High Contrast | |
|---|---|
 High Contrast in Miami, Florida (2011) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lincoln Barrett |
| Born | 18 September 1979 Penarth, Wales |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | |
Lincoln Barrett (born 18 September 1979), better known by the stage name High Contrast, is a Welsh electronic music producer, DJ and record producer. He produces drum and bass music, and his 2009 album Confidential reached BPI gold certification (100,000 units sold in the UK).
Barrett was born in Penarth, near Cardiff, and grew up more interested in films and film soundtracks than rock or pop music; he cites Wendy Carlos's A Clockwork Orange soundtrack album and the Vangelis soundtrack for Blade Runner as defining musical influences. Whilst studying film making in Newport, he heard J Majik's Arabian Nights which turned the then 17-year-old Barrett on to drum and bass music. Barrett used to work in Cardiff's only electronic record shop, Catapult. A short time after he began to make music, he was given a DJ residency at Cardiff's drum and bass night, named Silent Running. During his residency at Silent Running, Barrett played alongside artists such as Grooverider and London Elektricity.
In June 2002, Barrett's debut album, True Colours , was released on Hospital Records, with "Return of Forever" and "Global Love" finding their way into the UK Singles Chart. [1] His second album was High Society .
On 6 April 2003, High Contrast was featured on the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix show. His mix included liquid funk mostly from the Hospital Records label. On 9 January 2005, this Essential Mix was replayed on Radio 1 when another drum and bass artist, Andy C, was unable to deliver his mix. In October 2005, Barrett launched his own record label, The Contrast. The first single, "Days Go By" / "What We Do" was released in early November 2005. [2]
In 2007, he delivered his second effort, selected as "Essential Mix of the Year" by Pete Tong. [3] His third album Tough Guys Don't Dance was released in October 2007. The second single from the album, "If We Ever", was supported on Radio 1 by Annie Mac, Zane Lowe and Jo Whiley helping it to reach number 1 in the DnB chart, number 1 in the dance chart and number 4 in the Indie chart.[ citation needed ]
In 2008, High Contrast remixed the #1 single "No Way to Say" for Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki's remix album, Ayu-mi-x 6: Silver . He also made successful remixes of "Hometown Glory" by Adele and "Pjanoo" by Eric Prydz, which were later included on the album, Confidential . He played them during his take over for the Rob Da Bank show on BBC Radio 1 in January 2009.
He played at the 2011 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Barrett currently is a resident DJ at the following clubs: Aperture at Clwb Ifor Bach (The Welsh Club) in Cardiff; and at Roxy in Prague. He was also on regular rotation at Fabric in London.
High Contrast played a key role in selecting and producing the music for the Athletes Parade at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Half a dozen tracks by High Contrast were played and are present in the event's official soundtrack, Isles of Wonder .
In July 2014, High Contrast's new single with Clare Maguire "Who's Loving You" was announced. A double release, 'Part 2' [4] was Special Delivery on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show, [5] followed by 'Part 1' [6] as "Hottest Record in the World" for Zane Lowe. [7]
In 2015, he remixed the R&B track "Muhammad Ali" by the group Faithless. The same year, the mix was included in the group's '2.0' remix album release, and also incorporated into the second half of their live performances of the song.
He signed with 3Beat in April 2016 and released his first single on the label, "Remind Me". [8]
In 2017, a new song, titled "Shotgun Mouthwash", was featured on the T2 Trainspotting soundtrack.
High Contrast's remix of "The One" by Jorja Smith was Nominated for a Grammy at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards [9]
On 13 November 2020, he released the album titled Notes From The Underground. [10]
On 24 June 2022, he followed up with the album titled True Colours for the first time on his own label Highly Contrasting. [11]
On 23 February 2024, he released a single with two songs Anti/Thesis Vol. 1. [12]
His father, Paul "Legs" Barrett, used to manage Shakin' Stevens. His mother, Lorraine Barrett, was the Welsh Assembly member for Cardiff South and Penarth until May 2011.
