Coldcut come to Glasgow.
LISTINGS: GLASGOW 78 EDINBURGH 79
Some like it cold
Andrea Baxter talks to Coldcut about what they call their cybernaut music — half man. half machine.
You’ve probably heard the name. You‘ve almost certainly heard some ofthe hits— like. Eric B. and Rakim‘s “Paid in Full‘. Yazz's "l‘he Only Way is Up‘. the Yazz and Coldctit collaboration ‘Doctorin‘ the llouse‘. Lisa Stansfield‘s ‘People Hold On‘ and The Falls "I‘elephone 'l‘liing‘ »— which they‘ve been fully or partially responsible for. But despite being among Britain's top producers, DJs and remixers. not to mention a successful recording outfit in their own right. the duo of Matt Black and Jonathon More who make up Coldcut are sublimely anonymous. It's a safe bet you won‘t ever find their faces beaming out of the front cover of Smash Hits but as Black explains. that‘s exactly how they want it.
‘We keep ourselves in the background on most occasions because we don't really feel there's much benefit in being mobbed in Safeways when we go shopping ~ it's too much grief. ljust want to do my work and get paid. We know a lot of people who become a big star like that. you‘ve sold yourself to the public. everything you do is public property and I don‘t really fancy that. Both Jon and me are quite private people.‘
However. it seems that in one part of the world at least. (‘oldcut are pop stars. 'l‘hey‘yc recently returned from a prestigious tour of .Iapanese clubs exposing the youth ot'loky’o. ()saka. Nagoya and Sapporo to the delights of house. ()ver there Black and More have major cult status dating from the days when they used to export their early records that they pressed themselves. ‘We were just walking up the street one day when this guy ran up. w hipped out a camera and with a big smile shouted “Stop this crazy thing!" at us,”
Both Yazz and Stans‘field. now doing nicely in the disco diva stakes. were first heard as unknown guest singers on (‘oldcut tracks: the former with the token vocal on ‘l)oetorin‘ the House” and the Rochdale nightingale with a few more lyrics on what i-D called ‘the best British house pop record ever'. ‘People Hold ()n‘. Coldcut are not keen. though. to be seen as a (slightly trendier perhaps) Stock. .-\itken and Waterman style team which plucks young hopefuls from the gutter and. Svengali-like. makes them stars. Black emphasises that both singers had been around the business for some time and that they made more of a contribution to the songs than just being wheeled on to lay down the vocal.
‘\Ve were able to giy e them a break because of our know ledge of dance music which at the time was iust starting to cross oy er and become really
big as it‘s done oy er the past three years or so. We
w ere l).liiig and w e had that dance sensibility and we introduced them to that.‘
lilack and \Iore liriye also worked with more established artists. including a collaboration with fire lull. ' l elephonc 'I'hing‘ seemed to fit nicely into the prey ailing indie dance crossover trend. but ( 'oldcut claim that ‘l‘m In Deep on their first album. a house acid techno track with Smith ‘doing his bit‘ oy er the top. was actually one of Ilic llrstttltlic (Itl\\()\Ld‘ICleILI\.iIllCh \yc re probably one of the first to use the now infamous 'l’unky Drummer ‘ simple which adorns everyones records from Soul II Soul to (ieorge Michael. but thouin Black says they 're led tip with that sound now . he has no objection to the remix process of putting it on to as many old soul songs as the charts w ill take.
‘l‘m iust interested in good records although some of them aren‘t that good. It is possible to take not that good a tune and make it fairly good Just by putting sortie dance-beats behind it but it's difficult to make it yery good. there has to be something there in the first place. I think ‘l‘m liree' (by (ilasgow 's 'l he Soup Dragons I worked very well. it had rap and a nice anthemic feel to it. and “l7ools ( iold‘ ('l‘he Stone Roses) w as a really
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