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Red Snapper's unusually effective mix of acoustic double bass & drum riffs with club techno/electronica made them one of the most original acid-jazz groups of the last 10 years. Highly adventurous, often genuinely exciting, and occasionally bizarre, all of their albums deliver but this, their last, is something special. Superficially a posthumous compilation of seven "left overs", a couple of live tracks and a previously hard to find remix, it bears all the hallmarks of a "let's tie-up the loose ends - for dedicated fans only" release. But, it's not... for, despite its unpromising credentials, it is in fact a cohesive and quite brilliant soundscape of everything that made Red Snapper so good. All of the new songs are up there with their very best, with several exhibiting a mellower and much richer development of the sound textures that made their previous albums so distinctive and with the incredibly haunting acoustic-electronics of "Mountains and Valleys" providing an unforgettable highlight, both live tracks show just how drivingly good their music could be, and the Sabres of Paradise mix of "Hot Flush" is an absolutely unmissable club classic. Arguably their most satisfying and enjoyable album it's a "must buy" for any Red Snapper fan and, for anyone who wants an introduction to their music, it's the best place to discover what all the fuss was about. Most groups go out with a whimper but in this case they most definitely left the best `til last.

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Bio

Red Snapper began in a sweaty rehearsal room in Hammersmith working their dirty jam of hiphop/jazz and rockabilly with sax player Alan Riding which soon became 3 eps on Thair and Dean Thatcher's label Flaw Recordings. With help from White Noise's Chris Butler and a belting set @ the Jazz Stage Glastonbury they secured a 'record deal' with Warp Records. There followed many European/UK shows with punkfunk vocalist Anna Haigh and Ex 'Pig Bag' sax player Ollie Moore.

The album 'Prince Blimey' was produced and mixed by the band and Tim Holmes (Death In Vegas) and released with great praise, Their subsequent live shows proved that drum and bass really could be played live. Snapper remixes of the likes of Garbage, David Holmes and Ken Ishii furthered their reputation as a truly experimental act.

Rich, David and Ali worked with engineer Luke Gordon, Mc Det and Vocalist Allison David on their following album 'Making Bones' which found them supporting the likes of Massive Attack, Bjork and The Prodigy and playing Jules Holland on...'tv'. They were joined by analogue kidbadboy Jake Williams (Flameboy) in a much needed input of 808/loop frenzy. By now the live show had become a fantastic blend of uk dirt jazz/hiphop/breaks with Det and Allison David leading the show.... The 3 went back into their Waterloo studio and produced another epic album involving vocalist Karim Kendra, MC Det and Mr Williams which resulted in more sellout shows and a bizarre departure from warp records. 'Red Snapper' is a much sought after final album on the fantastic Lo Recordings that combines some more journeys into sonic slackness in true 'snapper' form. Also check out the remix album on Lo Recs.

Label: Warp