Often grouped with similarly influential names such as
Cristian Vogel and former labelmates
the Black Dog,
Luke Slater is generally credited with helping to create a U.K. techno tradition with a strong Detroit foundation.
Slater's work is probably the more straight-ahead of the three (although he's released works ranging from tough, banging techno to lush, beatless ambient) and tends to build on the Steel City's ruddy, muscular frame rather than simply repeating it. He has recorded under names such as
Morganistic,
Clementine,
Planetary Assault Systems, and
Luke Slater's 7th Plain, and quite often in collaboration with
Alan Sage.
Slater got his start in music in the late '80s at the Mi Price record store in Croydon (just south of London), working alongside Colin Dale and collaborator-to-be
Sage. He soon set up his own shop -- Jelly Jam Records -- in Brighton, and from there began releasing original tracks under a slew of different monikers. His debut came in 1989 in the form of "Momentary Vision," released on white label under the name
Translucent. Arriving at the height of techno's rediscovery of the breakbeat, the track's hard funk and stripped-down Detroit bristle, like the work of colleagues
B12 and
Kirk Degiorgio, announced a new, historically rooted direction in U.K. techno. Though silent for two years after "Momentary Vision"'s success, a flood of
Slater material began appearing in 1991, including 12"s and full-lengths for his own Jelly Jam label, as well as Dutch label Djax-Up-Beats, Irdial, and especially Peacefrog, including nearly a dozen singles under his own name (the X-Tront trilogy) and as
Planetary Assault Systems (the Planetary Funk series). Some of
Slater's most well-known releases to date appeared on the renowned GPR label (with
Alan Sage and under the names
Morganistic and
Luke Slater's 7th Plain) and tend to combine an ambient or experimental/textural approach with a more minimal rhythmic framework.
Slater jumped back to Peacefrog in 1996, as GPR's continuing organizational problems slowed their release schedule to a halt, releasing his full-length
Planetary Assault Systems debut in 1997. He ascended to the majors via a contract with NovaMute that resulted in 1997's
Freek Funk;
Wireless followed two years later. His first volume of the mix series Fear and Loathing appeared in 2001 on the React label.
Alright on Top from 2002 was an "album of songs" with vocals from Ricky Barrows and others featured on every track. The second volume of Fear and Loathing appeared in late 2004. He formed his own Mote-Evolver label in 2006, debuting his
L.B. Dub Corp alias and reactivating
Planetary Assault Systems, in addition to releasing records by producers like
Savas Pascalidis and
Cari Lekebusch. He put together the 32nd volume of the Fabric DJ-mix series in early 2007. Much of his subsequent work was produced as
Planetary Assault Systems, with full-lengths
Temporary Suspension (2009) and The Messenger (2011) appearing on Ostgut Ton. The label also released
L.B. Dub Corp's full-length debut,
Unknown Origin (2013), as well as
Planetary Assault Systems' Arc Angel (2016). ~ Sean Cooper