East London brass juggernaut, Hackney Colliery Band, have seen their star rapidly rise over the past two years. Since the release of their enponymous debut and sophomore album, Common Decency, this riotous nine piece have toured the UK and Europe, playing at some of its finest festivals along the way, and gained support from radio and club DJs, broadsheets and tastemakers ranging from The Times to BBC 6Music funk and soul afficionado Craig Charles, as well as having the likes of Eliza Doolittle and the late Amy Winehouse joining them on stage.
The band’s penchant for a canny cover has always been one of its strengths, and perhaps one that sometimes overshadowed HCB’s frankly brilliant song-writing. After a string of singles led by a cunning cover version, the A Bit of Common Decency EP sheds light on HCB’s original music, albeit with the help of a remix or two.
Original Cuts
From bandleader Steve Pretty’s high octane title track, available here as a useful Radio Edit and frenetic remix courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Fedka The Irritant, to drummers Oli Blackman and Luke Christie’s respectively penned Dead Dialogue and Smile for the Webcam, the quality from the band’s main song-writers is obvious. Add to that remixes of Dead Dialogue from label mates Paper Tiger and the mysterious Triangulator, as well as a stomping disco revision from re-edit king The Reflex (of another of Steve Pretty’s songs, Superhero Disco) and you’ve got a worthy collection of original cuts and re-works that will help confirm HCB’s status as a leading light in the global brass band scene.
Reactions
“For me it’s really a no brainer.. The Reflex and Hackney Colliery Band.. I’m glad to say it’s every bit as good as that sounds!” Craig Charles (BBC 6Music, UK)
“Great new EP, leading the way in what a brass band can do. 4/5” Mike Chadwick (Jazz FM, Band on the Wall, UK)
“Like it. The remixes are working for me” Robert Luis (Tru Thoughts, UK)
“HCB throws the knockout punch in a heavyweight bout of brass bands fighting for the title! 5/5” Jeremy Sole (KCRW / theLIFT, USA)
“Superhero Disco is a stand out – Is Brass Band Disco the new genre of 2014?” Lance Ferguson (ABC Double J ‘Sky High’ Radio Show, Australia)
“Nice, nice!” James Mountain (Producer – Solid Steel, Ninja Tune, Benji B, Toddla T, UK)
“Those novelty acts that you get at festivals and large parties: initially they’re always a bit of giggle, but their ‘quirky’ angle gets old pretty quick. Cover act Hackney Colliery Band could fall into that category, but they’ve always had a little bit more substance up their sleeves. Here they prove it by showcasing their own song writing skills. The EP features a string of titles originally found on their Common Decency LP including the title track’s swaggering, raucous jazz jam and the slinky 4/4 groove of “Superhero Disco”. Extra props too to Paper Tiger’s digi R&B remix.” Juno Download (UK)
“Amazing…4/5” Chris Greenwood aka Madera Verde (SOAS, Mi Soul, SMS, Bedroom Bar, UK)
“Dead Dialogue is pretty cool! Love Paper Tiger’s remix also :)” Dandy Teru (French Toast Music, France)
“Loving the Reflex Revision. This is outstanding! 5/5” Simon Hodge (Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show producer, BBC 6Music, UK)
“Sweet!” Allan Skov (Friendly PR, Denmark)
“I love HCB with a passion, what I love about them is the rawness they bring to the table. A Bit of Common Decency (RE) and Dead Dialogue I love these original tracks. The Reflex captures the rawness of the tracks and highlight the thing that make HCB.4/5” Andy Sharp (No Pressure, Stomp Radio, UK)
“Dead good, some decent disco for the smile on your faces….a great EP.” DJ Kappa (Radio Reverb, Brighton, UK)
“Powerful Hackney Colliery Band come though with a superb EP of originals – Paper Tiger build on this with a next level remix of Dead Dialogue. Go and see them live, buy this EP, support the dopest brass band in the UK right now! 5/5” Pimpernel Jones (Herma Puma / First Word, UK)
“Always a fan of these guys, we’ve used their previous releases loads. Excited about this. 4/5” Neil Macdonald (Open Ear Music, UK)
“Dope Horns” Kid Fonque (DJ,South Africa)
“5/5 Great package. Storming tuns and remixed. Love it.” DJ Jimmy Mac (The Soul Purpose Radio Show, Australia)
