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, Kasabian 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, with Mace providing seismic sub lines on bass and Neil "Quin" Watkins, assiduously looking after drums and triggering. Their chance meeting in 2005 produced the impetus to turn Baker's embryonic tracks into the fully grown, gold plated monsters
they now are. The recent recruitment of the gorgeous Ms. Sarah Dean injecting a tasty slice of vocal sassy-ness and feminity into the mix, the foursome is now complete and the band are set to tear a hole in the landscape of 2008/9.
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.
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.
The band's debut album, Digital Scars, is a an intoxicating mix of programmed loops, samples and live instruments, from downtempo to Bonham-esque big beats through to drum & bass. The truly huge production comes courtesy of Tim 50 with studio legend Warne "The The, Midnight Oil, Jesus Jones" Livesey on mixing duties. It is available at
Amazon and CDBaby with downloads on iTunes, Indiestore, Napster and other digital networks. They will also be playing live shows throughout our green and pleasant land from now til the end of time.
News: Black Circle and Take Something For the Soul (from Digital Scars) have both just been featured in the new series of CSI: New York.
Black Circle will be released as a single on 13th Oct with accompanying video directed by Chris Gooch and Vanessa Whyte.
