Fluke (band)

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{{infobox band | band_name = Fluke | image = Image:Fluke1.jpg | caption = | years_active = 1989 – present | origin = UK | country = | music_genre = Electronica, Techno, House | record_label = | current_members = Julian Nugent
Jon Fugler
Mike Bryant | past_members = Mike Tournier }}

Fluke are an English electronica music group originally formed by Jon Fugler, Mike Tournier, Julian Nugent and Mike Bryant in the late 1980s.

1 History/biography
2 Mainstream popularity
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 External links
5 References

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History/biography

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The Techno Rose of Blighty

In 1988, Fluke released their first single Island Life on white label vinyl. The attention attracted by this gained them a record deal with Creation Records who released their second single Thumper in 1989. In 1991 Fluke produced Joni/Taxi. Both tracks were to be included in their first album The Techno Rose of Blighty, which was released later in 1991. Up to this point all their releases had been on vinyl only, but their next single Philly was released on CD, and was soon followed by a CD release of The Techno Rose of Blighty. Next came a follow-up live recorded album entitled Out (In Essence) which featured many of the tracks from The Techno Rose of Blighty.

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Six Wheels On My Wagon

Even though Fluke began in the late 1980s, the first recognition they got is for their second album Six Wheels On My Wagon, with what most fans regard as a much improved sound. Six Wheels On My Wagon is a distinctly house production featuring uplifting riffs and ambient effects. Three singles were released from this album, namely; Slid, Electric Guitar and Groovy Feeling.

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The Peel Sessions

In 1994 Fluke released a CD of Peel Sessions, recorded live at BBC Radio 1 for DJ John Peel. This CD included new songs, and songs previously released only on vinyl.

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Oto

In 1995 Fluke released their 3rd album, Oto (Greek for ear). In terms of style, Oto was somewhat darker than Six Wheels on my Wagon, focusing on downbeat ambient effects rather than the uplifting house that characterised their previous work.

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Atom Bomb

In 1996 Fluke released a single that peaked at #20 in the UK charts.[1] This single was called Atom Bomb, which was originally created as a soundtrack to the game Wipeout 2097. However was also used in their later album Risotto. It was also included in an official release of the Wipeout 2097 game soundtrack, called Wipeout XL, which also included tracks from The Chemical Brothers, Future Sound of London, Photek, Underworld, Daft Punk, Leftfield and The Prodigy.

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Risotto

Fluke's fourth studio album is the album that most people would recognise or know from Fluke. This is partly because of the success of the single Atom Bomb, which was included on this album. Fluke's fourth album is named Risotto because it is a mix of older singles (Atom Bomb), new tracks (Goodnight Lover, Kitten Moon etc..), and older songs remixed by themselves (The track named Mosh is a remix of Tosh from the Oto album). After touring for about a year for Risotto, Mike Tournier decided to leave the group to pursue other projects (namely Syntax, where Mike Tournier and Jan Burton teamed up and produced Meccano Mind in March 2004).

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Progressive History X/Progressive History XXX

Later around 2000 the group decided to carry on producing tracks still under the name Fluke. They started producing again, and released early singles and tracks on 12 inch vinyl such as Slap It in 2001, later to be released in their next album as Another Kind Of Blues. Fluke also switched Labels, from Virgin Records, to One Little Indian, however this took a long time and delayed Fluke's 5th studio album Puppy. In 2000 Fluke produced a promo CD named Xmas Demos, including tracks intended for the album Puppy (Only the track Liquid was not included). Also in 2001 Fluke released Progressive History X, which suggested the end of Fluke, as a Best Of album usually does. In 2002 Fluke released Hang Tough as a single which would eventually included on Puppy, and Progressive History XXX was released, which was another Best Of album, but with two extra CDs.

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Puppy

In 2003 the only single to be released on CD from Puppy was Switch, but this was a sign of good things to come from Fluke. This title is also featured in Need For Speed Underground 2 by EA. Later in 2003 Fluke released Puppy much to fans’ surprise, since Fluke’s last studio album was by then six years old. This album proved to be similar to Risotto in the tempo and mood, but with new and fresh ideas, such as the introduction of a blues track.

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Fluke and the Black Swans

Fluke are still producing, and in a number of interviews [2][3][4] it was said that Fluke were going to work at a faster pace, and attempting to produce one album a year. Band member Julian Nugent stated that Fluke will release a new album in early 2005, using the moniker Fluke and the Black Swans. However, that time came and went with no new output.

In late 2005, Fluke changed names to '2 Bit Pie', for the limited release of 'Nobody Never', which retains the rough vocals and structure, but is a complete change of direction for Fluke.

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Mainstream popularity

It is notable that although Fluke have been producing music for the best part of two decades they remain relatively unknown to a large scale audience. The main sphere where they have been able to get their music heard has been through films. In 2003, The Matrix Reloaded used the Fluke track Slap It (the original working title was renamed to Zion for the underground rave scene in the film and as such appears on the film's official soundtrack. Although the track has been changed a little.[5] Interestingly, Fluke also officially refers to "Zion" as "Another Kind of Blues", which is also the track name found on the "Puppy" album. The 2005 film Sin City features Fluke's 1997 song Absurd (Whitewash Mix)) in a dance sequence. [6]This track is also included in 'Tomb Raider' soundtrack. Atom Bomb, aside from being used in Wipeout 2097, was also used in Enter the Matrix, in an alternate form without voices. Fluke's music has also appeared on the small screen: the beginning of the song "Absurd" from the "Risotto" album is the background music for a Volkswagen New Beetle tv ad, "Reverse Engineered from UFOs".

Fluke seem to shun the popular attention that has made artists like The Chemical Brothers so successful, with Jon Fugler stating, "It’s not about being on the cover of a magazine"[7].

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