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Biography
While many would assume that the only way you can truly grow up surrounded by hip-hop is to live in a Harlem project for your entire childhood. Laurent Clarc proves that this needn't be the case, as he developed a genuine passion and understanding for hip-hop while growing up in the Swiss Alps. Pre-internet as well. Thanks to a DJ at his local radio station who knew his stuff, Clarc grew to love acts like A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Shadow and DJ Crush, and once he discovered that MC'ing itself wasn't really for him (he doesn't like to talk about how he discovered that) he tried his hand at production instead. After he moved from Sweden to England to study at Manchester University in the late 1990's, he discovered a thriving electronica scene that inspired him just as much, so he began writing instrumental electronic music that was heavily inspired by hip-hop production.
After university, an unsuccessful stint working with a hip-hop group back in Sweden convinced him to strike out on his own, so he moved to London, England and self-released “Instrumental Works”, his first EP in 2003. This release was enough to get him signed to Illicit Records, who released his debut album “Mickey Mouse Operation” in 2006. It took four whole years, but “Mickey Mouse Operation” was eventually a hit, climbing and climbing the US iTunes Electronic chart and making him a big deal on the other side of the Atlantic to where he previously called home. The cinematic nature of his music lead to commissions writing music for several TV shows in the US and the UK, and in 2012, Little People finally had a genuine hit on his hands with his album “We Are But Hunks Of Wood”. Since then, Clarc has remained a genuine artist with the kind of kudos that many of his peers would kill for. For that, he comes highly recommended.
Live reviews
The music of Little People (Anglo-Swiss producer Laurent Clerc to his dentist) represents something very interesting that could explain a lot to many people who truly need a crucial difference spelt out to them. His music is cast iron proof that rap music and hip hop are absolutely not the same thing, and it shows an almost annoying amount of talent that he proves that not by making some dry old thesis about cultural contexts and the four elements of hip hop, but by making music that’s recognisably hip hop, but entirely instrumental. And oh my dear little heart it works, and it works incredibly well. Clerc is a good enough producer to make something that could seem a little restricting work in a multitude of ways as well. The music can be gorgeous, it can be lyrical, it can be relaxing, but when played live to a cramped room full of people going completely nuts, it’s an ungodly amount of sheer, untrammelled fun. It’s even fun in an interesting way, being able to start a party in a funeral home without ever resorting to cliché and having a warmth and humanity to it that means that it can still be listened to the morning after without wincing. Basically, this is music for the heart, the head and the hips, and it should be heard live as soon as possible. Highly recommended.
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