Mstrkrft
Mstrkrft (stylized as MSTRKRFT; disemvowelment of "master craft") is a Canadian electronic music duo from Toronto. The group was started in 2005 by Jesse F. Keeler of Death from Above and Al-P (Alex Puodziukas) formerly of the Mississauga, Ontario[1] electropop group Girlsareshort.[2][3][4] Al-P was also the producer for Death from Above 1979's album You're a Woman, I'm a Machine as well as several of (Jesse's former band) Black Cat #13's records. The duo have been close friends, as well as work partners, for a long time.[5] Mstrkrft also produced Die Mannequin's first EP, How to Kill, and Magneta Lane's second LP, Dancing With Daggers.[6]
Mstrkrft | |
|---|---|
_(3986307737).jpg.webp) Keeler and Al-P performing in Perth, 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Dance-punk, electro house |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Last Gang, Ministry of Sound Australia, PIAS Recordings, Dim Mak, ORO Records |
| Members | Jesse F. Keeler Al-P |
| Website | Official website |
Mstrkrft has been commissioned to remix songs by such artists as Death From Above 1979, Justice, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Bloc Party, Ayumi Hamasaki, Metric, Wolfmother,[7] Annie and The Kills.[8]
History
Their first single was "Easy Love", released in 2006 on Last Gang Records. They released their second single, "Work On You", on 6 July. In contrast to the "Easy Love" music video, "Work On You" featured animated robots, similar to those found in classic cartoons (similar to Voltron and Transformers). The band has created remixes from a variety of other artists ranging from Buck 65 to The Kills to Death from Above 1979.
Mstrkrft released their debut album, The Looks, on 18 July 2006 in the United States and 2 February 2007 in Britain. Keeler and Al-P told Eye Weekly weeks before the release of The Looks, that as the album was being finished, the planning stages for a follow-up record had already begun. Describing the upcoming album's new direction, Al-P said that the album would be "darker, underground disco and house with elements of American rock music."
The 2007 version of their song "Street Justice" was also released as a single. On the band's website message board, Keeler mentioned they were also working on a compilation album composed of their remixed tracks. "Street Justice" was also featured in Saints Row 2. "Neon Knights" was also featured on Need For Speed: Pro Street, their remix for Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." was featured in the film Meet the Spartans, and "Work on You" was featured in Dirt 2.
Their song "Paris" was featured in a 2006 commercial for the online music store URGE. In 2007, Mstrkrft appeared at the WEMF World Electronic Music Festival.
In September 2007, Mstrkrft performed at an Australian spring music festival "Parklife" in Brisbane. They performed their remix of the song "Woman" from Modular label mates Wolfmother. Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother appeared on stage and sang live while Mstrkrft performed the remix.
In 2008, they released a mix CD with Z-Trip through Obeygiant.com. In conjunction with this CD, Obey offered the Artwork print, entitled Soundclash of the Titans. On 24 May 2008, Mstrkrft was featured on BBC Radio 1 show, The Essential Mix. Mstrkrft later performed at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, which included a diverse group of artists ranging from Metallica to Jack Johnson.
In 2009, their remix of "Woman" by Wolfmother was featured in the film Lesbian Vampire Killers. On 17 March 2009, Mstrkrft released their second LP, Fist of God. Initial critical response was average, with major periodicals Spin, Rolling Stone, and Blender giving the album less-than-stellar reviews. The album features guest appearances by John Legend, E-40, N.O.R.E., and Lil' Mo, among others. In 2010, their song “Bounce’ featuring N.O.R.E. was featured in DJ Hero 2.
In 2011, they released two new singles, "Beards Again" and "Back in the USSA". "Beards Again" was later featured on the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game soundtrack in 2013.
The band's third LP, Operator was released on 22 July 2016. The singles "Little Red Hen" and "Party Line" were released in March and May 2016 respectively to promote the album.
Starting in May 2019, MSTRKRFT started releasing a single every month on ORO Records, including "City Violence", "La Chiaccherona", "All Night, All Night", "Buffalo Fat" and "Dorsia".
Band name
The band took out the vowels from their name in order to avoid trademark infringement with Mastercraft, a Canadian tools company. The 'C' was changed to a 'K' in order to maintain the pronunciation and image of the original name.[9]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Dance [10] | ||||||||||||||
| The Looks |
|
— | ||||||||||||
| Fist of God |
|
12 | ||||||||||||
| Operator |
|
17 | ||||||||||||
| Black Gloves |
|
— | ||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
EPs
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Runaway, Vol. I (Remixes) |
| Runaway, Vol. II (Remixes) | |
| 2019 | Sunshine of My Life |
| 2020 | Spirit of Truth |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [11] |
BEL (Fl) |
UK [12] |
US Dance | |||||||||||
| 2006 | "Easy Love" | — | — | — | — | The Looks | ||||||||
| "Work on You" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 2007 | "Street Justice" | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| 2008 | "Bounce"/"Vuvuvu" | 75 | — | — | 14 | Fist of God | ||||||||
| 2009 | "Heartbreaker" (featuring John Legend) | 63 | 53 | 50 | — | |||||||||
| 2011 | "Beards Again" | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||
| "Back in the USSA" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 2016 | "Little Red Hen" | — | — | — | — | Operator | ||||||||
| "Party Line" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Priceless" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Runaway" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 2019 | "City Violence" | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | ||||||||
| "La Chiaccherona" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "All Night, All Night" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Buffalo Fat" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Dorsia" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Let Me See You Move" | — | — | — | — | Sunshine of My Life | |||||||||
| 2020 | "Black Gloves" | — | — | — | — | Black Gloves | ||||||||
| "ALEXYSS" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
References
- IMO Records. "MSTRKRFT Biography" Archived 16 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, IMO Records' Retrieved on 14 March 2011.
- Derdeyn, Stuart. "Austin's just one brief stop on Mstrkrft's musical voyage", The Gazette, 2007-03-15, p. D3.
- Rayner, Ben. "On Death and dying: Death from Above 1979: Keeler and Grainger fold band, leaving an indie rock legacy", Toronto Star, 2006-12-31, p. C5.
- Alderson, Glenn. "They're Krfty: Who needs vowels when you've got vocoders", Calgary Herald, 2006-07-21, p. SW8.
- Dancing With Daggers (CD liner). Magneta Lane. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Paper Bag Records. 2006. PAPER019.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Devlin, Mike. "Masters of keyboards 'move with the times'", Times-Colonist, 2006-07-29, p. B3.
- Rayner, Ben. "Seriously, they do dance music: MSTRKRFT: DJ union mines shared passion for electronica", Toronto Star, 2006-07-06, p. G4.
- "MSTRKRFT". DJZ.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- "Mstrkrft Chart History: Top Dance/Electronic Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
- "The ARIA Report: Issue 1003" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. 23 August 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
