Up Bustle And Out

Up Bustle And Out (producers Rupert Mould and D. "Ein" Fell) are part of the Bristol contingent of trip-hoppers. They differ from the rest of the movement because of a passion for funk, soul, jazz, and exotica that led them to forge a unique crossover style. First announced by the single Une Amitie Africaine (Forever Groove, 1991), the idea was tentatively developed on the albums The Breeze Was Mellow (Ninja Tune, 1993) and One Colour Just Reflects Another (Ninja Tune, 1996). Mould fine-tuned a technique that mixes samples of real life from several locations of the world (from Turkey to Spain) and from several social groups (from gangsters to guerrillas) with hip-hop beats and instrumental studio scores.

In between the two albums the producers released the singles Revolutionary Woman of the Windmill (1995), a much better sample of their agit-prop trip-hop, and The Hand Of Contraband (1995), that sounds like a mellow, psychedelic version of Carlos Santana.

Light Em Up Blow Em Out (Ninja Tune, 1997) toured the world, from India (Emerald Alley) to Latin America (Apple Strudel), from Spain (Dance Of Caravan Summer, the standout) to Nepal (Beautiful Lure), and finally retrenched into the black ghettos (Compared To What). Unfortunately, the resulting sound is nothing but a faded postcard, a jumbled collage, a distorted echo of something very important.

Rebel Radio (Ninja Tune, 2000) is a collaboration with Cuban musicians, that develops an idea first explored on the EP Che Guevara A Dream Of Land And Freedom (Ninja Tune, 1997): fusing Latin music and hip-hop beats under the flag of the communist revolution. The results are quite disappointing (Hip Hop Barrio, The Educators, Kennedy's Secret Tapes, Afro Cuban Cafe`).