O – Labels
Biography
LAYO
AND BUSHWACKA!
Layo & Bushwacka! are one of electronic music’s most esteemed duos. Comprising of Matthew ‘Bushwacka’ B, a
percussionist in the London School Symphony Orchestra who was converted into a
member of the infamous Rat Pack after a warehouse party in
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LAYO
AND BUSHWACKA!
Layo & Bushwacka! are one of electronic music’s most esteemed duos. Comprising of Matthew ‘Bushwacka’ B, a
percussionist in the London School Symphony Orchestra who was converted into a
member of the infamous Rat Pack after a warehouse party in ’88, and Layo
Paskin, a North Londoner immersed in the acid house scene who met Mr C at one
of the legendary Clink Street parties in 1988, before together setting up their
world renowned night club, The End. It
was via their mutual friend Mr C that Layo & Bushwacka! first met, whilst
Matthew was working at his studio, and by the mid 90s the two had started
writing music together. Over a decade
later, the partnership has yielded three artist albums, three mix albums,
internationally renowned club residencies and a superb record label.
By 1999 they’d already composed their debut album, ‘Low Life’, released
on End Recordings, the label spawned by The End. The album announced the arrival of the duo as
a force in electronic music, with a record that brought together electro, house
and breakbeat fused with blues, dub and downtempo, all underpinned and informed
by their collective experience of underground culture. This inclusive and open minded approach to
sound became the blueprint for their future work.
Their sophomore album followed in 2002, this time released on the mighty
XL Recordings. Entitled ‘Night Works’,
the record featured their unforgettable top ten hit ‘Love Story’, and took
their sound onto a bigger and broader canvas, selling 100,000 copies in the
process. The accompanying live show
brought further acclaim with stunning shows from Homelands to Sonar, whilst
their famous DJ sets had now garnered residencies at some of the world’s finest
clubs including Space in Ibiza, Sirena in Brasil and of course The End in
London.
Their End residency, known as All Night Long, became one of the
capital’s most revered nights with Layo & Bushwacka! taking the club
through an edifying tour-de-force of electronic music. The night gave birth to their second mix
album ‘All Night Long’, following the success of their first ‘The End’ in
conjunction with Mr C, also released on XL Recordings, in the late 90s. The album was a perfect reflection of their
DJ sets, inspirational, educational and all encompassing it slaloms through all
manner of house music and even their own reworks of such timeless classics as
Bebel Gilberto’s ‘So Nice’ and Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘Dance To The
Music’, all without missing a beat.
The expansive musical tastes demonstrated on ‘All Night Long’ came together
perfectly with the release of their third artist album, ‘Feels Closer’, in
February 2006. Released on their newly
launched label, Olmeto Records, ‘Feels Closer’ saw them broaden their sonic
palette with the addition of live musicians, including legendary percussionist Mino
Cineleu, on a record that unites their myriad of influences without ever losing
sight of their electronic background and home territory. Highlights of the record include Green
Velvet’s vocal turn on the electrifying electro-techno of ‘Life 2 Live’, the
warm downtempo of ‘Sunshine in Ipanema’, featuring the talents of Brasilian
legend Rogerio Flausino, and the jaw-droppingly incredible ‘Isn’t This A Lovely
Day’, for which the boys fuse vocals from Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
with some killer live percussion. The
album was again highly critically acclaimed and cemented their reputations
among dance music’s most gifted.
Since the release of the album, their label Olmeto has gone from
strength to strength, releasing a consistent stream of choice nuggets from the
album, with exclusive remixes and B sides. The impressive roster of remixers has included the likes of Loco Dice,
Jesse Rose, Green Velvet and UNKLE. Bushwacka! has also released some fantastic solo 12”s on the label, and
as time goes on Olmeto will continue to provide an exclusive outlet for Layo
and Matthew’s creativity. Olmeto’s
monthly residency at The End, which has taken the place of the All Night Long residency,
sees Layo & Bushwacka! continue to play extended and far reaching sets of
electronica in the main room, whilst their impeccable programming has seen them
bring in two of dance music’s most promising labels Simple Records and
Freerange to provide music for The End’s second room and sister bar AKA at the Olmeto
nights.
The most recent addition to Layo & Bushwacka!’s catalogue is their
mix album, Global Underground 33:
Rio. Born out of the ongoing love story between
the duo and their second home of Brasil, Layo and Matthew have a unique and
unshakeable relationship with the world’s most effervescent nation. Disc one sees the boys scour their record
collections, revisiting gems from the past twenty years, flowing through the
music that helped shape the DJs they’ve become, whilst disc two represents the
new wave of electronic music with a track listing that includes the most
dynamic producers in dance music today.
Layo & Bushwacka!’s reputation as two of the world’s foremost DJ
duos is rock solid. Three artist albums
have proven them remarkably talented producers, capable of mixing styles,
tempos and genres to create enduring and engaging electronic music. Their trio of mix albums and international
club residencies have shown they are masters of the turntables, sonic
connoisseurs who can guide a dance floor on an epic journey through the many
facets of their sound. Their label
Olmeto meanwhile has become a bastion for quality, a label that, much like its figureheads,
has become a rubber stamped seal of class.
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