Fila Brazillia are set to release ‘Retrospective Redux 90 → 22’, an up-to-date collection that encompasses their wide ranging output. From pioneering psychedelic beats in the early 90s through to subaqueous house, downtempo deliciousness, rustic funk, and deranged disco in the current day; the neoteric duo’s healthy lack of reverence to scene and industry pressures has resulted in this enthrallingly fluid compendium of the past 30 years of electronic music.
Formed in Hull in 1990 by Steve Cobby and David McSherry, their early releases on Pork Recordings (also based in Hull), included albums ‘Old Codes New Chaos’, ‘Maim That Tune’, ‘Mess’, ‘Black Market Gardening’ ‘Luck Be a Weirdo Tonight’ and ‘Power Clown’. After creating their own label Twentythree Records they released further albums ‘A Touch Of Cloth’, ‘Jump Leads’, ‘The Life And Times Of Phoebus Brumal’ and ‘Dicks’.
They quietly called time on Fila Brazillia with the release of an original ‘Retrospective’ compilation in 2006. McSherry became a lecturer in Sound and Music Production at the University of Lincoln and Cobby has released several solo and collaborative projects. The duo reformed in March 2020 with the release of ‘MMXX’ EP and a reissue of their debut single ‘Mermaids’ was released by Gerd Janson’s Running Back label last year.
With Fila Brazillia’s original albums highly sought after on vinyl – regularly changing hands for three figures on Discogs – this updated ‘Retrospective’ also includes previously digital only tracks ‘Madame Le Fevre’ and ‘Neanderthal’ along with an exclusive new composition ‘Toro De Fuego’.
David McSherry explains, “This retrospective separates Fila’s output into four distinct periods: the early Pork Recordings era, where you’d find us hunkered over a sampler and an Atari; the latter Pork chapter, when we were based in Stunk Dusty, further expanding the FB sound away from any pigeon-holes; the 23 Records period where we developed the live band approach to take on the road, and, finally; the post-Hull years with us working mostly remotely.” Steve Cobby adds “All the tracks have been remastered from the original DATs with a brand new tune ‘Toro De Fuego’ commissioned purely for the release”.
