Tuesday’s 80sObscurities artist A.R. Kane was once described by music journalist Jason Ankeny as “arguably the most criminally under-recognized band of their era.” This act is a textbook example of a band whose work is far more often heard in the bands they’ve influenced than in their own direct output, with one very notable exception (which we’ll get to). The musical styling of the duo of Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala can more or less be divided into two very different phases of their career. Their debut single, today’s “When You’re Sad” (One Little Indian Records, 1986), is all swirling, surreal wall of sound stuff eerily reminiscent of early Jesus & Mary Chain (the similarities at times are, in fact, overwhelming). This, their second single “Lollita” (4AD, 1987) and their first full length “69” (Rough Trade, 1988) are standard bearers of the psychedelic shoegaze and dreampop genres, the origins of the latter term directly attributable to the band. Not content to influence one entire musical movement alone, A.R. Kane (the name is partially derived from the core duo’s first names) was also of seminal importance to the creation of the “sampladelic” acid house scene in England. Their one-off collaboration with 4AD band Colourbox – as the studio project M|A|R|R|S (the “A” and “R” are Alex and Rudy, respectively) – resulted in the international #1 hit “Pump Up The Volume”, widely credited as the track which marked the beginning of sampling era. Two years later, their second album “i” (Rough Trade, 1989) – which contains the group’s most popular track, “A Love from Outer Space” – continued loosely in the house vein, but pushed the envelope even further into the arena of slick proto-trip hop pop. Yet, “Pump”’s popularity aside, the group remains largely obscure and unknown to most music fans, despite the accolades of scores of subsequent acts who have cited them as creative influences. If you happen to be one of those people, please allow 80sObs to introduce you to A.R. Kane.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:06:52 +0000
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