The missus has got some kind of meditation app on her phone that I glanced at the other day and I saw that the screen displayed a photograph of what looked like the Amazon river festooned with deep rich green vegetation around it (bear with). “What’s that?” I asked. I was told in response, “Jungle Meditation. But not like your Jungle”. A little smile passed my lips and I announced with great gusto but to underwhelming response that it would be the basis for my next set.
The opener, a record I felt was possibly the shittest I owned on vinyl (even the spelling of the track is wrong, unless it’s a dedication to the then ten year old Canadian rapper named after a duck… still spelt incorrectly) admittedly hasn’t got any better with age as my ears have matured, but still has that deep kind of feel I was looking for in this set. I wasn’t after a slow, dreamy intelligence-influenced calming set, but more of a vibey, slightly edgy fast soothing set. I also wanted to steer clear of a Good Looking Records bum-fest but a couple did actually creep in, and that Atmospheric Jubliancy dubplate has really grown on me lately. Some of the tracks some people won’t find to be ‘soothing’, but I’ll be listening back to this set for a smoother more enhanced sound rather than the grittier side of Jungle. I’ve also noticed that a few tracks have popped back up that have already been mixed on this blog, as indeed the same mixes have been regurgitated; I have no apology, that’s over a quarter of a century of finding which tracks mix best into each other and being subconsciously drilled into the DJ section (albeit it very small) of my brain.
Anyway, Happy not-too-bouncy 1993/4 Hardcore next week, and then the software random track picker set – should be interesting. If it goes well, there will be lots more.
Track list below, mix also available for download as per usual:
Johnny C – World Of Drakne
Aladdin – So Good (Heavy Mix)
FBD Project – Gesture Without Motion (94 VIP Unreleased)
Blu Mar Ten – Future Proof
DJ Panik – Revelation
Tekniq – The Voyager
JMJ & Richie – Montana
Andy C – Roll On
Rogue Unit – Dance Of The Sarooes (Nookie Remix)
The Rood Project – Thunder
Foul Play – Open Your Mind
LTJ Bukem – Atmospherical Jubilancy
PFM – Love & Happiness
DJ Crystl – Meditation
Ramos, Supreme And Sunset Regime With DJ Slipmatt – Journey Pt1 (Fusion Mix)
This post has been lurking in the blog draft folder for at least 3 months… but man, is it worth it. Remember all those dubplates that never saw the light of day, depriving us mere mortals of purchasing storming tunes? Yeah? No? Whatever.
Most dubplates that never got released either had a final, fully edited polished version, were DJ-exclusive or the producers were just too mean (translated: can’t be arsed/haven’t got the funds) to release them. Well, thanks to technology and brilliant minds in tinterweb land, they’ve now been remade, or original dubplates have been ripped and cleaned up – I think dubplates only lasted 20 plays and you got a few extra revolutions out of them by coating them with lighter fluid; did I dream that?
I owe a ton of thanks to the generosity of quite a few people, and let’s not forget the time and effort that went into the remakes, mostly from cassette tape rips. Yeah, read that again: cassette tape rips, so I have to be careful on what I upload. On this delicate matter, I have decided to make available ONE download, the rest will be a continuous mix. Some of the tunes admittedly got released decades later or can be found on obscure CD compilations but still, I enjoy the evasiveness of them all.
The one download you may have has a cool story behind it: DJ SS used to spin a bootleg amen mash-up of Q Project’s Champion Sound around 1995, I only heard it myself in the clubs twice. When asked about it years later, SS said that it was a remix by Mastersafe and that the original DATs (recordings) had unfortunately been lost.
Cue forward sixteen years and there’s a nice bloke on a few forums who calls himself RenegadeGenius. I badger him to remake that ‘95 bootleg. A lot. “It’s just noise, no!” RG says. Then he remixes Leviticus’s Burial and to smash it even further, reverses that vocal hook, plonks a chopped-up amen on it, changes the string arrangement then finds the original individual reggae and soul vocals and expands them. “WTF?” I say, “if you can do that you can surely remix Champion Sound!” RG’s response: nope!
Then one Saturday morning, out of the blue, my inbox pings with a link from RG… yeah, you can guess the rest. I was privileged enough to have the beta version which will be in the mix, but the download available is the final release that got pressed onto vinyl so a big shout out to RenegadeGenius & Will for their permission on this one. You’ll find that the beta version omits the “there’s something else” film sample and the snares and crash cymbals are less chopped and pronounced, but I like that because it’s more organic and for want of a better word, rolley.
