DIGITAL PRIMATE

SIEGE MENTALITY

Released: January 2007
Label: Turntable Spoilsports/Public Opinion / Shock

One part politics and sexual antagonism, and the other pure booty shaking goodness, the second full-length album ‘Siege Mentality’ from Digital Primate aka Christopher Coe, is a bonafide triumph.

A living legend of the dance scene, Coe has been in the game for over fifteen  years. As a key purveyor in the Australian techno scene, his club night  ‘Centriphugal’ played an instrumental role in popularising the ghetto tech sound. His productions have continued to receive worldwide acclaim and support from the most recognised DJs on the touring  circuit. His hugely popular 1995 self-titled album garnered Primate fans across the globe, whilst his energetic live shows and DJ sets have seen him play as far and wide as Womb in Japan, Bed in New York, Tresor in Berlin and countless underground warehouse parties in London. Australian festival goers have also gotten a taste of Primate’s magic, when he played the Big Day Out in 2005 and again on the full tour this year, as well as many Earthcore festivals throughout the past decade.

Primate has a well-established reputation for combining jackin’ dancefloor beats with astute political commentary. His 2003 Bunker Buster EP critiqued the Iraq War, but his latest album offering ‘Seige Mentality’, has taken that approach to a whole new level. Infusing sounds as varied as UK ragga, grime and electro, mixed with his trademark ghetto techno and booty house sound, Coe has created an album that simultaneously shines with his own individual brilliance, yet features a good dose of magical collaborations to give the work a boundary-less universal vibe. Not only does the album feature an array of talent from around the globe, the recordings were laid down in a number of studios around the world including set-ups in New York, Melbourne, Jamaica, London and San Francisco over a period of two and half years.

Collaborating with an all-star cast, Coe scored a massive coup by snaring the talents of legendary reggae producer Mad Professor, to mix the album in his London studio. The studio veteran lent his hand to more than half of the album adding his unique flavour to the sonic tapestry. Together Coe and the Professor produced a number of the album’s highlight tracks including the grime-flavoured gem ‘I don’t give a fuck’ which features the Professor’s son Kar’melody delivering the attitude-packed vocals. With input from Gordon McQuilten(ex member of the Avalanches), the two also co-produced “On Da Radio” which features the talents of New York artists Melodic and Mark Shine.

Local rapper/singer/songwriter and breakdancer Queen Khadeeja is a future star and is Primate’s right-hand woman on much of ‘Seige Mentality’. In ‘No Soldier’, she joins up with Kar’melody to rap about Beyonce’s inane call for a ‘soldier boyfriend’ in her track “Soldier”.

Queen K also gets feisty on the album cut ‘I ain’t wid it’, collaborating with fellow rapper/breakdancer Demilition B-Girl (part of Ladies love Hip Hop). The assertive duo demand that “this bootylicious bullshit has got to go!”

Primate has a unique knack for seeking out the best up and coming talent, with the sublimely sassy CC Martini co- writing and singing on the album’s killer first single ‘My Bush Would Make A Better President’. The singer brings an alluring mix of pop-fun and hip hop attitude to a track designed to shake up the post-September 11 political establishment. On the superb ‘I deserve’, Primate teams with another world-class vocalist in Valerie M (a Groove Armada and Freestylers collaborator), with the London-based artist’s exploration of our struggle for self-identity played over Coe’s DanceHall-styled beats.

The international influences continue to flow with dancehall cut ‘Career a Move Up’, with Primate scoring the talents of Jamaican singer/DJ Mad Doggy Dog on a track that perfectly captures the authentic ragga-muffin vibe of the Caribbean. In ‘Indyvidual’, esteemed local rapper Macromantics lends her distinct vocals to the funk-ridden cut, her obvious talent shining through having toured previously with luminaries like Sage Francis.

An album brimming with just the right amount of funk, attitude and fun, ‘Siege Mentality’ is a stunning work of thought provoking substance mixed with Digital Primate’s uncompromising commitment to good old fashioned booty-shaking goodness.

Here is what the press have
to say about it:

 “Siege Mentality is a truly international album”
3.5/4
Rolling Stone

“while “I Ain’t Wid It” is more Basement Jaxx than even they are these days”
Rolling Stone

“..a subversive album that will have you nodding your head to the beats and your heart to the messages”
3.5/4
Rolling Stone

“ Christopher Coe (AKA Digital Primate) has hit the bullseye…!”
9/10
Marie Claire Magazine

“Fresh and startlingly original”
9/10
Marie Claire Magazine

“Such is the quality of DP’s second album it blurs international borders”
3.5/5
Border Mail

“Coe has created and album that takes booty shakin’ to a deeper level…”
7/10
3d World

“..Digital Primate is something different amongst a lot of the same”
7/10
3d World

“those who like to shake their booty AND moan about the state of the world will enjoy this album..”
3/5
FHM

“I can’t really find fault with this album, all the tracks are quite enticing”
Beat Magazine

“If you like your electronica on the booty-shaking side, then Siege Mentality will get you front row centre”
Beat Magazine

“Coe’s second outing… is certainly a revelation..”
3.5/5
Herald Sun

“Coe’s hard-hitting second outing, with input from Mad Professor, is certainly a revelation” 4.5/5
Daily Telegraph

“this album should be the one that launches Digital Primate into the forefront of electronica globally”
InTheMix.com.au

“Get your hands on this album and you know you have purchased a truly brilliant addition to your music collection !”
Q Magazine