Leila Arab (, born in 1971), professionally known as Leila, is an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian-born record producer and DJ based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She has released music on the labels Rephlex, XL and Warp. She has also worked extensively with Icelandic singer

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

Biography

Arab was born in

Pahlavi Iran The Imperial State of Iran, officially known as the Imperial State of Persia until 1935, and commonly referred to as Pahlavi Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty. The Pahlavi dynasty was created in 1925 and lasted ...

and spent part of her childhood there. Her family fled to London following the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

in 1979. She became interested in DJing and keyboards, and left college to perform with singer

in 1994, later working with her as a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

and live mixer. She met Richard D. James while both were on tour with Björk, and both James and Grant Wilson-Claridge suggested she release her solo recordings on their label Rephlex Records. In 1998, Leila released her debut album, '' Like Weather'', on Rephlex. In 2000, she released '' Courtesy of Choice'' on XL Recordings. Ben Thompson of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' referred to these releases as "two collections of spooky electronic soul which ..established her as an integral member of the Nineties' golden generation of British writer-producers." After a hiatus following the death of her parents, she released ''

Blood Looms and Blooms ''Blood Looms and Blooms'' is the third studio album by electronic music artist Leila, released by Warp in 2008. It peaked at number 33 on the UK Dance Albums Chart. Critical reception At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out ...

'' in 2008 on Warp. It included vocal contributions from Terry Hall and Martina Topley-Bird. In 2009, she contributed a cover of an Aphex Twin song, "Vordhosbn", to the '' Warp20 (Recreated)'' compilation album. In 2012, she released her fourth LP '' U&I'' on Warp. In 2015, she released a collaborative EP with Zebra Katz, titled ''Nu Renegade'', on ZFK Records.

Discography

Albums

* '' Like Weather'' (1998) * '' Courtesy of Choice'' (2000) * ''

'' (2008) * '' U&I'' (2012)

EPs

* ''Nu Renegade'' (2015)

Singles

* "Don't Fall Asleep" (1997) * “Space, Love" (1998) * "Feeling" (1998) * "Sodastream" (1999) * "Mettle" (2008) * "Deflect" (2008) * "(Disappointed Cloud) Anyway" (2011)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1971 births Living people Iranian emigrants to England Iranian DJs Iranian exiles Musicians from London Warp (record label) artists English people of Iranian descent English women in electronic music English record producers XL Recordings artists Rephlex Records artists