The first time I stumbled across the music of Manchester-based XXXY (aka Rupert Taylor), it was like finding a £20 note down the back of the sofa. For those who have yet to turn on to what he does, its like "the mutated child of house, dubstep, garage and techno," which may not sound like anything that hasn't been done before - and really it isn't - but it's one of the finest splicing of genres I've come across in a long while.
Having sprung from the loins of a city that also birthed Autechre, New Order and Oasis, the obvious question for Taylor has to be whether any of this musical heritage has seeped into his psyche. "I'm not sure if Manchester's musical heritage has influenced me that much - I'm no fan of parkas and mid haircuts. But going to nights like electric chair definitely shaped my sound." In terms of the Mancunian music scene as it currently stands, he says "Manchester can be a bit slow at getting things, dubstep took a while to take off and even when it did the more interesting nights were sparsely populated so there was a load of wobbly key nights that sprung up over a short period of time. Thankfully these appear to be dying down and the more diverse nights, such as Hoyahoya & Meandyou, are changing things up for the better."
Taylor produces on "a MacBook pro, monitors, little mixer and a couple of midi controllers powered by tea and biscuits." It’s a set up that has enabled him to bring into the world the joyful two step of ‘Ordinary Things,’ the drum driven funk of ‘Replicate’ and the excellent ‘U Always Start It’, a triumph of warm pulsing synth and old school Todd Edwards chopped up vocals. If Taylor could lure anyone to Chorlton to collaborate with him in future, he says it would be Bjork or Modeselektor, "she has the finest voice I have ever heard and modeselektor are just brilliant producers." Perhaps this wish might one day be granted, given the attention he has been generating - superclub Fabric slapped ‘Sing With Us’ on Elevator Music Volume 1 earlier this year, he's done the August mix for FACT and recently become part of Reprise booking agency family. But despite this growing spotlight beaming on him from outside Manchester's boundaries, for the moment the lure of the capital is not strong enough to dislodge Taylor from his Chorlton base: "there are times when it makes sense like when I've been down [to London] three times in a month and there are others when I feel completely happy being in Manchester. It would be very hard for me to leave Chorlton."
Garage movements of yesteryear have undoubtedly produced some horrendous, highly publicised duds, giving the genre a thoroughly bad – and mostly undeserved – reputation. But, even given the slightly questionable name, the 'future garage' movement that claims XXXY as one of its own is a far subtler, more interesting beast. Taylor appears not to be a fan of labels, seeing himself as something of a lone ranger musically, and he's clearly a believer in musical boundaries not being what they were "there are still definable genres but the lines are blurring which is brilliant, you can go out and hear so many different styles of music, which can only lead to better things." So in terms of his own listening choices, that would logically make Taylor something of a genre chameleon. Or perhaps he’s harbouring a secret mainstream Muse addiction. "I used to be quite into muse but they went a bit OTT. I listen to loads of stuff I'm big into Spiritualized and Mogwai as well as house techno garage etc". He also name checks new blood like Pariah (www.completelytwisteduk.blogspot.com/2010/06/pariah-beats) Jamie Grind, Canblaster, Polish beatmaster Zeppy Zep and the output from labels like Well Rounded, We Play House, Eglo, R2 and Horizontal Ground.
In a time flooded by clumsy, grinding, bastardised dubstep and badly produced ear-bending noise, XXXY's tunes are a breath of fresh air without lacking anything in terms of basslines, substance or imagination. You almost get the sugary hit of a pop tune from some of his music without the unsatisfying formulaic structure and overdone production. The tracks he makes are neat and stylish and completely whole so that you're rarely left wishing he'd added anything in or taken a sound away. Best of all, his music is significant but doesn’t take itself too seriously – the bouncy beats of 'This Much' are completely infectious - and his skills are varied, he's got no problem genre hopping and he does it well.
2010 for XXXY holds "more releases, more gigs. There have been suggestions of an album but I don't feel capable of writing one yet," which is a brave admission in an industry where if you can't be creative on tap you may as well sign up at the job centre. But then Taylor still has a day job so for now his only musical motivation is the love of the beats. And a desire to be "happy until my times comes." And if you don't understand that then your heart is a bagel.
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