A.R. Kane

A.R. Kane

A.R. Kane perform in France, 1987. Rudy Tambala (left) and Alex Ayuli.
Background information
Origin East London, England
Genres Dream pop, experimental rock, alternative dance
Years active 1986–1994
Labels Rough Trade, 4AD, One Little Indian, Luaka Bop/Sire
Associated acts MARRS, Sufi, MusicOne, Alex!
Website http://arkane.co.uk
Past members Alex Ayuli
Rudy Tambala

A.R. Kane (sometimes AR Kane or A.R.Kane) were a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. In the late 1980s, they pioneered an amorphous style that would become known as dream pop.[1][2] Despite scoring a surprise worldwide dance hit with 1987's "Pump Up the Volume" as part of the one-off collaborative project MARRS, the group achieved fairly limited commercial success, though they have been characterized by critics as among the most innovative groups of their era.[3][4][5]

History

Ayuli is of Nigerian descent, while Tambala was born to a Malawian father and English mother. The two first met as school children in an East London primary school. Both were involved in formative and culturally diverse music communities as adolescents.[6] In 1983, Ayuli became an advertising copywriter, one of few black creatives working in the London ad business. The roots of A.R. Kane lay in a joke: at a party in 1986, Tambala was asked how he and Ayuli knew each other; he lied that the two played together in a band, going on to describe their sound as "a bit Velvet Underground, a bit Cocteau Twins, a bit Miles Davis, a bit Joni Mitchell." A week later, the two were contacted to record a demo on the strength of Tambala's fabrication.[7]

Recordings

In 1986, A.R. Kane released their debut single "When You're Sad" on One Little Indian. This was followed in 1987 by the group's signing to 4AD, a one-off collaboration with Colourbox as MARRS on the surprise worldwide hit dance single "Pump Up the Volume," and the release of the duo's Lollita EP, produced by Robin Guthrie of 4AD labelmates Cocteau Twins.[8] Both releases were met with rave reviews.[9] The next year saw the group release a string of EPs and a debut album, 69 (on Rough Trade), which saw them drawing on dub, guitar feedback, free jazz and studio experimentation.[10] These releases were met with critical acclaim from the British music press, and 69 topped the independent charts in 1988.[11]

A.R Kane's next release was 1989's Love-Sick EP, followed later that year by their second studio album, "i", in which they engaged more overtly with pop, dance and electronic styles. The duo, dismissive of the wildly disparate attempts by journalists to categorize their music, eventually began referring to their sound as "dreampop"; the term was widely adopted by music critics thereafter.[12] Like its predecessor, "i" was released to moderate sales figures.[13] Also in 1989, Rough Trade released the Pop EP. In the early 1990s, the band went on hiatus. During this time, Ayuli and Tambala founded the label H.ark and released EPs by acts such as Papa Sprain and Butterfly Child.[14]

Rough Trade went bankrupt in 1991. In 1992, David Byrne's record label, Luaka Bop, released a 15-song US retrospective of the band's work, titled Americana. The duo ended their hiatus thereafter to record a follow-up album, New Clear Child (1994), and then dissolved following its release. A.R. Kane's first two albums were reissued in the US by One Little Indian in 2004, and New Clear Child was reissued by 3rd Stone in 2000. Complete Singles Collection, a compilation of the group's EPs and singles, was released in 2012.

Post-breakup

Since the dissolution of A.R. Kane, Tambala has made ambient- and dub-based music with his sister Maggie under the alias Sufi[15] and released the 1995 album Life's Rising on Caroline Records. Tambala serves as head of new media for Ministry of Sound, and previously worked for Virgin Digital in non-musical roles. He currently records as MusicOne.[16] Ayuli was known to be a museum curator in the US. He put out releases under the name Alex!.[17] In 2006, Ayuli contributed vocals to two tracks ("Soulsong" and "Passage") on the album Primario by the Static Discos artist Fax, and also appeared on Fax's album Zig Zag.[18] Ayuli appeared in Beautiful Noise, a documentary on the shoegazing music scene of the 1990s[19]

In 2015, it was announced by Tambala that a quasi-reformation of A.R. Kane, bringing together new and old collaborators, would be taking place that year under the name #A.R.Kane and without the involvement of Ayuli.[20]

Critical acclaim and influence

Critic Jason Ankeny described A.R. Kane as "arguably the most criminally under-recognized band of their era" and an important progenitor of such musical developments as shoegaze, trip hop, acid house and post-rock.[21] The Guardian has called their work "some of the 80s' most extraordinary music" and noted their influence on subsequent artists such as My Bloody Valentine.[22] Critic Simon Reynolds tentatively referred to A.R. Kane as "the great lost group of the 80s," while pointing out that the group in fact enjoyed fervent support in certain circles of the press and surrounding music scenes during the period.[23] Pitchfork wrote that, "embracing dub, soul and paisley pop, A.R. Kane pushed boundaries most of their contemporaries completely ignored."[24] They have been recognized for breaking stereotypes about the styles accessible to black musicians at a time when most popular black artists were relegated to soul, reggae and hip hop.[25][26] Bands such as Seefeel, Slowdive, Long Fin Killie, Dubstar, the Veldt and Apollo Heights have cited A.R. Kane as an influence.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Compilation albums

References

  1. ↑ The Guardian
  2. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane Interview
  3. ↑ A.R. Kane biography at Allmusic.com
  4. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane Interview
  5. ↑ The Guardian
  6. ↑ The Quietus - A.R. Kane Interview
  7. ↑ The Guardian - A.R. Kane: how to invent shoe gaze without really trying
  8. ↑ 4AD - A.R. Kane
  9. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane Interview
  10. ↑ The Guardian
  11. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane Interview
  12. ↑ 4AD: "The studio-based outfit comprised East London duo Alex Ayuli and Rudi Tambala, who described their music as "dreampop"." A.R. Kane short info
  13. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane booklet
  14. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane booklet
  15. ↑ Sufi's profile on MySpace
  16. ↑ MusicOne profile on MySpace
  17. ↑ Alex! profile on MySpace
  18. ↑ "The Fax Returns!" at Static Discos website. 26 March 2009.
  19. ↑ Beautiful Noise entry on imdb.com
  20. ↑ Fact - Cult dream-pop act A.R. Kane announce first show in 20 years
  21. ↑ A.R. Kane biography at Allmusic.com
  22. ↑ The Guardian
  23. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane Interview
  24. ↑ Pitchfork - A.R Kane: 69 and "i"
  25. ↑ Simon Reynolds - A.R. Kane Interview
  26. ↑ The Guardian - A.R. Kane: how to invent shoe gaze without really trying

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.