Fila Brazillia is an English electronica duo from

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1990 by

Steve Cobby Steve Cobby is a British producer, musician, composer, and DJ based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire. He is best known for being part of Fila Brazillia. Career After disbanding his first band, Ashley & Jackson, on Big Life Records, he co-fou ...

and David McSherry.

History

Their early albums were released on

Pork Recordings Pork Recordings is a record label based in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, England, that specialises in electronica, mostly in the downtempo or chill-out styles. Formed in the early 1990s by David "Porky" Brennand and Steve Cobby, its ...

, also based in Hull: '' Old Codes New Chaos'', '' Maim That Tune'', ''Mess'', '' Black Market Gardening'', '' Luck Be a Weirdo Tonight'' and ''Power Clown''. After creating their own music label with Sim Lister, Twentythree Records, they released further albums ''A Touch of Cloth'', ''Jump Leads'', ''The Life And Times of Phoebus Brumal'', ''Dicks'' and ''Retrospective''. They have also released two

DJ mix albums A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobil ...

, '' Another Late Night: Fila Brazillia'', for

Azuli Records Azuli Records was a British independent record label, focusing mainly on house music and other forms of electronic dance music. The label was founded by DJ Dave Piccioni in London, England in 1991 but went into liquidation in April 2009. Some ...

' "

Another Late Night ''Late Night Tales'' and its predecessor ''Another Late Night'' are the names of two related series of artist-curated compilation albums released by Azuli Records in the UK until 2009 when the independent record label Night Time Stories took ...

" series, and ''Another Fine Mess: Fila Brazillia'', and two collections of remixes: ''Brazilification'' and ''B2''. Their collaborations include working with

Harold Budd Harold Montgomory Budd (May 24, 1936December 8, 2020) was an American music composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimal music and avant-garde scene of Southern California ...

and

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician, attorney, and former astronaut who served from 2001 to 2019 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Florida and from 2021 to 2025 as the Administrator ...

to release ''Three White Roses & A Budd'' (Twentythree Records, 2002). They co-produced the first Twilight Singers LP '' Twilight as Played by The Twilight Singers'' with

Greg Dulli Greg Dulli (born May 11, 1965) is an American musician from Hamilton, Ohio. Debuting as a member of the rock band the Afghan Whigs in 1986, Dulli has been a member of the Twilight Singers, Gutter Twins, and in 2020 released his debut solo albu ...

in 2001. Cobby and McSherry have produced more than 70 remixes for artists including

Black Uhuru Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful pe ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

DJ Food DJ Food is an electronic music project currently headed by Kevin Foakes (also known as Strictly Kev). It was conceived in 1990 by Jonathan More and Matt Black of Coldcut and the Ninja Tune record label. It has since included various lineups ...

Lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

and

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian and satirist. His material— encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy— was controversial and ofte ...

, the controversial American stand-up comedian, satirist and social critic, "appears" on Fila Brazillia's album '' Maim That Tune'' (1996) and the album is dedicated to Hicks. Their music has made its mark both on small-screen blockbusters (such as ''

CSI CSI may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media CSI franchise * ''CSI'' (franchise) ** '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', the original ''CSI'' television series, set in Las Vegas ** '' CSI: Miami'', the first spin-off series starring David ...

'' and ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'') and cult cinema films such as ''

Dogtown and Z-Boys ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' is a 2001 American documentary film co-written and directed by Stacy Peralta, produced by Agi Orsi, and narrated by Sean Penn. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s (of which ...

'', ''

Riding Giants ''Riding Giants'' is a 2004 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the ...

'' and '' Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos'', a 2006 documentary about the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

soccer team. One of their better-known songs, ''A Zed and two L's'', appears on ''

Jam Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...

'', a black comedy sketch show by British satirist Chris Morris. Their song "Here Comes Pissy Willy" from the ''Power Clown'' album featured as the theme to the ''

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

Show'' on

Talk Radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

in the late 1990s. After releasing their ''Retrospective'' album in 2006, Cobby and McSherry quietly ended their longtime partnership. Currently, McSherry is a lecturer in Sound and Music Production at the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

. Cobby went on in late 2006 to form

Steel Tiger Records Steel Tiger Records is a record label based in Yorkshire, England. The label was founded in late 2006 by Steve Cobby and Sim Lister. Steve Cobby was formerly half of the iconic electronic music duo Fila Brazillia, in addition to his many other ...

with Sim Lister. Over the course of 2007, the label saw various digital releases by J*S*T*A*R*S (Cobby and Lister), Peacecorps (Cobby and guitarist Rich Arthurs) and by

The Cutler The Cutler is an electronica collaboration from Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire. Formed by Steve Cobby, formerly half of Fila Brazillia, and David 'Porky' Brennand, founder of Pork Recordings, they play electronica and Dub music. Formed in 200 ...

