Name: Andrea Parker Occupation: Sister, doing it for herself.
Doing what, exactly? Building and maintaining a reputation and currently moving swiftly towards the status of ‘esteemed' with a career in leftfield electronica that stretches back a whole decade and a half.
How did she get started? The Kent girl started off as a cellist, and recalls listening to This Mortal Coil and Cowboy Junkies when she was younger. Techno wasn't big in Kent at the time, but journeys to London with her sister exposed Parker to hip hop. and this strange combination of influences informed her idiosyncratic style. in 1993 she founded the electronic trio Inky Blacknuss. a collaboration with producers Alex Knight and Ian Tregoning, and signed to Andrew Weatherall's Sabrettes label. Yet her other team-up of the time would prove even more fruitful in the long term. Rather memorably entitled Two Sandwiches Short of a Lunchbox, this collaboration was with ambient and Ieftfield producer David Morley, who would go on to work with Parker continually throughout her career. What has she done since then? Parker's first solo high was being signed to Mo'Wax in the late 903, a move which would result in the expansion of her sound. The first of her successes under her own name would be the dancefloor electro of ‘Melodious Thunk' in 1996, and later that year the late night balladry of ‘The Rocking Chair', orchestrated by Massive Attack collaborator Will Malone. 1999's Kiss My Arp album was another collaborative piece with Morley, a homage to vintage synthesizers recorded at the producer's studio in the Bavarian countryside. Parker's own label Touchin' Bass was founded in 2002. when she left Mo'Wax, and has thrown up the Miami Bass collaboration with DJ Assault ‘Freaky Bitches'. as well as last year’s Here '3 One / Made Earlier. . . compilation. The latter release, and this show, will provide an entree to a truly eclectic electronic artist. (David Pollock)
I Andrea Parker plays Miso at the Ivy, Glasgow, Sat 12 Jul.
40 THE LIST 3—1 7 Jul 2008
PREVlEW TECHNO
NUMBERS’ 5TH BIRTHDAY
The Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 4 Jul; Club 69, Paisley, Sat 12 Jul.
As they say, there’s strength in numbers. After all, there’s a small army of people involved with genre- straddling Glasgow club promoters Numbers, including Richard Chater, Adam Rogers (DJ Goodhand), Jack Revill (Jackmaster), Calum and Neil Morton and members of Marcia Blaine School for Girls. Since the club started life housed in Ad Lib, progressing to the Brunswick’s Hotel’s basement, the Art School and now the Sub Club, all of the characters above have promoted, DJed, designed and run record labels as part of a loosely defined Numbers collective. ‘Everyone brings something new to the table,’ says Chater, ‘and because we rotate the DJs from night to night, we don’t need to repeat ourselves too many
PREVIEW FUNK/HIP HOP SMOOVE Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 4 Jul.
Smoove is a man in the thrall of the funk. and while he's happy
to pilfer from any genre or decade. it all needs to have that groove. ‘Everylhing is rooted in the funk; soul. even inusic going way. way back.‘ he explains. ‘but I always like a hip hop
beat to it whatever era it's from.‘
Smoove started his career as a breakdancer when he was just 12-years-old. before joining a hip hop crew. 'l was alt-rays more into the music than the rap side of it. I was fascinated by the samples. where they came from and how they were
reshaped into new tracks.‘ Finally getting his hands on a four track and a pair of decks. he moved into production and DJing. Releasing his debut long player, Dead Men's Shirts. on the legendary Acid Jazz label in 2005 he's created a unique funk fuelled sound by blending together a heady mix of hip hop and breakbeat. Tracks like 'Coming Back'. 'l'in a lvlan' and "the Revolution will be Televised' have led to him remixing everyone
from Dynamo Productions and Andy Lewis to Bucky l eo Quintet and The New Master Sounds. ‘lt's really daunting starting a remix, but once you get a beat together it all falls into
place. But you can spend literally months fiddling about in the studio with just nothing then one day it all just clicks' Launching his own Wack Records in 2006. his distinctive
grasp of retro funk with a modern twist should prove why DJ Food and Eddie Piller are fans. (Henry Northinorel
times. We have a lot of different inputs there, so we play plenty of techno, hip hop, R&B, electro . . .’ He also enthuses about the fact that Numbers’ roster of past guests includes many of the group’s own heroes, including Modeselektor, Autechre, Squarepusher, Ghostface Killa, Feadz and Dopplereffekt. ‘Of course we only see certain fans at certain nights, but a lot of our crowd have been with us since the start and know to expect an eclectic selection. i think crowds in Glasgow are much more open-minded anyway, because they’re used to places like Optimo.’
These parties will see two more special guests added to that esteemed list, with Glasgow’s Rustie (who has recorded for all three Numbers—affiliated labels, Dress 2 Sweat, Stuffrecords and Wireblock) appearing at the Subbie and a top secret biggie at Paisley’s Numbers- influencing 69. We can’t tell you who they are, but we can tell you they’re great. (David Pollock)