Joe (bass/samples), Poppy Ackroyd (violin/keyboards), Tim Lane (drums) and Jamie Graham (drums) formed the quartet in Edinburgh in 2005. At home in clubs, festivals, classical concerts and jazz venues, the Quartet have developed an expanding base of support from a wide variety of music fans for their distinctive brand of dark and soulful electronic jazz. With their unique blend of acoustic and electronic instruments, including two drummers and regular guest performers, they have a reputation as one of the most exciting live bands in Edinburgh. The group is currently recording, with support through funding from the Scottish Arts Council. The album features various other distinguished Scottish jazz/folk/classical musicians - Su-a Lee (SCO/McFall's - cello), Fraser Fifield (saxophone, whistle), Marcus Britton (Orkestra Del Sol - horn, trumpet). Previous gigs include performances with Bonobo, Jaga Jazzist, Aim, Alice Russell, Gilles Peterson, and Zero dB. Festival appearances include Triptych, Knockengorroch, Dialogues, Spectrum, Organic Beats, Dunstaffnage, The Graffiti Project, and SOUND festivals. Airplay includes Radio 1, XFM, Radio Scotland, Radio Magnetic, other stations and podcasts in the UK, USA, Belgium, Italy, Finland, and live sessions on BBC Radio 1 (Scotland), and BBC Radio Scotland. Tracks have been released on compilations from Alex Tronic Records (Edinburgh, May ‘07), and DDE Records in Italy (Dec ’06), including a remix of London–based Lautrec. Other remixes include Found, Great Ezcape, Kinetic Fallacy, and an interactive software remix for Coldcut.
Joe Acheson Remixes Page "...Right from the off, the Joe Acheson Quartet are a surprise, featuring - as they do tonight - six members: two drummers, a laptopper, Joe Acheson on bass and an impressive array of samplers, dials, cables, knobs, and levers, plus a violinist and cellist both poised in front of their music stands as if this was the Usher Hall. The resulting music is a beguiling, psychedelic, lush, sweeping and groovy hybrid of trip-hop swagger, discerning drum’n’bass, epic soundscapes, funky electronica, cosmic zouk, melancholy space synth, Ozric Tentacles-esque danceability, and impeccable nu-classical. But above all, Joe Acheson’s music is delightfully cinematic and makes out of the post-rock ideals the very music that they should spawn."
Skinny Magazine "...There's a metronomic precision as well as a very human pulse to this music, which seems designed to work on different levels simultaneously. Both danceable and attractively ambient, the compositions of bass guitarist and electronics wiz Acheson draw on a cornucopia of ingredients. Spaghetti western-like trumpet themes, recorded interviews, pizzicato violin figures, a phantom cor anglais, a blast of Blues in the Night, and gurgling electric cello lines emerge from live instruments and samples as the group's engine room and potential focal point - its two-drummers groove - converse and cannily blend marching snare drum patterns with funk fundamentals. Meanwhile, cityscapes and assorted visuals, courtesy of sixth member Ivan Torres Hdez, complement sounds with appropriate images."
The Herald “…quirky vocal samples, sweeping chords, plucky strings and beats that exterminate the dance floor. This boy is killing it just now. Don’t sleep.â€
The List "...a gem of a group who have been bewitching Edinburgh audiences to great acclaim most of this year... Two drum kits, violin, bass, an array of keys and synths mix to produce dark soundscapes with driving snares and a completely absorbing sound; Joe Acheson Quartet are a must see." "What made the night, however, was the Joe Acheson Quartet's assured, super-tight and undeniably funky set. Playing some new tunes, and attacking their sometimes overly-moody soundscapes with real gusto, they looked and sounded like they were worth every word of the hype. With the right record deal, they will do damage, make no mistake about it."
Skinny Magazine landscape etchings appear courtesy of Norman Ackroyd CBE
