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Morcheeba (UK)
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March 13, 20:00
YotaSpace 
The most groove-oriented act in the mid-'90s female-fronted electronica crowd, Morcheeba rely on the sweet, fluid vocals of Skye Edwards and a laid-back mix of fusion, funk, and blues produced by brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey, on beats/scratches and guitar/keyboards, respectively. The trio was formed in 1995 when the Godfreys decided to go out on their own after co-producing six tracks for David Byrne's album Feelings. They submitted several tapes of their instrumental demos to labels around London, but received little interest in return. After hooking up with vocalist Edwards at a party, however, their music began to gel and Morcheeba signed to the China label. After the release of two EPs ("Trigger Hippie" and "Music That We Hear"), the trio issued its debut album "Who Can You Trust?" It appeared on the American Discovery label in late 1996, and Morcheeba toured the U.S. with Live and Fiona Apple the following year. "Big Calm" followed in 1998 and "Fragments of Freedom" was released two years later. "Charango" appeared in 2002 and featured guest appearances from Lambchop's Kurt Wagner and rapper Slick Rick. A year later, the greatest-hits collection "Parts of the Process" was released and Skye Edwards left the band. Former Noonday Underground vocalist Daisy Martey joined the group for 2005's The Antidote, a more acoustic album that mixed psychedelia with Burt Bacharach-styled pop. "Dive Deep" (2008) took a marked turn toward folk, with the Godfreys using a revolving door of vocalists who included Thomas Dybdahl, Judie Tzuke, and Bradley Burgess.
Skye Edwards returned to the fold for 2010's Blood Like Lemonade. "One thing Morcheeba's always tried to do is make the record we don't already have in our record collection," explains Ross Godfrey, the trio's guitarist and all-round multi-instrumentalist. “I can come home from the pub and spend hours going through thousands of old vinyl records trying to find the one perfect record to fit the moment, and that's always the one we wanted to make ourselves, with that 3am, spliffed-out sound, like a warm, fuzzy blanket of psychedelia."
Blood Like Lemonade is the album they've been searching for all these years, one which takes the essence of earlier classics like Who Can You Trust? and Big Calm, and transports it to exotic new places. At its heart are the band’s trademark oozing downtempo trip-hop grooves, embellished with intriguing, idiosyncratic flourishes like the African thumb-piano of "Even Though", the sitar drone and blues harmonica of "Mandala", and the freak-folk guitar jangle of "I Am The Spring", and topped off with Skye's intimately soulful vocals.
"We always thought we’d work with Skye again," says Ross. "When we made the first four records, we knew it was a magic formula, but after a time we wanted a break, and Skye wanted to make a record of her own, because working within a band can be quite constricting."
In 2013 Paul, Ross and Skye released Head Up High. The latter featured guest appearances from rappers Charli 2na and Rizzle Kicks along with White Denim member James Petralli. Since reuniting with lead singer Skye Edwards for their 2010 album, Blood like Lemonade, Brits Morcheeba have found their heart again. "Gimme Your Love" kicks off eighth album Head up High with Edwards' seductive invitation to, "Pull the blind down/try to wind down/take the liberty," while the dub-enhanced "Make Believer" is playful and sexy, making both upbeat tracks album highlights. While "Call it Love" is an attention-grabbing, Edwards-free diversion sung by James Petralli, its placement as the third track out the gate is abrupt. When Edwards returns for the crisp, beautifully disquieting "Under the Ice," the album feels like it is moving and breathing again. Edwards' ability to morph her magnificently feminine voice from bold to elusive, as on the frisky, Kylie Minogue-esque "Do You Good," often saves tracks that may otherwise be flavourless. Head Up High satisfyingly winds itself from one song to another, yet lacks a bit of overall "oomph"; it also sounds as if it could have been made ten years ago. Is that a good thing? Let's just say, in this case, it's not a bad aspect; it works.
In 2015 Morcheeba are touring with new program "The Best Of" including such hits as Otherwise, Down By The Sea and many others. Don't miss!
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