Taken off the Finger Lickin’ legend’s 2004 debut Breakfast Of Champions, Shapethrower channels quite a bit of Leftfield for an old school progressive house vibe Barnes and Daley would’ve been proud of (and which they either failed, or were unwilling, to recapture on their follow-up clunker Rhythm And Stealth).
At the time, Lee was championing a vanity genre called Tech-Funk that was, according to the man himself, a fusion of Techno, Funk, House, Electro and Breakbeat.
While some of the other tracks on the record may have better embodied this spirit (whatever that was), Shapethrower was arguably a Leftfield throwback, with its pulsating groove and mean and moody sound.
Interestingly, I saw Lee play a couple of times at the now-defunct but magical DC super club Nation (I believe it’s a parking lot now-ironic as you could never find parking when you were there).
He was quite an inspiration when I decided to get into the game circa 2005, and I even gave him of a CD of some of my ‘choice shit’ (in the words of a younger, brasher Brown).
Lee was extremely enthusiastic and friendly.
“I’ll definitely be emailing you,” he said with a warm smile.
I’m still waiting, Lee…
Grant Plant, your time in the spotlight has come, at long last.
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