The Beatdown

In 1989, Lee Coombs began his dance floor career spinning at acid-house parties in London and Cambridge. He quickly became the resident DJ at the now-legendary Eclipse raves, and a swift, natural evolution from the decks to the studio led to releases under several monikers such as the Invisible Men and the Frog Junkies as well as establishing numerous imprints including the legendary Thrust and the electro-driven Zoid recordings. While working at record distribution outfit Intergroove, Lee hooked up with Finger Lickin' label boss Justin Rushmore. Coombs' signature acid-tinged breaks and tech-house sound stood out to the mogul, and this partnership sparked the most prolific and fruitful period in his long career. Seb Fontaine and Pete Tong called Coombs the "man to watch" after his Future Sound of Retro album was released on Finger Lickin' in June 2001, and soon enough, his talents were being called upon to rework the sounds of everyone from New Order to Lamb to Moby. In 2005, Coombs set up residency in San Francisco, and with a solid local fan base, his quarterly event became one of the hottest ongoing nights in the Bay Area. This summer, Coombs is slated to drop Land of the Monkey Snake, the highly anticipated mix album inspired by his recent trip to the Burning Man Festival. Luckily, we won't have to wait any longer than Saturday night to hear what he has in store.