ARCHIVE

Archive is a musical group based in London, England, whose music spans electronic, trip-hop, avant-garde, post-rock[citation needed] and progressive rock. Over their eighteen-year history, the band has released nine studio albums and enjoyed established success throughout Europe, while remaining little-known in their native Britain.Archive was formed by Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths in 1994 from the ashes of the UK breakbeat act, Genaside II. Together with the female singer Roya Arab and the young rapper Rosko John, the band released their first album Londinium on Island Records in 1996, a mix of dark trip hop (in a similar vein to Massive Attack), electronica and, naturally, their breakbeat and hardcore roots, but with the unequivocal match of string arrangements and almost baroque and classically influenced songwriting. The album received moderate critical acclaim, but due to artistic differences, the band split up later that year. In Q magazine, Peter Gabriel was quoted as saying, "Londinium was one of my most favourite albums of the year."