London Elektricity
London Elektricity |
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London Elektricity is a musical collective and (subsequently) band. They are best-known as a forerunning live drum and bass act, although they also incorporate large elements of jazz, funk, soul, and breakbeat.
History
The first incarnation of London Elektricity was the duo Tony Colman and Chris Goss. Colman and Goss are also founders of the Hospital Records record label, to which London Elektricity are currently signed.
In 1999 they released their debut album Pull the Plug on Hospital Records. Although session musicians contributed a wide range of live instruments (double bass, electric guitar, brass section, flute, strings), and jazz singer Liane Carroll provided vocals on two tracks, the LP was essentially a studio work, under the control of producer/DJ duo Colman and Goss.
In 2002 Chris Goss departed to concentrate on managing Hospital Records, leaving it a solo project of Tony Colman. The second album Billion Dollar Gravy was released in 2003. During the making of the album, the session musicians began to coalesce into a band, and Colman decided to take the band live. The line-up included Colman, Andy Waterworth, Landslide, MC Wrec, the Jungle Drummer, Liane Carroll and Robert Owens, amongst others [1]. In 2004 they released a live DVD entitled London Elektricity: Live Gravy.
2005 saw the release of their third album Power Ballads using the same line-up as the live band. London Elektricity announced at Pressure (the University of Warwick's drum and bass event) on 2 December 2005 that they had no plans to play live in future. They were joined on stage for the announcement by former member Chris Goss. As of 2006[update] Tony Colman now DJs drum and bass solo under the name of London Elektricity. Liane Carroll was awarded Best of Jazz Award at the BBC Jazz Awards 2005 and is now pursuing a successful solo jazz singing career. The band's new mixer as of 2007 is Ben Nguyen [citation needed].
Tony presents the Hospital Records Podcast produced by Matt Riley at Hospital HQ. It generally features many releases from Hospital Records, and a wide spectrum of drum and bass from around the globe. The podcast recently won 'Best Podcast' at the BT Digital Music Awards, and has over 30,000 downloads a show. The podcast regularly involves special guests who are signed to Hospital records such as Logistics.
In 2007, London Elektricity won the BBC 1Xtra Xtra Bass award for best live act despite not having played live with the band for 2 years.
London Elektricity's Fourth Album, Syncopated City was released September 2008. The month before this marked his Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. London Elektricity is one of several Hospital artists writing a new album for release in 2010.
Influences
According to his myspace page, Tony Colman's influences include a large array of musicians, such as Talking Heads, Fela Kuti, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Led Zeppelin, and others. Jazz, Soul, Latin, Dub, Rock, and even Punk[2] are obvious in many of London Elektricity's songs, such as "Rewind", "Attack Ships on Fire", "South Eastern Dream", "Do You Believe" (and its Dub version, "Dub You Believe"), "Main Ingredient", "Remember the Future", "Round the Corner", and "Song in the Key of Knife" (featuring an Acoustic bass line).
Discography
Studio albums
- 1999 - Pull the Plug
- 2002 - The Waiting Room
- 2003 - Billion Dollar Gravy
- 2005 - Power Ballads
- 2006 - Medical History
- 2008 - Syncopated City
- 2011 - As-of-yet untitled album
Live albums
- 2004 - Live Gravy
- 2006 - Live at the Scala
Singles
DVD
- 2004 - Live Gravy
- 2006 - Live at the Scala
Other Genres
On albums such as Medical History and compilations such as Out Patients, London Elektricity has been known to experiment with other genres, including Acid jazz and Breakbeat, on songs such as "Incurable", "Round the Corner (Acid Jazz Version)", "Theme from the Land Sanction", and "The Land that Time Forgot".
Other projects
London Elektricity has created several side projects, usually released on Hospital Records and occasionally on other labels, the most notable two being acid jazz group Izit and House music group Future Homosapiens. Both Colman and Goss are also part of the Peter Nice Trio and Dwarf Electro [3] .