The Cutler is an electronica collaboration from

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, Yorkshire. Formed by Steve Cobby, formerly half of

Fila Brazillia Fila Brazillia is an English electronica duo from Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1990 by Steve Cobby and David McSherry. History Their early albums were released on Pork Recordings, also based in Hull: '' Old Codes New Chao ...

, and David 'Porky' Brennand, founder of

Pork Recordings Pork Recordings is a record label based in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, England, that specialises in electronica, mostly in the downtempo or chill-out styles. Formed in the early 1990s by David "Porky" Brennand and Steve Cobby, its mo ...

, they play

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

and

Dub music Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican re ...

. Formed in 2006, their debut release came in 2007 – on the electronica

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Steel Tiger Records (based in Hull/Sheffield and established by Cobby with Sim Lister in 2006) – with the single, ''Stiletto''. On 11 June 2013, The Cutler were a front-page feature article on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

; the article's author is Andrew Jervis, the head curator at Bandcamp – he wrote, "The mojo is indeed back. ''Everything is Touching Everything Else'' is a varied album of songs and instrumentals loosely shepherded by Cobby and Porky, into a collection that is on par with the cream of the albums released on

. "Happenstance and spontaneity seem to guide us,” explains Cobby. ''Romulus and Remus'' sounds like Peaking Lights or Wild Belle rope-dope'd by a dose of gritty bottom end. ''Quite Rightly'' unfolds at a more leisurely place with pretty harps and floaty Hammond organ, ''while Namaste'' is a proper dubby bass bin smasher. The vocal harmonies of Archie Heslewood and

Little Glitches Little Glitches are a folktronica collective from Sheffield, UK. The group formed in 2004 after collaborating and writing together in previous bands. The founding members of the collective are Andrew Bolam (bass guitar), Gavin Harris ( dr ...

warm up proceedings on ''Roll Those Laughing Bones'' and ''OFGB'' respectively." In the August 2012 edition of ''Echoes Mag'', Dom Servini wrote, "Now, if Brazillia or

don't mean a lot to our younger readers then that's because their output has been pretty thin on the ground for the past few years, but trust these older ears when I tell you that these were two of the most important acts and labels of the electronic scene, lazily referred to as 'trip hop', that there was. Having The Cutler back on our radar is a real treat. Unashamed downtempo loveliness that's had people like

Rob Da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Bestiv ...

getting very excited indeed." Their early releases, including all tracks on the first album, were named after edged blades, knives and weapons. Their 2009 EP ''Black Flag'' takes an anti-capitalist theme, with tracks such as ''Burn the Bankers'' and ''200 Pharaohs 6 Billion Slaves''. The track 'Quantum Entanglement' from The Cutler's album ''Everything Is Touching Everything Else'' was featured on

Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...

's national radio show ''The Freakier Zone'' (

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

) on Sunday 2 June 2013.

Discography

Albums

*''Everyone Is Remixing Everything Else'' ( Steel Tiger Records ST017, 30 September 2013) – with vocals by Isobel Helen, Archie Heslewood, Andrew Taylor and

, remixers include

Darren Emerson Darren Paul Emerson (born 30 April 1971) is an English musician, DJ and producer best known as a former member of the British electronic music group Underworld. Career Early life Emerson began mixing hip hop records at the age of 14, and by ...

(

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed ...

(

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

) and

Richard Dorfmeister Kruder & Dorfmeister, named after members Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister, is an Austrian duo, known for their trip hop/downtempo remixes of pop, hip hop and drum and bass songs. Career In 1993, they released their first EP '' G-Stoned ...

( Kruder & Dorfmeister). *''Everything Is Touching Everything Else'' ( Steel Tiger Records ST015, 10 June 2013) – with vocals by Isobel Helen, Archie Heslewood, Andrew Taylor and

. Remixes from

( Kruder & Dorfmeister), Gavin Hardkiss (aka Hawke),

Tranquility Bass Tranquility Bass was the stage name of Michael Adam Kandel (1967/1968 – May 17, 2015), an American musician whose music has been variously categorized as ambient house, trip hop, and funk rock. He released various singles during the 1990s, follow ...

, Mark Rae (Grand Central Music /

Rae & Christian Rae & Christian are an English production duo, consisting of Mark Rae and Steve Christian. They are also founders of the Grand Central Records label. History In 1995, Mark Rae fulfilled a long-term dream by founding Grand Central Records in Ma ...

Pete Lazonby Pete Lazonby (also referred to as Peter Lazonby) is a record producer best known for his singles "Sacred Cycles" and "Wavespeech" released on Brainiak Records. They were featured on many compilation albums including those in the '' Global Undergrou ...

Mark Brydon Mark Errington Brydon is an English bassist, guitarist, composer, arranger, recording engineer, remix artist and producer best known as a member of the group Moloko. Previous work He comes from Sunderland, England, but established himself in ...

(

Moloko Moloko () were an Irish-English electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their UK top 10 sin ...

(

) and

(

) will support this release as the collection ''Everyone Is Remixing Everything Else''. *''The Best Things in Life Aren't Things'' ( Steel Tiger Records ST012, 10 September 2012) – with vocalists Andrew Taylor and Russell Morgan *''Cutler'' ( Steel Tiger Records ST010, 7 July 2008) – with vocalists Alex Crowfoot and Sarah Johns

EPs

*''Black Flag EP'' ( Steel Tiger Records, 2009) – with vocalists Andrew Taylor and Russell Morgan

Singles

*''Claymore'' ( Steel Tiger Records, 2007) *''Cinquedea'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) *''Scimitar'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) *''Hacksaw'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) – vocals by Alex Crowfoot *''Pickaxe'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) *''Épée'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) – vocals by Sarah Johns *''Chandrahas'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) *''Stiletto'' (Steel Tiger Records, 2007) – vocals by Sarah Johns

Interviews

During October 2012 The Cutler were interviewed by Fari Bradley for

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...

– Resonance 104.4 FM is a London-based non-profit community radio station run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). ''Studiotalk'' on whatpeoplesay.com – Steve Cobby was invited to provide a description of the production-process for some (P-A-Y-R, Revolution, and Black Sheep) of the tracks from ''The Best Things in Life Aren't Things'' to the 'whatpeoplesay' blog. "whatpeoplesay is a blog project centering around all kinds of actual electronic and alternative music... a playground to share thoughts and information about the music we love."

Film projects

In 2013 Steve Cobby provided the soundtrack for the Hull '

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...

2017' bid film - 'This City Belongs to Everyone', produced by Nova Studios - on 20 November 2013

, East Riding of Yorkshire was announced as the winning City, and so as UK City of Culture 2017.

References

''A Marriage Made In Hull'' – feature article about The Cutler on Bandcamp by Andrew Jervis (head curator at Bandcamp) – 11 June 2013

"Hull's City of Culture bid film revealed to the public" - BBC News article,12 November 2013. Steve Cobby provided the soundtrack for this Hull 'UK City of Culture
2017' bid film - 'This City Belongs to Everyone', produced by Nova Studios]

External links

Official site for Steel Tiger and The Cutler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, The English electronic music duos Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups from Kingston upon Hull