J-Walk

A partnership forged in Manchester, England, united the contrasting temperaments of studio-focused Martin Desai—born in that city, proprietor of Codebreaker studios, and occasional engineer for Andy Votel and Badly Drawn Boy—with the more outgoing Martin Brew, born elsewhere in England, who runs the Fat City record shop and belongs to the Fat City All Stars DJ collective. Drawing from mutual passions for Detroit techno, northern soul, and vintage film soundtracks, the pair fashioned a sample-laden fusion that proved both engaging and groovy. Before adopting the J-Walk name, Brew had explored deep dub textures via the Strange Brew alias, while Desai served as in-house programmer at Pleasure Records. Ahead of their first full-length release, the duo issued three sought-after, limited-edition seven-inch singles—“Soul Vibration,” “French Letter,” and “Tearaway”—that sketched the contours of J-Walk’s mutant funk, cinematic atmospheres, and updated northern soul sound. Even with a pressing of just five hundred copies, the initial single earned unofficial status as Manchester’s summer anthem. Their debut album, A Night On The Rocks, incorporated all three of those hard-to-find tracks alongside vocal contributions from Veba of Rae And Christian, Elbow’s Guy Garvey, and newcomers Pete Simpson and Sarah Hill. Underscoring the project’s irreverent spirit, the album sleeve carried the motto “’Ave It.” J-Walk has also supplied remixes for an eclectic roster that includes Baaba Maal, Rae And Christian, Kings Of Convenience, Nitin Sawhney, and the Sugababes.