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Opus III (band)
Opus III was an English electronic music and progressive house group who had success on the UK Singles Chart and on the U.S. Dance charts. The group consisted of vocalist Kirsty Hawkshaw and producers/musicians Kevin Dodds, Ian Munro and Nigel Walton. The group members promoted a strong environmental and feminist message through their lyrics, album liner notes and photo and video imagery. Their biggest hit was "It's a Fine Day", which reached number five in the United Kingdom in February 1992. The song had previously been recorded by the singer Jane in 1983, and its lyrics had been taken from a song by poet Edward Barton. Career Prior to the forming of Opus III, Dodds, Munro, and Walton, signed with Capitol Records UK under the name A.S.K. The act released their first single “Kiss and Tell,” in 1988. Afterwards, the trio signed with MCA Records UK, where they released their next single, "Dream," in 1990, peaking at number 85 on the UK singles chart. The group later released ...
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London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ...
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Edward Barton (musician)
Edward Barton (born 1958) is an English poet, artist and musician from Manchester, known for his eccentric stage performances and use of home-made instruments. He has had top 30 success as a songwriter with hits including "It's a Fine Day" ( Opus III) - the tune of which was then used in Kylie Minogue's hit "Confide in Me" - "Halcyon" ( Orbital) and "Happiness" ( Pizzaman). He also wrote a trio of hits for Lost Witness - "Happiness Happening", "Red Sun Rising" and "7 Colours". Biography He grew up in Libya, the son of an Royal Navy officer, before attending boarding school in Britain. He moved to Manchester in the mid-1970s where he studied History of Art at Manchester University, and was signed by Cherry Red Records in 1982.Interview with Barton in ''The Word'' magazine, issue # 84, February 2010 He is probably best known for composing the song "It's a Fine Day", originally released on Cherry Red as an a cappella single by Jane – his friend Jane Lancaster –in 198 ...
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King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experimental music and new wave. They exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis, and continue to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres. The band has earned a large cult following. Founded by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald and lyricist Peter Sinfield, the band initially focused on a dramatic sound layered with Mellotron, McDonald's saxophone and flute, and Lake's powerful lead vocals. Their debut album, '' In the Court of the Crimson King'' (1969), remains their most commercially successful and influential release, with a potent mixture of jazz, classical and experimental music. Following the sudden simultaneous de ...
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Sampling (music)
In sound and music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music, and may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed down, repitched, looped, or otherwise manipulated. They are usually integrated using hardware ( samplers) or software such as digital audio workstations. A process similar to sampling originated in the 1940s with '' musique concrète'', experimental music created by splicing and looping tape. The mid-20th century saw the introduction of keyboard instruments that played sounds recorded on tape, such as the Mellotron. The term ''sampling'' was coined in the late 1970s by the creators of the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizer with the ability to record and play back short sounds. As technology improved, cheaper standalone samplers with more memory emerged, such as the E-mu Emulator, Akai S950 and Akai MPC. Sampling is a foundation of ...
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Backmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a message is recorded backward onto a track that is meant to be played forward. It is a deliberate process, whereas a message found through phonetic reversal may be unintentional. Artists have since used backmasking for artistic, comedic and satiric effect, on both analogue and digital recordings. It has also been used to censor words or phrases for "clean" releases of explicit songs. In 1969, rumors of a backmasked message in the Beatles song "Revolution 9" sparked the Paul is dead urban legend. Since at least the early 1980s, Christian groups in the United States alleged that backmasking was being used by prominent rock musicians for Satanic purposes, leading to record-burning protests and proposed anti-backmasking legislation by state and federal governments during the 1980s, as part of the Satanic panic movement of the time. Many popular musicians were accused of including backmasked messages in their music. However, appare ...
