In addition, Coldcut has remixed and created productions on tracks by the likes of Eric B & Rakim, James Brown, Queen Latifah, Eurythmics, INXS, Steve Reich, Blondie, the Fall, Pierre Henry, Nina Simone, Fog, Red Snapper, and BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Beyond their work as a production duo, Coldcut are the founders of Ninja Tune, an independent record label in London, England (with satellite offices in Los Angeles and Berlin) with an overall emphasis on encouraging interactive technology[5] and finding innovative uses of software.
More also DJed on pirate radio, hosting the Meltdown Show on Kiss FM and worked at the Reckless Records store on Berwick Street, London where Black visited as a customer.
Released in October 1987, the landmark remix[13] is said to have "laid the groundwork for hip hop's entry into the UK mainstream",[14] becoming a breakthrough hit for Eric B & Rakim outside the U.S., reaching No.
Conflicts arose with the major label, as Coldcut's "vision extended beyond the formulae of house and techno" and mainstream pop culture (CITATION: The Virgin Encyclopedia Of Nineties Music, 2000).
[30] Top Banana was innovative in that it used sampled graphics, contained an ecological theme and a female lead character (dubbed "KT"), and its music changed through random processes.
[32] This multi-dimensional entertainment product received wide coverage in the national media, including features on Dance Energy, Kaleidoscope on BBC Radio 4, What's Up Doc?
[35] Coldcut began integrating video sampling into their live DJ gigs at the time, and incorporated multimedia content that caused press to credit the act as segueing "into the computer age".
Hex's inclusion of music videos and "playtools" (playful art/music software programs) on Coldcut's CD-ROM was completely ahead of the curve at that time, offering viewers/listeners a high level of interactivity.
As part of the JAM exhibition of "Style, Music and Media" at the Barbican Art Gallery in 1996, Coldcut and Hex were commissioned to produce an interactive audiovisual piece called Synopticon.
The release was credited with "bringing to wider attention the sort of freestyle mixing the pair were always known for through their radio show on KISS FM, Solid Steel, and their steady club dates".
[39] Their first album to be released on Ninja Tune, it featured guest appearances by Grandmaster Flash, Steinski, Jello Biafra, Jimpster, The Herbaliser, Talvin Singh, Daniel Pemberton and Selena Saliva.
It allowed users to be a "digital video jockey",[41] remixing and collaging [42] sound and images [43] and trigger audio and visual samples simultaneously,[44] subsequently bringing futuristic technology to the audio-visual field.
Also working with Camart, Black designed DJamm software in 1998, which Coldcut used on laptops for their live shows, providing the audio bed alongside VJAMM's audiovisual samples.
[55] The CD-ROM of the album, which also contained a free demo disc of the VJamm software,[56] was one of the earliest audiovisual CD- ROMs on the market,[57] and Muzik claimed deserved to "have them canonized...it's like buying an entire mini studio for under $15".
With "Space Journey", Coldcut were arguably the first group to give fans access to the multitrack parts, or "stems" of their songs, building on the idea of interactivity and sharing from Let Us Play.
Also in 2002, Coldcut with UK VJs Headspace (now mainly performing as the VJamm Allstars developed Gridio, an interactive, immersive audio-visual installation for the Pompidou Centre as part of the ‘'Sonic Process exhibition.
[63] Coldcut also collaborated with TV Sheriff and NomIg to produce two audiovisual pieces "World of Evil" (2004) and "Revolution '08" (2008), both composed of footage from the United States presidential elections of respective years.
It was followed in 2006 by their fifth studio album Sound Mirrors, which was quoted as being "one of the most vital and imaginative records Jon Moore and Matt Black have ever made",[65] and saw the duo "continue, impressively, to find new ways to present political statements through a gamut of pristine electronics and breakbeats" (CITATION: Future Music, 2007).
[64] Coldcut was accompanied by scratch DJ Raj Pannu and AV artist Juxta, in addition to guest vocalists from the album, including UK rapper Juice Aleem, Roots Manuva, Mpho Skeef, Jon Spencer and house legend Robert Owens.
Sponsored by the British Council, in 2005 Coldcut introduced AV mixing to India with the Union project, alongside collaborators Howie B and Aki Nawaz of Fun-Da-Mental.
[67] In October 2008, Coldcut celebrated the legacy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop (the place where the Doctor Who theme was created) with a live DJ mix at London's legendary Roundhouse.
From 2009 onwards, Black has been collaborating with coder and psychedelic mathematician William Rood to create a forthcoming project called Liveloom, a social media AV mixer.
A compilation album was released on 20 September in two formats: a regular version consisting of two 2-disc volumes, and a limited edition which contained six CDs, six 7" vinyl singles, a hardback copy of the book, a poster and additional items.
[71] In July 2013, Coldcut produced a piece entitled "D'autre" based on the writings of French poet Arthur Rimbaud, for Forum Des Images in Paris.
The following month, in August, Coldcut produced a new soundtrack for a section of André Sauvage's classic film Études sur Paris, which was shown as part of Noise of Art at the BFI in London, which celebrated 100 years of electronic music and silent cinema.
In 2014, Coldcut did three soundtracks as part of the project New City, a series of animated skylines of the near future developed by Tomorrow's Thought Today's Liam Young, with accompanying writing from sci-fi authors Jeff Noon, Pat Cadigan and Tim Maughan.
[73] With the "intuitive yet deep" app,[74] users can turn instruments on and off, swap between clips, add glitches and effects, trigger and pitch-bend stabs and one-off samples, and change the tempo of the track instantly.
To date, over 30 tunepacks have been released, including Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Coldcut, DJ Food, Martyn, Lapalux, Machinedrum, Raffertie, Irresistible Force, FaltyDL, Shuttle, Starkey.
The compilation featured music by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Julianna Barwick, Daniel Pemberton, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Sigur Rós, Laraaji and many more artists, purposefully ranging in prominence.