Groove Armada

Groove Armada
Groove Armada performing in 2007
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Big beat electronica trip hop house tech house alternative dance
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Columbia UK (1996–2008) Bacardi (2008–09) Cooking Vinyl (2009–present) Jive Electro/BMG Records
Website	groovearmada.com
Members	Andy Cato Tom Findlay

Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo from London, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay.^[1] They achieved chart success with their singles "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'". The group has released eight studio albums, four of which have charted in the UK Albums Chart top 50.

History

Groove Armada first formed in the mid-1990s after both Cato and Findlay had been introduced by Cato's wife and soon started their own club, also called Groove Armada, after a 1970s discothèque.

By 1997 they had released a few singles, including "4 Tune Cookie" and the song that first brought them minor fame, "At the River", which sampled "Old Cape Cod" by Patti Page (used in the film Die Hard 2). The song went on to be one of Groove Armada's best-known tracks and has been found on numerous chill out compilations.

Their first album, Northern Star, was released in 1998 on Tummy Touch Records, and was followed by a second, Vertigo, in 1999, which had a more mainstream and 'polished' sound, thus making the UK Album Chart's upper 20 and being certified silver in the UK. It also included "At the River" which was re-released as a full-fledged single. An album of remixed tracks from Vertigo entitled The Remixes followed in 2000, along with their contribution to the Back to Mine mix album series.

The next studio album Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub) was released in 2001 and, as its title suggests, marked a departure from their trip hop roots to more upbeat music – as demonstrated on the Grammy-nominated single "Superstylin'". Another mix album followed, this time for the Another Late Night series, and in 2002, less than a year after Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub), Groove Armada produced Lovebox, which included a variety of genres including funk. Some tracks included elements of big beat and electronic rock elements to them, such as "Madder" and "Purple Haze", while others were closer to the band's traditional house & trip hop roots, such as the title track "Lovebox", and "Remember", which has vocals made up entirely of samples of Sandy Denny's vocals for Fairport Convention. An additional bonus track was later released on their website entitled "Fairport".

Their song "Madder" was used in the 2003 video game Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

A greatest hits album, entitled The Best of Groove Armada, appeared in 2004 – the last of their releases with Pepper Records – before their studio album Soundboy Rock was released in 2007. The album marked a notable departure from the multi-genre-influenced previous album, featuring tracks such as "Get Down" and "Groove Extracts", which followed the contemporary UK garage trend, tracks with rock elements, and "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" featuring the vocals of ex-Sugababes singer Mutya Buena, hailed by online music guide Popjustice as one of the best songs of 2007.

Following the successful Soundboy Rock singles, an updated best-of set titled Greatest Hits was released in October 2007. This was accompanied by GA10: 10 Year Story, a 2CD rarities collection released in November 2007 to celebrate their tenth anniversary as a band. The band has spoken in-depth about the compilation, and cited it as an "emotional experience", with both members selecting their personal favourite songs and mixes from their history.^[2]

Groove Armada also released a collaboration with The Japanese Popstars through Strictly Rhythm, via Beatport, in April 2008.

In the same year, Groove Armada engaged in a deal with Bacardi to distribute their new 4-track EP using a file sharing platform called B-Live Share.

During 2009, Findlay and Cato repeatedly confirmed the existence of a pending new album. While on the Bacardi Express tour in Australia, Findlay said it will be called Black Light and "is going to be the darker side of Groove Armada, which is finally coming out after 12 years."^[3] The first single, released on 23 November 2009, was "I Won't Kneel", featuring Groove Armada's new vocalist, Saint Saviour.^[4] The album's second single, "Paper Romance", was released on 22 February 2010, and the album was released in Europe on 28 February.

In October 2010, Groove Armada released a remix album, White Light, which contained recent studio re-recordings^[5] of alternative live versions of many songs from Black Light as well as other classic Groove Armada songs. Andy Cato stated on the official Groove Armada blog that "Ideas were flowing. Go, Not Forgotten, Look Me In the Eye Sister, Superstylin got even larger." Groove Armada headlined Uber Cool festival at Jersey Live on 3 September. The duo embarked on a series of secretive "living room" sets, performing intimately across the country for audiences of close friends. Little information was given about these private performances, but the tour kicked off in Brighton in late January, 2011.^[6]

To date, the group has collaborated with a diverse array of artists, including Neneh Cherry, DJ Gram’Ma Funk, Sophie Barker, Nappy Roots, Fudge Dog, Sunshine Anderson, Mutya Buena, Jeru the Damaja, Richie Havens, Will Young, Brodanse and Joel Culpepper.

In February 2014 the EP Pork Soda was released. It included three brand new tracks, "Pork Soda, "Hyde & Freak" and "Jack in Black".^[7]

Discography

Studio albums

• Northern Star (1998)
• Vertigo (1999)
• Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub) (2001)
• Lovebox (2002)
• Soundboy Rock (2007)
• Black Light (2010)
• White Light (2010)
• Little Black Book (2015)

Other work

From 1995 to 2000, Andy Cato was part of the progressive house music projects Mother's Pride and Qattara, and produced solo efforts under the aliases Caia and Journeyman DJ. In 2002, Cato collaborated with Rachel Foster, producing the album Pursuit of Happiness under the name Weekend Players. He also co-wrote with Sophie Ellis-Bextor on her album Shoot from the Hip, and released his first solo single under his own name, "La Luna". Cato has also worked with Róisín Murphy on her album Overpowered, producing the singles "Let Me Know" and "You Know Me Better".

Tom Findlay makes up one half of Sugardaddy, with Tim Hutton, and has collaborated with Keeling Lee. In 2005, he set up Tunetribe, a music download store. Findlay has described working with Prince as his dream collaboration, although there are no plans for such at the moment.^[8] In 2007, Findlay released Watch The Ride,^[9] a continuous mix album containing tracks by various artists, including his own project, Sugardaddy.

Andy and Tom have also recently worked with Ivy and Lil, 81 and 86, on a charity project to raise money for young and disadvantaged kids.

In 2011 Andy became the first musician to compose a ringtone specifically for a charity, WaveLength Charity, which gives TVs and radios to isolated and vulnerable people.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Groove Armada.

• Official website
• Groove Armada on Twitter