The guiding force behind this jazzy drum 'n' bass act is Tony Colman, a DJ who is also the co-founder of the leading UK dance music label, Hospital Records. Colman studied Performing Arts at Middlesex Polytechnic before forming the jazz funk band Izit, and producing their 1993 debut, The Whole Affair. Increasingly exposed to north London's hardcore and jungle scene and explicitly inspired by Goldie's debut album, Timeless, however, the musician was seduced to produce drum 'n' bass recordings. Colman formed Hospital with Chris Goss and the duo began recording tracks together under a number of alter egos, including Future Homosapiens, Dwarf Elektro and Orkestra Galactica.
The most notable of these early recordings came under the London Elektricity moniker, with the epic "Song In The Key Of Knife" instantly established as a classic of the genre. The duo's 1999 debut, Pull The Plug, was funk-infused and soul in comparison to releases by many of their contemporaries who look to dark drums and sinister synthesizers. With Goss devoting an increasing amount of time to Hospital, London Elektricity was recalibrated as a solo project. Strangely, the title of the project's second album, Billion Dollar Gravy, was inspired by Alice Cooper's similarly titled 70s rock album Billion Dollar Babies. The album featured vocals from Chicago house legend Robert Owens and long-time London Elektricity collaborator Liane Carrol, as well as a drummer named simply, the Jungle Drummer. Billion Dollar Gravy paid curious homage to the Sex Pistols with a track entitled "The Great Drum & Bass Swindle" and acknowledged a north London area on "Harlesden".
Unusually for a drum 'n' bass act, London Elektricity formed a fully live incarnation for shows to coincide with the release of their second album. Colman and Goss have remixed artists such as Headhunters, Nitin Sawhney and UFO, and curate the Plastic Surgery (drum 'n' bass) and Out Patients (freestyle) collections. The duo also runs the frequently packed club night, "Hospitality", at London's Herbal.
DISCOGRAPHY: Pull The Plug (Hospital 1999)***, Billion Dollar Gravy (Hospital 2003)****.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright 2008 by Muze Inc.; all rights reserved.