Jonathan Saul Kane (26 January 1967 – 12 July 2024) was a British DJ, musician, and producer who released music from 1987 as Depth Charge and The Octagon Man, amongst other aliases. He was involved in the founding of record label

Vinyl Solution Vinyl Solution was a record label of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the offshoot of an independent London-based record store based at 231 Portobello Road (now known as Intoxica Records). The label signed many unconventional acts in a number of unc ...

, as well as owner of his own labels DC Recordings and Electron Industries. Kane was well known for his pioneering use of samples, particularly from

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

s in the

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

and pornographic genres. He also made tracks celebrating his favourite football team (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on the 1990 single "Goal") and player (on the 1998 single "

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

"). Kane was often credited with inventing "trip hop" and "big beat"; he used kung-fu film samples before

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

. His other aliases include Alexander's Dark Band, T.E.T and Grimm Death. As a confirmed

kung-fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to c ...

film fan, Kane was involved in setting up the company Made in Hong Kong, which licensed Chinese movies, particularly those made by the

Shaw Brothers Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

. Many of these films are examples of the

heroic bloodshed Heroic bloodshed is a genre invented by Hong Kong action cinema revolving around stylized action sequences and dramatic themes, such as brotherhood, duty, honour, redemption, and violence that has become a popular genre used by different director ...

genre (''The Killer'', ''A Moment of Romance''). Made in Hong Kong was the first company to release

Stephen Chow Stephen Chow Sing-chi (; born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong filmmaker and former actor, known for his mo lei tau comedy. His career began in television, where he gained recognition through variety shows and TV dramas. Chow's breakthrough came in 1 ...

films on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

in the UK. Although news of his death was not publicised until November 2024, Kane died on 12 July 2024, at the age of 57 from complications of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

Discography

as Depth Charge

Albums

*''

9 Deadly Venoms ''Nine Deadly Venoms'' is the debut album by British music producer Jonathan Saul Kane, released in 1994 under his stage name Depth Charge. The album compiles several 12" singles released by Kane under the Depth Charge name in the preceding five ...

'' (

, 1994) *''

Lust Lust is an intense desire for something. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It can take such mundane forms as the lust for food (see gluttony) as distinct from the need for food or lust for red ...

Lust 2 ''Lust 2'' is the third album by Depth Charge, an alias of UK producer Jonathan Saul Kane Jonathan Saul Kane (26 January 1967 – 12 July 2024) was a British DJ, musician, and producer who released music from 1987 as Depth Charge and The Octag ...

'' (DC Recordings, 1999) *''Spill - Rare & Unreleased Tracks 1993-1998'' (DC Recordings, 2002)

Notable singles

*"Depth Charge / Bounty Killers" (

, 1989) (Bounty Killers reached UK No. 84) *"Goal / Dead By Dawn" (Vinyl Solution, 1990) *"Depth Charge vs. Silver Fox" (Vinyl Solution, 1991) *"Bounty Killer II" (Vinyl Solution, 1992) *"Hubba Hubba Hubba" (Vinyl Solution, 1994) *"Legend of the Golden Snake EP / Shaolin Buddha Finger" (DC Recordings, 1995) ( UK No. 75) *"Sex, Sluts and Heaven" (

R&S Records R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1983 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple that created the label. R&S Records has had several subsidiaries, most notably Apollo R ...

, 1996) *"Disko Vixen / Alien / Airlines" (DC Recordings, 1997) *"Romario / Blue Lipps" (DC Recordings, 1998) *"Bounty Killer 3" (DC Recordings, 1999) *"The Goblin" (DC Recordings, 2000) *"I Dream (Depth Charge Vs. The Octagon Man)" (DC Recordings, 2003) *"Mecha Squirrel" (DC Recordings, 2009)

as The Octagon Man

Albums

*''The Exciting World of the Octagon Man'' (Electron Industries, 1995) *''Ito Calculus'' (DC Recordings, 2000) *''Magneton'' (DC Recordings, 2003)

Notable singles

*"Free-er Than Free" (Vinyl Solution, 1989) *"The Demented Spirit" (Vinyl Solution, 1990) *"Biting the Dragon's Tail" (Electron Industries, 1995) *"The Rimm / Phonic Maze" (Electron Industries, 1996) *"10ft Flowers" (Electron Industries, 1997) *"Vidd / Zedd" (Electron Industries, 1998) *"Toy Boxx (The Octagon Man vs. Depth Charge)" (DC Recordings, 2000)

Notable remixes

*Eon – "Spice" (Vinyl Solution, 1990) *

S'Express S'Express (pronounced ''ess-express''; sometimes spelled S'Xpress or S-Express) was a British dance music act from the late 1980s, who had one of the earliest commercial successes in the acid house genre. " Theme from S'Express", which contain ...

– "Nothing To Lose" (

Rhythm King Rhythm King Records Ltd was a British independent record label, founded in the mid-1980s by Martin Heath, Adele Nozedar, DJ Jay Strongman and James Horrocks. It was based in Chiswick, London. History Beginnings Starting out as an offshoot of ...

, 1990) *

Bomb The Bass Bomb the Bass is an electronic music alias of English musician and producer Timothy Simenon (born June 1967). As a name, Bomb the Bass came from Simenon's approach to collaging and mixing sounds whilst DJing in the mid- to late 1980s; he says ...

– Winter In July" (Rhythm King, 1991) * Midi Rain – "Shine" (Vinyl Solution, 1992)

References

External links

J. Saul Kane
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Unofficial web pages
Phinnweb {{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, J. Saul 1967 births 2024 deaths British DJs Musicians from London Deaths from diabetes in the United Kingdom Deaths from multiple sclerosis