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All Music Guide:
Primarily the brainchild of musician Matt Winn (nee Wienevski), the British experimental dance act D*Note originally emerged out of London's rare groove scene, with the 1993 debut LP Babel -- recorded with the assistance of DJ Charlie Lexton and keyboardist Matt Cooper -- reflecting a strong acid-jazz background. Hit singles like "Devotion" and "Garden of Earthly Delights," however, recalled house music, while the second D*Note LP, 1995's Criminal Justice, plunged into drum'n'bass. In addition to music, Winn also tackled film, rejecting short-form video clips in favor of more ambitious productions like the ten-minute short Round the Block; in 1997, he premiered the half-hour featurette Coming Down, an acclaimed portrait of the London drug culture. Its soundtrack appeared shortly after the release of the third D*Note album, an eponymous ambient effort issued earlier that same year. D*Note emerged once again in 2006 with Laguna, which featured Beth Hirsch on vocals. That same year, Winn directed the film January 2nd and wrote its soundtrack with Cooper.
Wikipedia:
D*Note is a British experimental dance band, founded primarily by musician Matt Winn (aka Matt Wienevski, born 20 September 1965). The band emerged in London in 1993 with their debut album Babel, which reflected an acid jazz background.
Influences
Though part of the acid jazz scene of the early 1990s, D*Note was influenced by twentieth century French and English classical music and modal jazz. Influences from the jazz world include Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and Keith Jarrett. Classical influences include Maurice Ravel, whose polytonalities can be heard in D*Note's use of lydian modes (what are known in the jazz world as “sharp elevens”). Other classical influences are Debussy, Vaughn Williams, and Aaron Copland. Another key influence, who can be heard on "D*Votion" and "Deep Water" on the second album Criminal Justice, is the American minimalist composer Steve Reich. D*Note contributed the "Phased and Konfused" remix to the Steve Reich composition "Piano Phase", featured on the 1999 Reich Remixed album.
Records
The first D*Note album, Babel, was released in 1993. The second D*Note album, Criminal Justice (1995) was released on Dorado Records in the UK and on TVT records in America. Its most well-known track, "The Garden of Earthly Delights", featured the vocals of PY Anderson. Like "D*Votion", the track is an example of ambient music.
Criminal Justice featured drum and bass rhythms with jazz harmonies, particularly in "Iniquity Worker" and "Criminal Justice", which was remixed by Roni Size and A Guy Called Gerald.
After two albums on Dorado, the band released the eponymous D*Note album on Virgin dance imprint VC (Virgin Club). Featured tracks included "Lost and Found" and "Waiting Hopefully". The soundtrack to the short film, Coming Down, was released in the same year.
In 2001, Fuchsia Dog, the fifth D*Note album, was released on Channel 4 Records, along with another film, Out Of The Game, for which it was the soundtrack. "Shed My Skin", a co-composition with Anita Kelsey and featuring her vocals, appeared on over a hundred compilation albums.
The sixth D*Note album, Laguna, featuring Beth Hirsch, was released in 2006 on New World Music. Laguna featured cover versions of songs that figured as key parts of Winn and Hirsch’s musical influences, including "Guinevere" by David Crosby, "Edith and The Kingpin" by Joni Mitchell, and "Being Alive" by Stephen Sondheim.
