High Contrast

High Contrast is the stage name of Welsh drum and bass DJ and producer Lincoln Barrett. He was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1979.

History

Lincoln Barrett grew up more interested in films and film soundtracks rather than music, and still cites Wendy Carlos's A Clockwork Orange soundtrack album and the Vangelis soundtrack for Blade Runner as defining musical influences. Whilst studying film making in Newport, he heard J Majik's "Arabian Nights" which turned the then 17-year-old Barrett onto drum and bass music.

A short time after he began to make music, he was given a DJ residency at Cardiff's drum and bass night, named Silent Running. During his residency at Silent Running, Barrett played alongside artists such as Grooverider and London Elektricity.

Barrett's sound can be simply classified as drum and bass, but many other music critics are beginning to call his specific sound "liquid funk," the sound first defined by Fabio. It is sometimes described as uplifting jungle.

His music contains many motifs and elements found in House music, such as androgynous time stretched vocals, electric pianos, violins and low-pass filtered samples.

In June 2002, Barrett's debut LP "True Colours" was released on Hospital Records to critical acclaim, with 'Return of Forever' and 'Global Love' finding their way into the UK singles chart. His second album "High Society" was one of the most successful drum and bass albums of 2004.

On 6 April 2003, High Contrast was featured on the prestigious BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix show. His mix included most of the then current liquid funk anthems, mostly from the Hospital Records label. On 9 January 2005, this Essential Mix was replayed on Radio 1 when another drum and bass artist, Andy C, was unable to deliver his mix.

Today

He is a highly sought-after DJ and receives numerous remix requests; previous popular remixes include Missy Elliot's 'We Run This', The Streets' 'It's Too Late' and The White Stripes 'Blue Orchid'. Barrett doesn't drink, smoke, or take any other drugs. He is a Vegetarian. His father used to manage Shakin Stevens. His mother is Welsh Assembly Member Lorraine Barrett for Cardiff South and Penarth.

Barrett currently is a resident DJ at the following clubs: Hospitality as part of Hospital Records at Herbal and Heaven (club) in London, Aperture at The Welsh Club in Cardiff, He is also on regular rotation at Fabric in London.

With the releases of "When The Lights Go Down", "Angels and Fly Remix" and "Days Go By", Barrett has shifted his talents somewhat from liquid funk to music with a somewhat harder edge. His newer, more synth-driven releases still contain his classic melodic style.

In October 2005, Barrett launched his own record label, The Contrast. The first single, "Days Go By/What We Do" was released out in early November 2005.

High Contrast is currently on tour promoting his new album, 'Tough Guys Don't Dance', which was released on October 1st 2007. The second single from the album- 'If We Ever' is played by top DJs in the UK and can be heard in clubs now. It has also been heavily played and supported on Radio 1 by Annie Mac, Zane Lowe and Jo Whiley helping it to reach number 1 in the DnB chart, number 1 in the dance chart and number 4 in the Indie chart.

He was featured once again on Radio 1's Essential Mix on 7 October 2007. A tracklisting can be found [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/essentialmix/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20071007 here] . This essential mix won Essential Mix of the year (2007) as chosen by Pete Tong. In 2008, High Contrast remixed the #1 single "No way to say" for Japanese Mega-star Ayumi Hamasaki's remix album titled Ayu-mi-x VI -Silver-. He also made successful remixes of Hometown Glory by Adele and Pjanoo by Eric Prydz.

Discography

Albums

* True Colours (2002)
* High Society (2004)
* Fabric Live 25 (2005)
* Tough Guys Don't Dance (2007)
* Watch The Ride (2008)

Singles

*Make it Tonight/Mermaid Scar (2001)
*Return of Forever (2002)
*Global Love (2002)
*Basement Track (2003)
*Twilight's Last Gleaming(2004)
*Angels and Fly (2004)
*Racing Green/St Ives (2004)
*When the Lights Go Down/Magic (2005)
*Days Go By/What We Do (2005)
*Everything's Different/Green Screen (2007)
*If We Ever/Pink Flamingos (released 16th July 2007) UK - #148
*In A Gadda Da Vida/Forever And A Day (2007) UK Indie - #12

External links

* [http://www.hospitalrecords.com/artists/highcontrast/ High Contrast official biography] at Hospital Records.com
* [http://www.datababes.de/Word-Vibe/Interviews/interviews.html Interview with High Contrast] (2002)
* [http://www.myspace.com/highcontrastuk High Contrast on MySpace]
*Discogs artist|artist=High+Contrast|name=High Contrast
*Rolldabeats artist|artist=high_contrast|name=High Contrast