Scratching the Surface

In 2002, Junkie XL, the brainchild of Tom Holkenborg, reworked an old Elvis cut into an inescapable dance track that shot straight to number one in 24 countries, especially noteworthy for an electronic artist. The track, “A Little Less Conversation,” also exemplified Junkie XL’s signature sound, a potent sonic infusion of big beats and other musical anomalies that sidestepped the stringent pigeonholing typical of the genre. Along with the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy, Junkie XL rose to fame during the electronic explosion of the late ’90s; since then, he’s become one of the most in-demand music producers in the video-game world. Taking a break from writing material for his next album, scheduled to drop sometime this summer, Junkie XL hits Vinyl this Saturday, April 2.