Career
Radio
Originally from Massachusetts, she attended New York University where she was Program Director and a DJ at the university radio station WNYU. [5]
Colleen has been a radio host, DJ and programme director since the age of fourteen [6] [7] and today hosts Cosmodelica [8] and Classic Album Sundays Worldwide [9] on Worldwide FM and 'This Women's Work' series [10] for Public Radio International. Cosmodelica was selected by Time Out as one of the 10 best shows in London. [11]
She is the writer and host of BBC 6 Music’s album series "Sounds of a City" [12] and BBC Radio 4’s documentary series "Turntable Tales". [13]
Unfold Japan, a radio series she hosted for Worldwide FM and Asahi has been nominated for an ARIA Award in 2020 Audio and Radio Industry Awards for Best Branded Content. [14]
DJ
Colleen was mentored by David Mancuso at his seminal Loft parties in New York City [15] and became one of his most trusted friends and artistic collaborators. [16] Together they co-produced the compilation series David Mancuso Presents The Loft Volumes One [17] and Two, [18] and worked together on David's record label The Loft Audiophile Library of Music. [19] In 2000, David told Time Out New York City "She is very devoted and very pure about the music. She’s one of the only people I would trust, both with the music and with the equipment, to fill in for me." [20] She was asked by David to help manage his legacy and continues to be one of the musical hosts at The Loft in NYC. [21]
She is also the cofounder of the Lucky Cloud Loft parties in London which she co-founded with Mancuso and friends [22] and DJs internationally on the world's best sound systems and dance floors. [23]
In 2019, Colleen was nominated in the DJ Mag North America Hall of Fame [24] and launched Love Dancin' Sound System with Trojan Sound System's Daddy Ad [25] at Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here Festival, sharing some of her musical and sonic passions to dancers outside of her existing communities. [26]
Music production
As a producer Colleen has remixed Róisín Murphy, [27] The Rapture, [28] Fat Freddy's Drop, [29] Beardyman, [30] Candi Staton, [31] The 2 Bears, [32] Phenomenal Handclap Band, [33] Cantoma, [34] Horace Andy, [35] Chaka Khan [36] and more under her Cosmodelica moniker and as DarkStarr Diskotek (with Ashley Beedle). Along with former Captain Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas, she recorded and produced as Wild Rumpus. [37]
She has also mixed her own compilations - New York Afterhours: A Later Shade of Deep [38] (Nervous Records 1998), The Disco-Tech of DJ Cosmo [39] (Yellow Productions 2003) and Psychedelic Disco-Tech: They Live by the Night [40] as Darkstarr with Ashley Beedle.
Classic Album Sundays
Colleen's Classic Album Sundays platform tells the stories behind the albums that have shaped our culture [41] and in some cases, our lives. She founded it as a stance against the increasing devaluation of music and sound. [42] What began as a passion project is now the world's most popular album listening event [43] with satellites in four continents and the website and social media channels host content on classic albums and artists such as interviews, videos, playlists and more. BBC Breakfast Television remarked, "Classic Album Sundays treat our best loved records like great symphonies." [44]
Colleen and Classic Album Sundays are one of the leading pioneers and inspirations behind the resurgence of vinyl, listening venues and high quality sound. [45] [46]
She has hosted events with talent such as Jarvis Cocker, Guy Garvey, Laura Mvula, Max Richter, John Grant, Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, KT Tunstall, Jazzie B, Sister Sledge, Lisa Stansfield, Elizabeth Fraser, Thurston Moore and many more.
Moloko were an Irish-English electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of electronica and dance music, they are best known for their UK top 10 singles "The Time Is Now" (2000) and "Familiar Feeling" (2003), as well as the 1999 Boris Dlugosch remix of "Sing It Back" which became an international hit.
Róisín Marie Murphy is an Irish singer, songwriter and record producer. She first became known in the 1990s as one half of the pop duo Moloko alongside English musician Mark Brydon. After the breakup of Moloko, she embarked on a solo career and released her debut solo album Ruby Blue to critical praise in 2005. Her second solo album, Overpowered, was released in 2007.
David Paul Mancuso was an American disc jockey who created the popular "by invitation only" parties in New York City, which later became known as "The Loft". The first party, called "Love Saves The Day", was in 1970.
The Loft was the location for the first underground dance party organized by David Mancuso, on February 14, 1970, in New York City. Since then, the term "The Loft" has come to represent Mancuso's own version of a non-commercial party where no alcohol, food, nor beverages are sold. Mancuso's vision of a private party is similar to, and inspired by, the rent party and house party. Unlike conventional nightclubs or discotheques, attendance is by invitation only. In the late 1970s, Mancuso abandoned the generally accepted and expected practice of beatmatching, preferring to play songs in their entirety on his renowned audiophile-quality sound system. The Village Voice wrote that Mancuso's sound system was the best in New York and even described him as "more of a party engineer than a DJ." Mancuso required that the music played had to be soulful, rhythmic, and impart words of hope, redemption, or pride.
