4Ever Songs: M/A/R/R/S ‘Pump Up The Volume’

M/A/R/R/S was a one-off collaboration between members of A.R. Kane (Alex and Rudi Kane) and Colourbox (Martin and Steve Young), both veteran 4AD artists. They took their name from the four collaborator’s initials plus that of label boss Ivo Watts-Russell, who suggested they get together. Those four are the credited songwriters on the track.

This song is made up of about 250 samples. The line, “Pump Up The Volume” came from “I Know You Got Soul” by Eric B. & Rakim, which was released earlier in 1987. Other samples include Coldcut’s 1987 song “Say, Kids What Time Is This” and James Brown’s “Funky Drummer.” It also contains three seconds of Stock Aitken & Waterman’s song “Roadblock,” but the group didn’t get official clearance and Peter Waterman placed an injunction for five days while the copyright issues were worked out. This was the first ever #1 UK hit on an independent record label: 4AD. It also reached #1 in Holland and New Zealand.

Local Bands: Malachi Estéreo

Malachi Estéreo arrived from the underworld of Barcelona with the mission of disturbing the establishment and leading the masses. Malachi is Rock, he’s tough, he’s a bullet in the balls and he’s bizarre. Go out and enjoy fucking. It is a group from Barcelona formed by Brown Fox, Albert Julve and Bob Gonzales.

His music is blunt mix of punk rock, funk, electronic and hip hop, Sampleadélicas, fun and fresh songs full of great beats, distorted guitars and lyrics vacilonas, tremendous themes loaded with electroide energy, rotund beats, funk rhythms and eighties synths perfect for make you poge and dance break on the sidewalks, rough and dirty throbbing punk attitude that fuses with disturbing samplers and incisive rhythms creating addictive hits of rave punk, direct, bastards and bizarre raw and visceral sound compositions that vomit electro punk rock pillions and they flirt with funk and house, a very interesting band that has dazzled us because of the quality of their proposal and their huge live show.

Among its influences can be groups like NOFX, Rage Againt The Machine, Coldcut, Jamiroquai, Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Aphex Twin …