Lunatic Calm

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Lunatic Calm
Origin United Kingdom
Genre(s) Electronic
Years active 1996 - 2001
Label(s) MCA Records
City of Angels
Associated acts Headless Chickens
Flicker Noise
Former members
Simon "sHack" Shackleton
Howard "Howie" Saunders

Lunatic Calm were a UK-based electronic music group, formed in 1996. The group, who despite a wide-ranging sound palette, were best known for their high impact, industrial-tinged compositions.

Contents

[edit] History

Formed in 1996 and comprising of Simon "sHack" Shackleton and Howard "Howie" Saunders, they released two well received albums, as well as several singles and a wide range of remixes. The two had known each other since an early age, and prior to forming Lunatic Calm, they also played in several bands with Thom Yorke (Radiohead frontman), namely Headless Chickens and Flicker Noise.

[edit] First album

Their debut album Metropol was often compared to the likes of The Prodigy, although it ranged from downtempo slices of detailed urban trip-hop to turbo-charged electronic filth. Record company MCA failed to support the band and they switched their attentions to the American market where they enjoyed a series of successful tours with the likes of Crystal Method. The most notable track from that album, and the one for which they will always be best known is "Leave You Far Behind", which has appeared on numerous movie soundtracks including The Matrix, Charlie's Angels, and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation amongst many others. They also had a number of tracks used on video games, and did numerous remixes for artists such as Bush, DJ Scissorkicks, and Curve.

[edit] Second album

Their second album, Breaking Point was released in 2001 after several years of wrangling with record companies. As the album was due to be released, the record label, City of Angels went under, and without label support the band were unable to continue and went their separate ways.

[edit] After Lunatic Calm

sHack has been highly active as a solo producer & DJ ever since, operating primarily under the name Elite Force, but also under aliases such as Killer Elite, Futurecore, Double Black, pHrack R and Zodiac Cartel. He currently runs his own Used & Abused record label, having also run the Fused & Bruised imprint between 1996 - 2002, and is often cited as one of the leading proponents of the emergent Tech-Funk movement, fusing house, breaks, Electro & Techno. Some of his songs (both remixes and new tracks) have appeared on the Crystal Method remix albums, Community Service and Community Service II amongst others.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • "Centista"
  • "One Step"
  • "Leave You Far Behind" (1997)
  • "Roll the Dice" (1997)

[edit] Remixes

[edit] Soundtrack appearances

[edit] External links

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