Robert Ferguson, known professionally as Fergie, is a Northern Irish DJ and electronic music artist from Larne. He has been an internationally touring DJ and a music producer for over 20 years. He presented a radio show on BBC Radio 1 for over four years while recording 13 Essential Mixes for the station. He was featured in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs poll seven years in a row and currently holds the record for the highest new entry since the poll began, achieved when he was voted 8th in 2000.
A music pool or DJ record pool is a regionalized and centralized method of music distribution that allows DJs to receive promotional music to play in nightclubs and other events such as weddings, festivals and on the radio. Record labels worldwide send their newest releases to the pool of DJs; in exchange, the pool provides feedback on each release as well as exposure in the clubs and other venues they play in. DJs typically pay a monthly subscription to join the service provided by these record pools. Music pools originated as vinyl record pools in 1974 New York City, evolved into CD distribution networks, and later online music distribution between DJs. A music pool may have a "brick and mortar" office or may be entirely virtualized.
Waterson is a Scottish electronic musician.
Irish singer and songwriter Róisín Murphy has released six studio albums, one live album, one remix album, five extended plays, 33 singles and 18 music videos. Murphy debuted in 1995 as lead singer of the electronic music duo Moloko. The duo achieved success in the United Kingdom, producing four top 20 singles. Moloko broke up in 2003 after Murphy had ended her relationship with musical partner Mark Brydon.
Shollen Quarshie, known by his stage name DJ Q, is a DJ and record producer from Huddersfield, England. He forms part of the supergroup TQD alongside Flava D and Royal-T.
Thomas Mackenzie Bell, better known by the stage name of Toddla T, is an English DJ, record producer, remixer and songwriter from Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
"Where Love Lives (Come On In)" is a song by British singer and former dancer Alison Limerick, released first time in November 1990. It was her solo-debut and received favorable reviews from music critics, becoming a massive club hit in the early 1990s in both the United Kingdom and United States. In 1991, the single peaked at number 27 in the UK and number three on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US. It was also voted Dance Track of 1991 by Billboard magazine. In 1992, it was included on Limerick's debut album, And Still I Rise. In 1996, it was released in a new remix by Dancing Divaz, peaking at number nine in the UK and number four on the dance chart in the US. The song is famous for the funked-up piano intro and remains the singer's most successful release. It is now widely regarded as one of the biggest club anthems of all time, and has been remixed and re-released several times.
Maya Jane Coles is a music producer, audio engineer and DJ based in the United Kingdom, born in London of British and Japanese descent. Under her real name, she mostly composes and plays techno music, while her alias Nocturnal Sunshine creates darker, more bass-driven productions with a heavy hip-hop and dub influence. She was previously part of an electronic dub duo called She Is Danger with Lena Cullen.
Dave Lewis is a singer-songwriter and musician from Northern Ireland. He was a member of the bands Method, Andwella's Dream, and Andwella.
Hairless Toys is the third solo studio album by Irish singer Róisín Murphy. It was released on 8 May 2015 by Play It Again Sam. It is Murphy's first full-length release since 2007's Overpowered. The album was nominated for Best Irish Album of 2015 at the Choice Music Prize and the 2015 Mercury Music Prize. In 2016, it was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, indicating sales of at least 20,000 copies throughout Europe.
"Strange Changes" is a song that was co-written by Lynsey de Paul and Sue Shifrin, the former wife of David Cassidy and that is listed in the ACE database of ASCAP songs and also in the MusicBrainz database.
Ron Samuels, better known as DJ Ron, is a British jungle and drum and bass DJ, record producer, and film maker.
Róisín Machine is the fifth solo studio album by Irish singer Róisín Murphy, released 2 October 2020 by Skint Records. The album received critical acclaim upon its release, ranking among the year's best by several publications. Commercially, Róisín Machine became Murphy's highest-charting album in both Ireland and the UK, debuting at number five and number 14 respectively. The remix album Crooked Machine was released 30 April 2021.
Classic Album Sundays hosts album listening events in which classic albums are played in their entirety on vinyl. It was founded in 2010 by radio host and DJ Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy because she felt that albums weren't getting the attention they deserved. The inaugural event took place in the Hanbury Arms in Islington, London. It has since spread across the world, hosting events worldwide in the USA, Europe, Japan and Australia.
Crooked Machine is a remix album by Irish singer Róisín Murphy, released 30 April 2021 by Skint Records. It consists of remixes of songs from her 2020 studio album Róisín Machine.
Emma Kirby, known as Elkka, is a British producer, vocalist, and DJ. With a background of songwriter and vocalist for Elkka is best known for winning the Essential Mix of the Year (BBC1) in 2021. She is also known as the co-founder of femme culture, which she founded with her partner Alex Lambert, an inclusive queer platform. The label organizes the annual HeForShe compilation, and all profits go to the charity U.N. Women.