Spain
“Really nice release, great rhythm! 4/5” IvÃn Mera (Higher Street radio show, Spain)
“4/4 After a bunch of well done covers, finally, we have some originals from HCB…like both tunes..bravo decki (guys)” Niksa Dragolin, Radio Eurostar 101.7 fm (Dj resident, musician, Croatia)
“Love the free spirits of the band. Great release!” Mennert, Weird Pigs, Compost (Netherlands)
“Great tracks, Will be in our playlists on FM-radios” DJ Leo (Unikom-Radios, Switzerland)
“5/5 Great stuff from HCB!” Nick Rayman (Barricade Radio, UK)
“5/5 Damn, I love these horns! They make me feel happy.” Dobo Marzov (The “45 RPM” Radio Show, Bulgaria)
“Like the Paper Tiger mix especially. Nice stuff…” Chris Read (BBE, UK)
“I’ll be sure to program this in Virgin Australia’s Big Band radio show!4/4” Sam Allen (Stellar Inflight Radio & Eastside 89.7FM, Sydney)
“Superhero disco is so fucking cool … What a great , diverse single … Proud to own .. looking forward to playing straight away … 5/5” DJ Toon (Eastside radio, Australia)
“5/5 I’m so happy to get this as I’ve been canning the HCB’s stuff ever since I got my hands on the No Diggity 45 and regardless of whether I am playing a funk, soul or even jazz set, you’ll always hear something from HCB, so tracks and remixes are going straight into the party bag and these tracks are the bomb!” Dj Mr Lob (Radio Show/Dj, Australia)
“Digging the originals, the songwriting from HCB is coming along in leaps and bounds as they develop. Like the Paper Tiger remix. Keep it up!” Peter McLennan (Dubdotdash blog, BaseFM, New Zealand)
“Nice EP but I really love the Paper Tiger Remix alot !! 4/5” Severino Spadavecchia (Germany)
“Strong!!” Andrea (Lifearth webradio, Italy)
“I’m not really so much into the brass sound but there are some really good songs on it!!!” Mark Milz (Radio Corax, Germany)
“4/4 Great reworks from The Reflex and Paper Tiger!” Black Mighty Wax aka Cesare Cera (Gru Radio, Radio Fujiko, Italy)
“Digging the whole EP. Great energy, especially Superhero Disco (The Reflex Revision).” Jesse De La Pena (Vocalo Radio/WBEZ, USA)
“5/5 Loving the Reflex mixup of Superhero Disco – Cock-a-Hoop!” Tom Lowe (RTE Radio, Ireland)
“5/5 The Hackney miners are back ! Really digging lol ” Smile For The Webcam” pure class” Aja (Ketch A Vibe, UK)
“Loving the Paper Tiger remix – electro-brass” Phil Levene (Eclectic Jazz/Starpoint radio/back2backfm/Soulm8, UK)
“4/5 Fantastic as ever!” Olly Love (Asian Hawk , The Disablists 5x DMC Dj champions, UK)
“5/5 Great Remixes!” Byron Fenix (Soul Deluxe, USA)
“4/5 Great, ballsy sound. The Reflex is my fave out of the remixes.” Jon McCulloch (The Vinyl Frontier – Eastside Radio 89.7FM, Australia)
“4/5 A most DEFINITE party starter.” Michael Stukes (Mystic Vybes WHCR 90.3 FM, New York)
“Paper Tiger all the way :)” Bevin Campbell (Blend corp/pbsfm, Australia)
“5/5 Reflex and Paper Tiger doing the business. Wicked mixes.” Diesler (Tru Thoughts / Freestyle / Here & Now / You Dig?, UK)
“Great!” SeñOrlobo Lovemonk (Radio Gladys, Spain)
“Cool, I like groove of Superhero Disco and remixes are good fusion with electronica, my fave is Triangulator” Josef Sedlon (Radio1 Prague, Czech Republic)
“Nice one!” Fritz (Radio / DJ, Germany)
“5/5 Yep. Decent!” Nick Armitage (22Tracks, UK)
“Good tunes. Will support.” Toshio Matsuura (Inter FM, Japan)
“4/5 In my opinion, The Reflex is the winner here, a superb remix! Also nice: Dead Dialogue (Original) and Smile for the Webcam” Sven Thomschke ‘Dr.Best'(Radio Z 95.8, Germany)
“5/5 Sounding better than ever…love it! x” Ross Wakefield (Hideout Sessions/Part-Time Heroes, UK)
“4/5 Some more wonderful tracks from the HCB. Particularly loving the Reflex Revision of Superhero Disco. Will support.” David Cullen (Oban FM, UK)
“4/5 HCB have so much energy, it’s as though they’ve spent years on energy drinks – fantastic stuff. Quality remixes as well” Simon Harrison (Basic soul radio show, UK)
“5/5 This band is just impossibly fun” Rob Wood (Music Concierge, UK)
“4/5 Killer stuff here!!” Jeff Fellows (DJ, Australia)
Craig Charles, BBC 6Music (UK)
Josef Sedlon, Radio 1 (Czech Republic) http://www.radio1.cz/tracklist
Dandy Teru, French Toast Radio (France)http://www.mixcloud.com/
