na: lo fidelity allstars
Guest bloggers? 17 Dots has hit the big-time, surely. Or we’re lazy. Either way, here’s eMusic UK freelancer Neil Mason on why UK eMusic users should be digging deep into the Skint catalogue.
The sharper blades here will have spotted that Brighton’s Skint Records has popped back up on the eMusic radar. Fatboy Slim’s label? Well yes, but peer into the hidden depths and you’ll be amply rewarded. See, the label was also home to utterly magnificent Lo Fidelity Allstars, whose sophomore UK long-player appears here for the first time.
For those of you in the dark, let us tug your light switch. The Lo-fis do funk 21st century style – a rough and ready tub of heady beats, lusciously dark basslines and squelching keys. Their second effort adds a lightness of touch which makes it jus’ perfect for steamy summer days. Word is, head honcho The Albino Priest is holed up in NYC these days where a third album is nearing completion. Over-excited to be honest.
Trying to pick just one track that’ll have you reaching for the download manager is tricky, but “Sleeping Faster”, which locks itself into a hypnotic seven-minute groove is a corker, not to mention value for money. That said, a gentle rummage will serve up a very tidy mix of “Tied To The Mast” by Northern Ireland’s finest band called Olympic Lifts… decisions, decisions, eh?
I just ripped to iTunes my old CD copy of Don’t Be Afraid of Love, which had been languishing mostly unheard since I bought it. Not sure why I was put off by it at the time, but re-listening now I find it rather enjoyable in a time capsule sort of way — i.e., it very much sounds like a “big beat” record released in 2002 should sound, which makes me nostalgic for a period of time that in so many ways was really dark, dreary, and paranoid.
It’s also possible that the Lo Fidelity All Stars CD was buried & lost under an otherwise amazing crop of releases that year from Broken Social Scene, Out Hud, Liars, Iron & Wine, The Delgados, The Flaming Lips, RJD2, South, The Streets, Sonic Youth, Wilco, The Chemical Brothers… you get the picture. I was listening to so much other stuff, LFAS just didn’t get the play it deserved.
Given how “meh” I thought their first album was, I really, really like Don’t Be Afraid of Love. It’s definitely a product of the Big Beat era, but has more of a “techno mixed with funk” rather than the “techno mixed with rock” feel that alot of other Big Beat acts went with.
i agree, wjpurdy, it’s easy to see how they could’ve got buried. I was lucky enough to be writing for the uk music press around that time, and the quality of the new music seemed to far outstrip the indie “stars” of the time – Travis, Catatonia, Embrace, Feeder, etc. i often wonder who might have made it bigger had the internet been what it is today.
LOL and here I was (a US Customer) downloading the heck outta Lo Fi’s Don’t Be Afraid because of the Primal Scream Comparison (one which I both Agree with and Appreciate). US Readers don’t let this article pass you by Lo Fi were some of the few label members we got with this label deal and they are WELLLLL Worth it.
While I am perfectly familiar (in a guilty pleasure sort of way) with Travis, I have never heard of Catatonia, Embrace, or Feeder. And I consider myself pretty well read, and for that matter well-listened, in most indie-type moozik, whether UK- or US-origined. Just goes to show how difficult it is to stay on top of things, even 6 years later.
fair play to you wj, you’ve not missed much to be blunt, although feeder are probably worth a glance if you’ve a spare moment. poppy, rocky, melody a-go-go. there’s a greatest hits knocking around. catatonia, were fronted by the very welsh cerys matthews, none more indie really. belting voice though, her solo stuff is very nice, and embrace, like a kid gloves oasis, if you get my drift.