So, below you’ll find that track available to download, and also a mix of the following cheeeeeyoons that are as rare as, well, rare things:
DJ Trace – Definition Of Living (Amen Dubplate Vocal Mix)
A track with a simply haunting synth and added atmosphere when extra creepy strings kick in after 3 minutes, the general release that us peasants could get our hands on was pure solid Jungle, but always lacked the energy for me as I was actually used to the dubplate with the amen being spun out in the clubs. I got it in the end – note the set’s opening intro spoken sample… bonus points for the film.
DJ Trace – Inside Information (Dubplate Mix Remake)
A perfectly good tune, I had the original on vinyl, and whilst I admit a big draw for purchasing was the Lucky Spin logo on the whole vinyl (a picture disc?), the drumloop at 4:15 is, according to the massive chopper that is Selfy, the best beat in the whole wide world. Well this dub, which I was unaware even existed, just spruces up that break and rearranges the strings to give an even darker edge and some MC is shouting for Trace to touch down or something. I love it ❤
Danny Breaks – G’s Up Hoes Down Dubplate Remake
This to me sounds like the Droppin’ Science label’s first release B side, as it contains all the same elements but with a fierce punching amen layered over it – the original never did much for me, I remember it being played at The ‘Tute towards the end of the night and the well known MC sounded bored with it as I was. ‘Experimental’ is the polite word that was bandied around for garbage like this. Not this version though… hold tight.
LTJ Bukem – Atmospheric Jubliancy
This dubplate, much sought after and rare as blue flame sirloin, is a nice little roller that was never released by Bukem for one reason or another, and has been cleaned up to near-studio quality. Some clown attempted to download my entire Jungle folder (as some bigger clown left their Soulseek open all weekend without realising it) and after I banned him after he grabbed about a thousand tracks (there’s etiquette in doing this – like not downloading 50Gb folders full of WAVs & flacs), he did message me saying that this is the best rip of the tune ever heard. This track evolves nicely and is reminiscent of that era just before LTJ got all dreamy and wispy with that intelligent crap.
Static Imprints – Golden Whispers
Off an mp3 release from one of the Static Imprint band members, Sonar’s Ghost, this is true Amenage (another cool word I’ve invented for this blog) with an ethereal guitar for good effect. Sonar’s Ghost, or simply Dom, has been instrumental of remaking a few of the tracks in this mix.
Tango & Fallout – Revelations
Probably the most recognised unreleased tune of the Jungle era, 1994 was an era for intro bells for some reason, don’t ask me why, it was just catchy, OK? Ratty, SS, The Invisible Man were all at it. This one is the bomb however. The revelation is (did you like that?) that Fallout was only named as an artist on this track because she was going out with Tango at the time – I dunno, none of my business; it doesn’t matter, the tune is banging in it’s own right. I’ve had the honour of speaking to the two 2 Fibre Optic DJs, genuinely lovely people. R.I.P. Jamie.
Tango – Ode To An Amen (Understanding Revelations Remix)
A bit of a weird one, this. Firstly, I found it on Soulseek by accident and downloaded it blind. Secondly, I never knew of it and it’s like a bootleg of Revelations and Understanding mixed into one. I think I heard Ratty play this, but it is a nice tune anyway and the intro triggered drum snares encapsulate Tango at his finest, even better than his War 4 94 VIP remix that has gone down in legend.
DJ Dextrous & Rudeboy Keith – Salute The Kings VIP
A slightly differently arranged track of the anthemesque original one, that horn still causes chaos decades later. I first heard this believe it or not at Handsworth carnival where I was most uncomfortable due to being intimidated by the size of the speakers on the main stage where the reggae bass not only resonated in your throat but chest too and I felt like I was being lifted off the floor, no joke. I’ve never heard/felt wave frequencies like it since. I found the Jungle tent in a bit of mud towards the rear of the site, was pleased to see it was packed, got my boogie on and heard this getting rewound by the DJ three times. Excellence.
Johnny Jungle – Johnny (DJ Nee Remix)
A dubplate spun by The Rider, this mental, messed up tune offering yet another mix of ‘Johnny’ interspersed with samples of Dance Conspiracy’s Dub Wars is an absolute blinder. I still remember Nee complaining how difficult it was to get the sax right at the intro.
LTJ Bukem – Take Me Away
This track never really gets going for a good four minutes, it’s the flip-side to Atmospheric Jubliancy, and shows how LTJ progressed into the lighter floaty side of things, yet kept a heavy funk vibe festering.
