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Hot Morcheeba Trip into Beijing

ne of Britain's hottest bands, Morcheeba, is following up its hugely successful North American February tour to perform in Beijing and other Chinese cities this month. Its appearances at the recently opened Yan Club in Jiuxianqiao Lu will be on March 8-9. Sponsored by Virgin Airways, the group is also appearing in Chongqing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Morcheeba's mainland tour is the latest major event by Think UK, which plans to bring further examples of the best of British originality, creativity and innovation to China this year with a series of high-profile events, exhibitions and other crowd-pulling activities.
The band first edged into the hip UK music scene with their chilled-out debut single Trigger Hippie in 1996. Their first album, Who Can You Trust?, established them as promising newcomers, riding on the crest of the Bristolian trip-hop wave started by Massive Attack and Portishead. But it was Morcheeba's platinum-selling second album Big Calm, released in 1998, which saw them draw ahead of the pack - a position they have consolidated through almost constant touring and a growing reputation as one of the finest live bands in Britain.

One of the most popular acts at Glasgow's 2002 T-in The Park Festival, merging styles as diverse as trip-hop, dub, folk, jazz, reggae, psychedelia, soul, and R&B, Morcheeba are now set to alter the consciousness of audiences around China. Their latest release, Charango (named after a South American stringed instrument, numbered in the Top Five in 12 European markets, including Britain. To precede the China tour, Morcheeba's label, Warner Music, has released Charango and Big Calm in the country.

While Morcheeba use a fair amount of cutting-edge technology in their music, they are largely a pop band with a firm grasp of the traditional craft of songwriting. They play with relaxed confidence, easily mixing sounds as diverse as hip-hop scratching and unearthly slide guitar. Above all they offer something a little bit different while at the same time being highly entertaining with the atmospheric ballads of songstress Syke Edwards balancing perfectly with Paul Godfrey's DJ'ing and soundscapes, and the guitar played by Paul's brother and multi-instrumentalist Ross Godfrey.

Ross and Paul, who complete the Morcheeba trio, wear their respective country and hip-hop influences on their sleeves. Ross plies the more organic guitar, bass and keys, while Paul handles the turntable chores and programmed drums. The crossroads of their divergent musical interests forms the heart of Morcheeba.

Morcheeba is yet another feature of the British Counci's arts programme in China, which in the last year included Three Dark Tales by Theatre O; Cross Border, with Joanna MacGregor and Jin Xing; Kneehigh Theatre's The Red Shoes; and The Merchant of Venice by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In China, the British Council operates as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy. You can visit its website: www.britishcouncil.org.cn for information about more innovative events in its 2002/3 season.