Artist: Photek
Genre(s):
Electronic
Drum & Bass
Electronic
Drum & Bass
Discography:
Terminus
Year: 2000
Tracks: 3
Solaris
Year: 2000
Tracks: 11
Form and Function
Year: 1998
Tracks: 12
Though Goldie became the get-go virtuoso of jungle, the recordings of Rupert Parkes -- as Code of Practice, Aquarius, Studio Pressure, the Truper and Sentinel, but to the highest degree magnificently as Photek -- made him an easy piece for the style's most esthetic and intelligent producer. Working his way through street-level hardstep (on former productions for Certificate 18 and Street Beats) and laputan, subaquatic "dolphin" tunes for L.T.J Bukem's Good Looking label, Parkes eventually arrived at a well-grounded that pushed the bound of drum'n'bass from the dancefloor into the realm of breakbeat headspace; unlike to the highest degree jungle producers, Parkes has never DJed and seldom goes to clubs. His incredibly intricate rhythm scheduling -- ofttimes requiring weeks of reckoner homework -- and the unmissable aura of paranoid menace on recordings such as "The Hidden Camera" and "Flying saucer" exerted quite an influence on the return of dark-style drum'n'bass during the late '90s.
As a adolescent, Parkes listened to electro, techno and hip-hop as well as the more than free form side of idle words and fusion. Thanks to a sampler bought with a £2000 loan from the Trust of the Prince of Wales, he began producing tracks and first appeared on Paul Solomon's Certificate 18 Records with singles as Studio Pressure. He likewise recorded for Basement (as Sentinel) and Street Beats (the Truper) before initiating a series of 12-inch singles for his own Photek Records, which gave him credentials and lED to releases on Goldie's Metalheadz label and L.T.J. Bukem's Good Looking, as well as a remix of the Therapy? single "Loose."
Later Parkes had released more than 80 tracks of drum'n'bass on half a 12 labels, he was approached by Virgin and sign-language to a five-album deal with the label's Science imprint (provided he was allowed to stay on recording for other independent labels as well). Parkes' first freeing on Science was The Hidden Camera EP, which appeared in May 1996. The second Science single "Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu" displayed an increasing stake in applying the lessons of martial humanities to his programming (the deed is Japanese for "two swords, one technique"). Virgin compiled the latter two releases on 1997's Reduced instruction set computer Vs. Reward, and then released the debut Photek album Modus Operandi in September 1997. Much-hyped though little-praised, the album was followed by 1998's Shape & Function, a compiling including various original Photek Records tracks plus remixes and new tracks. During the next two years, Parkes focussed on his new Photek Productions label, and at long last released a second LP, Solaris, in 2000.
The Grateful Dead
