The T Minus 50 bulldozer is rumbling into town, and not a moment too soon, driving the latest crop of lo-fi wastrels onto the wayside. They are the ultimate panacea for those who like their guitars accompanied by sample cut-ups and low-slung bass and breaks. Picking up the trail trodden by UNKLE, Sneaker Pimps, Leftfield, Underworld and Massive Attack, T Minus 50 are propelling the art firmly forward.
At the centre of the storm are Tim Baker; triple-tasking on programming, guitar and vocals, and Neil ""Quin"" Watkins, who, for a while, assiduously looked after drums and turntables. Their chance meeting in 2005 produced the impetus to turn Baker's embryonic tracks into the fully grown, gold plated monsters they now are. With the recent recruitment of Ieuan Macey to provide some seismic sub lines on bass and scratch pervert DJ Name to inject a little cut chemistry in to the proceedings, the foursome is now complete and the band are set to tear a hole in the landscape of 2007.
Unlike many electronic and studio based bands, the T Minus 50 live show has to be seen to be believed. No pale-face bedroom laptop jockeys here; real instruments are infused with computer technology and a generous dash of stagecraft to provide the syllabus to any Masters course in music performance. After all, we can't think of many simultaneous scratch-DJ, drum kit playing geniuses like yer man Quin.
T Minus 50 marks the most recent point in a twisted and diverse musical CV, which takes in deals with BMG and Acid Jazz, including three albums and more singles than we've got fingers. Endless touring including the UK, Europe, Japan, and all the big festivals has blessed them with an unsurpassed crowd-pleasing skill, illustrated by their selection to support The Prodigy and Feeder among others.
As if this wasn't enough, Baker has been conjuring extra hours out of the day to write music for just about every major broadcaster... including the BBC, MTV, C4 and C5. For good measure he has thrown in remixes for acts such as Hard-Fi and The No Heads. Quin has kept his foot to the floor and his ear to the street too, DJing nationwide with the likes of DJ Format and Sir Beans OBE and drumming for hip-hop collective Hairy Parents.
Unfortunately for the impatient among us, we will have to wait for Spring 2007 to feast our ears upon Digital Scars, T Minus 50's debut album. The band were lucky enough to have studio legend Warne Livesey (The The, Jesus Jones, Midnight Oil, Matthew Good) on mixing duty for their watch. For an instant quick-fix the ""Detonator"" EP is out now on their own Subvertical label via iTunes and Napster. They will also be playing live shows throughout our green and pleasant land, building up to a full UK tour when the album drops.
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