- Superfluid are a 9 piece group with members hailing from Australia, UK, Canada, USA and Germany with most of the live performance aspect taking place in Australia. The crew specialise in producing hip hop beats incorporating elements of breakbeat, electro, jazz, downtempo, funk, turntablism all melded together to produce highly listenable coherent music. Members of Superfluid have also been responsible for releasing hard house tunes and remixes embraced by the likes of Judge Jules and Nick Sentience to name a couple. Not limiting themselves to rocking huge crowds at live shows, the group also participate in a wide range of activities such as motorbike racing.
Superfluid have just released their self-titled debut album, a double CD effort with disc 1 comprised of heavy hip hop tunes and loungey downtempo pieces while Project Vectrex on disc 2 is an exhibition of hard hitting original breakbeat compositions and compiled as a mix CD.
Sampling plays a big part in the Superfluid sound as they lift samples off old black and white movies, quirky sci-fi shows, hip hop lyrics and this is well documented in the first CD. Tunes like Cosmic Penguin and Pam's On Pills are perfect examples - samples blended highlighting the group's quirky sense of humour which sit atop heavy beats and big basslines (especially in Cosmic Penguin).
Skill Tester MMIV is a 4-man turntablist showdown between Waxmaster Wayne, DJ Kuya, L33T and Tor with each member using the weapon of their choosing be it vinyl, Final Scratch and CDJ1000!
Uptempo hip hop/big beat/breakbeat gets explored on tunes like Frequency Response which incorporates an electro bassline and distorted guitar hook with vocodered hip hop vocals. Brisbane's Blue MC sings and drops MC lyrics on the uptempo jazz meets breakbeat Speedway Star.
Towards the end of CD 1, the album moves into deeper downtempo territories, with tunes such as Science Of Sound with it's laidback jazzy noodlings, sci-fi effects and spacey synths. Middle Eastern influences can be heard on Lodoss SF vs The Drunken Samplist as they combine eastern pan flute arrangements with ethnic female vocals and turntablism.
Project Vectrex on CD 2 is a mix of uptempo breakbeat featuring older Superfluid tunes and also remixes of tunes from CD 1 from Superfluid themselves and friends. As they group has displayed on the first CD, anything goes and here they combine elements of electro, trance, techno with breakbeat sensibilities.
The CD opens up with two "licks" both on a huge crossover hard trance meets breakbeat tip. Cardassia's mix of Hard Ass Lick sees a squelchy acid lick mingle with robotic vocals and a funky drum beat. The Muppet Respect mix of Big Phat Lick goes on a deeper trip featuring more electro squelch and chopped up hip hop vocals.
Nil's Brutal Deluxe is remixed by Vectrex and incorporates 80s bboy electro beats, distorted rock guitar riff all held together by an electro hook. Veritech Defender 2049 sounds very much influenced by the sounds of Fuel Records' Tipper with it's spongey bass line - quirky FreQ Nasty bass meets Squarepusher production style with a hip hop outlook on top.
2-steppy beats can be heard on Proxima 3 - typically 2-step as well with highly syncopated stabby kick drums sidle with soft snares and short staccatto like hats with plenty of synth stabs and they return to this with the Vectrex remix of Want It by Lectrolux vs Nil.
Overall the two CDs exemplify Superfluid's passion for the eclectic. Each tune varies from the next in noticable fashion be it funk, hip hop, disco, breakbeat, techno... I could go on, but there would be no need to. For those who feel that electronic music is tending to sound a little "1-note", Superfluid invite you to their realm where anything is possible.