Photek
Surgical breakbeats and noir-soaked atmospheres. This is clinical, high-definition drum and bass for deep focus and late-night urban exploration.
Surgical breakbeats and noir-soaked atmospheres. This is clinical, high-definition drum and bass for deep focus and late-night urban exploration.
Photek sounds like the inner workings of a high-precision watch if it were haunted by the ghost of a jazz bassist. It is music of immense discipline, where every snare hit and hi-hat tick has been placed with the accuracy of a laser. The sound is often cold and metallic, yet it carries a deep, sub-aquatic soul that resonates in the chest rather than the hips.
What sets this apart is the 'samurai' aesthetic: a sense of lethal efficiency and quiet menace. While his contemporaries were making music for the middle of a rave, Photek was making music for the walk home through a rain-slicked industrial district. The tracks often feel like scenes from a lost cyberpunk film, balancing vast empty spaces with bursts of complex, hyper-edited percussion.
Start with 'Modus Operandi' to understand the blueprint of intelligent drum and bass. It is the definitive statement on how breakbeats can be elevated to high art without losing their street-level grit. From there, move to 'Form & Function' to hear the evolution of his rhythmic architecture.
Rupert Parkes (born 6 September 1971), known as Photek, is a Los Angeles-based British electronic music DJ/record producer, and TV and film score composer. Photek was born and raised in St Albans, England. Photek has contributed music to several film, TV and video game productions, such as Blade in 1998. He also scored the show Gang Related with director Allen Hughes. He received three consecutive Grammy Award nominations in the category of Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical for Daft Punk's "End of Line" from the Tron: Legacy movie soundtrack in 2012, Moby's "Lie Down in Darkness" in 2013 and One Love/People Get Ready" in 2014. Photek composed the TV score for the show How to Get Away with Murder.
Shares drum and bass, downtempo, ambient techno (subgenres); mysterious, tense, contemplative (moods)
Shares drum and bass, downtempo, ambient techno (subgenres); mysterious, tense, contemplative (moods)
Shares drum and bass, downtempo, ambient techno (subgenres); mysterious, tense, contemplative (moods)
Shares mysterious, tense, contemplative (moods); drum and bass, downtempo (subgenres)
Shares drum and bass, downtempo, ambient techno (subgenres); absent, processed, instrumental only (vocal style)
Shares drum and bass, ambient techno (subgenres); absent, processed, instrumental only (vocal style)
Shares drum and bass, downtempo, ambient techno (subgenres); mysterious, contemplative, brooding (moods)
Shares drum and bass, downtempo, ambient techno (subgenres); mysterious, restless, contemplative (moods)
Shares absent, processed, instrumental only (vocal style); drum and bass (subgenres)
Shares mysterious, tense, contemplative (moods); drum and bass, ambient techno (subgenres)
Shares minimalist, drum and bass, underwater, ambient techno (signature)
Shares drum and bass, underwater, tense, ambient techno (subgenre)
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