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [15] | ||||
| 2001 | "Make It Tonight" / "Mermaid Scar" | — | True Colours | |
| "Passion" / "Full Intention" | — | |||
| 2002 | "Return of Forever" | — | ||
| "Global Love" | 68 | |||
| 2003 | "The Basement Track" | 65 | High Society | |
| 2004 | "Twilight's Last Gleaming" | 74 | ||
| "Angels and Fly" (featuring NoLay) | — | |||
| "Racing Green" / "St. Ives" | 73 | |||
| 2005 | "When the Lights Go Down" / "Magic" | — | Non-album single | |
| "Days Go By" / "What We Do" | — | |||
| 2007 | "Everything's Different" / "Green Screen" | — | Tough Guys Don't Dance | |
| "If We Ever" / "Pink Flamingos" | — |
| ||
| "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" / "Forever and a Day" | — | |||
| 2011 | "The First Note Is Silent" (featuring Tiësto and Underworld) | 48 | The Agony and the Ecstasy | |
| 2012 | "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (featuring Selah Corbin) | — | ||
| "The Road Goes On Forever" | — | |||
| 2013 | "Spectrum Analyser" / "Some Things Never Change" | — | Non-album single | |
| 2014 | "Who's Loving You" (featuring Clare Maguire) | — | ||
| 2016 | "How Love Begins" (with DJ Fresh featuring Dizzee Rascal) | 58 | ||
| "Remind Me" | — |
| Night Gallery | |
| 2017 | "Shotgun Mouthwash" | — | ||
| "Questions" (featuring Boy Matthews) | — | |||
| "The Beat Don't Feel the Same" (featuring Boy Matthews) | — | |||
| "Save Somebody" (featuring Callum Beattie) | — | |||
| 2018 | "God Only Knows" | — | Non-album single | |
| 2019 | "Days Go By (2019)" | — | ||
| "Going Up" | — | Notes from the Underground | ||
| "Snare the Blame" | — | |||
| 2020 | "Time is Hardcore" (featuring Kae Tempest and Anita Blay) | — | ||
| "Rhythm is Changing" (featuring LOWES) | — | |||
| 2021 | "Met Her at a Dance in Leicester" (featuring UK Apache and Ady Suleiman) | — | ||
| "Bourgeious Imagery" (with Alan Fitzpatrick) | — | Machine Therapy | ||
| "Don't Need You" (with Bou) | — | Non-album single | ||
Utah Saints are an English electronic music duo consisting of members Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt. The band had three top-ten and another five top-40 singles on the UK Singles Chart in the 1990s, as well as number-one dance tracks in the UK and US. They were notable for pioneering use of sampling technology, in particular, their practice of manipulating samples from mainstream pop, rock, R&B and soul songs and combining them with contrasting dance beats, using the samples in a new context. The band wrote, produced and mixed all of their own music. The duo were joined on stage by additional musicians when they played live from 1991 to 2001. They were one of the first electronic groups to play as a live collective and supported both the Shamen and U2 live at 10 stadium shows. Since then the duo have performed live sets themselves.
Adam Fenton is an English record producer and DJ who has worked across various genres. He is also the co-founder of the drum and bass label Breakbeat Kaos along with DJ Fresh. He found initial success with the 1990s drum and bass singles "Circles", "Metropolis" / "Mother Earth", and "F-Jam", before releasing his debut studio album Colours in 1997. In 2001, he transitioned into hip hop music, producing the album Kaos: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare, featuring collaborations with LL Cool J, Redman and De La Soul. He later released a remix album, Drum and Bass Warfare, and collaborated with DJ Fresh.
Tony Colman, better known by his stage name London Elektricity, is an English electronic musician and the co-founder and CEO of Hospital Records.
Machines of Loving Grace was an American industrial rock band from Tucson, Arizona, formed in 1989 by vocalist Scott Benzel, keyboardist Mike Fisher, and guitarist Stuart Kupers. The band released three albums in the 1990s, followed by a disbandment in 1999.
Liquid funk, liquid drum & bass, liquid DnB, melodic drum & bass, or sometimes just liquid is a subgenre of drum and bass. While it uses similar basslines and bar layouts to other styles, it contains fewer bar-oriented samples and more instrumental layers, harmonies, melodies and ambiance, producing a sentimental atmosphere directed at home listeners as well as nightclub and rave audiences. Music genres such as jazz, soul and sometimes blues have a pivotal influence on liquid funk.
Adam Freeland is an English record producer and DJ. He is also the owner and creative director of the record label Marine Parade, which has released material by artists including Evil Nine, ILS, Alex Metric and Jape. Born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, he first began DJing in 1991, originally mixing deep house and later drum and bass. After becoming an in-demand DJ around Britain, he released his first mix album Coastal Breaks (1996) and formed the electronic music duo Tsunami One with Kevin Beber. From 1999 to 2001, Freeland hosted a show on Friday night on London's Kiss 100 FM. In 2000, he released his debut studio album, Now & Them.
Daniel Edward Stein, known professionally as DJ Fresh, is an English DJ and record producer. He is one of the principal members of the drum and bass group Bad Company, alongside Darren White (dBridge), Jason Maldini and Michael Wojcicki (Vegas). He also owns and runs the drum and bass label Breakbeat Kaos with Adam F.
