King Cobb Steelie Biography
by Lisa Schwartzman
An anti-commercialism, community-minded collective of musicians, King Cobb Steelie play alternative rock that is a jumble of sampling, scratching, world music instruments and studio sorcery, showing a flair for seamless ecclecticism. Far from being a band that grafts diverse influences onto a Western rock sound, these musicians compose organic, holistic pieces that also create spaces for rich improvistional digressions during live shows. Their first CD, S/T (1993, Raw Energy Records/ A&M), which includes some scratching and samples, introduced KCS as a punk band with knee-deep grooves- a kind of superfreak Fugazi. KCS's next effort was Project Twinkle (1994, Lunamoth), a spacier, bassier dub-jazz groove shower that demonstrated a Bill Laswell musical influence on the band (Laswell also produced the CD). This work has an emphasis on instrumental/ electronic sounds over vocals and jangly guitars. Exploring more electronic sounds than ever, KCS experimented with beats on Junior Relaxor (1997, EMI Canada). Martina Topley-Bird (Tricky's singing partner) - influenced vocals and Trip-Hop stylings indicated yet another stage of evolution for the band, recapturing the edge of their live performances but keeping a low-key groove. King Cobb Steelie, with their expert use of Dub, Trip-Hop, Punk, Rock and Funk, are one of the few groups who can meld and interplay such influences with simple grace. Mayday followed in early 2001.
Tracklist
| 1 | Bundt | 0:05 | |
| 2 | Jackasshole | 4:38 | |
| 3 | Duotang | 3:12 | |
| 4 | Dangerous Dangling Arm | 0:45 | |
| 5 | Talking G.I. Joe With Lifelike Beard And Hair And Kung-Fu Grip | 5:25 | |
| 6 | Time = Money. Money = Pizza. Therefore, Time = Pizza. | 1:37 | |
| 7 | Luckily, I Keep My Feathers Numbered For Just Such An Emergency | 4:28 | |
| 8 | Juggernaut | 3:54 | |
| 9 | Shucked | 1:09 | |
| 10 | The Big Small Syndrome | 5:22 | |
| 11 | Tomato/Tomahto | 3:04 | |
| 12 | Bar Mitzvah In Ann Arbour | 4:46 | |
| 13 | Extra Mild | 0:48 | |
| 14 | One's A Heifer | 3:11 | |
| 15 | Deadly Lampshade | 4:28 | |
| 16 | Kühe Mit Fangzähnen | 4:48 |
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