The whole dance-related scene is so transient and ever-morphing that we have a tendency to forget that there really ARE artists working in and around the perimeters who have gone on to forge ground-breaking back catalogues worth committing, well...if not murder, then at least a spot of aggravated assault for.
We also tend to nod towards either Europe or the US when we think of dance-enhanced innovation, too, but there's been a decent rearguard action spearheaded by the likes of The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Aphex Twin, Basement Jaxx, Goldfrapp and Orbital over the past decade or so: eclectic homegrown artists who have proved beyond reasonable doubt that cutting edge beats, cheeky innovation and sales graphs aren't necessarily the strangest of bedfellows.
Although never quite matching up in the marketplace, another pioneering troupe we tend to gloss over ought to be added to this auspicious list in this writer's opinion: Brighton's LO-FIDELITY ALLSTARS who - in their own irrepressible genre-mashing way - amassed quite a formidable armoury of stunning, dancefloor-busting tunes along the way.
Indeed, 'Warming Up The Brain Farm - The Best Of' provides us with 15 cast-iron reasons why the Lo-Fis posthumous profile deserves to be raised pretty damn smartly. Not strictly a 'dance' outfit in the true sense, they supped from a potent, genre-straddling elixir taking in dub, P-Funk, serrated guitar textures, spiky samples and NYC hip-hop and laced it liberally with manic original vocalist Dave The Wrekked Train's vocal vinegar. And, at its' best (see most of this collection) the results were highly intoxicating.
Yes, bits and pieces here still stir memories. Debut single 'Vision Incision' - with its' wicked, yobby lyrical invective ("I'm the silver surfer, aural Lucifer..lay on the ground and nobody dies"), speaker-stretching Jah Wobble-style basslines and atmosphere galore - remains as other-worldly as ever, as do the fuzzy militancy and 'Planet Rock' sampling of 'Kool Roc Bass' and the evergreen Eastern promise of the inevitable 'Battleflag' with its' wonked-out catchline of "gonna launder my Karma" and impressive expletive count.
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Shamefully, though, this crestfallen hack had forgotten just how marvellous much of the remainder was and remains to this day. The title track kicks us off and its' crazed, spoken-word intro ("I am now surrounded by lypocrites, liars, drunks, clowns, sycophants and the desperate" - quite) and sonic semtex blasts of Chemical Brothers-meet-Bootsy-Collins beats followed by basslines snaking around the ruins still take some beating. The same goes for the downright phonky Harlem-via-Hove invective of 'Kasparov's Revenge' and the irresistible, scratch-fuelled excitement of 'Cattleprod' while the closing 'Northern Stomp' is possibly the best of all with its' enormous, glam-my grooves and unexpected Northern soul breakdowns. Besides, any tune that dares to namecheck 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' and 'The Clash's 'City Of The Dead' under one roof is more than alright by me.
The Lo-Fidelity Allstars, then, were quite probably ahead of their time, but this timely and explosive collection reminds us that Brighton's finest groovemeisters had both the tunes AND the fierce intelligence the title 'Warming Up The Brain Farm' suggests. It remains a winning combination.
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