
ROMANTHONY
OF DAFT PUNK
Romanthony is
a new-school acid garage producer who routinely summons both the
raw soul and the raw sound of originals from the glory days of acid
house and garage during the late '80s. Though he's much more an
underground name in his native America than Europe (where he has
released several full LPs and collections), two Romanthony co-productions
(and a vocal) for the second album released by fans Daft Punk helped
lift his status in the mainstream dance scene. Born Anthony Moore,
he began producing in the garage mecca of New Jersey, specializing
in high-energy, low-fidelity productions during an era in which
dance productions became ever more mainstreamed. Released on his
own Black Male label he also owns Orange and World club assaults
like "Floorpiece" and "Let Me Show You Love"
presented an aggressive, extroverted dancefloor persona, straight
out of Prince's playbook and akin to Chicago's Green Velvet.
Despite local
popularity for his tracks and mixes, Romanthony was nowhere near
a worldwide name until the mid-'90s, when Britain's Azuli Records
released a full-length collection of Black Male productions titled
Romanworld. His trademarked throwback acid house became a hot sound
by the end of the decade, and the growing house mecca of Scotland
became an early convert, with a raft of singles on Glasgow Underground.
His first proper album, Instinctual, was a collaboration with Glasgow
Undeground's DJ Predator. Live in the Mix followed on Distance in
1999, and another retrospective (R.Hide in Plain Site) appeared
on Glasgow Underground in 2000.

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