* En anglais uniquement
The recordings of
John Coxon and
Ashley Wales as
Spring Heel Jack were some of the earliest and best applications of hard-edged drum'n'bass to the full-length LP concept with no lack of energy, similar in result to
Orbital's living-room/danceclub fusion of techno. A pop producer who had worked with
Betty Boo,
Marc Almond, and
Spiritualized,
Coxon met up with classical composer
Wales while working as a soul DJ in London's East End. The duo soon began recording breakbeat jungle, initially with inclinations toward dub. Co-writers and producers of the hit title track from
Everything But the Girl's 1995 platinum album
Walking Wounded, the pair debuted that same year with the first of several critically acclaimed LPs, none of which managed to compromise their respected status.
Coxon, who learned to play guitar in his native Edinburgh, had studied to be a biochemist and briefly taught school in London, but returned to music by working as a DJ and occasional producer. After meeting
Ashley Wales, a landscaper, the two began composing music. Moving to dub territory with recordings as
Spring Heel Jack,
Coxon and
Wales soon became entranced with the jungle movement, and adjusted their focus accordingly. Debut album There Are Strings appeared in 1995 on the Island subsidiary Trade 2 in the U.K. Later that year, the duo released Versions, a remix album featuring dubs of six tracks from the debut LP. Another artist influenced by the drum'n'bass movement,
Everything But the Girl's
Ben Watt, made public his admiration for
Spring Heel Jack's work, prompting
Coxon and
Wales to write "Walking Wounded" especially for
Watt and his partner,
Tracey Thorn. After
Thorn added vocals to the track,
EBTG released the single in April 1996, and it climbed to number six in the U.K. charts.
Spring Heel Jack released
68 Million Shades several months later, with a trippy cover designed by computer artist Yuki Mikayi (who also designed the cover art for the first LP). The album earned respect from the dance underground, and the duo was tapped to support
Orbital on an ambitious U.S. tour in late 1996. After
68 Million Shades was cited by Spin magazine as one of the best LPs of the year, it earned an American release on Island in January 1997.
Busy Curious Thirsty followed later that year, and in 1999
Spring Heel Jack returned with two LPs (Treader, Disappeared) as well as an EP (Sound of Music), including their intriguing reworks of standards from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical of the same name.
Masses, which featured collaborative efforts with pianist
Matthew Shipp, violinist
Mat Maneri, and saxophonists
Tim Berne and
Daniel Carter, was issued in June 2001. The duo entered a new phase in 2004, on
Sweetness of the Water. They began playing instruments themselves and enlisted former collaborators such as
Blue Series curator
Shipp,
Evan Parker, and
Wadada Leo Smith. On the following
Songs and Themes, released in 2008,
Coxon and
Wales were joined by
Roy Campbell,
Orphy Robinson, and
John Tchicai, among others. ~ John Bush