finetune artist: Propellerheads

Alex Gifford played piano for Van Morrison, saxophone for the Stranglers and was a member of the Grid before he met Will White when the latter was drumming for Junkwaffle at a gig in Bath. In 1996, Wall Of Sound released their first recording, the Dive EP, which later that year was given worldwide coverage as the theme to an Adidas advert. In late 1996, the Propellerheads brought the big beat sound to the Top 100 with "Take California" and early the next year, "Spybreak" fared even better. On the strength of the latter the duo were invited by David Arnold to participate in his album of James Bond theme remakes, and their contribution, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", became their first Top 10 hit. As a result, they recorded some of the incidental music for the movie Tomorrow Never Dies. "OHMSS" was successfully followed by the UK Top 20 hit single "History Repeating" (featuring Shirley Bassey) and Decksandrumsandrockandroll. Since its release the duo have been involved in projects with the Jungle Brothers and De La Soul. The main components of their characteristic blend of hip-hop, grungey rock and 60s kitsch can be heard in tracks such as "Spybreak", which features chunky riffs and prominent drumbeats with various effects, corny Hammond organ melodies and Mission Impossible-style bongos. "Bang On!" and "Better?" offered slightly different versions of the same idea. While the duo claim that their music is not complex and is primarily dance music-orientated, after a few listens they begin to sound rather one-dimensional, relying on tired hip-hop and acid jazz clichs.

Listen to Propellerheads at Finetune.

(1998) Decksandrumsandrockandroll
(1997) Propellerheads

Spybreak (Short One)
Take California
Spybreak!
History Repeating (Featuring Miss Shirley Bassey)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service