Though all genres of Black music have been subjected to exclusion, commodification and whitewashing, Black ownership in music varies. While rap and hip-hop are largely...
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100 years of electronic music
In March 1913 Luigi Russolo, the Italian futurist, stormed out of a classical concert in Milan and published an open letter demanding a new form of modern music.
Features
Black-owned music organisations, radio stations and record labels are helping to create vital platforms for Black producers and DJs who’ve been held back by systemic...
Features
In this series, Selections, we invite DJs, producers and label heads to dig into their digital crates and share the contents of their collections. This week, Shannen SP spotlights amapiano, footwork, Asakaa drill and more
Does Spectrasonics’ new bass softsynth plug-in Trilian deliver?
Spectrasonics are back with a vengeance with Trilian, the very long-awaited follow-up to their Trilogy Bass Softsynth. Back in the day, nearly every producer who...
Cover Features
Durban’s DJ Lag is a pioneer of the world-conquering South African dance music genre, gqom. He’s toured the world and worked with superstars, but he’s...
Features
With increasing appetites for old, ‘undiscovered’ music, reissue labels have seen a boom in recent years. Running a reissue label is a tender, laborious process...
Features
In 1997, Moodymann released his debut LP, ‘Silentintroduction’, via Carl Craig’s Planet E imprint. A compilation of some his best early tracks, the album captured...
Features
When the pandemic hit, Hyperdub-signed Canadian musician and vocalist Jessy Lanza packed up and moved to the sunny West Coast, where she began a...
British ravers get the summer pick-up we needed at 10th Secret Garden Party
With the hysteria surrounding Bloc 2012 down to a brooding hum, the two weeks after the fiasco feeling gradually switched from scornful disdain to dull...
Features
The latest and greatest DJs and producers rising to the top this month. From stomping techno and jazzy breaks to experimental reggaetón and melodic house, here's February 2022's list of upcoming talent you should be keeping track of
Position: 5
Non Mover
Australian trio Cut Copy won their way into our record boxes with the LP In Ghost Colours and on the 21st of July we witness...
The tune is already leaving its mark in Australia where it has become a firm favourite on the radio, described as a 'future-classic sax-house anthem...
Features
As part of our end of year and end of decade coverage, we've written about our favourite albums, tracks and compilations. Here, DJ Mag staff...
The importance of Belgium in the development of electronic music
With Belgium Booms, a series of events in London this October showcasing the country’s talent, and a new film The Sound of Belgium looking to change that public perception, we take a closer look at the country that gave us EBM, new beat, hardcore techno and so much more...
Wild Rumpus is just that: an insanely fun, out-of-control party on wax...
The brainchild of DJ Cosmo (Colleen Murphy) the Boston-born, New York raised, London dwelling disco / house music legend, and infamous leftfield guitarist Gary Lucas, who's played with Captain Beefheart, Lou Reed and Jeff Buckley, they make the kind of funky psychedelic rhythms that can only emanate from maverick minds. First single 'Musical Blaze Up' traverses the dub country route, while new cut 'Purple Somersault' is a bizarre and brilliant collision between cranked Kraut-rock drums, wigged surf guitar and scratchy funk. DJmag beckoned Murphy away from her surf board for a minute to talk names, grooves, and grand plans…
So why the name Wild Rumpus?!
"It's from a children's book called 'Where the Wild Things Are' by Maurice Sendak which I loved as a kid and which I read to my daughter. There is a great part of the story where the little boy and his monster friends are about to have a manic dance party underneath a full moon and it says, 'And now let the wild rumpus start'. It just had to be used."
It seems to be quite an unusual hook up, between you Cosmo, and Gary Lucas. How did you come to be working together?
"Gary and I have been friends for nearly 20 years and have talked about working together for ages. I used to do a few different radio shows on WNYU in NYC and had him up when he was relaunching his solo career in the late '80s. As most people in the UK know me for being a 'dance' DJ, many may think it is quite an unusual collaboration. However, most people don't know that I was first and foremost a rock chick and founded the first psychedelic / progressive rock show on my radio station and I was a huge Captain Beefheart fan before house music even existed!"
You seem to have a diverse taste - one minute dubbed out beats and rhymes, the next Krautrock surf music... Is there a grand Wild Rumpus plan?
"Wild Rumpus is about fusing different styles but in a way that works. It's also about having fun and being irreverent. And finally it's about being different. I spend a few hours at the record store and find that 99% of the music to which I am subjected to is derivative. It's so boring. Gary and I both have musically diverse backgrounds and we are able to use our musical heritage in a unique way. This is all music we love!"
What's a 'Purple Somersault'?
"It's a 'term' my daughter came up with. Her favourite colour is purple and 'purple' has also become an adjective that means something that is 'the best'. She likes being flipped upside down and would ask us to help her do an orange somersault, a black somersault (very sinister), a yellow somersault (happy!), etc. But the best was always the 'Purple Somersault'. Also, as this is a surf tune, the somersault refers to the somersaults one does underwater after a wipe-out."
Is there an album in the works? What can we expect?
"There is an album in the works. We have a lot of Gary's guitar tracks that we have recorded and now it's up to me to put it all together so I have quite a job in front of me. Gary is the most original guitarist and can do anything. When we're in the studio it's just so easy but the problem comes with the editing and arranging as sometimes there is almost too much! All I can say about the album is that it will be diverse but always psychedelic and soulful."
What's next for Wild Rumpus?
"Right now we're getting our live show, The Wild Rumpus Experience, together for the summer. We have performed in some wild places including India and are hoping to for some of the UK festivals. We work with visual artist Rob Rainbow who works with The Light Surgeons and Nitin Sawhney amongst others and have also worked with percussionists and a poi fire dancer! We have a show that reaches people on many dimensions so the visual element is really important. We just want to do something that is a bit different."