https://twitter.com/DaftLimmy/status/612611172970442752

Thought I'd try out Limmy's idea. Despite the large difference in tempo and lack of a clean acappella, it kinda works! It's a bit rough but it took 30 minutes, including finding the instrumental and acappella.



Beat It Off

We are Signal Jam, two brothers from Dunfermline in Scotland.  Our sound has been shaped by over 2 decades of DJing and producing anything from funky disco jams to blistering techno, and everything in between.

In 1999, the 17-year old me used to run a comedy mailing list. This is where "Left Handed Bastard" was born - a member had suggested it as the name for a daft musical collaboration I was involved in.

That never came to fruition, but not long afterwards I required a name for my own burgeoning DJing and production efforts. I am neither left handed nor a bastard, but the name seemed to chime nicely with the anarchic, irreverent ethos of the music I had been obsessively devouring - wacky breakbeat cut-ups, bubbling filtered funk, raw techno workouts - basically anything electronic and funky that was a bit outside the mainstream.  So, with the others' blessing I re-purposed the name for myself.

When I started getting some recognition around 2001-2002, some doubts began creeping in that I might not be taken seriously with what some might consider a juvenile or offensive name (and oh, did I want to be taken seriously). I decided I would join the hallowed ranks of dance music acronyms, but this notion was short-lived. I discovered there was not only another electronic act already called LHB, but also a house music label - both apparently rather well established, and as it turned out, pretty decent too. As there were more than enough LHBs in dance music already, I needed an alternative. It took a bit of encouragement from others, but Left Handed Bastard would be the name tagged on my tracks, remixes and bootlegs for the next few years.  It's certainly unique and distinctive, and at the end of the day, that's what I wanted.

I later read that it may possibly refer to a type of sword. Not sure if that was known to the guy who originally thought of the name.  I will always think of it as what made me like it so much in the first place: a surreal stream of consciousness with no real meaning. But when you try to find a meaning, it does have connotations of being non-conformist, a bit cheeky and out of the left of field, and I'm all about that. And I loved Leftfield as well, of course.

13 years on, my passion had not waned, but I felt the name wasn't the best reflection of my current musical identity. I had begun involving my brother more on the production side of things, not just DJing. I wanted something meaningful which aptly expresses our love for all things electronic and funky, while still not taking ourselves too seriously. So Left Handed Bastard has taken a break, but may return some day. After a lot of thought, we are Signal Jam.

There is a slowly growing archive of old Left Handed Bastard mixes at: http://www.mixcloud.com/pkaulf

All new stuff from now on will be found here:

http://www.soundcloud.com/signaljam
http://www.mixcloud.com/signaljam
http://www.facebook.com/signaljam

Hiya!

Please direct your attention here for our current activities:

http://www.facebook.com/signaljam
http://www.mixcloud.com/signaljam
http://www.soundcloud.com/signaljam

We have more old stuff on our other pages, check them out:

http://www.mixcloud.com/pkaulf
http://soundcloud.com/lefthandedbastard
http://soundcloud.com/marty_lhb
http://soundcloud.com/kaulfuss-housearrest