Dirty District is a French Fusion band, formed in 1985. They were one of first French bands to attempt Fusion rock.
The band originally formed in
SèvresSèvres is a commune in the south-western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.9 km from the center of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
under the name of
Great Gangsters From The Dirty District (until they changed it to just Dirty District later). A vast majority of their songs were sung in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
, except for the first EP and two songs on
Pousse au crime et Longueurs de temps.
Dirty District is a French Fusion band, formed in 1985. They were one of first French bands to attempt Fusion rock.
Early years
The band originally formed in
SèvresSèvres is a commune in the south-western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.9 km from the center of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
under the name of
Great Gangsters From The Dirty District (until they changed it to just Dirty District later). A vast majority of their songs were sung in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
, except for the first EP and two songs on
Pousse au crime et Longueurs de temps. Influenced by the likes of
Joe JacksonJoe Jackson is an English musician and singer–songwriter, now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
,
The ClashThe Clash were an English rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk rock. Along with punk, they experimented with reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap and rockabilly...
,
Stiff Little FingersStiff Little Fingers are a punk band from Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 1977. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star , doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they reformed five years later, in 1987...
,
Linton Kwesi JohnsonLinton Kwesi Johnson is a British-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series...
,
ReggaeReggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based...
,
SkaSka is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and
Rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
. They released the much delayed
Pousse au crime et Longueurs de temps which were a fusion of reggae, ska, punk, dub, and rap with heavily political based lyrics based on
street crimeStreet crime is a loose term for criminal offences taking place in public places. It has moved to occupy the place once held by mugging. According to London's Metropolitan Police Force, street crime is:...
,
Steve BikoStephen Bantu Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of...
and fighting
National FrontThe name National Front is used by a number of political parties and coalitions.* Albania — National Front * Belarus — Belarusian National Front* Belgium — Front National * Botswana — Botswana National Front...
. But like most groups at the time their music was very much slept on, due to that type of fusion of musical styles been not heard at the time.
Pousse Au Crime.. was noticed by fellow French Punk/World Music band
Mano NegraMano Negra was a multiracial music band fronted by Manu Chao. The band was founded in 1987 by Manu, his brother Antoine, and his cousin Santiago Casariego in Paris, France. It split up around 1995, but many members had already left by 1992....
, and the band where invited them to play on their album
Patchanka-Track listing:#"Mano Negra" – 1:44#"Ronde De Nuit" – 2:55#"Baby You're Mine" – 2:55#"Indios De Barcelona" – 2:34#"Rock Island Line" – 3:03#"Noche De Accion" – 2:45#"Darling Darling" – 1:46#"Killin' Rats" – 2:24#"Mala Vida" – 2:53...
.
1993 and onwards
After a whole host of musicians had been and gone Dirty District finally got a steady line-up when they released their second album
Life In The Dirty District in 1993. DD showed their eclectic roots yet again on this album, sounding like France's answer to up and coming
rap metalRap metal is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with heavy metal. Rap metal is often confused with rap rock and rapcore. These styles became the basis for nu metal.-History:...
movement, and Mike Patton's original band
Mr. BungleMr. Bungle was an experimental rock/avant-garde metal group from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to...
. During in this time Kshoo, Philipphe and Miguel started a little known sideproject called
Les Dieux (
The Gods). after taking 2 years off (most members like Yvo, Philipphe, Miguel had been contributing to other French musicians) DD released the final EP
Welcome To The Next Level In 1995, which was one of more heavier efforts and included a very bizarre cover of
The ProdigyThe Prodigy are an English electronic music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex, England. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method, as well as other acts they are pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in...
's
Jericho, and the song
Speech Over explored the sound which would later explode in
EthnicianEthnician is the band formed by Yvo Abadi , Miguel Saboga , Igor Nikitinsky, Garbis Baharian of Dirty District. their music falls into the category of World Music, Dub and Drum and Bass but also goes into Metal, Reggae and Dance styles also...
