A.R. kane are one of most under-rated bands from the 1980's. I fell in love with their pop sounds when I was 16 or 17. They're a band I never tire of hearing. I initially wrote this brief retrospective back in 2005 over on my old Lostmusic site and I can safely say that I play the band as regularly now as I did back in the late 1980s. They still make me smile.

A.R. kane hailed from the east end of London. They were formed in 1986. They were a duo and consisted of Alex Ayuli and Rudi Tamabla.

Their debut release came on One Little Indian records in 1986. The wonderful 'When You're Sad' with it's deadpan vocals and feedback quickly earned the band the lame nickname of "the black Jesus and Mary chain" from the UK inkies. The 12" single of which I am still a proud owner remains one of my favourite records of all time. The mechanical beats and feedback of the title track really make this track stand out. The band quickly moved to the dreamy 4AD record label. The band moved on and outwards into the world of dreamscape pop. Anticipating the not yet invented shoe-gazing sound. The band were messing with beats and samples long before My Bloody Valentine nearly bankrupted Creation records in the early 1990's. The band made some wonderful dreamy pop. Whilst on the 4AD roster the band teamed of with label mates Colourbox. This resulted in the number one smash 'Pump Up The Volume' and the collective were known as M/A/R/R/S. This sound was a radical departure from the guitar soundscapes that A.R. kane were now making. The bands only release on 4AD was the 'Lollita' EP.

In 1988 the band moved to Rough Trade records. This heralded the creative peak of band. EP's 'Listen Up' (released as ARK), 'Love-sick and 'Up Home!' all saw the light of day in 1988. Their debut full length LP was also released. '69' came out and was championed by John Peel on his radio show. This LP mixed the earlier feedback and dream pop effortlessly. It also leant heavily on dub influences. Described at the time as 'Challenging' - the LP has aged amazingly well and still sounds fresh and relevant 19 years on.

1989 saw the band release the even more diverse album "i". It sounded like the band had beamed in from another planet, recorded the LP and then beamed off again. The LP was a double vinyl and it sprawled. The album was inconsistent and infuriating. There were gems to be heard like 'Suprevixens' and 'Honeysuckleswallow' which really took the blueprint of their debut LP and refined it. This LP could never be described as easy listening. It has simple electronic pop songs, textured and feeding back guitars and some tracks travel further into the dub territory hinted at on earlier releases.

I lost track of A.R. kane after this release. I did find their final LP 'New Clear Child' in the mid 1990's. The band had moved away from the cutting edge sound that they pioneered and many of the sounds had now infiltrated the mainstream. Albeit in a watered down form. This LP released on 3rd Stone records in 1994 was the bands swansong and although not a bad LP it definitely lacks that experimental side that made the band special. The guitars are pretty much consigned to history. It has a more laidback pop approach, it's still dream pop but much closer to the middle of the road.

The band have a scattered presence on the world wide web. I did find this great discography . Since I first wrote this a My Space for A.R. Kane has appeared. It has songs to download - two from the bands debut LP and two from the SUFi late 1990s releases. The My space is run by Rudy Tambala.

I have stolen the post A.R. Kane history for Rudy from the My Space page. It simply says this - "Inspired by the sufi mystic poetry of RUMI, Rudy Tambala created a song called "Desert Flower" which was included on a Virgin records compilation under the name SUFi in 1994. Rudy went on to join forces with kid sister Maggie, and together they recorded two albums (for Virgin and Secret Agent/Dishy), and a brace of singles, over a four year period."

Rudy has now got his own My Space under the name of Music One. The site has one song, entitled "UrbAltDemo1" for download - it's in keeping with A.R. Kane's ambient feedback sound.

All I can find on Alex is this. He released a couple of LPs in the late 1990's as Alex! - one was entitled 'Soul Surging'.