This extraordinary Drum and Bass, 4-man band from the UK (Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor, and DJ Locksmith) called Rudimental, was easily one of my top 3 favorite performances that I had the privilege of seeing during my wild Electric Zoo Festival weekend in New York. Especially after seeing countless amazing acts throughout the last few days, it’s always overwhelmingly difficult when trying to pin point which performances were your favorites. In this case, Rudimental came to mind right away with no hesitation.
Something about their performance had a hugely inspiring and uplifting impact on me and I loved every second of it. They performed at one of the many Official Electric Zoo After Parties, on Saturday night at the Best Buy Theatre alongside Modeselektor and Delta Heavy. A lot of big names were also playing shows that night including Wolfgang Gartner and the Dirtybird Label artists, so I don’t think this particular show the majority of the EZoo-animals’ top choice for an after party. The place wasn’t balls to the walls or anything; but there was definitely a good crowd there. My friends and I immediately got sucked into staying after hearing only a few minutes of Modeselektor’s set. Rudimental came on after and I literally had the best time of my life. They played such awesome music, and at the end they even spun in some oldies, including Marvin Gaye‘s, “Let’s Get It On”, which made it and unforgettable and hilarious evening. They also play some live instruments and it really makes their music and entire package that much better. It was something totally unexpected and beautiful to bring to the stage, and the crowd seemed to be all about it. The band had a great, positive energy, seeing as they were laughing and dancing with the crowd. It was fun to watch them have as much fun as we were. At the very end, they even walked out to the end of the stage and high fived everyone and took a bow–NSYNC/Backstreet Boys style. That’s when your know they’ve really got somethin’ there. I’ve been raving about them ever since that night and I probably won’t stop!
Rudimental debuted their first studio album called “Home” with Warner Music UK this past April and it has already been huge for them. It delivers a list of beautifully written and produced D’n’B tracks that seem to have some influence of R&B, funk, soul, and UK garage. Including their breakthrough number one hit single “Feel The Love”, the album also includes other awesome singles such as “Spoons”, “Not Giving In”, “Waiting All Night” and “Right Here”. The quartet also chose a number of absolutely flawless vocalists to accompany them on the album, and Foxes, John Newman, Ella Eyre, Becky Hill, and Emeli Sandé, are just to name a handful. Their music is a cool mix between relaxing and energizing. Every single track out of the total 12 is flat out dope. It’s a must-listen-to album. Get it on iTunes here!
They also just recently announced their big, upcoming tour for 2014 which they were really excited about. They’ll be packing their bags and heading out to see their fellow fans in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia starting in February. Don’t miss them when they come back to the U.S! I promise you’ll love these dudes. Listen to some of my favorite tracks off of their album, “Home” below!
Rudimental – Feel the Love (feat. John Newman)
Rudimental – Hell Could Freeze (feat. Angel Haze)
Rudimental – Not Giving In (feat. John Newman & Alex Clare)