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Orbital (brown Album)
''Orbital'' (also known as ''Orbital 2'' or ''The Brown Album'') is the second studio album by English electronic music duo Orbital, released on 24 May 1993 by Internal and FFRR Records. Like the duo's debut album, the album was officially untitled. The album peaked at number 28 on the UK Albums Chart. Album On ''Orbital'' the duo aimed to make more atmospheric music than the dance raves of their first album. They used more complex rhythms and denser arrangements on the appropriately named pieces entitled "Lush" but still proving themselves capable of making quality pop music on " Halcyon + On + On", with vocals from Kirsty Hawkshaw of Opus III. The album begins with "Time Becomes", which uses the same speech sample by the actor Michael Dorn in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (Time squared - season 2 episode 13, Worf - 20'30 : "There is the theory of the Möbius. A twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop") which opened their first album. The piece uses phasi ...
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Halcyon (Orbital Song)
"Halcyon" is a song written and performed by Orbital, dedicated to Paul Hartnoll's mother, who was addicted to the tranquilliser Halcion (Triazolam) for many years."Well, we all had this crazy adolescence," explains Phil, tucking into a chilli burrito. "Because my dad was working really hard and was rarely at home while our mum was freaking out on Halcyon (a then-popular prescription tranquiliser)... Don't get me wrong, mum was always very loving and caring. But they prescribed her this drug and she just kept on doubling the dose." It was this which inspired 1992's 'Halcyon' and its video, which depicted bald Kirsty out of Opus III as a snooker-loopy housewife rattling around her suburban semi"Orbital:Suburban SpacemenSelect Magazine, September 1994. Retrieved 21 July 2014. It was released as ''Radiccio EP'' in the UK and Japan, and as ''Halcyon EP'' in the US. History The song features two samples from earlier international hit singles. The first sample is a backmasked vocal sa ...
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Orbital (band)
Orbital are an English electronic music duo from Otford, Kent, England, consisting of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll. The band's name is taken from Greater London's orbital motorway, the M25, which was central to the early rave scene during the early days of acid house. Additionally, the cover art on three of their albums showcase stylised atomic orbitals. Orbital have been critically and commercially successful, known particularly for their live improvisation during shows. They were initially influenced by early electro and punk rock. Career Early years In 1989, Orbital recorded " Chime" on their father's 4 track tape deck, which they released on Oh Zone Records in December 1989 and re-released on FFRR Records a few months later. The track became a rave anthem, reaching number 17 in the UK charts and earning them an appearance on ''Top of the Pops'', during which they wore anti- Poll Tax T-shirts. According to Paul Hartnoll, the track was recorded "under the stairs" of ...
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House Music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago's underground Clubbing (subculture), club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. House was pioneered by African Americans, African American DJs and producers in Chicago such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Jesse Saunders, Chip E., Steve "Silk" Hurley, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Marshall Jefferson, Phuture, and others. House music expanded to other American cities such as New York City and became a worldwide phenomenon. House has had a large effect on pop music, especially dance music. It was incorporated by major international pop artists including Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson ("Together Again (Janet Jackson song), Together Again"), Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Madonna ("Vogu ...
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Cover Version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original. History The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952 song "Jambalaya". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a cop ...
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Mind Fruit
''Mind Fruit'' is the debut album by British electronic music group Opus III. Their hit single "It's a Fine Day" is a cover of a 1983 single by Jane & Barton, while "I Talk to the Wind" is a cover of a King Crimson song from their 1969 debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King''. "Stars in My Pocket" is a reference to a novel by Samuel R. Delany, while "Into This Universe" features a recital of an English translation of a poem by medieval Persian poet Omar Khayyam. Critical reception AllMusic editor MacKenzie Wilson wrote, "Their debut, ''Mind Fruit'', (1992) was more than just another techno record in the face of the genre's underground taking shape during the early '90s. Hawkshaw's dove-like vocals transcended into freewheeling soundscapes; the remake of Barton & Jane's "It's a Fine Day" is melodically enchanting with loopy trance vibes and textured synth waves, but the crafty version of King Crimson's "I Talk to the Wind" composes a dreamy synthetic wave. Opus III w ...
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