Transit Kings

The Transit Kings
The Transit Kings performing at The Fringe Festival in Dublin
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Electronica
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Malicious Damage
Associated acts	The Orb The KLF
Members
Alex Paterson Guy Pratt Dom Beken
Past members
Jimmy Cauty

The Transit Kings are a British electronic music group consisting of Alex Paterson, Guy Pratt and Dom Beken. Jimmy Cauty, co-founder of The Orb with Paterson, was involved in initial recording sessions but does not take part in live sessions. He is currently on "extended leave". The Transit Kings' music is reminiscent of The Orb and The KLF.^{[citation needed]} The band was named Custerd for a brief period.

History

Ambient house pioneers Paterson (The Orb) and Cauty (The Orb, The KLF), joined with Pratt and Bekem in London’s Townhouse Studios in the summer of 2001, to begin work on a new project.^[1] Recording later continued in Cauty's Brighton studio. In 2003, the group released their first single, "Boom Bang Bombay", under the name Custerd.^[2]

On New Year's Day 2004, the Transit Kings appeared live in Tokyo.^[1][3] In 2005, they released the Token EP,^[4] and performed live (without Cauty) at the Big Chill Festival. In 2006 they released a limited edition set of three colored vinyl 7" singles on Malicious Damage featuring the songs "America Is Unavailable" (Red), "Japanese Cars" (Amber), and "Butterflies and Boom" (Green). They released their first album Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God in August 2006. The "sample-tastic" house album featured guest appearances from The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and comedian Simon Day.^[5] The Sun described the album as "quality" and "out of this world" and compared it to a mixture of DJ Shadow and Röyksopp;^[6] however, The Times called it "Orb-lite" and proclaimed it to be "Deep Forest-style sludge".^[7]

Cauty left the band in 2004 to work on other projects; the official website has him listed as on "Co-Pilot (on extended leave): Graybeard". He is, however, listed as a composer on seven of the Transit Kings' debut album's twelve tracks.^[8]

Discography

• "Token" EP (2005, Malicious Damage, Cat: MD602)
• "The Red Single" (2006, Malicious Damage, Limited Edition 7" Vinyl Single)
• "The Amber Single" (2006, Malicious Damage, Limited Edition 7" Vinyl Single)
• "The Green Single" (2006, Malicious Damage, Limited Edition 7" Vinyl Single)
• Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God (2006, Malicious Damage)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Transit Kings' official biography, passim (link)
2. ^ Custerd entry at discogs.com (link)
3. ^ "Metropolis Tokyo :: CLUBS - Freedom Village" (link)
4. ^ Transit Kings entry at discogs.com, passim (link)
5. ^ Gill, Andy (2005-06-17). "Transit Kings - Token (Malicious Damage)". The Independent: p. 18. 
6. ^ "Transit Kings". The Sun: p. 56. 2006-08-18. 
7. ^ Greenwood, Phoebe (2006-08-19). "Transit Kings". The Times: p. 30. 
8. ^ Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God entry at discogs.com (link)

External links

• Record Label Malcious Damage
• Transit Kings discography at Discogs
• Transit Kings discography at MusicBrainz