Filthy Dukes - A contradiction in terms ?

Filthy Dukes are the latest band to become masters of blurring the genre lines, in an age of pigeon-holing groups and artists, the artists that will have a great year in 2009 will be the ones that you can’t put into one specific genre and Filthy Dukes certainly have that accolade.

They comprise of Olly Dixon and Tim Lawton, who make up two thirds of the band. They started off as a couple of friends DJing and now they have a band. There sound is amalgamation of many from Kraftwerk to Bloc Party - so you will struggle to pigeon hole them and that will probably suit them.

In recent years they have had very successful night at Fabric in London called Kill em all and have had some the world’s best DJ’s playing alongside them including Justice, Bloc Party and Erol Alkan to name a few.

They sound like the bastard child of all their past club nights, hip hop woven into dirty, fuzzy bass lines a la Justice and seeded with 80′s synth pop hooks.

In February they released the album to great acclaim – as with most personal art forms it is a result of their influences, ranging from Tangerine Dream to Hot Chip, Can to SMD, Roxy Music to Soulwax, Hip Hop to Krautrock.

One thing is for sure these guys know their synths - especially the old ones they recently bought a mixing desk that was used by Konrad Plank who is probably the most important German producer ever, and his creativity as a sound engineering helped to forge some of the most creative works form the Krautrock 70′s scene.

Plank is most reputed for being the producer of Kraftwerk’s early records, helping to configure their innovative and revolutionary sound.

With help from one of the Jedi’s of Electronic music Filthy Dukes look like to they will enjoy even more success and hopefully a whole new live show should cement them as permanent fixture of electronic music.

Here we have a track from their album Non-sense in the dark - its 80′s inspired disco with bouncy basslines, spine-tingling synths and a catchy vocal it’s well worth a listen.