(Cobby and ex-head of

David "Porky" Brennand). The first formal album by

was released on 7 July 2008, and the most recent "Everything Is Touching Everything Else" (

ST016, 10 June 2013) – with vocals by Isobel Helen, Archie Heselwood, Andrew Taylor and Little Glitches – distributed by Kudos Records Ltd. In 2013 Steve Cobby provided the soundtrack for the Hull '

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a local area (specifically a city before 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneratio ...

2017' bid film - 'This City Belongs to Everyone', produced by Nova Studios - on 20 November 2013

, East Riding of Yorkshire, was announced as the winning City, and so as UK City of Culture 2017. After a 16 year hiatus, on 6 March 2020, the band returned with the release of the MMXX EP. In 2023, they appear to have released the Subtle Body album/EP, with two original tracks and two unreleased versions.

Discography

Albums

* '' Old Codes New Chaos'' (1994) * '' Maim That Tune'' (1995) * ''

Mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

'' (1996) * '' Black Market Gardening'' (1996) * '' Luck Be a Weirdo Tonight'' (1997) * ''Power Clown'' (1998) * ''

A Touch of Cloth A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1999) * ''Jump Leads'' (2002) * ''The Life and Times of Phoebus Brumal'' (2004) * ''

Dicks Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat * '' D ...

'' (2004) * ''Subtle Body'' (International Feel, 2023)

Singles

*''Mermaids'' (

, 1991) *''Rankine'' (

, 1992) *''Fila Funk/Rankine (Live At Bounce)'' (

, 1993) *''Pots & Pans/The Sheriff'' (

, 1993) *''Slacker'' (

, 1994) *''A Zed & Two L’s/Harmonicas Are Shite'' (

, 1995) *''Soft Music Under Stars/Blood'' (

, 1996) *''Wigs, Bifocals And Nurishment'' (

, 1997) *''The Speewah/Feathery Legs'' (

, 1998) *''Bovine Funk/Here Comes Pissy Willy'' (

, 1998) *''Throwing Down A Shape'' (

, 1998) *''FB@V&A'' (

, 2001) *''Fila Brazillia Versus A Certain Ratio'' (

, 2003) *''Fila Brazillia Remix Beef Wellington & DJ Razor'' (

, 2003) *''The Goggle Box'' (

, 2004) *''Neanderthal'' (Twentythree Records, 2007) *''One Track Mind'' (Twentythree Records, 2007)

EPs

*''Sycot Motion'' (Mindfood, 1996) *''Ridden Pony'' (

, 1999) *''Bitten Bugs'' (

, 1999) *''Spill The Beans'' (

, 2001) *''Three White Roses & A Budd'' (with

and

) (Twentythree Records, 2002 – recorded 2000) *''Saucy Joints'' (Twentythree Records, 2002) *''We Build Arks'' (Twentythree Records, 2002) *''One Track Mind'' (Twentythree Records, 2007) *''MMXX'' (Twentythree Records, 2020)

Compilations

*'' Music for Freelance'' (1999) *''Retrospective'' (Twentythree Records, 2006)

Remixes

*''Brazilification (Remixes 95–99)'' (Kudos, 1999) *''21 Brazilliant Remixes (B2)'' (Twentythree Records, 2003) *''Soul Sauce'' on ''Verve Remixed 2'' (

Verve Music Group Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ...

, 2003)

DJ mix albums

*'' Another Late Night: Fila Brazillia'' (2001) *''Another Fine Mess: Fila Brazillia'' (2004)

References

"Fila Brazillia, album review – Jump Leads"
by Frank Tope, ''The Guardian'', 8 February 2002, retrieved 16 Feb 2008
"The ultimate summer mix – Europe's hottest dance festivals"
by Matt Munday, ''The Guardian'', 1 June 2002, retrieved 16 Feb 2008
"The BBC Collective – Editor's Review – 'The Sound of Brazil, by way of Hull' – interview with Fila Brazillia"
by Paul Clark, ''BBC'', 22 August 2002, retrieved 16 Feb 2008
"Fila Brazillia (Sonar 97) – DJmag.com's guide to the history of the Sonar Festival, Spain"
''DJmag.com'', 2007, retrieved 16 Feb 2008

by Pascal Wyse, ''The Guardian'', 19 September 2000, retrieved 16 Feb 2008
"Hull's City of Culture bid film revealed to the public"
BBC News article,12 November 2013

External links

*

* ttp://www.discogs.com/artist/Fila+Brazillia Fila Brazillia Discography* {{Authority control English electronic music duos Musical groups from Kingston upon Hull Downtempo musicians Trip hop groups