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No other electronic dance act made so many recordings in such a wide range of styles (and with such impressive results) as the duo of Mark
Pritchard and Tom Middleton. After coming together in 1991, the pair began recording music whose range spanned all of electronic dance music,
though many were recorded under aliases -- Reload, Link & E621, Jedi Knights, Secret Ingredients, The Chameleon & Global Communication.
Their 1994 LP 76:14, recorded as Global Communication, was a notable high point of the early-'90s ambient house movement.
The partnership began in 1991, when Pritchard and Mi ...read more
No other electronic dance act made so many recordings in such a wide range of styles (and with such impressive results) as the duo of Mark
Pritchard and Tom Middleton. After coming together in 1991, the pair began recording music whose range spanned all of electronic dance music,
though many were recorded under aliases -- Reload, Link & E621, Jedi Knights, Secret Ingredients, The Chameleon & Global Communication.
Their 1994 LP 76:14, recorded as Global Communication, was a notable high point of the early-'90s ambient house movement.
The partnership began in 1991, when Pritchard and Middleton formed Evolution Records (named after a Carl Craig track) to release their own
dancefloor-oriented house and techno. (Middleton had previously recorded with Aphex Twin as Schizophrenia, their one track together, "Entrance
to Exit" appearing on the seminal Analogue Bubblebath EP, while Pritchard had been half of the duo Shaft, responsible for the British Top Ten rave
hit "Roobarb & Custard"). The first three releases on Evolution were EPs recorded as Reload (Pritchard) and Reload & E621 (Pritchard &
Middleton) in 1992-1993. The records were excellent Detroit-inspired tracks, brooding and eerie but nonetheless highly danceable. Reload came
to prominence with the 1994 full-length A Collection of Short Stories. Global Communication, which matched the unsettling ambience of Reload
but with a focus on warmer rhythms, debuted with The Keongaku EP. Though Global Communication's full-length debut, Pentamerous
Metamorphosis, followed soon after, it wasn't quite a proper album per se; it was in fact an extended remix, or "Re-Translation" of
Chapterhouse's "Blood Music" LP.
With the ambient house boom in full force by 1994, Pritchard and Middleton's downtempo project came into full focus. They signed to Dedicated
and released 76:14 in 1994. The album made many critics' best-of lists that year. In 1995 Global Communication released Remotion, an album of
remixes, including material from the out of print Pentamerous Metamorphosis LP along with reworkings of material by Jon Anderson, Nav Katze,
and Warp 69.
Pritchard and Middleton added another side project to their resumé in late 1994 when Jedi Knights released the debut single for nu-school electro
label Clear Records, sparking an electro revival in England, and anticipating later Clear moonlightings by µ-Ziq (as Tusken Raiders), Matt Herbert
(as Doctor Rockit), and Autechre (as Gescom). Their only LP as Jedi Knights, New School Science appeared in 1996. Jedi Knights also appeared
on the 1995 label retrospective The Theory of Evolution along with their other Evolution projects such as Reload, Reload & E621, Link, and Link &
E621, Mystic Institute, and The Rebus Project.
The duo debuted yet another project in early 1996, The Chameleon, which had first appeared in 1994 remixing Link's "Amazon Amenity." As
jungle began to grow in popularity during 1995-1996, LTJ Bukem signed The Chameleon to his Good Looking stable for the single "Links."
'96-'97 saw the release of two new Global Communication singles ("The Way/The Deep," and "The Groove") signaling a new direction toward the
lush sounds of dancefloor-friendly deep house and funk. With the release of "the Groove" Pritchard and Middleton parted ways to focus on solo
careers:
Pritchard, who also had recorded as NY Connection(House) and as one half of the various duos of Pulusha (Ambient - w/Kirsty Hawkshaw),
Mystic Institute (Techno - w/Paul Kent), The 28 East Boyz(House - w/ Kevin Hann), Series 7(Techno - with Stephen Horne), and Chaos & Julia
Set(Drum-n-Bass - w/Dom Fripp), continued with Vertigo(Drum-n-Bass - w/Danny Breaks), Use of Weapons(Drum-n Bass - w/Dave Brinkworth)
Harmonic 33(Sci-fi-Soundtrack/ Instrumental Hip-Hop/ Library Music - also w/ Brinkworth), Roberto Edwardo Turner(Instrumental Hip-Hop),
Troubleman(Dub-Step, House, Bossa), and Harmonic 313 (Detroit-style Instrumental Hip hop) as well as work as a DJ and as producer on albums
by Beans, Steve Spacek, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Danny Breaks and multiple remix projects.
Middleton, who also had recorded as The Rebus Project(IDM?), Schizophrenia(Techno), and with Fogcity(Techno - with Matthew Herbert and Mark
Darby) became a globe-trotting DJ with regular BBC Radio appearances and a slew of Mix CDs (A Jedi's Night Out, Mixmag's Weekend Warm Ups
1 & 2, Sound of the Cosmos, The Trips 1 & 2, Renaissance 3D) and continued producing and remixing as The Mod Wheel (House) Cosmos (House)
and Amba (Ambient). He has most recently released an EP (Excursions 1) and an LP(Lifetracks), eponymously.
Global Communication has a slew of remixes, on top of their full-album remix of Chapterhouse, that are not to be missed! Some are on their
Remotion Album, two are bonus tracks on the 2xCD re-release of 76:14, a few you have to dig a little deeper, but it's well worth it!
http://www.myspace.com/officialglobalcommunication « hide |
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