Morcheeba

All Music Guide:

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.

Wikipedia:

Morcheeba are a British band, mixing influences from trip hop, rock, adult contemporary, and pop. They have produced 7 albums since 1995, two of which reached the UK top ten.

Biography [edit]

At some point in the mid-1990s, the Godfrey brothers (DJ Paul Godfrey and multi-instrumentalist Ross Godfrey) recruited Skye Edwards as vocalist, during a chance meeting at a party in which both brothers were introduced to Edwards. This led to the formation of Morcheeba.

The band's debut album, Who Can You Trust? was released on China Records in April 1996 and fitted smoothly into the then-modish trip hop genre, with instrumentation based predominantly around Rhodes piano, electric guitar and DJ scratching, with the songs carried by Edwards' relaxed soul-styled vocals.

The follow-up, 1998's Big Calm, moved slightly away from trip-hop towards a more pop-oriented, song-based sound. This was exemplified by the band's remaking of "Moog Island" (a song from the previous album) in a more summery, upbeat style, with the new title of "The Music That We Hear". One of the album's singles, "The Sea", became a radio favourite. The album proved to be a big seller and ensured Morcheeba's success as a breakthrough act. In 1998, Morcheeba collaborated with Hubert Laws to record for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Rhapsody, a tribute to George Gershwin, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

In 2000, Morcheeba released their third album, Fragments of Freedom. This repeated the sales success of Big Calm but received a less positive critical response. The band's fourth album, Charango, was released in 2002, and spawned several singles including "Otherwise," "Way Beyond," and "Undress Me Now" (the release of the latter was cancelled, despite the creation and release of an expensive, erotic Balinese-inspired CGI video). In an indication of what would follow, several tracks on the album did not feature Edwards, and were instead written with and sung by Lambchop's Kurt Wagner or by emcees Pace Won and Slick Rick.

In 2003, the Godfrey brothers dismissed Edwards from Morcheeba, citing musical (and some personal) differences. A greatest hits compilation, Parts of the Process, helped to sustain momentum and featured two new tracks - "What's Your Name" (featuring a rhyming cameo from Big Daddy Kane) and "I Can't Stand It." At around the same time, Morcheeba released the live DVD Morcheeba: From Brixton to Beijing.

In 2005 Morcheeba released their fifth studio (and first post-Skye Edwards) album, The Antidote. Daisy Martey (formerly of the band Noonday Underground) was recruited to replace Edwards as the album vocalist. However, Martey's period with the band was brief and she was sacked in the middle of the promotional tour, to be replaced by Jody Sternberg. Sternberg's own tenure with the band was similarly brief, and she only appears to have been part of the band to fulfil tour dates.

After a break of several years, Morcheeba released their sixth studio album, Dive Deep in February 2008. On this album, the Godfrey brothers emphasised their role as producers creating a set of instrumental tracks entirely sung by a roster of guest performers—cult folk-rock singer Judie Tzuke, Norwegian singer-songwriter and former Jaga Jazzist collaborator Thomas Dybdahl, blues singer/guitarist Bradley Burgess, Korean-American rapper Cool Calm Pete, and French singer Manda (Amanda Zamolo). Both Manda and Burgess toured with Morcheeba as lead singers on their 2008 tour.

On 12 February 2010, NME revealed that Edwards was once again working with the band. Edwards was due to make her live return with the band at the Caprices Festival, Switzerland on 9 April 2010. Paul Godfrey confirmed the news of Edwards' return in the blog section of Morcheeba's MySpace page on 13 February 2010.

Morcheeba released their seventh album Blood Like Lemonade on PIAS in June 2010. In October 2012, Morcheeba announced plans for a new album to be released in 2013.

Contemporary use [edit]

Band name [edit]

The word "morcheeba" is meant to indicate "the way of cannabis". This originated from "MOR"—middle of the road; plus "Cheeba"—informal name of cannabis.