Mark Pritchard on Bleep

Mark Pritchard

A chameleonic presence at the heart of British electronic music, Mark Pritchard is as restless as he is prolific. His huge discography – including solo and collaborative projects across multiple aliases – functions as a field guide to three decades of dance mutation, connecting Midwest futurism and UK hardcore with global rhythms from Africa to Brazil. Many of his records are regarded as genre touchstones: the cloud-bursting techno of ‘Peschi’ (as Reload) and ‘Amenity’ (as Link), the precision-engineered drum ‘n’ bass of ‘Links’ (as The Chameleon), and the warped soul groove of ‘The Way’ and ambient techno vistas of 76:14 (as Global Communication), to name a few.

Raised in England’s rural West Country, Pritchard took up DJing in his teens just as rave, hip-hop and techno were colliding in clubs and free parties across the UK. An early attempt at zany hardcore, made under the alias Shaft, delivered an unexpected top 10 hit – and a level of visibility that he’d spend the next decade studiously undermining. A succession of new aliases and artistic left-turns has taken Pritchard from the expansive techno of Reload’s A Collection of Short Stories, to hi-tech D&B outings on influential labels Droppin’ Science and Good Looking Records, to ragga-footwork futurism as Africa Hitech with Steve Spacek.

His solo output kept pace with broader dance evolutions, spanning Detroit-inspired depth-charging as Harmonic 313, classic house as NY Connection, funky broken beat as Troubleman (for Brazilian specialists Far Out Recordings) and the gigantic ‘Elephant Dub’ for Mala’s Deep Medi Musik. Collaborative highlights include the library music-influenced Harmonic 33 (with Dave Brinkworth), breakbeat science as Vertigo (with Danny Breaks), misty soundscaping as Pulusha (with Opus III vocalist Kirsty Hawkshaw), lop-sided bleep-hop (with UK rap mavericks Wiley and Trim), and sparky dancehall on ‘Lion’ with MC Riko Dan.

Having met Aphex Twin and Tom Middleton on his local scene as a youth, Pritchard began a fruitful partnership with Middleton in 1991 with the launch of their label, Evolution. The duo worked together under many guises, making Detroit-tinged boogie-funk as Jedi Knights, dazzling widescreen techno as Link & E621, and setting the standard for all-back-to-mine ambient techno as Global Communication with the luscious 76:14 and the Chapterhouse remix album Blood Music: Pentamerous Metamorphosis.

After moving to Sydney, Australia, Pritchard retired his cast of aliases in 2013 and began releasing under his birth name, gifting his longtime home Warp with a string of itchy jungle-juke 12”s and two albums of astral introspection: 2016’s Under The Sun (featuring Thom Yorke and Linda Perhacs) and 2018’s The Four Worlds (featuring outsider icon The Space Lady). From the white heat of the dancefloor to the cooler climes of ambient and dub, Pritchard’s slippery discography continues to glow in the dark, a monument hiding in plain sight.

Chal Ravens – November 2024

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