Published
Wed, Apr 14, 2004, 09:15
X-Press 2 have confirmed an Australian tour for the June long weekend. Venue details have not yet been released (watch this space), but the trio will be playing in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland.
True pioneers of UK house, music X-Press 2 are made up of DJ’s Rocky and Diesel alongside Ashley Beedle. X-PRESS 2 first burst onto the international club scene in 1993, although Rocky & Diesel were already well known for their performances at Flying and Full Circle as was Soho record shop Black Market, where Ashley Beedle was manager. Their first release, "Muzik X-Press" was a massive club hit closely followed by the funky "London X-Press" with its cry to "raise your hands!" not forgetting the daft ‘Say What’.
Then along came Talking Heads singer David Bryne and “Lazy”, which featured on the debut album ‘Muzikizum’. Also collaborating on the album was Yello’s front man Dieter Meier. The album, like the trio, aims to put some drama back into house music, threading innovation and originality amongst the rich rhythms, marrying a schizophrenic’s range of moods to one relentlessly funky groove.
Over the past year, X-Press 2 have been playing with six decks using effects-ridden mic performances from Ashley, CD-players and basic samplers that have send crowds at London’s Fabric and Ibiza’s Pacha wild, incorporating deep house beats through hard percussion and dropping in vocal tracks.
"We like a bit of a challenge and it certainly creates something of a potent atmosphere," says Rocky. "It’s like a jam, really, it’s not rehearsed, we’re inspired continually by the shenanigans on the dancefloor. We play two records each and we go round like a tag thing. Whoever’s playing the tune coming out the speakers, the other two can cut in effects, beats, acappellas. It becomes like a wall of sound."
Keep watching this space for the confirmed venues for X-PRESS 2’s tour June long weekend.