Lo Fidelity Allstars
Encyclopedia
The Lo Fidelity Allstars are a British
electronica
group
who have recorded
since the late 1990s.
, before relocating first to London
where they came to the attention of major record label
s. After signing to Skint Records
the band relocated to Brighton
on the south coast, where that label is based. Subsequent to parting company with Skint, the band liquidated their Brighton studio complex 'The Brainfarm', and the personnel are now based variously in Brighton
, The Midlands
and New York
.
Their earlier work is noted for genre-crossing stylings, distorted, morose, and at times alien lyrics, distinctive funk bass
lines, and extensive use of lo-fi recording practices (although it would be a stretch to call the style of the music as a whole "lo-fi", in the more traditional sense). This work is best exemplified by their 1998 debut album
How to Operate with a Blown Mind
on Skint Records
. At this time, the Lo Fidelity Allstars were credited by pseudonym
s rather than their actual names. After its release, the band's lead vocalist David Randall (credited as The Wrekked Train) left, shortly followed by the keyboard player "Sheriff" John Stone. For their second studio album, Don't Be Afraid of Love
, the members of the band discarded their pseudonyms in favor of using their real names.
Before the split, they found time to record a mix album On the Floor at the Boutique (a follow-up to Fatboy Slim
's mix album of the same name) containing an eclectic selection of tracks, including two short tracks recorded by the original line-up especially for the mix: "You're Never Alone With A Clone," and "Bootsy Call". Another track, "Many Tentacles Pimping on the Keys," was also included which was released previously as "Disco Machine Gun Part 2" on the "Disco Machine Gun" EP
released in September 1997.
The 2002 album Don't Be Afraid of Love included a number of guest vocalists, including funk
legend Bootsy Collins
.
2007 saw the release on Skint Records of the double
CD
Warming Up the Brain Farm: The Best of, a compilation
featuring tracks from the first two albums along with rare and unreleased tracks.
The group's third studio album Northern Stomp was released on July 27, 2009, on Corsair Records, preceded by the single "Smash & Grab World" which was released worldwide in April, and was the band's first new material for four years.
Northern Stomp was widely well received, with DJ Magazine giving 4 stars saying "This is a fully-blown band album dripping with (northern) soul. The Lo-Fis are back and they deserve adoration all over again" and the world's best selling music monthly Q
, calling it "a dance-tinged hybrid that becomes more fascinating with each listen".
The second single taken from the album was "Your Midnight" which featured remix
es from Phil Ward's alter ego Lord Warddd, and label mate IDC
, and was released on 31 August 2009.
's Mary Anne Hobbs
show. In the gap between work on the second and third albums, the Lo Fidelity Allstars took on another set of pseudonyms to perform live as the group 'Technically Men'. A ten track album of the same name received a limited release.
In 2008, Ward launched a solo project as Lord Ward, releasing the singles "Brooklyn Blister" and "Rich Boys In Strip Clubs" on Corsair Records. In 2009 he added some extra 'd's to become Lord Warddd, and released several remixes for artists including Matt and Kim
, Cubic Zirconia
, and Hollywood Undead
. He continues to play DJ
sets around the world under both the Lo-Fidelity Allstars and Lord Warddd banners.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
who have recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
since the late 1990s.
Career
Their members originate from various cities in Northern England where they were formed in LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, before relocating first to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where they came to the attention of major record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s. After signing to Skint Records
Skint Records
Skint Records is a Brighton based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery...
the band relocated to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
on the south coast, where that label is based. Subsequent to parting company with Skint, the band liquidated their Brighton studio complex 'The Brainfarm', and the personnel are now based variously in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, The Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Their earlier work is noted for genre-crossing stylings, distorted, morose, and at times alien lyrics, distinctive funk bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
lines, and extensive use of lo-fi recording practices (although it would be a stretch to call the style of the music as a whole "lo-fi", in the more traditional sense). This work is best exemplified by their 1998 debut album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
How to Operate with a Blown Mind
How to Operate with a Blown Mind
How to Operate with a Blown Mind is the 1998 debut album from London big beat group Lo Fidelity Allstars.- Track listing :#"Warming Up the Brain Farm" – 2:55#"Kool Roc Bass" – 7:40#"Kasparov's Revenge" – 6:00#"Blisters on My Brain" – 6:46...
on Skint Records
Skint Records
Skint Records is a Brighton based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery...
. At this time, the Lo Fidelity Allstars were credited by pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s rather than their actual names. After its release, the band's lead vocalist David Randall (credited as The Wrekked Train) left, shortly followed by the keyboard player "Sheriff" John Stone. For their second studio album, Don't Be Afraid of Love
Don't Be Afraid of Love
Don't Be Afraid of Love is a 2002 album by Lo Fidelity Allstars. In contrast to the group's debut, How To Operate With A Blown Mind, Don't Be Afraid of Love is more centered on catchy vocal melodies and radio-friendly song structure, though the style of music is still heavily steeped in strong...
, the members of the band discarded their pseudonyms in favor of using their real names.
Before the split, they found time to record a mix album On the Floor at the Boutique (a follow-up to Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook better known by his former stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, electronic dance music musician, and record producer. He is a pioneer of the big beat genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...
's mix album of the same name) containing an eclectic selection of tracks, including two short tracks recorded by the original line-up especially for the mix: "You're Never Alone With A Clone," and "Bootsy Call". Another track, "Many Tentacles Pimping on the Keys," was also included which was released previously as "Disco Machine Gun Part 2" on the "Disco Machine Gun" EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
released in September 1997.
