by Richie Unterberger
Touch and Go is a project conceived and masterminded by David Lowe, who writes all of the material, produces, arranges, and plays drums, keyboards, and most of the bass, as well as doing some of the vocals. Most of the parts, however, are filled in by a cast of various musicians -- none of them part of Touch and Go officially -- contributing vocalists, brass, and wind parts, guitar, and violin. Touch and Go's first album, I Find You Very Attractive, combines retro-lounge jazz, swing, and Latin-Caribbean sounds with more modern dancebeats and samples/effects. Lyrically, the songs -- sometimes sung, sometimes spoken, often with extended instrumental sections -- are often constructed around the sort of come-on lines used at the social get-togethers of the well-heeled and fashionable.
Prior to Touch and Go, Lowe had written music for numerous television programs and commercials, an aesthetic that informs the arrangements and production heard on the Touch and Go releases. He also recorded an album under the name Dreamcatcher in 1997. His pop profile was raised exponentially when "Would You..." (its spoken snippets inspired by a TV documentary he was working on about the phrases used by clubgoers and partygoers) became a Top Three single in the U.K. in late 1998. The subsequent I Find You Very Attractive album likewise based much of its material on similar lyrical motifs. A lot of it has since been licensed for use in films, TV themes, and commercials, an appropriate full circle considering Lowe's background.
by Richie Unterberger
Touch and Go is a project conceived and masterminded by David Lowe, who writes all of the material, produces, arranges, and plays drums, keyboards, and most of the bass, as well as doing some of the vocals. Most of the parts, however, are filled in by a cast of various musicians -- none of them part of Touch and Go officially -- contributing vocalists, brass, and wind parts, guitar, and violin. Touch and Go's first album, I Find You Very Attractive, combines retro-lounge jazz, swing, and Latin-Caribbean sounds with more modern dancebeats and samples/effects. Lyrically, the songs -- sometimes sung, sometimes spoken, often with extended instrumental sections -- are often constructed around the sort of come-on lines used at the social get-togethers of the well-heeled and fashionable.
Prior to Touch and Go, Lowe had written music for numerous television programs and commercials, an aesthetic that informs the arrangements and production heard on the Touch and Go releases. He also recorded an album under the name Dreamcatcher in 1997. His pop profile was raised exponentially when "Would You..." (its spoken snippets inspired by a TV documentary he was working on about the phrases used by clubgoers and partygoers) became a Top Three single in the U.K. in late 1998. The subsequent I Find You Very Attractive album likewise based much of its material on similar lyrical motifs. A lot of it has since been licensed for use in films, TV themes, and commercials, an appropriate full circle considering Lowe's background.