Bandulu

The North London trio of Jamie Bissmire, John O'Connell, and Lucien Thompson make hard-nosed, militant street-grit techno under the names Thunderground, New Adult, Sons of the Subway, Space DJz, and, most often, Bandulu. (The name is a term used in rasta patois for a bandit or criminal.) The group recorded primarily for noted techno imprint Infonet (which has also featured releases from the Black Dog and Global Communication aegis Reload, among others) before signing to Sony subsidiary Blanco y N***o in 1995, where the group's hard-edged sound has shown no sign of relenting. Bandulu have earned props from techno purists just as they've taken the music's clarion call of innovation in a variety of previously unexplored directions, fusing a Detroit-styled ruddiness with elements of dub, jazz, and electro, the latter culled from the trio's youth spent skateboarding, breakdancing, and graffiti writing in the North London area of Muswell Hill. Although earlier singles such as "Guidance" and "Internal Oceanz" mined similar "armchair" territory as less obviously dancefloor-bound artists such as Richard Kirk, the Black Dog, and (some) Tony Thorpe, the group's sound has gotten noticeably more aggressive with each release, fusing fast, thick breaks and pummeling beats with the darker sides of acid and hardcore. Bandulu continue to be in-demand as remixers, and have also blossomed as a live act, even touring in support of their 1996 LP, Cornerstone.