Pilote

by Kingsley Marshall While his records as Series 500 for Brighton label Curor gained critical acclaim despite few sales, they did succeed in drawing the attention of Paul Arnold, who was quick to sign the strip-lit electronica of Stuart Cullen to his Certificate 18 imprint; rolling out the Electronic Projects subtitle specifically for Cullen's releases. His first full-length for the label, Antenna, expanded on the tortured orchestration of his debut single, Tonic, propelling dysfunctional beats through paper-thin synths with admirable grace. The emphasis throughout both this early work and second album Do It Now Man was to soften the usual sharp corners of electronica with a hard-to-place organic edge.