Visionary Underground
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{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
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{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Visionary Underground
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = group_or_band
| alias = VU
| origin = London, England
| genre = Drum and bass/Breakbeat
| years_active =
| label = VU Recordings
| associated_acts =
| website = http://www.visionaryunderground.com
| current_members =
| past_members =
}}
Visionary Underground is a technology driven, audio-visual collective from London that was formed in 2001 by DJ Feel Free and VJ Coco. Their music is characterized by a mix of UK hip hop, ragga, soul, dub, and Asian genres.
History
In the spirit of Visionary Underground's founding nature, the label VU Recordings was created by the group to overcome a lack of opportunity for the group in the music industry.{{Citation |title=Subway {{!}} Visionary Underground Lyrics, Meaning & Videos |url=https://sonichits.com/video/Visionary_Underground/Subway |access-date=2023-06-06 |language=en}}
{{cquote|"When no-one gives you an opportunity – you have to make your own."
| author = Visionary Underground
| source =
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Before the release of "Keep The Grime On", VU Recordings released four 12" vinyl singles and one CD/vinyl single.
Militant 24-7 from the Keep The Grime On album was chosen as the TV title music for BBC 2 Asian arts and culture program: Desi DNA, while a selection of VU tracks has also seen their way onto a variety of compilation albums including FabricLive15 and Peace Not War - Volume Two.
Nov 2006 saw the release of Dr Das's solo debut album "Emergency Basslines" under the VU Recordings Label.
In an interview for SOAS Radio in 2017, Coco Das stated that nowadays they prefer to describe themselves as an audio-visual collective and instead a drum and bass/breakbeat band. In the same interview, Coco Das discussed their history and track production notes.[https://www.mixcloud.com/SOASradio/coco-das-visionary-underground-pioneers-of-british-asian-music-5/ COCO DAS (VISIONARY UNDERGROUND) - Pioneers of British Asian Music 5 - SOASradio on MixCloud]
Lineup
Founders
- FeelFree (DJ/Producer)
- Coco Das (VJ/Visual Artist)
- Damion Mulrain (Vocalist/Lyricist)
- Duane Flames (Rap/Lyricist)
Featured Artists
- Dr Das (founder member and formerly of Asian Dub Foundation) (live bass)
- Bobby "sox" Demers (live jungle/breakbeat drummer)
- Yap (Pink Punk)
- Asian Dub Foundation ft Sinéad O'Connor
- Nitin Sawhney
- Aref Durvesh (tabla maestro)
- Chandru (bollywoodstrings.com)
- Pandit Dinesh (tabla and percussion guru)
- MC Navigator (of Freestylers fame)
- Sonia Mehta (Indian vocalist)
==Discography==
| class="wikitable" border="1" |width=100% |
| bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Released!! Albums !! Singles |
| 2002
| |Urban Dubz/ Urban Uproar |
| 2002
| |Feeling Good/ Ride |
| 2003
|Demo Copy | |
| 2004
| |Countries at War |
| 2005
| |Eye Of The Storm |
| 2005
| width="225" |Keep The Grime On | width="325" | |
| 2008
|width="225"|Fired Up |width="325"| |
| 2009
| width="225" | | width="325" |Get The Beers In |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160328182412/http://www.visionaryunderground.com/html/vu_home.html Visionary Underground Official Site]
- [http://www.myspace.com/visionaryunderground Visionary Underground's Myspace]
- [https://myspace.com/visionaryunderground/music/album/fired-up-20296759 To hear all 11 tracks from FIRED UP]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125200736/http://www.nothingless.org/adf/ Jurg's ADF Discography and Related News]
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/102290 Visionary Underground's Discography]
- [https://musicbrainz.org/artist/caf5162f-a2e0-43c1-9e1b-ab9d44c117b3 Visionary Underground's MusicBrainz Page]
- [https://sonichits.com/artist/Visionary_Underground Visionary Underground's Sonichits Page]
- FabricLive15 Track List
- [https://rateyourmusic.com/release/comp/various-artists/peace-not-war-volume-two/ Peace Not War - Volume Two Track List]
- [https://open.spotify.com/album/4bVMrCpmR1VR7Dind1bzF6 Emergency Basslines VU Recordings]
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