Appaloosa

by John BushConsisting of Ben McColl and Matthew Brooks, Appaloosa filter their inspirations — namely 80s Chicago house, electro, and tribal-techno — through the lens of British drumnbass. McColl was a leading light in Bournemouths club community as early as 1989 and worked as a DJ at the jungle night Strings of Life. Ever the roving DJ, L.T.J. Bukem made a few stops there during the early 90s and signed two Appaloosa singles to his Good Looking/Looking Good labels, Travelling and Night Train. In 1996, Travelling also appeared on Bukems Earth, Vol. 1 compilation. The duo laid low during most of the late 90s, but returned in 1999 with a self-titled debut album recorded for Different Drummer Records (run by Rockers Hi-Fi). The duo also founded their own label, Pepper, and signed up their alias projects Lexicon and Coast to record for it. One additional pseudonym, Nautilus, combines McColl and Brooks with another Bukem associate, DJ Orbit.