. The band disbanded in 1996. Vocalist
CachouCachou may refer to:* Catechu, a medicinal aromatic drug; the same as gambier, also called Terra Japonica*A French punk rock vocalist and guitarist, who has played in Mano Negra, Dirty District, Noxious Enjoyment and Les Dieux. He has various names around the word 'Cachou' namely Shook, K'shoo and...
went onto do co-vocals for
metalcoreMetalcore is a fusion genre incorporating elements of hardcore punk and extreme metal. The name is a portmanteau of hardcore punk and heavy metal. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands like Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity. The earliest of these groups,...
group Boost and then formed another metalcore/punk-metal band called
Noxious EnjoymentNoxious Enjoyment was formed in 1994, and are a French Metalcore group. The members are ex-members of French rock groups: Daniel and Phil , Kshoo and Maya...
in 1998, who are influenced by the likes of
The ExploitedThe Exploited are a Scottish punk band from the second wave of UK punk, formed in 1979.They started out as an Oi! band, before transforming into a faster street punk and hardcore punk band. From about 1987 on they changed into a crossover thrash band...
and
Agnostic FrontAgnostic Front is an American hardcore band that formed in New York City in 1980. The band began playing hardcore punk similar to their contemporaries, and were thrust to the forefront of the burgeoning New York hardcore scene in the mid-1980s with their widely regarded 1984 classic Victim in Pain...
, while Yvo nowadays plays live drums for
Amadou & MariamAmadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the couple Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia...
, Philipphe is now a House musician and bassist Leuji has now his own musical career, and performs in band of the same name.
Members
Kshoo is the vocalist and live guitarist for DD.Originally called Cachou, (which translates as a sweet that hides the odour of tobacco) he has also been called Shook, and Shooka. He also contributed vocals to Death Metal Band Boost and Punk supergroups Les Dieux, and finally his metalcore band Noxious Enjoyment.
Leuji is the bassist that replaced little known DD bass guitarist Mishko on later albums. He later joined P18 after DD, and is currently working on a few other projects.
Yvo (aka 'The Megasound') is an expert drummer and percussionist of the band, who joined in 1993. Since leaving DD, Yvo has contributed drums and percussions to other artists. Was last seen playing drums at Glastonbury 2009 with
Amadou & MariamAmadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the couple Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia...
.
Philippe (also known as Ifif) was the guitarist after Gille's departure. he played on the
Life In The Dirty District . He now lives in London and makes house music under his last name, Lenzini.
Miguel is second Drummer/Percussionist of the band. He started drumming in The Brigades, and later does vocals on DD's song No Head, which led to him becoming the frontman of Ethnician.
Igor is Sampler and Keyboards plsyer of the group. He replaced Geo and is also in the group Ethnician.
Garbis did most of the sample and sound engineering on the first album, and is now in Ethnician.
Former members
Guitarist on first album. His spot was filled by two other guitarists, who were later replaced by Philippe.
Geo was the keyboardist on the two first album. is usually recognized for wearing a scarf/ Turban around his head on live shows. Geo was a former member of Marabunta before he joined DD.
Fred was the bassist on the first album. he replaced by Xavier, who then later was replaced by another bassist called Mishko, who was later replaced by Leuji.
Discography
- Great Gangsters From The Dirty District
Great Gangsters From The Dirty District was the self titled debut EP from French group, Dirty District. it was recorded in 1989, and was later scrapped due to sound problems...
EP (1989)
- Pousse au crime et Longueurs de temps
Pousse au crime et Longueurs de temps is an Album by French Punk Band Dirty District. The album had a variety of styles, including Ska, Reggae, and an early attempt at Rap Metal. The album was heavily delayed, as the songs were recorded in February 1989 and the album was released in 1990...
(1991)
- Life In The Dirty District
Life In The Dirty District is the second album by Dirty District. the album has more of experimentation than the previous recording, as the band cross into more Rap Metal and Techno genres. the album was produced by Dennis Morris, who gained fame at a young age for being a photographer for John...
(1993)
- Welcome To The Next Level
Welcome To The Next Level is the final EP from Dirty District. No Head has a vocal contribution from Miguel, how later performed vocals in Ethnician...
EP (1995)
They also appear on the French punk rock compilations
À Bas Toutes Les Armées with Reggae tune Paddy Field, and
Cette Machine Sert A Tuer Tous Les Fascistes ('This Machine Is Used To Kill All The Fascists') with anti racism song Blast it and more recently
Rap Metal Masters with NY Crap.
External links