David Morley

MartinJames, Sep 04, 2008

Morley's name is most often associated with the Belgian techno scene, primarily due to early R releases as Spectrum, TZ4, and under his own name which helped to solidify the label's nascent sound. Spectrum's "Brazil," recorded with R owner Renaat Vandepapeliere, was a visionary fusion of dancefloor techno/trance and ambient/experimental strains that helped earn R its association as an important force at the fore of European dance music.

Morley, together with Outlander's Marcos Salon, was also behind the fourth release (known as TZ4) in R' Test Zone series (and co wrote 2 of the TZ7 tracks with Maarten Van Der Vleuten with whom he also wrote the classic and highly sought after black label "Mantrax - Sonic Circus"), an important signpost in R' early development. In 1994, Morley released his first two EPs under his own name -- "Evolution" (the first release on R sublabel Apollo) and "Shuttle" (on R) -- both exploratory ambient/electro classics that sit neatly next to the works of such artists as Biosphere, Aphex Twin, and Higher Intelligence Agency as early examples of ambient/intelligence techno. More recently, Morley has released increasingly dark and textural works, both solo and in combination with former Inky Blacknuss collaborator/current Mo'Wax signee Andrea Parker. In addition to the pair's Infonet EP Angular Art (1995), Morley and Parker recorded the Too Good to Be Strange EP (Apollo, 1995) under the name Two Sandwiches Short of a Lunchbox (later used in the Tom Cruise film "Vanilla Sky"), as well as contributed tracks to R ambient sublabel Apollo's second label comp The Divine Compilation.

Morley's debut full-length, Tilted, appeared on Apollo in 1998. He also co-wrote Andreas Parker's classic debut "Kiss My ARP" on Mo Wax and has recently released a variety of songs on Miss Parker's "Touchin' Bass" label and on Sub Rosa's sub label "Quatermass".

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