DJ Food

DJ Food is a collaborative project between <a href="spotify:artist:5wnhqlZzXIq8aO9awQO2ND">Coldcut</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ninja+Tune%22">Ninja Tune</a> duo <a href="spotify:artist:2qIuYMTtZUYYLLdums3xZ3">Matt Black</a> and Jonathan More, and second-half <a href="spotify:artist:3HD3V1nGFPwepBO7064Ij0">PC</a> (born <a href="spotify:artist:3HD3V1nGFPwepBO7064Ij0">Patrick Carpenter</a>) and Strictly Kev (Kevin Foakes). Although the moniker originally referred only to <a href="spotify:artist:2qIuYMTtZUYYLLdums3xZ3">Black</a> and More's several-volumed series of stripped-down breaks records designed for deck use (i.e., "food" for DJs), club booking demands for the assumedly proper-named DJ Food dictated the pair make an ongoing project of it. Adding <a href="spotify:artist:3HD3V1nGFPwepBO7064Ij0">PC</a> and Strictly to spice things up (and differentiate DJ Food from <a href="spotify:artist:5wnhqlZzXIq8aO9awQO2ND">Coldcut</a> when they played the same bill), the quartet released a series of 12" singles in various combinations starting in 1994 (including "Freedom"/"Consciousness"), with their proper debut full-length, A Recipe for Disaster, appearing the following year. The quartet also toured Europe, Canada, and America as DJ Food (mainly DJing) and regularly mashed it up side by side on <a href="spotify:artist:5wnhqlZzXIq8aO9awQO2ND">Coldcut</a>'s weekly KISS FM show Solid Steel. <a href="spotify:artist:3HD3V1nGFPwepBO7064Ij0">PC</a> and Strictly were also hired by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Warp+Records%22">Warp Records</a> to compile and mix a series of releases entitled Blech, drawing from the influential experimental techno label's back catalog. More and <a href="spotify:artist:2qIuYMTtZUYYLLdums3xZ3">Black</a> continued to split their time between DJ Food and <a href="spotify:artist:5wnhqlZzXIq8aO9awQO2ND">Coldcut</a>, as well as the day-to-day operation of their immensely popular <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ninja+Tune%22">Ninja Tune</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ntone%22">Ntone</a> labels. DJ Food's second production album, Kaleidoscope, appeared in April of 2000 to warm reviews. A year later, the pair inaugurated a Solid Steel CD series with the mix album Now, Listen! The years that followed found More and <a href="spotify:artist:2qIuYMTtZUYYLLdums3xZ3">Black</a> contributing less thanks to their <a href="spotify:artist:5wnhqlZzXIq8aO9awQO2ND">Coldcut</a> obligations, while <a href="spotify:artist:3HD3V1nGFPwepBO7064Ij0">PC</a> would find success with his <a href="spotify:artist:32ogthv0BdaSMPml02X9YB">Cinematic Orchestra</a> project, so much so that he resigned as a full-time member. Strictly Kev revived the project in 2011 and released The Search Engine in 2012. <a href="spotify:artist:3HD3V1nGFPwepBO7064Ij0">PC</a> would make an appearance, joining <a href="spotify:artist:50ltjTwfFz7h59pSAvxJeB">J.G. Thirlwell</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7cKtqv9cYVlOwnuCFH95ce">The The</a>'s Matt Johnson on the album's long guest list. ~ Sean Cooper, Rovi