Leftfield biography
Leftfield are a British duo of electronica artists and record producers, namely Paul Daley (formerly of The Rivals, A Man Called Adam and the Brand New Heavies) and Neil Barnes, who formed in 1990 in London, England. The name Leftfield was originally used simply by Barnes for its first single with editing/arranging and additional production added by Daley "Not Forgotten", but after this, Daley was involved in remixing "Not Forgotten" and then in the creation of all Leftfield's music. The pair were pioneers in the fields of intelligent dance music and progressive house, being among the first to fuse house music with dub and reggae. Ultimately the duo have been influential on the electronic genre as a whole, with
The Crystal Method's Scott Kirkland referring to them in 2005 as "the best electronic band, period!"
As with many of their contemporaries such as The Chemical Brothers and Underworld Leftfield pioneered the use of guest vocalists throughout their career. Among the more prominent were Toni Halliday, who sang on Original, Djum Djum on Afro Left and Earl 16 and Cheshire Cat on Release the Pressure. As of December 2011, Neil Barnes continues to tour with the band while Paul Daley is focusing upon his solo career.
Neil Barnes' entry into the music world was as a DJ at The Wag Club while simultaeneously playing percussion instruments. Around 1989, inspired by Afrika Bambaata, Barnes decided to try his hand at electronic music production, the result of which was the track Not Forgotten, released on the Rhythm King label, and More Than I Know., but also in A Man Called Adam and a formerly a session musician for the Brand New Heavies and Primal Scream, appearing on their Dixie-Narco EP. Barnes and Daley had previously worked together as percussionists at The Sandals' first club, Violets. As their mutual interest in electronic music became clear the pair decided that they would work instead upon Leftfield, once Barnes had extricated himself from his now troublesome contract with Rhythm King.
During this period, in which the band could not release their own music owing to the legal dispute with Rhythm King, the pair undertook remix work for React 2 Rhythm, ICP, Supereal, Inner City, Sunscreem and Ultra Nate. Finally, once the problems with their former label had been sorted out, Leftfield were able to unveil their single Release the Pressure.
Leftism
Leftfield's first major career break came with the single "Open Up", a collaboration with John Lydon that was soon followed by their debut album,
Leftism in 1995, blending dub, breakbeat, and techno. It was shortlisted for the 1995 Mercury Music Prize but lost out to Portishead's
Dummy.
In a 1998
Q magazine poll, readers voted it the eightieth greatest album of all time, while in 2000
Q placed it at number 34 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album was re-released in 2000 with a bonus disc of remixes.
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