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Swayzak (UK)
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April 08, 23:30
Propaganda 
This London based deep dub-house duo got their moniker from a bastardization of actor Patrick Swayze's name (another version – in Polish Swayzak means “union”), wanting something memorable but not immediately recognizable. This description also applies to their general approach to music: distinctive and not easily classified. Though James Taylor and David Brown began playing together in 1994, they spent three years studying their instruments and recording techniques in their basement studio. When a friend finally urged them into making their music public, 1997's Bueno EP emerged on their own Swayzak label, which the group also ran on their own. The success and critical acclaim that Bueno and the group's following singles met with were doubly surprising, as Swayzak had very little connection with the London DJ scene. A chance meeting in a London record shop sparked the group's distribution deal with Medicine records for their debut album, 1998's ‘Snowboarding in Argentina’. The full-length collection of the group's clean, atmospheric live electronics also met with acclaim in dance circles, although by this time their creativity and independence was no longer a surprise. Mixer voted ‘Snowboarding in Argentina’ the 1998 Album of the Year, furthering the duo's recognition in the U.S.
Following a collaboration with the Detroit techno artist Theorem, Swayzak released ‘Himawari’ and cashed in on their growing acclaim within the global electronic music scene. It forges elements of deep minimal house, silky smooth tech-house, straight-up techno, and even modern dub. The brave album featured ambitious collaborations with dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah, Opus III vocalist Kirsty Hawkshaw, and vocalist JB Rose. ‘Dirty Dancing’ released in 2002, found the duo adding more elements of pop, and 2004's ‘Loops From the Bergerie’ saw the first vocal features from Swayzak's David Brown.
Formed in the nineties, Swayzak have always made music with their feet in both camps: They're probably the only act to have both released on M_nus (in 2000) and been spun by the Armin Van Bureen set (many a lighter has been held aloft to 'State of Grace'). Swayzak's trick is to always proudly make music two steps out sync with the British mainstream.
Their latest record is 'Some Other Country' (Sept. 2007). Not the easiest act to pin down then, but then genre drift is part of their unique appeal. As David Brown put it to website Club Vibes: “The future of music according to me is taking combinations of techno music and other forms of electronic music and mixing it with more commercial pop music and mixing all styles of music together and not being too particular with the phrase 'techno' which everyone associates with Detroit or Belgium or something - it’s not like that anymore.”
Swayzak bring the same open-minded philosophy to their DJing - theirs is the first RA mix ever to kick off with a theremin. Not as careerist as DJs as many of their contemporaries, Swayzak's approach has always been to bring the unknown gems rather than polished mixing skills to the tables. Like their two official mixes from a couple of years back ('Fabric 11' and 'Groovetechnlogy 1.3'), Swayzak's RA mix is an essential selection of must-own records from the more emotional end of the minimal house spectrum.
More info
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