DJ Food is an electronic music project currently headed by Kevin Foakes (also known as "Strictly Kev"). Originally conceived by the members of

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

on the Ninja Tune independent record label, the project started in 1990 on the premise of providing metaphorical "food for

DJs A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

". DJ Food released the Jazz Brakes series, with ''Jazz Brakes Volume 3'' being the most successful. The records consisted of collections of

breaks Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

, loops and samples that could be used for mixing, remixing and producing. The later DJ Food albums have developed with shades of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, dub, breakbeat, ambient, and drum and bass. The 1995 album ''A Recipe for Disaster'' was a conscious move away from the Jazz Brakes volumes to form more of an identity as an artist, and a remix album of tracks from all six LPs, entitled ''Refried Food'' was released the following year. The more recent release, ''Kaleidoscope'' (2000), featured guest artists including Bundy K. Brown (formerly of

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like oth ...

, Directions in Music, Pullman) and

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

artist and jazz poet,

Ken Nordine Ken Nordine (April 13, 1920 – February 16, 2019) was an American voice-over and recording artist, best known for his series of word jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many commercial advertisements and movie traile ...

Members

DJ Food started as a Coldcut side project from Jonathan More and Matt Black. Along the way they met Patrick Carpenter, who was listed on the liner notes, but only his initials. A loose collaborative team began to form including Paul Brook, Paul Rabiger, Kevin Foakes a.k.a. Strictly Kev and Issac Elliston. Although keeping their hand in as DJs on the albums, Black and More could not perform DJ sets twice in one night under the aliases of both Coldcut and DJ Food, so they handed the mantle of live performances over to PC and Strictly Kev. Later, PC became so involved with

The Cinematic Orchestra The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune. The Cinematic Orchestra have produced four studio albums, ''Motion'' (1999) ...

that he decided to quit DJ Food, leaving Strictly Kev as the sole director of the project. He has since contributed three remixes to ''The Shape of Things That Hum'' EP in 2009.

Discography

Albums

*''Jazz Brakes Vol. 1'' (October 1990) *''Jazz Brakes Vol. 2'' (September 1991) *''Jazz Brakes Vol. 3'' (July 1992) *''Jazz Brakes Vol. 4'' (June 1993) *''Jazz Brakes Vol. 5'' (October 1994) *''A Recipe for Disaster'' (October 1995) *''Refried Food'' (remix album) (January 1996, re-released with additional remixes) *''Kaleidoscope'' (April 2000) *''The Search Engine'' (January 2011) *''The Good Food Guide'' (compilation) (January 2012)

DJ mix albums

*''Blech II: Blechsdöttir'' (1996,

Warp Warp, warped or warping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and comics * WaRP Graphics, an alternative comics publisher * ''Warp'' (First Comics), comic book series published by First Comics based on the play ''Warp!'' * Warp (comics), a ...

) ::Mixed by PC and Strictly Kev (as Strictly). *"Sonic Soup" on MLO: ''Plastic Apple'' (Oct 1996, Aura Surround Sounds) ::56 minute mix by DJ Food as Disc 1 of the 3 CD set. *

& DJ Food vs

DJ Krush , better known by his stage name DJ Krush, is a record producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature and extensive use of jazz and soul samples. Early life Ishi was born in ...

: ''Cold Krush Cuts'' (Feb 1997, Ninja Tune) *

Solid Steel ''Solid Steel'' are a series of DJ mix albums issued on Ninja Tune, an independent record label in the UK. ''Solid Steel'' also has a radio station webcast and related live concerts which further showcase the DJing talents of such artists. In ...

Presents DJ Food & DK: '' Now, Listen!'' (Oct 2001, Ninja Tune) ::Mix album for Ninja Tune's

mix series, with producer DK. *Solid Steel Presents DJ Food & DK: '' Now, Listen Again!'' (Mar 2007, Ninja Tune) *''You Don't Know Ninja Cuts - DJ Food's 1000 Mask Mix'' (2008, Ninja Tune) ::Ninja Tune compilation mixed by Strictly Kev.

Internet only releases

*''Raiding the 20th Century - Words & Music Expansion '' (2004, digital self-release on

UbuWeb UbuWeb is a web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. Philo ...

and Ninja Tune limited edition) ::A history of cut-up music with

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

as narrator, originally aired in January 2004 on XFM's ''The Remix''. *''More Volts: The Funky Eno'' (2010, digital self-release on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

) ::A mix of Brian Eno tracks.

References

Reviews

ContemporaryTalks.com - 'Cosmic Travels at Pure Evil Gallery'

Interviews

ContemporaryTalks.com - In-depth Interview with DJ Food
The Some Assembly Required Interview with DJ Food's Strictly Kev

External links

*
DJ Food
at Ninja Tune website * *
Cosmic Travels at Pure Evil Gallery
' – review of exhibition on ContemporaryTalks.com *
Kaleidoscope
' review on

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Food, DJ English dance music groups English DJs English electronic music groups Musicians from London Ninja Tune artists