The thing about Erol Alkan is this: hearing is believing. Until you’ve borne witness to one of his legendary live sets, poured headily over one of his meticulously crafted productions, or been catapulted to a sudden sonic nirvana by the dropping of one of his remixes, you might be justified for dismissing his existence as an extremely elaborate myth of the musical underground. After all, how can one man, still in his early thirties, have kept so many kids dancing for so long?

Remixes for Bloc Party, Death From Above 1979 and The Chemical Brothers have been followed by Erol’s first truly legendary contribution to dance music’s canon: The Glam Racket Rework of Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Do You Want To’, which impressed the band so much that they incorporated elements of the remix into their live tour.

Fast forward to 2008, and the first Alkan studio alumni had released their own sophomore albums, with The Long Blondes critically acclaimed ‘Couples’, and Mystery Jets pop opus ’Twenty One’ featuring the UK hit singles ‘Young Love’ and ‘Two Doors Down’, both produced by Erol.

On the odd nights of the year that he’s not duty bound to be Erol Alkan, he has been known to don the mantle of ‘Mustapha 3000’ and dabble in the mysterious rites of ‘Beyond The Wizards Sleeve’ – a warped Balearic psychedelic brotherhood consisting of Erol and The Grid’s Richard Norris.

Whether he’s playing the latest in hardcore thrash or producing delicate anthems of spectral beauty, one thing’s for sure; music, truly fertile music, is never very far from Erol Alkan, and his sound can surely only continue to grow in the future.

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triptychfestival.com

One of hip-hop’s most prolific and innovative talents, erudite rapid-fire rapper Kool Keith’s resumé reads like a historic account of the genre: he’s a founder member of legendary mid-80s Bronx trailblazers Ultramagnetic MCs; he’s the man whose pseudonyms include Dr Octagon, Black Elvis, Dr Dooom (and about a dozen others); he’s the man whose celebrated collaborations include Beck, the Prodigy, DJ Shadow and Dan the Automator (Gorillaz).

Universally acclaimed as one of the most distinctive individuals in hip-hop, Kool Keith’s strident delivery and singular narratives are bulldozed by boundary-crashing momentum: his unique, unequalled freak aesthetic nods to astral jazz maverick Sun Ra, tribal sci-fi overlord Afrika Bambaataa and Detroit techno pioneer Carl Craig, as much as it does to traditional rap. This forceful combination – and the outstanding, assertive canon thereof – renders Keith among our most valued and versatile rappers.

triptychfestival.com
koolkeith.co.uk