Biography
Mark Royal, recording as TPower, first attracted notice through his contributions to the hardcore techno act Bass Selective and their 1991 single "Blow Out Part II," a release that proved influential in the development of proto-jungle. As a solo artist he has since earned fresh recognition for TPower's experimental fusion of rich ambient layers with frequently extravagant rhythmic intricacy. The 12-inch "Horny Mutant Jazz" and the subsequent album The Self-Evident Truth of an Intuitive Mind, both issued on Sound of the Underground, are widely regarded as early landmarks of ambient-jungle and helped establish the conceptual framework for jungle's incorporation of jazz and other more restrained, atmospheric compositional approaches. Although later recordings have moved away from jungle's characteristic syncopation toward conventional techno and even purely atmospheric, beatless ambient, drum'n'bass continues to form the foundation of much of TPower's work. Royal's background lies, predictably, in hip-hop, which absorbed his attention during its UK peak in the early to mid-'80s. After his early disengagement from hip-hop, his enthusiasm for breaks and forceful rhythms accompanied him into encounters with the music of David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Pat Metheny, and those same elements—complex breaks together with a pronounced melodic awareness—remain central to his solo output.
Albums
