Manchester's forgotten latin-house pioneers assembled on definitive club-hits compilation
9/10
This year heralds the 30th anniversary of Britain's most legendary nightclub The Hacienda, which finally closed under a blizzard of drugs, guns and debts in 1997. But that's the bad news out of the way - Its 15-year history is often fondly-remembered, not only for its architecture, its style and its bonkers acoustics, but for the good times, the music, the drugs and the legends, of which there are many.
In its early days, Fac 51 was a venue for Factory artists and local acts to perform in, much like the newly-founded Fac 251 now currently-based half-a-mile down the road but, by the mid to late '80s, a few wily DJs saw the future of music as being spun by their good selves, rather than being performed on stage - The Hacienda became a nightclub. One such DJ was Mike Pickering who, having grown weary of his band Quando Quango, opted to invest in a few American Chicago House imports and wield them at The Hacienda's legendary Nude Night, along with other UK classics. Just a short while later, along with A Certain Ratio's ex-singer and percussionist Simon Topping and keyboardist, the late Richie Close, T-Coy were born and so, to a degree, were the first shoots of British house music.
Not surprisingly, lead track on "Carino + Singles" is their landmark piece, "Carino" - and so it should be. Ten minutes of Chicago-inspired hi-hats, cowbells, Latino piano and that bassline affirmed their place in history as one of the first, if not the first, UK outfit to craft sweet, sweet minimalist rhythms without so much as a chorus or a rap - it just didn't need it. Pickering's ear for a beat, Topping's knack of rhythm and Close's deftest of ivory-tinkling brought in a human element to dance-music, much like 808 State. Unlike Graham Massey's outfit, T-Coy didn't make the charts with any of their fine anthems, even "Carino".
The rest of the tracks on this typically detailed and informative CD from LTM include a-sides such as "I Like to Listen" and "Night Train", as well as a couple of rarities in the shape of Annette's timeless "Dream 17" (remixed here by T-Coy for a 12"/LP called North: The Sound of the Dance Underground, well overdue for a proper reissue) and two decent, recent updates of "Carino".
Where T-Coy excelled though was on a few of the 12" flip-sides - pick of the bunch here are the two tunes that accompanied "I Like to Forget", namely "Catalonia" and "Da Me Mas", both of which are potent and punchy and the equal of this CD's key lead-off track. The latter is absolutely essential, quite frankly - never mind the Balaerics, here's the bollocks.
Sadly, aside from a core unit of Northern clubbers, much of T-Coy's worthwhile output remained undiscovered by anyone south of Stockport - until now. "Carino + Singles" is a must-have for any music fan keen to bridge the gap in their collection between Factory's game efforts at electro-house and Pickering's later and more successful floor-fillers, M People.
For further information about Mike Pickering's output, head to Cerysmatic here
9/10
In its early days, Fac 51 was a venue for Factory artists and local acts to perform in, much like the newly-founded Fac 251 now currently-based half-a-mile down the road but, by the mid to late '80s, a few wily DJs saw the future of music as being spun by their good selves, rather than being performed on stage - The Hacienda became a nightclub. One such DJ was Mike Pickering who, having grown weary of his band Quando Quango, opted to invest in a few American Chicago House imports and wield them at The Hacienda's legendary Nude Night, along with other UK classics. Just a short while later, along with A Certain Ratio's ex-singer and percussionist Simon Topping and keyboardist, the late Richie Close, T-Coy were born and so, to a degree, were the first shoots of British house music.
Not surprisingly, lead track on "Carino + Singles" is their landmark piece, "Carino" - and so it should be. Ten minutes of Chicago-inspired hi-hats, cowbells, Latino piano and that bassline affirmed their place in history as one of the first, if not the first, UK outfit to craft sweet, sweet minimalist rhythms without so much as a chorus or a rap - it just didn't need it. Pickering's ear for a beat, Topping's knack of rhythm and Close's deftest of ivory-tinkling brought in a human element to dance-music, much like 808 State. Unlike Graham Massey's outfit, T-Coy didn't make the charts with any of their fine anthems, even "Carino".
The rest of the tracks on this typically detailed and informative CD from LTM include a-sides such as "I Like to Listen" and "Night Train", as well as a couple of rarities in the shape of Annette's timeless "Dream 17" (remixed here by T-Coy for a 12"/LP called North: The Sound of the Dance Underground, well overdue for a proper reissue) and two decent, recent updates of "Carino".
Where T-Coy excelled though was on a few of the 12" flip-sides - pick of the bunch here are the two tunes that accompanied "I Like to Forget", namely "Catalonia" and "Da Me Mas", both of which are potent and punchy and the equal of this CD's key lead-off track. The latter is absolutely essential, quite frankly - never mind the Balaerics, here's the bollocks.
Sadly, aside from a core unit of Northern clubbers, much of T-Coy's worthwhile output remained undiscovered by anyone south of Stockport - until now. "Carino + Singles" is a must-have for any music fan keen to bridge the gap in their collection between Factory's game efforts at electro-house and Pickering's later and more successful floor-fillers, M People.
For further information about Mike Pickering's output, head to Cerysmatic here