Leviticus – Burial (RGs Amen Alt Strings Remix)
The track I was raving on about at the intro to this post, this is RenegadeGenius for me at his chopped up, twisted best.
MRJ – Crazy Daydreams
This dark wonder evaded a lot of people for a long time due to the DJs spinning it and not knowing who the artist was. Originally it was thought it was Mad Ragga Jon due to the initials being scrawled on the dubplate. He denied this, and then another artist was mentioned (can’t recall whom), and they said they were unsure if they made the track or not as they couldn’t remember. Someone else commented (this was off a forum I think) that how on earth could you not remember if you made a track or not? Then some smart-arse posts one word underneath: Drugs. The consensus now is that Roger Johnson crafted it (Mr. J, get it?) as it has all his engineering nous about the tune (I still play In My Soul weekly). Man, them dark pads get my skin crawling every time.
Urban Shakedown – Some Justice ’94
Cheesy? Nope. This is like a mini mix of the original (complete with Ce Ce Rogers’ vocals) and DJ Gunshot’s Wheel ‘N’ Deal and they work beautifully together. Incidentally, the artwork I have for this on the centre of the dub is quite clever:
Get it?
I had a hard time getting a decent copy of this, and I tend to play it after a few alcoholic beverages as the aforementioned vocal reminds me of that splendid summer of 1992 where I had the cassette single and it followed me camping all round Europe. I couldn’t convert the Germans though, they loved Dr. Alban & Snap! too much.
Photek – Feeling Up
Photek for me has to be one of most precise engineers when it comes to writing tunes, the structure and quality of his releases is Moving Shadow level. Some pure amen smashingness, this one is for the jiggers only.
Ellis Dee – Synthetic Disco
With a soul intro and standard rap sample a la mid-nineties, the break kicks in and you know instantly that this is a standout tune. Wish more stuff like this was released back in the day just before that genre – the evil Techstep (promise I won’t rant on about it today) – overtook the scene.
Dom-Unique – Beyond Our Time
Some murderous strings ‘pon the intro with a tearing amen, the tune gets serious just before halfway with it’s sub bass menace and this is solid. Also taken from the Unreleased Sonar’s Ghost collection as mentioned earlier.
Fallen Angels – Hello Lover (Back2Basics VIP Mix)
The original was an ace tune anyway, but Back2Basics add their own touch which sounds mentally speedy with those amens, this was released on a compilation double LP that I somehow got hold of and even more rare, the tracks were full releases rather than shortened edits. Think this was the first time I saw the tag “Drum & Bass” actually printed on a record sleeve.
The Invisible Man – Untitled
I have a WAV copy of this. I’m not bragging, I haven’t a clue where I got it from. Yet more bells on the intro with a fast-paced amen flowing in, you can tell it’s The Invisible Man at the bleepy mid-point and his drum programming stands out a mile. Ratty used to give this a good hammering.
Back2Basics – Horns for 94 (DJ Hype Dubplate)
I love the original Horn Track. A lot of people hate it (probably because they’ve heard it so much) but I was proper into it and I liked the techno influence of it, as well as that subliminal horn that still sends chills up my spine. I eventually bought the original vinyl 8 years later for nearly £50 (my ex still doesn’t know about this purchase) and although it sells for pennies today, I was dead smug if Hardcore was mentioned in a conversation: “Oh, yeah, I’ve got that wax”. Therefore when Horns 4 94 was released from an outstanding outfit like Back2Basics, I was quite disappointed. This Hype remix sort of makes up for it, again nicking the sax from Dub Wars.
Static Imprints – No.1 (Feel It)
Another release from Sonar’s Ghost, this is absolute amen madness. I heard a lot of tunes in the clubs back in the day, yet I can’t remember this one. Oh well, I’ll just have to rinse it in my home. Loudly.
FBD Project – Gesture Without Motion (94 VIP)
The original of this back in the day used to get played a lot on the circuit, but to be quite frank it bored me to tears as it was a ‘deep, yet intelligent’ sound with so much potential from the Bang In Tunes stable that never fully achieved anything IMO, this was always my cue in the club to go to the bar for an overpriced can of Red Stripe. Then I dreamed that an amen was put over the top of it, but lower-tier DJs couldn’t get hold of it. Turns out this was true, and in 2016 they finally released this superb fuelled-up version.
Photek – Say It
Another one from the Photek archives, everyone was after this deadly piece of vinyl. It was a refreshing change from the ’96 scene where tunes got all seriously up themselves as this is amen tearout at it’s finest. Bit of a slow burner, it evolves and audibly rolls into a killer track.
