April 5, 2001 15:12

LORDS OF THE DANCE!

The world of dance music pays tribute to two of its figureheads...

GOLDIE and CARL COX were both honoured for their achievments in dance music at the first DIESEL U-MUSIC AWARDS in LONDON last night (April 4).

Created to recognise and publicise the best unsigned musical talent in the UK, the awards spanned all genres of music from Indie to house to R&B.

The ceremony, which took place at the Empire in Shepherd's Bush, was followed by sets from such established artists as Shola Ama, 57th Dynasty, Lowfinger and E-Z Rollers, as well as from the award winners themselves.

By category, the award winners were:

House (sponsored by Serious) - Clayton Philips
Electronica (sponsored by Wall of Sound) - Souvenir
Indie (sponsored by clickmusic.co.uk) - Dimension
Drum & Bass (sponsored by Moving Shadow) - Skitz
Hip-hop (sponsored by Fat City) - Erban Poets
R'n'B (sponsored by D'Influence) - Made 4 Music
UK Garage (sponsored by DJs For Life) - Distant Confusion
Best Production (sponsored by eJay) - Birds of Prey

Diesel: U-Music also took the opportunity to honour more established artists. DJ Yoda won the DMC/Technics sponsored prize for Best Scratch DJ, while Goldie received a Best Underground Album award for his seminal 'Timeless' longplayer. Carl Cox also received an Outstanding Contribution award for his ongoing commitment to underground music.

"We've been looking for new artists and new talent, explained Cox, who is one of the Directors of eJay, to NME.COM on the night. "It's a great indication of what the UK has to offer in the way of new music, and this is a great opportunity to see that."

On the subject of his award for Outstanding Contribution he added: "Wow! That was a real surprise. I really wasn't expecting that to happen."

A limited edition CD of music from the awards, both from the new artists and the established acts, is available from Diesel stockists throughout the UK.