FINGATHING

"SUPERHERO MUSIC"

(GRAND CENTRAL)
2LP/CD

[RELEASE: JUNE 2002]

Superheroes of the Manchester hip-hop scene, the future’s never been so bright for Fingathing. Renowned for their original, cartoonish artwork and equally colourful DJ style, one of Grand Central’s most essential live acts sprang from unlikely sources.

The two Fingas in question go by the names of Peter Parker and Sneaky, propping up the turntables and double bass respectively.  Fingathing’s twin pilots combine mastery of both classical and contemporary instruments to great effect and even greater sound. As hip-hop visionaries go there can’t be many more quirky a combination.

Peter’s live work is based mainly around the 70s break and underground hip-hop he so adores, leading him to work with the Cutting Crew along with Statik and former DMC World Champion DJ Noize. Sneaky was resident at the cucumber-cool “Eardrum” set at “Dry Bar”, guested on Mr. Scruff’s 1999 release (‘Keep It Unreal’ on Ninja Tune) and has done session work with, among others, Lemon D from the Metalheadz. 

The Fingathing that we know today sprung from the sweaty loins of Rae & Christian’s live crew, where their free-styling apprenticeship was served during the summer of 1999 with crowd-pleasing vigour. They went on to release the ‘2 Player EP’ in August 2000, following it up with their debut LP, ‘The Main Event’ in December that year. Both featured the now trademark Fingathing graphic motifs emblazoned across the cover –   “…juicy, brutal and blistering” (The Face).  The ‘Superhero Music’ album also comes in their unique and extremely collectable artwork packaging that features a series of Finga comic characters.

Fingathing’s second longplayer ‘Superhero Music’ is one giant mish-mash of wigged-out scratching and obscure sample nirvana, mixed up with plenty of double bass action, a smattering of cunning humour and a bagful of fat beats. If Rae & Christian represent, say, the smoother end of the Grand Central block, then Fingathing are the ragamuffins on the corner nicking hubcaps and gobbing a lot. With twenty-two tracks to choose from there’s lots to get stuck into,  from ‘Drunken Master’s hazy bassy moves to the crunchy madness of ‘Criminal Robots’ and the childhood glee of the title cut. Its messy but magnificent, much like life itself.