This is my favourite version of the now infamous Champion Sound, and a copy of it that I guess less than 10 people have. I’ll let the track do the talking.
Noise Factory – Breakage #4 (Rkive Remix)
If you’re going to remix a tune, then do it bloody properly. Rkive himself has politely stated that it was politics due to the no show of this record through, again, LTJ Bukem – I happen to love it. A Jungle classic dripping with dark strings? What else do you want?
Edit: My mate complained of Mediafire links playing up; it’s either they’ve updated their site or IOS 13 on Apple devices. I’ve found a fix anyway: when it says Error, just click on ‘repair my download’ and either download it again or press ‘View’. When the track eventually loads onto your device, it will be in the form of a very handy Soundcloud-like waveform you can skip through with wanton abandon.
I never really got the full label discography mix that Jungle/DnB DJs do now to be honest, although I’ve always wanted to do a Ram Records set; unfortunately this has been done to death by loads of decent DJs and the sets are all over the net. This got me thinking about doing an offshoot label – Liftin’ Spirits being the perfect weapon of choice. The mid-nineties stuff from this label blows my mind and I have very fond memories of listening to Soon Come & Cup-A-Cha which I was proud to own on vinyl, smashed out of my face with the Rubery Raving Brothers. Other stand out tracks for me are Mass Hysteria, Contrax VIP, plus an unofficial release of Open Minds, finishing off with a Cold Fresh Air remix from the tear-out king, Tim Reaper. There’s also Red One’s Believe In U which is very, very similar to Mampi Swift’s Trippin, but with stacks more energy.
So here’s the mix with the usual track listing, it nicely evolves from the rolling amen Jungle into DnB, with a couple of older tracks thrown in near the end just to remind us of our roots, mind. Really enjoyed mixing this one.
Busy weekends as of late so it’s difficult to squeeze in a blog-worthy actual ‘dedicated’ set, but I have recently been pressing the Record button every time I fire up the not-so-quite-in-this-digital-era-ones-and-twos. Interesting one this week; every other few months I scroll through iTunes’ Drum & Bass playlist for 2019 – heavily biased towards the bigger labels a la Viper, Hospital, Ram & DnbArena, but most of the stuff is too minimalistic and just can’t draw me in. This month though, I got mesmerised by the vocals, atmospherics, punchiness and energy – a tag that Chase & Status said was deemed “intelligent” in the 90’s and a lot of people were pissed off with it. Personally, in this day and age, it sends off a cool vibe for me and I’ll happily listen to it. Indeed, as I was scrolling through iTunes on me phone last Friday, I did download some of them.
I’ve literally heard a few seconds of each track (each one gets about 5 seconds) before I do the brutal yay/nay of whether to own it or not so this mix was pretty on the fly. I struggled but was impressed at the same time at how damn vocal-based the tunes are now, so there’s some proper disco-DJ quick fading so the vocals don’t clash and at one point after admittedly watching a YouTube video that I couldn’t take seriously because the tutor was ginger and had very expensive Pioneers, I attempted a mix where you filter a track out, add a reverb FX, then fade the whole channel off… and hitting the play button on the other deck, all at the same time. I’m quick, but not that quick, and I didn’t get away with it. Anyway, I was proper enjoying the penultimate tune Come Together which is a modern take on the Beatles’ classic (you’ll either love it or hate it) and I thought about the younger generation – I call them The Kids in my head – jumping around in the clubs nowadays: I just can’t visualise it. The access to information today is incredible so I imagine a bunch of beard strokers nodding their appreciation or real ale aficionados Instagramming the bottle labels telling the world that they’re at a DnB event. Totally unfair of course because back in my day, you had Illusion magazine and if you were a bit posher and liked House music too, Mixmag. Plus if you were on the scene and knew a few DJs and producers, that would help in your judgement too. No; I prefer the simpler times chewing your Wrigley’s and going, “tune, man” often accompanied by either the smell of skunk or Vicks Vaporub. Most likely both if you were at an event or “night”, rather than on the bus listening to your Walkman with in-ear headphones that actually hurt and Bluetooth sounded like a dinosaur yet to be discovered.
Ach, the yoof of today. I am 44 you know.
So, ace to see Chase & Status proudly returning to their Jungle roots as their third album was, erm, whack. Some popular covers here too along with some ethereal liquid lifters as well as a nice collaboration between the labels Jet Star & Hospital on the track Here I Come.
