Luke Vibert is one of a new breed of European club music experimentalists whose work spans several genres simultaneously, and is one of a very few of that set to make any headway with U.S. audiences. A native of Cornwall,
Vibert's work has been compared with other West Country bedroom denizens like
Aphex Twin and
µ-Ziq, although his output over the past few years has been far more eclectic than that connection would seem to imply. Beginning with tweaky post-
techno and moving through
ambient and experimental
hip-hop as
Wagon Christ and, more recently, experimental drum'n'bass as
Plug,
Vibert has explored the outer reaches of post-
techno electronica without sounding hasty or swank.
Although
Vibert's first musical experience was in a
Beastie Boys knockoff band called the Hate Brothers, he quickly moved into the low-cost environment of solo bedroom composition. Although he had no intention of ever releasing any of the work, his reputation as a creative young voice in stylistic crosspollination has created an increasing demand for his pioneering, often left-field work.
Vibert became involved in electronic music through his passion for
hip-hop (he has commented that
hip-hop is the only music style he really keeps up with), as well as the environment of bedroom experimentalism associated with the swelling late-'80s U.K. dance scene. He released an album through the Rephlex label (a solo album nonetheless billed as Vibert/Simmonds) before coming to the attention of Caspar Pound's Rising High label. As a result of the growing exchange value of the style, RH commissioned an
ambient album from
Vibert, who, despite never having heard much
ambient, delivered the well-received Phat Lab Nightmare under the
Wagon Christ name in 1993. Silent (but for the quickie EP At Atmos) for nearly two years following its release,
Vibert came back in early 1995 with
Throbbing Pouch, a collection of minimal, funky, off-kilter
hip-hop that had fans familiar with his earlier work scratching their heads. Though lumped in with the so-called "
trip-hop" movement attributed to
Portishead,
Tricky,
Massive Attack, and the Mo'Wax label, the album's upbeat, cheeky edge was anything but stony and laid-back. Following up with a number of remixes and a Mo'Wax EP under his own name,
Vibert embarked on his next major mutation with his
Plug project, releasing a trio of sample-laden, epileptic jungle EPs, as well as the Drum'n'Bass for Papa LP in 1996.
Wagon Christ's
Tally Ho! followed in 1998, and
Vibert reverted to his own name for 2000's
Stop the Panic.
Musipal followed in early 2001. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
