- Leftfield
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For other uses, see Leftfield (disambiguation).
Leftfield Origin London, England Genres Progressive house
IDM
Electronic
Dub musicYears active 1990–2002, 2010–present Labels Outer Rhythm / Rhythm King (1990-1992)
Hard Hands / Chrysalis Music (1992-2002)
Columbia/SME RecordsWebsite Official Site Members Neil Barnes/ Paul Daley Leftfield are a British duo of electronica artists and record producers, namely Paul Daley (formerly of The Rivals, A Man Called Adam and the Brand New Heavies) and Neil Barnes, who formed in 1990 in London, England. The name Leftfield was originally used simply by Barnes for its first single with editing/arranging and additional production added by Daley "Not Forgotten", but after this, Daley was involved in remixing "Not Forgotten" and then in the creation of all Leftfield's music. The pair were pioneers in the fields of intelligent dance music and progressive house, being among the first to fuse house music with dub and reggae.[citation needed] They were among the first electronic musicians to incorporate live guest vocalists, along with The Chemical Brothers and Underworld. Ultimately the duo have been influential on the electronic genre as a whole, with The Crystal Method's Scott Kirkland referring to them in 2005 as "the best electronic band, period!"[1]
Contents
Career
Releases
Leftfield is known to the UK audience for their track "Phat Planet", which soundtracked the "Surfers" TV advertisement for Guinness, ranked number one in Channel 4's Top 100 Adverts list in 2000. "Phat Planet" was the track used in the animated television series Beast Machines, the simulation racing games F1 2000 by EA Sports and Racedriver GRID by Codemasters. In addition, their song "Release the Pressure" was used on advertisements for the O2 mobile phone network at its launch, and "A Final Hit" was featured on the Trainspotting soundtrack;[2] the b-side "Afro Ride" was also featured on the soundtracks to both wipE'out" and wipE'out" 2097 although it did not appear on the album of the first game.
They also released a series of singles and two albums before breaking up in 2002 to focus on solo projects.
Leftism
Their first major hit was "Open Up", a collaboration with John Lydon; soon followed by their debut album, Leftism in 1995, blending dub, breakbeat, and techno. It was shortlisted for the 1995 Mercury Music Prize but lost out to Portishead's Dummy.[2] In a 1998 Q magazine poll, readers voted it the eightieth greatest album of all time, while in 2000 Q placed it at number 34 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album was re-released in 2000 with a bonus disc of remixes.
Rhythm and Stealth
Their second and final album, Rhythm and Stealth (1999) maintained a similar style, and featured Roots Manuva, Afrika Bambaataa, and MC Cheshire Cat from Birmingham. The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize in 2000 but lost out to Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast. It reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart.[3] The album featured the song "Phat Planet" which featured on Guinness' 1999 advert, Surfer,[2] and "6/8 War" featured on the Volkswagen Lupo Advert 'Demon Baby'. The track "Double Flash" featured in the PlayStation software game Music 2000.
Live performances
At the debut Leftfield gig, in Amsterdam, the Dutch police were close to arresting the sound-man due to the sound system reaching illegal volumes. At the next concert, in Belgium, thirty people were given refunds after complaining that the sound level was too high, leading to a newspaper headline reading "Leftfield Too Loud". In June 1996, while the group was playing at Brixton Academy, the sound system caused dust and plaster to fall from the roof;[4] subsequently, the group was banned from ever returning to the venue.[4] The ban however was taken by the band as a ban on the sound system and not themselves,[4] which was confirmed when Leftfield played Brixton on 20 May 2000. Apart from this their gig at Ilfracombe Barrolands in 1996 was received with rapturous and stunned guests.
