Pepe Deluxe
Finnish group Pepe Deluxé initially found success around the turn of the 21st century as a sample-based electronic act before their sound evolved into an ambitious hybrid of vintage styles such as neo-psychedelia and Baroque pop. Early releases such as 1999's Super Sound (which included the U.K. Top 20 hit "Before You Leave") were stylish, lounge-friendly fusions of trip-hop and big beat. The band gradually shifted away from sampling, with 2007's fuzz guitar-heavy Spare Time Machine featuring the talents of dozens of musicians. Pepe Deluxé's 2012 "esoteric pop opera in three parts" Queen of the Wave made use of several obscure and bizarre instruments, and the group continued their exploration of the unusual with 2021's Phantom Cabinet, Vol. 1, self-described as "an impossible adventure."
Pepe Deluxé formed in Helsinki during the mid-'90s, initially consisting of DJ Slow, James Spectrum, and JA-Jazz. Their song "Call Me Goldfinger" appeared on the 1997 compilation Return of the D.J., Vol. 2, one of the most acclaimed releases of the era's turntablism scene. Pepe Deluxé remixed songs by several Finnish dance acts, and their self-released demo EP Three Times a Player appeared in 1998, earning positive press and leading to a contract with Brighton-based Catskills Records. Their debut album, Super Sound, arrived in 1999, with Emperor Norton issuing the LP in America. The Nina Simone-sampling single "Woman in Blue" (later retitled "Before You Leave" for copyright reasons) was featured in a Levi's ad campaign in 2001, and the song reached number 20 on the U.K. singles chart. During this period, the band remixed songs by Tom Jones and the Cardigans ("Burning Down the House"), Eminem's duo Bad Meets Evil ("Nuttin' to Do"), and Jacknife Lee ("Bursting Off the Backbeat").
The band returned in 2003 with Beatitude, which featured contributions from multi-instrumentalist Paul Malmström and sported more of a rock-based sound (it was also their first release without DJ Slow as a member, although he did contribute to one track). The single "Salami Fever" received notice for its martial arts-themed music video, and the song was subsequently sampled by the Prodigy on two different tracks. Spare Time Machine, the first Pepe Deluxé album to be devoid of samples, appeared in 2007. Its sound channeled vintage garage rock and psychedelic pop rather than hip-hop and club music. In 2008, JA-Jazz left the group and Malmström became a full-time member.
Pepe Deluxé spent several years putting together their ambitious fourth full-length, Queen of the Wave, which utilized obscure instruments such as Edison's Ghost Machine and the Great Stalacpipe Organ. The album received an American release on Asthmatic Kitty. The group composed the soundtrack to the game Angry Birds Go! in 2013. Pepe Deluxé wrote and recorded "The Surrealíst Woman," the theme to a graphic novel adaptation of an unrealized film script by Salvador Dalí and the Marx Brothers titled Giraffes on Horseback Salad. The song was issued as a 7" single and appeared on the graphic novel's soundtrack, both released in 2019. Pepe Deluxé's fifth album, Phantom Cabinet, Vol. 1, appeared in 2021. Continuing the band's search for lost and forgotten instruments, they employed such rarities as the Sexophone and the World's Largest Cowbell.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Phantom Cabinet Vol. 1
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 22 okt. 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
-
Queen of the Wave - The Expanded Edition
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 25 nov. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Super Sound
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Catskills Records on 1 jan. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spare Time Machine
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 25 jun. 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Queen of the Wave
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 30 jan. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Before You Leave
Pop - Released by Catskils Records on 1 feb. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back from the Futures with Goldfinger and K
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 12 jan. 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Queen of the Wave - The Expanded Edition
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 25 nov. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Everybody Is / Sweet Baby Sun
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 5 mrt. 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Woman in Blue EP
Electronic - Released by Catskils Records on 1 sep. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Surrealist Woman (Theme from Salvador Dali's "Giraffes on Horseback Salad")
Soundtracks - Released by Catskills Records on 15 mrt. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ask for a Kiss
Downtempo - Released by Catskils Records on 1 sep. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Super Sound EP
Electronic - Released by Catskils Records on 1 jul. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Queen of the Wave - The Expanded Edition
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 25 nov. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Angry Birds Go! (Original Game Soundtrack)
Originele soundtracks - Released by Rovio Entertainment on 23 jun. 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
A Night and a Day
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 15 jan. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Earth Boys are Easy (Instrumental Version)
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 26 mrt. 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Queen of the Wave - The Expanded Edition
Rock - Released by Catskills Records on 25 nov. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo