Bumcello

Sometimes classified simplistically as trip-hop, Bumcello is a downtempo electronica duo from Paris, France, whose wide-ranging music draws from groove-driven styles such as jazz and left-field house as well as dub reggae and hip-hop. Comprised of producers Vincent Ségal and Cyril Atef, who perform most of the music themselves, Bumcello made their full-length album debut in 1999 with Bumcello on the independent label Comet Records. Their second album, Booty Time (2001), comprised in part of a live performance on public radio station France Musique, was released on the label Signature - Radio France. In 2002 they advanced to their third label, Tôt ou Tard, a prestigious subsidiary of Warner Music France, and released Nude for Love (2002), a sample-free effort featuring notable guests such as Mathieu Chédid (aka M) on "Death in Brest" and Lateef the Truth Speaker, Gift of Gab, and Chief Xcel on "Beautiful You." A long tour of Europe with Chédid followed along with the accompanying double live album Get Me (2003). Successive albums Animal Sophistiqué (2005) and Lychee Queen (2008) on Tôt ou Tard were well received and, reaching numbers 198 and 159 on the French albums chart, marked the steadily growing popularity of Bumcello.