Biography
Crooked Man blends unpolished foundational house grooves with accessible vocal lines and memorable melodies, functioning as one among numerous pseudonyms employed by the innovative Sheffield, England-based DJ and producer Richard Barratt. Across his involvement in outfits such as Funky Worm, Sweet Exorcist, and All Seeing I throughout the 1980s and 1990s, followed by his production work during the 2000s and 2010s, Barratt retained an enduring enthusiasm for the foundational house singles he first presented to Sheffield audiences in his role as a DJ. Projects including the 2018 album Crooked House allow him to sustain that sound's vitality.
As a youngster, Barratt developed an affinity for regional groups like Cabaret Voltaire and Human League, which led to his emergence in the mid-1980s under the moniker DJ Parrot at the renowned Jive Turkey club events. Partnering with Winston Hazel, he ranked among the earliest selectors to introduce house music within Sheffield. Shortly afterward, he achieved a Top Ten placement via the 1988 release "Hustle (To the Music)" while operating as half of Funky Worm alongside future Moloko member Mark Brydon. Entering the early 1990s, Barratt teamed with Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H. Kirk under the Sweet Exorcist name, delivering groundbreaking bleep techno singles and albums on Warp Records such as 1990's Testone and the subsequent full-length C.C.C.D. Still in that decade, Barratt secured additional chart entries as a member of the Sheffield collective All Seeing I, whose participants encompassed Jarvis Cocker and Philip Oakey. Their rendition of "The Beat Goes On" attained the number 11 spot on the U.K. Singles Chart during March 1998, while "Walk Like a Panther" reached number ten the next January.
Barratt turned toward production duties throughout the 2000s and 2010s, contributing to efforts by Add N to (X), Richard Hawley, and Róisín Murphy, among additional artists, during the period he raised a family. Contributions to pieces such as Murphy's expansive single "Simulation" revived his interest in creating original material, prompting Barratt to begin capturing song-oriented house music under the Crooked Man designation alongside engineer Dave Lewin (likewise of Bleep & Booster) and songwriter and former Clock DVA member Mick Ward, commencing with the 2012 single Preset/Scum. Following issuance of several tracks via his own Crooked Man label plus Optimo Trax and DFA, Crooked Man's self-titled debut appeared in September 2016. In the year that followed, Crooked Man put out multiple shorter releases encompassing a March remix compilation, the Happiness EP in June, and the single "Echo Loves Narcissus, Pt. 1," initially distributed without attribution on the Bitter End imprint during August before its formal release the subsequent March. That track also featured on Barratt and associates' second album Crooked House, a more concise collection issued in October 2018. Two years afterward, Crooked Man's production work surfaced on Róisín Murphy's fifth album, Róisín Machine, which incorporated the duo's 2012 single "Simulation" together with newly recorded hypnotic disco-house material.
As a youngster, Barratt developed an affinity for regional groups like Cabaret Voltaire and Human League, which led to his emergence in the mid-1980s under the moniker DJ Parrot at the renowned Jive Turkey club events. Partnering with Winston Hazel, he ranked among the earliest selectors to introduce house music within Sheffield. Shortly afterward, he achieved a Top Ten placement via the 1988 release "Hustle (To the Music)" while operating as half of Funky Worm alongside future Moloko member Mark Brydon. Entering the early 1990s, Barratt teamed with Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H. Kirk under the Sweet Exorcist name, delivering groundbreaking bleep techno singles and albums on Warp Records such as 1990's Testone and the subsequent full-length C.C.C.D. Still in that decade, Barratt secured additional chart entries as a member of the Sheffield collective All Seeing I, whose participants encompassed Jarvis Cocker and Philip Oakey. Their rendition of "The Beat Goes On" attained the number 11 spot on the U.K. Singles Chart during March 1998, while "Walk Like a Panther" reached number ten the next January.
Barratt turned toward production duties throughout the 2000s and 2010s, contributing to efforts by Add N to (X), Richard Hawley, and Róisín Murphy, among additional artists, during the period he raised a family. Contributions to pieces such as Murphy's expansive single "Simulation" revived his interest in creating original material, prompting Barratt to begin capturing song-oriented house music under the Crooked Man designation alongside engineer Dave Lewin (likewise of Bleep & Booster) and songwriter and former Clock DVA member Mick Ward, commencing with the 2012 single Preset/Scum. Following issuance of several tracks via his own Crooked Man label plus Optimo Trax and DFA, Crooked Man's self-titled debut appeared in September 2016. In the year that followed, Crooked Man put out multiple shorter releases encompassing a March remix compilation, the Happiness EP in June, and the single "Echo Loves Narcissus, Pt. 1," initially distributed without attribution on the Bitter End imprint during August before its formal release the subsequent March. That track also featured on Barratt and associates' second album Crooked House, a more concise collection issued in October 2018. Two years afterward, Crooked Man's production work surfaced on Róisín Murphy's fifth album, Róisín Machine, which incorporated the duo's 2012 single "Simulation" together with newly recorded hypnotic disco-house material.
Albums
Return of The Crooked Cat
2025
Crooked House
2018
Echo Loves Narcissus
2018
Happiness
2017
The Remixes Volume 1
2017
Crooked Man
2016
Singles
