Air Cuba were a Big Beat superduo formed by Christopher Andrews and former Chapterhouse drummer Ashley Bates. The group was known for their club performances in Europe and recordings for 4AD. Their sound demonstrated a range of electronic, pop and rock influences and they were frequently compared with Primal Scream. Big beat (also Big Beat, or sometimes chemical breaks) is a term devised in the mid 1990s by the British music press, as a way of describing the work of The Chemical Brothers, but was defined by the work of Fatboy Slim. ... Chapterhouse is a British shoegazing band of the early 1990s, originally from Reading. ... This article is about the record label, not the year 4 British indie rock record label, 4AD, was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records. ... Primal Scream. ...

Background

Although Andrews hailed from Canada, the group was originally named Cuba in honor of his mother, who was born in the island nation. The name was later changed to Air Cuba for the US release of the group's music.

During the 1990s, Andrews was married to Slowdive lead vocalist, Rachel Goswell (their marriage dissolved in 2000). She performed on some of the band's recordings and Air Cuba also collaborated with Angie Brown of Bizarre Inc. Slowdive was a shoegazer band formed in 1989, lasting until 1995. ... Rachel Goswell (born May 16, 1971, near Reading, England) is a singer-songwriter who was a vocalist with shoegazing pioneers Slowdive. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Angie Brown is a female singer/songwriter from the borough of Clapham, near south London. ... Bizarre Inc. ...

Recordings

The group's very first short release, Cross the Line, was called "pretty appealing" in a Times review, which recommended Air Cuba as "a blistering cure for the summertime blues." Their full length on 4AD, "Leap of Faith", was described as an "updated Happy Mondays with the ecstasy-induced excesses" by Canada's major music publication Chart Magazine. [1]. The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ... Happy Mondays are a band formed in Manchester, England in 1985. ... Ecstasy, from the Greek ekstasis, to be outside oneself, is a category of trance or trancelike states in which an individual transcends ordinary consciousness and as a result has a heightened capacity for exceptional thought or experience. ... Chart is a monthly Canadian music magazine. ...

Other links

• Air Cuba at the All Music Guide
• Band background at 4AD
• Cuba fan site

The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ...

References

• Charlie Porter, "Singled Out -Music", The Times (London, England), July 25, 1998, Sec. features, pg. 12.
• "Weekly Reviews of New Releases", Chart Magazine, September 7, 1999.

Discography

• Cross the line (1998)
• Leap of Faith (1999)