 THE
IDJUTS BOYS FIRST EVER AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Future Classic is very proud to present, for the
first time to our shores, Conrad and Dan –
known to most as the legendary IDJUT BOYS.
These days the proof that the Idjuts are gods is
everywhere. Their cult U-Star records go for upward
of 400 Pounds on E-bay and are considered some of
the most collectable in British Dance Music history,
their Nuphonic compilation “Saturday Nite Live”
was one of the time, and the latest incarnation
of Nuphonic – Tirk – turned to the Idjuts
when it was time to release their first CD - “Press
Play”.
It was back in 1994 that this story began, the year
U-Star was formed - the label was a continuation
of their legendary parties in London of the same
the name. It was also the year that Conrad and Dan
went to hear one of their favourites – François
Kevorkian – play two copies of their fourth
release “Not Reggae” back to back at the
peak of his set. They knew they were onto a good
thing. And never let up.
The labels Discfunction and Noid were soon to follow,
as did their debut “Life, The Shoeing You Deserve”
for Scotland’s premier deep house imprint -
Glasgow Underground. As with New York label, Environ
and Norway’s Feedelity, Noid is one of the
labels that is key to the juggernaut that is the
disco sound of today. With releases from Maurice
Fulton, Kathy Diamond and Feedelity’s own Lindstrom
it is one of the most important imprints around
today; especially if good, timeless music is your
language.
Idjut Boys call themselves stupid, yet their music
is anything but. It's a world away from the dumb
productions that usually proliferate dance music.
Tracks where they grab disco, dub, electro, funk,
house, hip hop and rock, then fuse the lot into
the kind of groove that leaves dancefloors reeling,
their peers speechless and some of the best labels
around clamouring for remixes and originals. Aside
from their own 3 labels the Idjuts have released
on DFA Records, Eskimo Recordings, Bear Funk, Tirk,
DC Recorings, LO Recordings, Nuphonic, Jaded Muzak,
Session Recordings, Glasgow Underground, Headinghome,
Yellow Productions, Eastwest, Atlantic, Tummy Touch,
Westend Records, Play It Again Sam (PIAS), !K7,
Z Records, Music For Dreams, Radius, Distance and
NRK.
With this kind of acclaim it’s not surprising
that Conrad and Dan have the world as their playground.
The lads have played everywhere you would expect
– Bestival, Isle Of White; Cargo, London; Fabric,
London; Harvey’s Sarcastic Disco, Los Angeles;
The End, San Francisco; Glastonbury, UK; Life Force,
Tokyo; Yellow, Tokyo as well as places you won’t
expect like Croatia and Serbia.
By Bill Brewster 2008
They are a pair of idjuts in more ways than one.
Born under a crossfire hurricane (force eight),
they were spewed out of a shattered meteorite that
exploded into disco-based fragments just south of
the mean streets of Cherry Hinton in 1988. They
took on the human life form of a West Ham supporting
Londoner (Dan Tyler) and a Rabelaisian Mackem with
a fine line in worrying facial furniture (Conrad
McDonnell). The pair of them together now known
as the Idjut Boys for their methods, their disorganisation,
their merrymaking and their innate idjutness.
They forged a reputation firstly for the U-Star
parties in the glittering metropolis of Kings Cross
which gave them the name of their label and a series
of releases, some brilliant, many comical but always
interesting and diverting even when they went tragically
wrong. They also had the best song titles since
Funkadelic and Lonnie Donegan, our particular favourite
being Girth Soup.
Inspired as much by Lennie Bennett as Larry Levan,
using disco and 1970s cabaret comedians as a starting
point, they have modernised the sound using dread
amounts of echo and reverb, coruscating guitars
of the type not seen since axemen with 20-inch pony
tails were de rigueur and liberally aided by velvet
dickie bows and a roistering mother-in-law gag or
two.
Remix work has followed them like a lost puppy,
including major label work for the likes of Lighthouse
Family, Scissor Sisters, Sound 5, Len, as well as
regular cohorts such as A Man Called Adam, with
the Scissor Sisters being transformed from glittery
knickers disco into a minor psych-pop masterpiece.
Their DJ sets are notable for their unpredictability:
Will they both be able to stand up at the same time?
What the hell is this they’re playing? How
did they get away with that? In a world with tightly
(corporately) marketed DJs there are very few of
whom you can say you have no idea what they will
do for the next two hours, but the Idjut Boys are
in that camp. As happy sneaking Scots heavy metal
band Nazareth into their sets as they are Frankie
Knuckles, expect the unexpected; something that
is also reflected in the compilations they have
done for Nuphonic and Tirk, which have also featured
their legendary edits, much coveted among DJs in
the know, and occasionally slipping out on to cheeky
white labels.
If you like to know what you’re getting for
tea every night, the Idjuts might not be for you.
But if you fancy a spot of Girth Soup now and again,
there’s only one duo that will provide it.
And it ain’t Peters & Lee.
Bill Brewster 2008
(author of "last night a dj saved my life")
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