ÿþReleased in 1994, "Old Codes New Chaos" was the fila disruptor first album of British electronic folk duo Fila Brazillia. Steve Cobby and David McSherry brought together electronica, ambient, techno, rock and funk in a way that had almost never been heard before, and as such, can be considered the grandfather's of downtempo in Great Britain. 20 years later, we have the release of the "20th Anniversary Edition", containing the 12 tracks from the original album and adding 4 new ones. A treasure for nostalgics looking to get back to the start of this sound. "Old Codes New Chaos" in its new anniversary production sounds quite smooth in comparison with later albums like "Maim That Tune" or "Power Clown", but it does provide a multifaceted impression of a sound that has lost none of its power even after 20 years

Those speech samples place it in an early Nineties framework and are every bit as effective as The Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds'  Serratia Marcescans' mixes glittering ambient with the rambling reminiscences of a bunch of GIs fucked on acid. It's as brilliant fila shoes as it sounds. Then tracks like  The Light of Jesus' and  Pots & Pans' pick up the pace with some chunky grooves that would fit in well enough at any Ibiza beach-front cafe. In places this has a lolling, hyper-cool, chill-out groove, such as on the supreme trip hop departure  The Sheriff'. In others it's up and fila disruptor 2 in your face. But it's always funky and always supremely melodic& a bit like a Sasha set on valium. In other words it's as essentially Balearic as a bottle of San Miguel outside Cafe Mambo.

Adrift Amidst Les Odalisques has a much dreamier feel to it, like sunlight dappling through leaves, and the Fila boys lay a gentle groove on top. Bill Nelson's guitar comes to the fore on "The Airless Time," like a howl of pain, with Budd's piano following beside. "Blue Locus," the final track, is almost a reflection of the opening track, but one that opens up into sparkles. Beguiling, and a fascination diversion for the Fila boys.Considered a pre-cursor to the downbeat and trip hop fila shoes women movement, Fila Brazillia have explored the relationship between organic instrumentation and electronic sensibility throughout the 90's arriving logically at Jump Leads .

And they did this without interviews, press photos or advertising  no small feat in the pre-international  net-work days.See, the thing is that Fila Brazillia remember that there have been many periods in history where pop music has managed to be both challenging and popular. It's their shared sense of hope, history and humour that inspired Fila to form their own twentythree label to release album seven in 1999, and has carried them through to the creation of Jump Leads, due out early in 2002.Same thing goes with Cobby and Fila's approach to DJ ing. Absorb their new Another Late Night mix CD  which moves beautifully through the sounds of Marvin Gaye, Mr. Scruff, the Beta Band, Brian Eno, Kelis and others  for a taste.

The eclecticism and organic warmth of Fila Brazillia's electronica continue to amaze on Power Clown , one of their finest efforts to date. Laid-back jazz-funk grooves straight out of the '70s are the foundation of the record, but hints of Stevie Wonder-esque soul, hip-hop, bossa nova, ambient, spacey techno, house, minimalist electro, big-beat and trip-hop all pop up here and there, as do touches of ethnic percussion, acoustic guitar, saxophone solos, new age-y synth flourishes, and the occasional odd vocal sample or sound effect. What really pushes Power Clown over the top, though, is that the group maintains their focus throughout, never meandering and changing things fila australia up often enough to keep the grooves from becoming repetitive.

One of the finest and most over-looked electronic-dance releases of 1998.Another stone-cold classic of downtempo magic from the Hull mystery man. But did you expect anything less? As intricate, funky, heart-warming, soul-grabbing and downright groovy as anything on Pork so far, there's a subtle assuredness and fizzing sleight-of-hand at play here which makes you wonder why Mr Fila hasn't yet achieved Air-like fame. Soon to come, perhaps.Englishman Steve Cobby throws everything to chance, recording under more than a handful of pseudonyms for the fiercely independent and obscure Pork Recordings.