b. Andrew Turner, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Manchester, England at the turn of the 90s offered musicians many opportunities to pursue their aspirations, but after flirting with the thriving indie scene, Turner opted to develop his DJ talents and love of hip-hop and breakbeats. As Aim, he emerged as the second talent from the Grand Central stable, following label managers Rae And Christian. Sharing their ethic for sampling, remixing, collaboration, and serious songwriting, Aim released a number of acclaimed EPs and contributed to the label's Central Heating compilation. His work during this period was later compiled on 2003's Means Of Production.
The accomplished debut album Cold Water Music arrived in 1999. At its most predictable, it echoed their Grand Central mentors, drawing upon the same cast of rappers (YZ, Q-Ball and Kurt Kazal). Elsewhere Aim pushed the Grand Central sound further, conjuring a twenty-first century m‚lange of Latin and jazz for the title track and enlisting singer Kate Rogers for "Sail", a sensuous drift into the folk soul territory of Terry Callier. The follow-up Hinterland drifted even further away from hip-hop on the tracks "Good Disease" (featuring a falsetto vocal from Stephen Jones of baby bird) and "The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice" (featuring Rogers).
Turner left Grand Central in 2005 to launch his own record label, ATIC Records. The label's debut was Aim's new studio album, Flight 602.
DISCOGRAPHY: Cold Water Music (Grand Central 1999)****, Hinterland (Grand Central 2002)***, Flight 602 (ATIC 2006)***.
COMPILATIONS: Stars On 33 (Fat City 2002)***, Means Of Production (Grand Central 2003)***, Fabriclive.17 (Fabric 2004)***.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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