In November and December 2010 Leftfield did a series of dates around the UK and Ireland. Friday 3 December's gig saw more plaster fall from Brixton Academy's ceiling[5]
Reformation
Leftfield headlined Creamfields in Cheshire in August 2010, RockNess in Scotland in June 2010, and played the final set on the main stage at Ireland's three day festival, 'Electric Picnic' in September. Further headline festival shows were to be announced in the coming weeks.[6] However, Leftfield will be represented by Barnes alone with a backing band and singers, as Daley is concentrating on his DJ work, as well as releasing a solo album.[7]
Discography
Albums
Year Album Details Peak Chart Positions Certification UK FR NZ SE CH NO AU NL BE 1992 Backlog - Joint Compilation Album
- - - - - - - - - 1995 Leftism - Studio Album
5 - 32 - - 27 - - - 1999 Rhythm and Stealth - Studio Album
1 40 7 54 36 3 4 38 11 - UK: Platinum[8]
2000 Stealth Remixes - Remix Album
- - - - - - - - - 2005 A Final Hit: Greatest Hits - Greatest Hits
10 - - - - - - - - Singles
- "Not Forgotten" (March 1990)
- "More Than I Know" (February 1991)
- "Release the Pressure" featuring Earl Sixteen (August 1992)
- "Song of Life" (November 1992) — #59 UK
- "Open Up" featuring John Lydon (November 1993) — #13 UK
- "Original" featuring Toni Halliday (March 1995) — #18 UK
- "Afro-Left" featuring Djum Djum (July 1995) — #22 UK
- "Release the Pressure 1996" featuring Earl Sixteen and Cheshire Cat with ad-libs by Papa Dee (January 1996) — #13 UK
- "Afrika Shox" featuring Afrika Bambaataa (September 1999) — #7 UK
- "Dusted" featuring Roots Manuva (November 1999) — #28 UK
- "Swords" featuring Nicole Willis (June 2000)
Soundtracks and compilations
- From the Shallow Grave soundtrack
- "Shallow Grave" (Feat. Christopher Eccleston)
- "Release the Dubs"
- From the Hackers soundtrack:
- "Inspection (Check One)"
- "Open Up" (featuring John Lydon)
- From the wipE'out"
- "Afro Ride" (from the EP Afro-Left)
- From 104.9 (An XFM Compilation)
- "Praise"
- From the Trainspotting soundtrack
- "A Final Hit"
- From the Trainspotting #2 soundtrack
- "A Final Hit" (Full Length Version)
- From the wipE'out" 2097
- "Afro Ride" (from the EP Afro-Left)
- From the Go soundtrack
- "Swords" (featuring Nicole Willis) (Original Version)
- From The Beach soundtrack
- "Snakeblood"
- From the Vanilla Sky soundtrack
- "Afrika Shox"
- From Beast Machines
- "Phat Planet"
- From Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
- "Song of Life" (Fanfare of Life)
References
- ^ MOODSWINGS music
- ^ a b c d Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 562. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
- ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 316. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b c "Leftfield - Rhythm and Stealth review". Gareth Grundy (Select magazine). http://www.leftfield-online.co.uk/reviews/rasselect.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
- ^ "LEFTFIELD - LEFTFIELD TOUR IN MAY: UK dates announced.". music3w.com. 7 April 2000. http://www.music3w.com/mini_item.asp?PageNumber=1&from=archive&ID=1694&artist_ID=300097. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Marszalek, Julian (2010-02-02), Leftfield Reform for Loch Ness, Spinner, http://www.spinner.com/2010/02/02/leftfield-reform-for-loch-ness/
- ^ Paul Daley, leftfieldtour.co.uk, http://www.leftfieldtour.co.uk/?menu=paul, retrieved 2010-07-20
- ^ a b "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 09 September 2011. Note: User needs to enter "Leftfield" in the "Search" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Go" button. Select "More info" next to the relevant entry to see full certification history.
- ^ "Certified Awards Search". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – Norway . Retrieved on 09 September 2011. Note: User needs to enter "Leftfield" in the "Search" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Go" button. Select "More info" next to the relevant entry to see full certification history.
External links
Studio albums Compilation Albums Backlog | A Final Hit - The Greatest HitsSingles Not Forgotten | More Than I Know | Release the Pressure (1992) | Song of Life | Open Up | Original | Afro-Left | Release the Pressure (1996) | Afrika Shox | Dusted | SwordsCollaborating Artists Earl Sixteen | Papa Dee | Djum Djum | Toni Halliday | Danny Red | John Lydon | Lemn Sissay | Roots Manuva | Cheshire Cat | Afrika Bambaataa | Nicole Willis | Rino | Dave Clarke | Nick RapaccioliElectronic music Ambient • Breakbeat • Chiptune • Drum & Bass • Electro • Electronic art music • Electronica • Electronicore • UK Garage • Glitch • Hard Dance • Hardcore • House • Industrial • Synthpop • Techno • Trance • Trip hopOther electronic music genres Categories:- English electronic music groups
- Intelligent dance music musicians
- British techno music groups
- English house music groups
- Ambient music groups
- Musical groups from London
- Electronic music duos
- Musical groups established in 1990
- 1990 establishments in England
- British musical duos
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