I have a few drafts of blog posts but the mixes haven’t actually been mixed yet; I find it better when I do a spontaneous set, like this morning when my mate sent me a video meant for a Whatsapp group called Tunage of a pretty decent minute of Hardcore from a rare cassette tape. It inspired me to to do this set, 92ish to 94ummy, but of a more Hardcore edge rather than a rolling Jungle one. The first tune I immediately thought of was this one, and the rest just settled into place really and it took me no longer than 5 minutes to compile this set – something unusual because putting sets together used to be a better experience for me rather than mixing them and I found the end product somewhat of a chore… maybe it was the controller I was using, the wrong environment, I don’t know. What I do know is that currently I’m relishing going on my decks at every opportunity (I have a very understanding girlfriend) and trying to – and I use the word tentatively – improve my DJing skills above their sub-standard rate (but hey! At least I DJ’d in the clubs back in’t day unlike the kids nowadays with their mpfrees and sets on YouTube trying to get famous) and most evenings I pull off mixes that amaze myself yet, alas, they are never recorded. An infamous DJ/Producer/Radio station owner named Champion Puffa once told me to record everything once I fire up the decks – I never learn 🙄
Anyway, welcome to the Hardcore Zone:
From The Man Like The Pennywise – Suspension Of Disbelief
A great set opener with a cracking intro that builds into epicness (I made that word up) with atmospheric horns and an eerie flute melody before finally succumbing to the clean breakbeat and simple bass. There’s some dark stabs that threw me as I was playing it so loud, and they are creepy as puck. I thought for years the artist was an alias of Bukem, turns out it was Nookie which adds extra plaudits to the track for me.
Liquid Crystal – To The Top
An earlier version of N.R.G., his distinct crisp breaks can be recognised a mile off and I love most of his releases circa 1993. I used to cane the other side of this vinyl You Got Me, and then the remix of that came out so I used to rinse that as well but this little belter was forgotten about so I dropped it in today and was well pleased, especially that cheesy flute that you’ll be whistling all day.
Nasty Habits – Dark Angel
Absolutely solid vinyl release with all four stand out tracks on it: Here Comes The Drumz, Let’s Go (Cold Remix) and Mayday, Mayday. It was difficult for me to pick one, but this dark little roller just about nudged it.
Nookie – Give A Little Love (94 Lick)
A freshened-up remix of the original which I was a little bored of, I heard Grooverider spin this and liked the energy of this revamped classic. Pianos, that Lisa Stanfield vocal and overall a very catchy tune. I don’t really make excuses for clanged mixes but I lost all sound when I mixed this in as my software was running red in my CPU power because lo & behold Windows was trying to run more than two applications at the same time so I mixed it in blind trying to rely on the waveform to guide me. I was praying that the software would stabilise itself as I was really enjoying myself, otherwise I would have nipped down to One-Stop, got a bottle of White Lightning and drank it in the rain on the nature reserve behind my home in a strop.
DJ H – Petruccio
An excellent Xmas present from Pete’s site (a proper blog which I aspire to if I could be bothered to put in the effort and money), this rarity which sells for silly money has very recently had a repress via Vinyl Fanatiks. There’s so much going on in this tune keeping that Hardcore, random vibe, it’s pure listening pleasure.
Jonny L – Hurt U So (Black Label Bootleg)
Again, I didn’t like the original as it was played to death BITD, but yet again I heard The Rider play this and was determined to get it… took me 16 years, but I got it in the end – albeit digitally. More darker, more atmosphere, but retaining that bubbly bouncing bassline which IMO is the best one ever sequenced from that era.
Release – The Jungle
This track just sounds very well structured and well produced with a cool amen overriding everything. I admittedly wasn’t aware of the artist until introduced to their sound by a member on the forums way back when, Thrash.
Nebula II – Anthema
Yeah, you want a stone-cold anthem, dish this up from the Reinforced Crew. I never get tired of it. I love how mad it just sounds!
4-Mega – Drop This
Classic Hardcore from 1992, I wish everything was of this standard from that year, but there was a lot of rubbish floating about too. It’s tracks like this that kept me persisting with the scene and man, was it worth it.
T. Power & The Sandman – Ode To A Deadman
A fave of the Marmite duo Ratpack, took me years to ID this one. I adore the strings but unashamedly miss Evenson Allen’s vocals over them whenever I spin it (about once a week).
DJ Junk – Second To None
I liked DJ Junk’s releases and am convinced I had one of his tracks on white label. Totally amen-driven with that mad sample about scratching or your time’s up (???)
Naz AKA Naz – Organized Crime (DJ Eye Spy Remix)
God there’s so much crammed into this track, it defines Hardcore for me. Even that Godfather horn that doesn’t quite fit and is infuriating when trying to mix.