The Goa Mix is a two-hour DJ mix by British musician and DJ Paul Oakenfold. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 1 as an Essential Mix on 18 December 1994 after the producer of the show, Eddie Gordon, chose Oakenfold to produce an eclectic DJ mix for the show which featured a burgeoning variation of electronic styles, having begun the previous year. Oakenfold had, at this point, developed his own unique Goa trance sound, influenced by his time at hippy gatherings on beaches in Goa, and employed it heavily into the mix, which also made pioneering use of film score samples. Oakenfold used the mix as an experiment in which he tried to fuse electronic music, especially trance music, with film score music, and then to overlay the result with vocal parts, samples and additional production. The mix was split into two parts, later referred to as the Silver Mix and the Gold Mix respectively. Reflecting the Goa influence, the album title did not evolve beyond its simplistic working name.
Danny Byrd is an English DJ, record producer and musician from Bath in the South West of England. He is influenced by genres such as house, UK garage, R&B and the jungle sound. He primarily releases his music through Hospital Records, the UK-based independent dance music label. In 2009, his track "Red Mist VIP" reached number one on the UK Dance Chart on the week ending 25 July 2009, and on 7 February 2010, his remix of Liquid's Sweet Harmony gave him his first success on the UK Singles Chart, making No. 64. In October 2010, Byrd reached No. 36 in the UK Singles Chart with the track "Ill Behaviour".
High Contrast Confidential is the fourth album and the second double album from the Welsh drum and bass producer High Contrast, released on 27 April 2009 on the Hospital Records label. It is an assortment of handpicked songs he has written in the past. The first disc includes a premium selection of singles from his previous three albums but the second disc includes some of his remixes from the past.
Boris Daenen, better known by his stage name Netsky, is a Belgian drum and bass producer and musician. The name Netsky is based on the computer virus of the same name.
Nero are a British electronic music trio composed of members Dan Stephens, Joe Ray and Alana Watson. On 12 August 2011, they released their debut studio album, Welcome Reality, which reached number one in the UK Albums Chart. In August 2012, "Promises" received a Gold certification in the United States. On 10 February 2013, Nero won a Grammy Award for their collaborative remix of "Promises" with Skrillex. Their second studio album, Between II Worlds, was released on 11 September 2015.
Clare Rita Mary Maguire is an English singer-songwriter. She was signed to Universal Music Group, Polydor Records in 2009. She was rated in fifth place in the BBC Sound of 2011 list of the top 15 most promising new artists. Maguire was also singled out as one of MTV's Brand New: For 2011 Acts. Her voice has been compared to Stevie Nicks and Annie Lennox. Maguire's debut album, Light After Dark, was released on 25 February 2011 peaking at number seven in the Official UK Top 40, and achieving the BPI Silver Sales Award in the UK.
Camo & Krooked are an electronic music duo from Vienna, Austria with their musical roots embedded in drum and bass, consisting of Reinhard "Camo" Rietsch and Markus "Krooked" Wagner.
Tom Mundell, better known as Metrik, is an English electronic music producer from London. He has been releasing records since 2007 and currently is one of the top drum and bass producers in the world, with 888,000 monthly listeners on Spotify as of spring 2023.
Pull the Plug is the debut album by drum and bass act London Elektricity, initially released in Japan in November 1998 through Sony Music Entertainment Japan Associated Records. An updated version of the album was released in the UK in June 1999 through Hospital Records.
Edward "Woody" Allen is a British record producer and singer-songwriter from Lincoln, England. He has released four studio albums, five singles and numerous remixes under the name Etherwood.
"How Love Begins" is a single by English drum and bass producer DJ Fresh and Welsh drum and bass DJ and producer High Contrast featuring vocals from English rapper, songwriter, singer, and record producer Dizzee Rascal and uncredited vocals from Clare Maguire. The song was released as a digital download on 5 February 2016 through Ministry of Sound as the seventh single from Fresh's forthcoming fourth studio album. The song peaked at number 53 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Dizzee Rascal, Dan Stein, Clare Maguire and Lincoln J. Barrett.
S.P.Y is a Bristol based Brazilian DJ, record producer and musician from São Paulo, Brazil. He is influenced by genres such as house, UK garage, R&B and the jungle sound. He primarily releases his music through Hospital Records, the UK-based independent drum and bass music label. His DJ name was Spyder, but two months before the release of his first track he had to change it because another producer from America also released an EP under the same name. He left the last three letters out and changed his name to S.P.Y or SPY.
Robert Dickeson, known by his stage names Apex and Robert Oaks was a British drum and bass music producer and DJ from Kent, England.
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