The 2002 album Don't Be Afraid of Love included a number of guest vocalists, including funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
legend Bootsy Collins
Bootsy Collins
William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American funk bassist, singer, and songwriter.Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s, and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s, Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals established him as one of the leading names in funk...
.
2007 saw the release on Skint Records of the double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
Warming Up the Brain Farm: The Best of, a compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
featuring tracks from the first two albums along with rare and unreleased tracks.
The group's third studio album Northern Stomp was released on July 27, 2009, on Corsair Records, preceded by the single "Smash & Grab World" which was released worldwide in April, and was the band's first new material for four years.
Northern Stomp was widely well received, with DJ Magazine giving 4 stars saying "This is a fully-blown band album dripping with (northern) soul. The Lo-Fis are back and they deserve adoration all over again" and the world's best selling music monthly Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
, calling it "a dance-tinged hybrid that becomes more fascinating with each listen".
The second single taken from the album was "Your Midnight" which featured remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es from Phil Ward's alter ego Lord Warddd, and label mate IDC
IDC (music)
IDC is David McCarthy, a DJ/recording artist from London, UK.In early 2011 DJ Mag stated "IDC is a genius and 2011 will be his year" and iDJ named him "clearly one of electronic music's finest purveyors"....
, and was released on 31 August 2009.
Solo work and individual projects
When Randall and Stone left they briefly set up as a new group called The Big Sleep, and recorded a live mix for BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Mary Anne Hobbs
Mary Anne Hobbs
Mary Anne Hobbs is an English DJ and music journalist from Garstang, Lancashire. She launched a new Primetime show on Xfm on 9 July 2011-Early career:...
show. In the gap between work on the second and third albums, the Lo Fidelity Allstars took on another set of pseudonyms to perform live as the group 'Technically Men'. A ten track album of the same name received a limited release.
In 2008, Ward launched a solo project as Lord Ward, releasing the singles "Brooklyn Blister" and "Rich Boys In Strip Clubs" on Corsair Records. In 2009 he added some extra 'd's to become Lord Warddd, and released several remixes for artists including Matt and Kim
Matt and Kim
Matt & Kim are a dance punk duo residing in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The group was formed in 2005 and is composed of Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino...
, Cubic Zirconia
Cubic zirconia
Cubic zirconia is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide . The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconium silicate...
, and Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead
Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California. They released their debut album, Swan Songs, on September 2, 2008, and their live CD/DVD Desperate Measures, on November 10, 2009. Their second studio album, American Tragedy, was released April 5, 2011...
. He continues to play DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
sets around the world under both the Lo-Fidelity Allstars and Lord Warddd banners.
How to Operate with a Blown Mind
- The Wrekked Train (Dave Randall): vocals
- The Albino Priest (Phil Ward): decks/samples
- A One Man Crowd Called Gentile (Andy Dickinson): bass
- The Slammer (Johnny Machin): drums
- Sheriff John Stone: additional keys
- The Many Tentacles (Martin Whiteman): engineering/keys
- The Disco Bison: "Loves Disco Music"
- Matt Harvey: keyboards
Don't Be Afraid of Love
- Andy Dickinson
- Johnny Machin
- Dale Maloney
- Phil Ward
- Martin Whiteman
- Des Davies
Northern Stomp
- Andy Dickinson
- Johnny Machin
- Dale Maloney
- Phil Ward
- Martin Whiteman
- Del Vegas
Albums
- How to Operate with a Blown MindHow to Operate with a Blown MindHow to Operate with a Blown Mind is the 1998 debut album from London big beat group Lo Fidelity Allstars.- Track listing :#"Warming Up the Brain Farm" – 2:55#"Kool Roc Bass" – 7:40#"Kasparov's Revenge" – 6:00#"Blisters on My Brain" – 6:46...
(1998) #15 UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... - On the Floor at the Boutique (2000)
- Don't Be Afraid of LoveDon't Be Afraid of LoveDon't Be Afraid of Love is a 2002 album by Lo Fidelity Allstars. In contrast to the group's debut, How To Operate With A Blown Mind, Don't Be Afraid of Love is more centered on catchy vocal melodies and radio-friendly song structure, though the style of music is still heavily steeped in strong...
(2002) - Abstract Funk Theory (Lo Fidelity Allstars)|Abstract Funk Theory (2003)
- Warming Up the Brain Farm: The Best of (2007)
- Northern Stomp (2009)
Singles
- "Kool Roc Bass" (1997)
- "Disco Machine Gun" (1997) #50 UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
- "Vision Incision" (1998) #30 UK
- "Battle FlagBattle Flag"Battle Flag" is a song by Pigeonhed from their 1997 album The Full Sentence. It was remixed by Lo Fidelity Allstars featuring Pigeonhed for Pigeonhed’s Flash Bulb Emergency Overflow Cavalcade of Remixes album and later included and released as a single from the Lo Fidelity Allstars album How To...
" featuring PigeonhedPigeonhedPigeonhed was a Seattle-area band that combined elements of funk, soul, trip hop, and lo-fi. The band was a collaboration of Shawn Smith and Steve Fisk that lasted from 1993 to 1997 and produced three albums. Soundgarden's Kim Thayil provided significant instrumental contributions to each album...
(1998) #36 UK, #6 U.S. Modern RockModern Rock TracksAlternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=247989&model.vnuAlbumId=524003 - "Blisters on My Brain" (1998)
- "Lo Fi's in Ibiza" (2001)
- "Sleeping Faster" (2002)
- "Feel What I Feel" (2003)
- "Smash & Grab World" (2009)
- "Your Midnight" (2009)
External links
- Lo Fidelity Allstars at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Corsair-records.com