Mystery Men – Inspiration
Sorry, I really do need to waffle on about this record. It was the fourth vinyl I ever bought and I wore it out. Years later, I find half the artist (the other being DJ Distroi) on Facebook of all places and learn he also used the names Boykz, Dimension 5, Euphoria, Heartless, M & N and Mercurial. I invited him to join a forum and he also agreed to be interviewed. I think the site this interview is on has long since died, but I remember most of it, like how he bought an expensive sampler and his main board for sequencing was a nightmare so he had to read the manual – a lot. I also asked him about Flyte Records as it’s the best artwork for a label in the whole world and he said (I think) that his mate designed it. This artwork also defines the Hardcore scene for me and kind of shows a defiance to the masses and organisations. The word ‘Flyte’ as well was seen on a poster by the artist and was used as the label name. He told me that he hadn’t heard Hardcore for ages as he had a wife, kids, mortgage etc. so I posted a DVD to him with about 50Gb of Hardcore on it. To say he was well pleased is an understatement because about a fortnight later a brand new vinyl copy of this release appeared on my doorstep in proper packaging from the Flyte vault with a handwritten message on the sleeve – “Try not to wear this one out this time, Nick”. I’m still touched by this gesture and thinking about it years later seems very surreal. I also love getting in touch with all the old artists and getting to know their real-life names like Dave, Paul and Grooverider’s real name when I walked past him at a Flashback event and said, “Alright, Ray?”. He didn’t really appreciate it. Anyway – a blinder of a tune which sounds complex due to it’s simplicity, if that makes any sense. The initial break evolves nicely with extra hats added every eighth bar until a reverse cymbal (a choice instrument for many years) introduces the Hardcore bleep melody. Ooooh, proper Hardcore! you think, until the demonic pads mutate the whole track onto it’s head that quite frankly, deserves to be worn out and I’m kind of glad I did – think Nick respected that.
Fourth Dimension – Untitled
More Lisa Stanfield samples with a hot pants break and 4 on the floor kick that works nicely to create a vibey track that I would quite happily boogie to in a club. Fourth Dimension are also the culprits for producing my second ever favourite Hardcore tune, Infection, which will definitely be posted up later.
EQ – Void Of Xstacy (Darkman Remix)
I wanted to finish the set on a proper Hardcore note and found this gem that I had on vinyl but refused to play it as I found it too Techno-ey and tended to play the other side, Total Xstacy 93, because I wanted to spin rolling Jungle to be the next superstar DJ (considering I still have to get up for work five days a week, surprisingly I didn’t make it). Great little stomper. Listen for that creepy piano stab halfway into the track.
If anyone ever said to me, “muppet, if you could produce tracks in a professional studio, what would they sound like?” Easy: Lemon D’s stuff without a doubt. Mid-90s he was a machine for producing amen tearouts full of energy that made me want to pogo stick about everywhere. And those pitch-slid sub bass hits (out loud you go, “dooooowwwvvv” – you’re doing it now, aren’t you?) popped up regularly in his tracks, something I can’t get enough of. I’m a particular fan of Feel It & Back To Chicago, they sum up my style to a tee.
There’s a particular DJ mate who I’ve known since I was about 11 years old called Selfy who always calls me Jungle Jedi/Shaolin/Master and names himself the Padwan or Apprentice when in fact Nicky ‘quick fingers’ (as I call him because it sounds like a character from a Scorsese film) is the better of the DJs and should give up his job and become a lumberjack, he chops the X-fader that much. I’d like to post up one of his mixes one day but, like any good DJ, he’s very self-critical.
In 1996 Selfy & I used to play back to back and we liked – and owned – the same style of amen tearout jungle. Lemon D’s I Can’t Stop was a favourite of ours and I’ll never forget him complimenting this production by saying the electric plucking guitar in the third phase of the track, “it’s that good it sounds like a mistake”. About 15 years later we literally bump into each other at the football and I introduce him to digital DJing. First track we play is I Can’t Stop and our heads nod and bob in unison.
Incidentally, my set at a club had the aforementioned tune mixed into Insync II’s Phunk Not Funk and the two blended as a complete fluke masterpiece to the point where a woman I knew walked onto the stage and said that it was the darkest mix she’d ever heard. Ever since then, I’ve mixed the two the same way ever since that night (April 20th, 1996). So I found out last year that those two tracks that compliment each other so much are in fact by the same artist – Kevin King, aka Lemon D. So obvious now.
