A Certain Ratio

Announce ACR:EPC

A NEW EP DEVOTED TO COLLABORATION, DEDICATED TO ANDREW WEATHERALL

FEATURING THE EMPEROR MACHINE, JACKNIFE LEE, MARIA UZOR (SINK YA TEETH) AND CHRIS MASSEY

FESTIVAL DATES AND TOURING THROUGHOUT 2021

A Certain Ratio announce the second EP in a series of three, ACR:EPC – out on 2 July 2021 on cornflower blue vinyl and digitally: https://mute.ffm.to/acrepc

The new EP, which focusses on the art of collaboration and is dedicated to Andrew Weatherall, launches today with ‘Emperor Machine’. ACR and The Emperor Machine’s collaboration came about after a chance meeting at an Andrew Weatherall Weekender outside Todmorden’s infamous Golden Lion. Andrew Meecham (aka The Emperor Machine) explains, “It was Martin who suggested we should maybe collaborate so I sent him a track I’d been working on and when I received the track back, I’ve got to be honest, I was a bit nervous because I’m an ACR fan and wanted to be so perfect. I put my headphones on, pressed play and it totally blew me away. It was just what I was hoping for and more.”

ACR are long-time fans – Jez and Martin often include The Emperor Machine in their DJ sets – and describe the track as “a perfect collaboration of ACR & The Emperor Machine.”

Watch the video, by Groovy Chaos, here:

Andrew Weatherall, who was in part responsible for the band reigniting, sadly passed away before they they were able to collaborate. ‘The Guv’nor’ is the band’s tribute to the titan of the dance scene who had long championed ACR and memorably said, “I had the German army vest, the big shorts, thought I looked like I was in A Certain Ratio, actually looked like Don Estelle in It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.’ (Andrew Weatherall, Guardian 2016). Written soon after his unexpected death in early 2020, ACR expand, “What an honour it is for us to have influenced someone who has inspired so many DJs, producers and artists. At our last gig with him in Birmingham in 2019 we discussed a possible collaboration, but sadly it never came about when he was taken from us all so suddenly. His spirit and inspiration are all over this track.”

‘YoYoGrip’ is the perfect marriage of two tracks from the band’s latest album, ACR Loco.

ACR, explain, “On this track, Jacknife Lee combines ‘YoYo Gi’ and ‘Get A Grip’ (feat. Maria Uzor) and gives them a new life in a new happy home, adding his own vocals and taking the tracks’ totally different tempos and keys, joining them up perfectly.”

The final track is a collaboration with Manchester remixer, producer, DJ, promoter and label head, Chris Massey. The band and Massey collaborated in 2019 after Massey remixed their single ‘Dirty Boy’ and this track is a mix of Massey’s ‘Music Control’. The band explain, “We have stripped the song right down and reworked this version (‘Musik Kontrol’) into an ACR-meets-you-on-the-dancefloor groover.”

ACR:EPC Tracklisting

• Emperor Machine (feat. The Emperor Machine)

• The Guv’nor

• YoYoGrip (long) (feat. Jacknife Lee and Maria Uzor (Sink Ya Teeth))

• Musik Kontrol (feat. Chris Massey)

Pre-order ACR:EPC and ACR:EPR: https://mute.ffm.to/acrepc

This new EP comes hot on the heels of their recent release, ACR:EPA, a tribute to Denise Johnson, their last recordings together before her untimely passing, and will be followed by ACR:EPR (where “anything goes!”) in August.

Listen to an in-depth interview about ACR when Jez Kerr and Martin Moscrop joined Gilles Peterson for a one-hour special on his BBC 6Music show: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000vfqz

ACR LIVE – 2021

ACR are due to appear at the Big Foot Festival in June, Womad in July, the We Out Here Festival in August and at the Wide Awake and Futurama festivals in September . Later this year the band will continue their run of unmissable dates with a winter tour – starting in Huddersfield on 3 November, with a show at London’s EartH on 13 November, finishing at Glasgow King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on 17 November. 

18 June – Big Foot Festival, Warwickshire

25 July – Womad Festival, Wiltshire

19-22 Aug – We Out Here Festival, Cambridgeshire

3 Sep – Wide Awake Festival, Brockwell Park, London

11 Sep – Futurama Festival, Liverpool

3 Nov – Huddersfield, The Parish
4 Nov – Newcastle, St. Dom’s Social Club
5 Nov – Manchester, Gorilla
6 Nov – Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, The Sugarmill
7 Nov – York, The Crescent
9 Nov – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
10 Nov – Southampton, Engine Rooms
11 Nov – Brighton, CHALK (formerly The Haunt)
12 Nov – Bristol, The Exchange
13 Nov – London, EartH
15 Nov – Preston, The Ferrett
16 Nov – Leeds, The Warehouse
17 Nov – Glasgow, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut

Listen to / buy ACR:EPA, which went to #2 in the Official UK Vinyl Singles Chart and #3 in the Official UK Physical Singles Chart this week, here: https://mute.ffm.to/acrepa

ACR Loco – described by Uncut as “their best LP in decades” – was released in 2020.

PRAISE FOR ACR LOCO

“ACR Loco is riotous, life affirming and bristling with energy” – ELECTRONIC SOUND

“A Certain Ratio found a powerful formula: paying heed to where they came from while keeping the door open for more all night parties in their future.” – PITCHFORK

“A gloriously heady mix evoking the ecstatic spirit of a chemical haze” – METRO

“…a distillation of the group’s entire career, a blend of funk, electro, indie guitar post-punk, acid house, rave-on Madchester and more…a serious party album.” – BROOKLYN VEGAN

“…pioneering groove alchemists” – THE QUIETUS                 

“Cult punk funkateers” – UNCUT

“… mould-breakers” – MOJO   “… pioneering, criminally overlooked” – ELECTRONIC SOUND

A Certain Ratio + Mute = Good Together

https://acrmcr.com

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