognizable instruments. The June 1999 release was hosted by the well-respected Ninja Tune Records, home of artists including Kid Koala, DJ Food, and Funki Porcini. Midnight Sound followed in fall 2000. © Diana Potts, All Music Guide

Red Snapper

Red Snapper - Reeled and Skinned [IMPORT] - 1995 - Warp

Reeled And Skinned is a collection of Red Snappers first three singles and EPs. Red Snapper a London freak-beat jazz combo, create enjoyable, and very original mixes of electronica, funk, rhythm & blues, drum'n'bass, hip hop, acid jazz and dub. The list goes on. Maybe a bit avant garde, and sophisticated, but the music is very good , and well worth a listen for it's creativity alone.


TRACKS

1. Snapper
2. One Legged Low Frequency Guy
3. Swank
4. Hot Flush
5. Cortina
6. Hot Flush (Sabres Of Paradise Mix)
7. In Deep
8. Wesley Don't Surf
9. Lobster


CREDITS


Double Bass - Ali Friend
Drums - Richard Thair
Flute, Melodica, Saxophone - Alan Riding
Guitar - David Ayers
Mastered By - John Davis (4)
Mixed By - Dean Thatcher (tracks: 1, 5 & 9)
Producer [Additional Production], Mixed By - Tim Holmes
Producer, Written-By, Mixed By - Red Snapper
Artwork By - Adrian Marler
Artwork By [Design] - Simon Bell


ABOUT RED SNAPPER


Red Snapper is a London combo that draws from Massive Attack and the school of trip-hop. Their music is jazz and funk enhanced by avantgarde disc-jockey tricks, encapsulated into dub-derived ambience and drenched in moody atmospheres reminiscent of Barry Adamson's imaginary noir soundtracks. The core is made of drummer Richard Thair, bassist Ali Friend and guitarist David Ayers, with occasional guests (mostly vocalists). Saxophonist Ollie Moore was the most prominent guest on the early EPs, later collected on Reeled & Skinned (Warp, 1995), and on the debut album, Prince Blimey (Warp, 1996). The album definitely promoted them among the most daring fusionists of their era, incorporating jazz, rhythm and blues, drum'n'bass, hip hop and dub in a complex, arcane and recombinant harmonic structures. Get Some Sleep Tiger, Moonbuggy, The Paranoid, Digging Doctor What What, Gridlock are sophisticated mini-chamber concerts.
The EP Loopascoopa (Warp, 1997) contains remixes.
Down to a trio (Thair, Friend and Ayers), Red Snapper continued their investigation of post-hiphop dance music with the single Bogeyman and the album Making Bones (Warp, 1998). The new direction is both harder (the drum'n'bass eruptions of The Sleepless and Like A Moving Truck) and more atmospheric (the flamenco guitar of 4 Dead Monks, Image Of You and, generally speaking, Byron Wallen's cornet).
Red Snapper sold their stylistic innovations to a broader audience with Our Aim Is To Satisfy (Warp, 2000). The dance tracks (The Rake, The Rough And The Quick, Some Kind Of Kink) are among the most forceful of their career, a veil of psychedelic dub envelops Bussing and Belladonna, and funky rhythms are packaged in baroque formats (Ghost Town, Shellback). Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi www.scaruffi.com/vol6/redsnapp.html
Notable for their pioneering synthesis of acoustic instruments and electronic textures, the British acid jazz trio Red Snapper comprised guitarist David Ayers, double bassist Ali Friend and drummer Richard Thair. Formed in 1993, the group's debut EP The Snapper appeared the following spring; after two more EPs, Swank and Hot Flush, Red Snapper signed to the acclaimed Warp Records label, where their early singles were later compiled as Reeled and Skinned. The full-length Prince Blimey was released in 1996, followed two years later by their American debut Making Bones. After releasing one more LP, Our Aim Is to Satisfy Red Snapper, the trio briefly split during 2002. (Thair formed a new band, Toob, while Friend worked on a soundtrack and Ayers collaborated with Alan McGee and Felix Tod.) The trio returned one year later with a self-titled record for Lo Recordings and an accompanying remix album, Redone.. © Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Critics, bless them, didn't quite know what to make of Red Snapper. Were they jazz? (They kept playing at the legendary London jazz club Ronnie Scott's.) Electronica? Trip-hop? Of course, this very contrariness was the band's great strength, lending their music a fractious, busy quality that set them apart from the vast majority of their peers. The aim was simple enough: to achieve the mesmeric textures of loops and mixes, through a clash of live and electronic instrumentation--the former including such comparative oddities as saxophone, clarinet and double bass. Mostly it worked, and the result was sublime. Prince Blimey was their first album (Reeled And Skinned is a collection of their first three singles and EPs), and the sound is often reminiscent of a late 1960s British gangster flick--an impression reinforced by titles like "3 Strikes And You're Out" and "Thomas The Fib". At other times, it imagines some inspired fusion of King Tubby, Miles Davis and Dick Dale. Indescribable, really. Ultimately, the best tag might be one coined by the band themselves: "Fuck-Off Jazz". Nice. © Andrew McGuire © Amazon.co.uk

Waldeck

Waldeck - Balance Of The Force - 1998 - Spray Records

Brilliant 1999 debut album for Klaus Waldeck, a producer for Vienna's Spray Records, home to work by Kruder & Dorfmeister & Count Basic.

