Welcome to this recurring article series where I namedrop some of my favorite artists making huge waves thru creative sound design. I also link a handful of favorite tracks that are really out there.
Elusive British beat king Luke Vibert hit my CD player with Big Soup in 1997 when I was still an art student. One year earlier Vibert had caught my attention with Drum and Bass for Papa as Plug, which really kicked off his career. Through the years I kept following Vibert and his handful of cheeky aliases such as Wagon Christ, Plug and Amen Andrews, his alias concepts so bold and his sound is just so perfectly unhindered and always bringing something new and crusty. This guy really needs more praise.
Being a totally positive guy with his mind on the flow, and obviously a serious crate digger and music lover of old and new, Vibert has helped define and refine instrumental funk/hip-hop, drum and bass as well as acid. Vibert’s acid basslines are out of this world, his overall sound is tasteful, funked and quirky, and I still often wonder how he pulls it all off. Along with other older fellows like Amon Tobin and, I guess, Aphex Twin and The Orb, Vibert’s musicality in any of his releases and sets still reverberates in today’s sea of nondescript knock offs and bland/bloated attempts at innovation from the predictably crowd pleasing EDM scene.
Check out this older set from back in 2006 with Vibert already juggling genres effortlessly, even sneaking in a few by old mates AFX and Squarepusher, among others:
Luke Vibert has released loads of music, and still does on an ongoing basis. At the time of writing Vibert has released more than 30 albums, spanning 30 years of sparkling productivity. The latest LP, acid hommage Machine Funk dropped just last year, on 303 day of course (March 3rd).
There’s not a lot of live footage out there of Vibert, but the past few years luck has been with us on YouTube:
In 2020 Vibert really flaunted his width and insight in clubbing music with three LP releases exploring breakbeats, rave and instrumental hip-hop in a both timeless and forward moving fashion. You can hear a track from each in the list below, as well as a few blinding Vibert nuggets towards the end – and since Vibert never really remixes other people’s stuff anymore, the final track is a remix of Squarepusher which turns 25 years this year. Simply mind blowing, considering the tech available back then:
Also check out his funk filthy Nuggets releases, with unknown hits dug from the crates!
More info: LukeVibert.com
Image credit: Luke Vibert