Anyway, instead of individual track descriptions, links & vids, here’s a mix of all the Lemon D tracks I have and his aliases. The first few tracks are of a consistency that stood the test of time from 1993 and then it’s proper mash-up style aka 1995 before finally evolving towards the end of the set Dillinja’s influences can be heard, as is indeed the last track a collaboration with the man himself on his own Valve label. I hope you enjoy listening to it as I did mixing it and I hope it helps with your commute to work/run/ablutions.
No blog activity as of late due to the old ethos of work hard/play hard and I haven’t even touched my decks. Even though I’ve had a lot of fun, it’s occurred to me that as I approach my mid-40s I simply can’t burn the candle at both ends so a bit of R & R is required. As of the last 27 years when I find myself in these circumstances (cheese alert!), I return to Jungle.
This got me thinking that although I have fond memories of my “first rave” at Pandemonium at the ‘Tute exactly twenty six years ago – and I mean exactly this week – this would be an excellent opportunity to highlight the anniversary by maybe replicating a Grooverider set from that night, or even the fantastic DJ Melody, a resident from those times whom we all loved and adored. But…
I always forget there was an event I went to before that; there was this local nightclub in Halesowen, cack-hole really, called 42nd Street (and later XS I think before they tore the bugger down), known by the locals as “fordy tooz” which has now sadly been replaced by a car dealership or something. My formative years were spent in that place where I had my first cigarette, my first proper drink, got refused entry, got thrown out, got in at least two fights, got dumped by a young woman in there, threw my ring up on the sofas in the corner, slipped arse-over-elbow on the dance floor, got ‘taxed’, and I’d like to say all that was in one night but it was over several years this happened and the venue will always have a place in my heart. I can’t find a picture of it on the internet, but then again typing 42s Halesowen into Google image search and looking at at least 5 images before going “meh” probably isn’t the deepest of research but then yet again it was such a dismal place nobody ever would have thought to photograph it when it existed. Shame though, as my sister had a flat above the club and her flatmate sold me my first decent pair of turntables, some Aristons, believe it or not. I also declined having a load of old late eighties Techno vinyl thrown in for an extra few quid, a decision I’ve rued for decades.
Anyhoo, in late ’92 a flyer was doing the rounds at the local college that I attended infrequently (preferring to sit in the boozer and getting stoned on resin whilst skipping class was my educational choice at that time), the mighty DancePlanet… only at 42s. What? It must be a mistake! In hindsight, I should have gone to the first night at the start of January 1993 where Frost, The Finn, Carl Cox, Pilgrim, Lenni, Bassman & Robbie D were gracing the premises. At that time though, we all loved the Ratpack. We cringed at it 20 years later; ashamed of ourselves, even. But as we approach 2020, cheesy as they were, anthem bashing as they were and as self-absorbed as Evenson Allen was (demanding a bottle of champagne at every event they played at), they always put on a bloody good vibe and DJ Lipmaster Mark was just brilliant in his own right. So Ratpack night it was then, plus Ratty was playing so extra bonus. I remember looking forward to it for weeks and my mom giving me money to get in (£7) and then spendies so overall giving me twenty quid which was okay by me and I was really grateful.
It nearly went all tits-up about a fortnight before as I got, ahem, involved with the local law enforcement which concluded with a massive rip in my beloved Puma fleece, a scar I still have on my back today from a massive police dog Alsatian aptly named ‘King’, a tetanus jab in the local hospital, a copper covered in mud after I clotheslined him into a ditch and a £30 fine in court where I’m sure my old science teacher was on the panel of judges. First thing I thought of when I was stuffed into the back of that Austin Metro panda? I’m not going to Dance Planet. I just hope my mom doesn’t read this blog.
I managed to go in the end, although it wasn’t a good start to the evening as the original fifteen of us going whittled down to just me and my mate, then they were late opening the doors by 45 minutes, then getting past the Nazi bouncers was an ordeal in itself, it was just chaos. It was worth it though. Swann-E didn’t turn up so Bassman announced some bloke from London Town was filling in, someone called LTJ Bukem. The roof went off.