Austria's Klaus Waldeck finds perfect harmony on his debut full-length, BALANCE OF THE FORCE. Along with Joy Malcolm (ex-Incognito) on lead vocals, Waldeck transcends sounds and styles into a rich, deep musical collage. Using the best of techno, house, acid jazz, and cerebral electronica, Waldeck finds himself blazing a trail many will no doubt follow in the months to come. "Defenceless" is a tingly, sultry blend of acidic tones and mystical grooves. Malcolm's vocals add the beautiful imagery the song uses to fully take control of your mind, while the subtle, intricate grooves trip and hop around your subconscious and have you thinking solely of the music. "Children of the Ghetto" is another sultry stinger. It's deep, infectious grooves trigger thoughts and visuals in your mind like no other while the sound textures jump around in the air at every click of the music. "Aquarius" and "Moon", both co-produced by Kruder and Dorfmeister, have a very similar effect. The tingly percussion trips around in your head while the steamy vocals have your ears fixated on the sounds coming out of your stereo. © Alex Steininger Copyright © 1997-2007, In Music We Trust, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Though it comes from a previously unheard producer, Balance of the Force certainly begins on a high note, with the down-tempo soul of "Defenceless." While Waldeck himself takes the keyboards (both electric and standard piano), the deep groove of what sounds like a live drum set frames the yearning vocals of Joy Malcolm. It's that rare thing in electronic circles: the perfect integration of vocal track and production, with both pulling equal weight to set the mood. Amidst a beautiful, effortless transition, Waldeck moves on to "Spy Like an Angel," with male vocalist Brian Amos doing much the same as Malcolm did one track earlier. Either of these voices appears on all but two of the tracks here, the exceptions being the eerie, cinematic instrumentals "Slaapwagen" and "Moon." Fellow downbeat maestros Kruder & Dorfmeister help out on production for the sublime "Aquarius," and except for the slight reliance on a previously trademarked sound, Balance of the Force stands as one of the most quietly beautiful records of vocal trip-hop -- just slightly behind masterpieces like Portishead's Dummy and Massive Attack's Mezzanine. © John Bush, All Music Guide


TRACKS


01. Defenceless - Joy Malcolm, Klaus Waldeck

02. Spy Like An Angel - Klaus Waldeck

03. Children Of The Ghetto - Eddie Amoo, Chris Amoo

04. Slaapwagen - Klaus Waldeck

05. Aquarius - Galt MacDermot, James Rado, Gerome Ragni

06. Northern Lights - Klaus Waldeck

07. Wake Up - Thomas Morris, Klaus Waldeck

08. Superpopstar - Brian Amos, Klaus Waldeck

09. Death Of A Piano Salesman - Klaus Waldeck

10. Moon - Klaus Waldeck

MEMBERS

Klaus Waldeck
Brian Amos
Joy Malcolm

CREDITS

Richard Dorfmeister (Producer), Peter Kruder (Producer), Peter Legat (Guitar), Joy Malcolm (Vocals), Waldeck (Main Performer), Brian Amos (Vocals), Stefan Morth (Flute), Stefan Morth (Producer), Stefan Morth (Drum Arrangements), Uptight (Producer), Klaus Waldeck (Keyboards), Klaus Waldeck (Producer)

Bullitnuts

Bullitnuts - Nut Roast - 1997 - Pork Recordings

Brilliant electronic downtempo album from Pork Recordings.Check out Bullitnuts' outstanding "A Different Ball Game".Try and listen to "Humidity" by Heights of Abraham, and any of Baby Mammoth's recordings.Pork Recordings, a record label based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, north-east England, specialised in electronica, mostly in the downtempo or chill-out styles. Formed in the early 90's by David "Porky" Brennand, its most significant artists include Fila Brazillia, Baby Mammoth, Bullitnuts and most recently Leggo Beast.David "Porky" Brennand also records with Steel Tiger Records.


TRACKS


A Sponge, Two Bricks & A Spring
Savoir Fare
Dark Horse
Between The Eyes
Rockskool
Twice As Much
Lizard Tooth Eye
Hell For Leather - Guitar - Steve Cobby
Tipple Tales

CREDITS

Producer, Arranged By, Written-By - Bullitnuts ( Murray Clarke, Robert Ellerby )

ABOUT THE GROUP
Bullitnuts was an electronic music duo consisting of Robert Ellerby and Murray Clarke which split up in 1999.Murray Clarke started recording as Leggo Beast and Robert Ellerby started Momma Gravy together with Remko Schouten. Bullitnuts recorded 3 albums for Pork Recordings. Aliases: Opik In Groups: Brazil Nuts, Mammoth Nuts

Heights Of Abraham

Heights Of Abraham - Humidity - 1993 - Pork Recordings

Humidity is a classic downbeat album.An outstanding album in it's genre.You will listen to this album time and time again.Very highly recommended by A.O.O.F.C.This type of downbeat electronica needs more media exposure.Also check out Baby Mammoth,Bullitnuts,& Fila Brazillia .
Downtempo production team Heights of Abraham recorded two full-lengths and a few EPs for Pork Records during the early- to mid-'90s trip-hop movement. Being rather typical of the movement, Heights of Abraham lost momentum around the same time the movement began to get overly commercial. Group members Sim Lister (sax/programming), Jake Harries (vocals/lyrics), and Steve Cobby (guitar/programming) spent time with other projects: Lister and Harries were part of Chakk, and Cobby had considerable success as Fila Brazillia. © Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

TRACKS

1.Still Waiting
2.Humidity Rising
3.Sportif
4.In The Cold
5.Sunshine
6.Love Flows Down
7.10:55
8.All The Time In The World
9.Tides

PERSONNEL

Jake Harries, Sim Lister, Steve Cobby

CREDITS

Artwork By - Designers Republic, The
Guitar, Programmed By - Steve Cobby
Producer, Mixed By - Heights of Abraham
Saxophone, Programmed By, Written-By - Sim Lister
Vocals, Written-By - Jake Harries