Baby Mammoth

Despite intense roster competition, Baby Mammoth emerged as the Pork label’s most productive act, issuing five complete albums of muted instrumental hip-hop from their first release in late 1996 through the close of the decade. Sharing ground with labelmates Fila Brazillia and Solid Doctor, the duo of Mark Blissenden and Andrew Burdall concentrates on grounded rhythms and atmospheric textures, tilting more toward the instrumental wing of acid jazz than most producer-led trip-hop projects. The pair first crossed paths with Pork founder Dave Brennand and his associate Steve Cobby (aka Fila Brazillia) at a Hull club, the city that serves as home base for both the act and the label. That introduction quickly yielded their debut album, 10,000 Years Beneath the Street, in 1996. Blissenden and Burdall followed with two further albums the next year, along with an EP and a single. They later adopted a steadier cadence, releasing one LP annually: Another Day at the Orifice in 1998, Swimming in 1999, Motion Without Pain in 2000, and Seven Up in 2001. After a year-long pause, the group resurfaced with Octo Muck in 2003. A year after that, Blissenden collaborated with labelmates Steve Cobby and Robert Ellerby of Beige on the Fabric 18 mix CD.