Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
March 13–20, 1997
critic pick
Spring Heel Jack
Spring Heel Jack's Ashley Wales and John Coxon are way ahead of the curve. At a moment when new U2 and Bowie releases are rushing to embrace the sound of the electronic, these two Londoners are already subverting it. On their album 68 Million Shades, Wales and Coxon upend drum and bass standards, replacing the genre's familiar low-end heaviness with a symphonic array of strings, congas and horns. And though the group is only two guys and some samplers, expect Spring Heel Jack to put on quite a live show — substituting Coxon's live guitar for studio effects, and highlighting Coxon's turntable wizardry. Like-minded hardstepper A Guy called Gerald will open the night with his distinctive brand of freeform breakbeat jazz. The future is now.
Wed., March 19, Trocadero, 10th & Arch Sts., 922-LIVE.
— Ben Dietz
