DJ Food is a collaborative project between
Coldcut/Ninja Tune duo
Matt Black and
Jonathan More, and second-half
PC (born Patrick Carpenter) and Strictly Kev (Kevin Foakes). Although the moniker originally referred only to
Black and
More's several-volumed series of stripped-down breaks records designed for deck use (i.e., "food" for DJs), club booking demands for the assumedly proper-named
DJ Food dictated the pair make an ongoing project of it. Adding
PC and Strictly to spice things up (and differentiate
DJ Food from
Coldcut when they played the same bill), the quartet released a series of 12" singles in various combinations starting in 1994 (including "Freedom"/"Consciousness"), with their proper debut full-length,
A Recipe for Disaster, appearing the following year. The quartet also toured Europe, Canada, and America as
DJ Food (mainly DJing) and regularly mashed it up side by side on
Coldcut's weekly KISS FM show
Solid Steel.
PC and Strictly were also hired by Warp Records to compile and mix a series of releases entitled
Blech, drawing from the influential experimental techno label's back catalog.
More and
Black continued to split their time between
DJ Food and
Coldcut, as well as the day-to-day operation of their immensely popular Ninja Tune and Ntone labels.
DJ Food's second production album,
Kaleidoscope, appeared in April of 2000 to warm reviews. A year later, the pair inaugurated a
Solid Steel CD series with the mix album
Now, Listen! The years that followed found
More and
Black contributing less thanks to their
Coldcut obligations, while
PC would find success with his Cinematic Orchestra project, so much so that he resigned as a full-time member. Strictly Kev revived the project in 2011 and released The Search Engine in 2012.
PC would make an appearance, joining J.G. Thirlwell and The The's Matt Johnson on the album's long guest list.
–
Sean Cooper, Rovi