So, story aside, here’s half of his set as the other side of the cassette was Ratty (note the professional name adjustment on the mp3 tag) and I ain’t got a tracklisting for the rest. You can probably download the original set with Bassman, but I thought I’d mix it myself. This was a good era for Bukem as he was at the forefront for playing the dark stuff and me and my mates thought he was a God. As it happens, and apologies to those who haven’t been living on the moon or something for the last two decades, he got all intelligent and jazzy. Some liked it, the majority didn’t. Since then, he’s been a bit moody IMO. Like, about 3 years ago when he was playing on this awesome lineup but told the promoters they weren’t allowed to record or distribute his set, or the time he got 3 very talented well known producers/DJs to remix Horizons (which although I owned on vinyl, felt was a bit bland), didn’t like any of them and sacked them off – I have a copy of one of these remixes, *high pitched yayyy! – or his lawyers threatened to sue my mate because he uploaded onto Youtube an old Bukem set or fell out with R:Kive who did a scintillating remix of Breakage#4 (I Bring You The Future), used it as his set opener for a while, then released the shitty Ray Keith remix instead. R:Kive has modestly said it wasn’t released due to politics.
You’ll also note that on the tracklisting, track 8 was originally listed on Rolldabeats as an unreleased Bukem tune. I’ve replaced it with hisdubplate Atmospheric Jubilancy, the rarest of the rare (more on that in a later post), just to put two fingers up to the Bukem sharks. Laters, Junglists.
01 Bodysnatch – The Strength (Neuro Quest Mix)
02 Omni Trio – Feel Good (Original In Demand Mix)
03 D.O.P.E. – Dope On Plastic (DJ Easy B & T Bag Revisited Mix)
04 Beyond The Future – Mystery Ride (Flatline Mix)
Just to prove I can be a little diverse, I was listening to some Hardcore Breaks yesterday and decided to do a mix for the blog.
J-Tek, Nu-Skool, Rave Breaks, whatever, there’s lots and lots of this stuff about, regenerating the sounds of the early nineties with modern production techniques and fair play, most of them work. Some of the artists on my mix might have their jaws dropping on the floor at the 155 bpm I’ve mixed this up, but I just can’t do slow stuff, man.
I knew most of the artists back in the day from the forums, can’t remember half of them now, but watch out for the second track Cantina by the legendary Candyman, a bloke who used to make me howl, with lots of Star Wars effects – always an excellent thing in my book. There’s also 3 tracks out of the 15 by DJ Nee, but Neil loves his warm strings and is bloody good at arranging them, so I let the penultimate track, the Rainbows remix, play out a bit.
So a little 45 minute mix to help you on your commute, or hyping you up getting ready to go out out, or just for your complete amusement to take the piss out of my mixing, please find following the track list and set:
Orca – 4 AM (DJ Nee’s Spain VIP Mix)
Candyman – Cantina
Deekline/Hardy Hard – Can’t Hide It (Jurassik Remix)
Just so I don’t stagnate into a 1990’s wilderness, I do actually try and keep fresh sounds pouring into my music folder; I gave up on DnB about 3 years ago when it got, well, shit. However, there are some producers out there who keep the retro oldskool sound alive, named in many formats but the one I like to use is Hardcore Breaks. This is a sound that creates the atmosphere of yesteryear, and the releases are just getting better and better; my opinion is that in the ‘early days’ circa 2009, some of the stuff sounded overproduced and just damn sterile.
Anyway, one of the standout producers for me who I accidentally stumbled upon via Soundcloud is the man like Galvatron, who is an absolute nutcase when bashing out them tunes mid-90’s style-ee. He’s like a Michelin starred chef: chops up some breaks, manipulates them, rolls them back together and then dishes them up so that they smash you in your face, wicked. Note the time stretched snares, almost Drumfunk-like lowered & higher octave kickdrums, attack/decay on the break and mad snare rolls along with half bar reverse breaks (and very cleverly doing that with vocals too) with heavily-influenced ragga-jungle samples and melodies. All over a layer of sub/Reese/reverse bass, transporting you straight back into 1995. Man, he should be called the Flux Capacitor or something.
Suffice to say, I like his sound, and he’s another one of these artists who smashes stuff out and gets next to nothing for his work which we all know isn’t the point of it (the scene was and still is drenched in skulduggery where labels screw you over) yet still a little acknowledgement is always nice. My favourite track? Pffft. Which tune have I got on loop in my car this week… Water Technique.
Anyway, here’s a mix of his stuff which is sort of pigeon-holed into one sub-genre but Galvatron is a lot more diverse than that, have a look at the links below:
You’ll also find a lot of his releases on iTunes. If you look closely enough you’ll also discover that a lot of his tunes have been kindly released as a free download. His latest E.P. is out now and it costs less than a pint. Which reminds me, I must go to the battle cruiser this weekend…
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(April 20th, 1996). So I found out last year that those two tracks that compliment each other so much are in fact by the same artist – Kevin King, aka Lemon D. So obvious now.
Jungle Forever 