My Boxing Day mix was meant to showcase at least 3 labels yet I’ve realised just one measly release from Wicked Jungle Records was in the mix. To make up for it, here’s a set with tracks from just that label alone.

The sound of this label made me want to start a blog post with, “why oh why oh why didn’t we have stuff like this in the mid-90s?” and I’ve realised why: limits on technology, red tape, craft and sheer volume of output. The vibe of the nineties has been plucked out almost surgically and zinged (that’s the only word I can think of for now) into modern Jungle on this label State-side. Absolutely prodigious material.

I’m always the first to hold my hands up if I’m wrong, as I’ve had a couple of sly digs at the modern scene in this blog; recently a young lad at my work told me he had a Pioneer DDJ-200 in the back of his car. Curious, I asked to see it and he came out with this little controller that had everything you ever needed on a mixer and it was well made. He hooked it up to his phone DJ software and car stereo speakers all via Bluetooth (tech unavailable 10 years ago) and we had a little DnB ‘jam’. I thought it was awesome. Instead of saying in an old creaky voice, “ooh it were much better in my day” I told him to keep pushing himself, share the shit out of his mixes on all media platforms, take hours to look for new artists’ releases in all nooks and crannies of the internet and embrace the wealth of talent out there, most of it for free. He replied with the most thoughtful thing: “I wish I was born earlier so I could have gone to the Jungle clubs in the nineties”. I nearly replied, No, you don’t, as a memory resurfaced of me and my mates sitting in a battered old Fiesta on a McDonalds car park on a rainy Tuesday night circa 1993 smoking endless fags [my US cousins should note that fag is English slang for cigarette otherwise that last sentence reads very, very wrong] and listening to a fourth-copied Stu Allan cassette tape, the headlights dimming with the bass line. Now that was what you called waiting for the weekend to arrive.

So, here we are, a unification of both worlds with the same music across at least a quarter of a century with an energy that I felt at the time had to be mixed as a a chop n’ filter-fest; listening back, it’s all a bit messy and doesn’t uphold the precision it deserves. I let the film samples run, cos they were ace, and there’s a couple of slightly offset tracks in there which show Wicked Jungle’s excellent diversity, rather than my tunnel-visioned amen route: FOTH’s (Fool On The Hill) Keep On Spinnin that samples a doorbell – yeah, you read that right – and DJ Dirty One’s Roll The Drums, a unique slice of Jungle rollidge that keeps getting looped on my car stereo. You’ll also find that I’ve dropped Aseity’s Silent Assassin in again from the last blog mix. Yeah, why not man? Finished off with my fave artist of 2020, BC Rydah, where one of his tracks I’ve found online is a remix of Brainkillers’ Screwface that I’m keeping all to myself, tee hee. And to think we used to laugh at the Americans for attempting to make 160+ bpm Jungle. As we sat in that rusty 1981 Ford Fiesta on the outskirts of Birmingham.

DJ Swipez – Wicked Jungle Records Mix Mediafire download

Tracklisting:

• JungleMantis & Rez – Swords & Daggers
• Msymiakos – Stabbed
• Rez – Dark & Endless Skies
• Marv – The Juice
• Msymiakos – Ah Yeah
• Aseity – Silent Assasin (Original Mix)
• Fathom – Quest
• Kayaman – Untitled Jungle 2
• Marv – Pines
• Rez – Vega (A Lyrae)
• Self Aware – Degloved
• Rez – Dreaded Signal
• Thumbzo – Delusional
• Kayaman – Tape Clip (Bonus Tune)
• FOTH – Keep On Spinnin
• Rez – Tribesman
• DarkAli – Losing My Mind
• DarkAli – Be No More
• XLuther – Low Tech
• Fathom – Mindkiller
• DJ Dirty One – Roll the Drums (Rock Your Body)
• BC Rydah – Street Tuff

So here’s another mix from a small selection of uploaded videos from the Darkside Hardcore 92-94 Facebook group from November 2020 (God damn, ain’t this a long year?). Initially, there were over 60 tracks so I split them into two groups: one into Amen, the other into Hardcore, although the latter is tinged with some very deep Jungle indeed. Although I’ve commented in a previous post that Darkside sounds better with a Hardcore feel to it, there is an awful lot of Darkside Amenage out there, so I’m not afraid to admit that I may have contradicted myself… reading through older blog posts, I’ve been wrong about a lot of stuff.

If you’re into beat-driven, templated, tried-and-tested good old-fashioned early 90s electronic music then this set isn’t for you. I struggled with this set, blending my mixes with the basic two channel faders with a touch of mid-range tweaked out here and there rather than a Jungle tear-out chop-fest. I’m still laughing at myself saying out loud, “God, my mixing is so shit!” (something I actually think every mix, I can assure you) whilst trying to fade out Dillinja’s alias, Rups’ track Majestic B-Line EP when in fact the mixdown on the track itself is out. Fun. Not.

There’s more of this atmospheric darkness throughout the set with some downright insane FX that I secretly love, like Chaos & Julia Set’s Natural High (Parts 1 & 2), a track I’d never heard before as it rarely got spin-time back in the clubs. I would have sacked this track off after a minute, but someone on the Darkside group posted it and described it, if memory serves, as “a 3 o’ clock in the morning track that at 4:20 in your mates desert you on the dancefloor but you stand your ground stuffing Vicks up your nose” I couldn’t describe it any better:

Although not a priority, next time there’ll be faster, slightly newer stuff getting rinsed; this was probably the darkest set I’ve ever mixed. The Eagle-eyed amongst you may notice the title of previous blog posts has changed from the date to the specific style of set; this is so I can find the shittier sets quickly, as I’ll be remixing ’em soon. Slight change to the stickied opening paragraph too.

Riiiiiiiight – tunage:

DJ Swipez – Darkside Hardcore 92-94 November 2020 stream (Mixcloud)

DJ Swipez – Darkside Hardcore 92-94 November 2020 download (Mediafire)

Tracklist

• Rufige Kru – Ghosts Of My Life
• Thunderhead – Lost In Time (A) [TH 01]
• Outa Intelligence – Foolz Gold
• Dream – So Strange
• Untold Force – Inner Strength (B)
• The Anthill Mob – Black Rushin’ (Anthill Remix)
• Jungle Buddha – Drug Me
• Rups – Majestic B Line EP (B1)
• Defender (2) – Rollin’
• DJ KP – Untitled (A)
• Jim Polo – The Night Rider Part 1
• System AD – 21st Century
• Bounty Killaz – Brighter Future
• Appaloosa – Unplugged (Chaos & Julia Set Remix)
• D’Cruze – Want You Now (DJ SS & EQ Remix)
• Chaos & Julia Set – Natural High (Part 1 & 2)
• Sound Of The Future – Hands Of Time
• The Moog – Kickin’ A Message
• T.Power – Take The Keys
• DJ Trace – Never Felt This Way (One Step Ahead)
• Reckless B – Hard Time
• Demolition Squad (2) – D-Theme
• Cool Hand Flex – Wiplash
• DJ Demo – Essence
• M-Beat – Dark Magnet (Mix 1)
• DJ Mayhem – Storm Trooper
• Jo – Apollo 9
• Nebula II – X-Plore H-Core (Remix)

Never done a Halloween set before; I mix that much Darkside I’ve never thought of it, yet here’s a massive 40-track set all selected from October’s posts from the 92-94 Darkside group. There’s some excellent stuff in here as well as some corkers I’ve never even heard of. I nearly stopped the recording three quarters of the way through because I felt the mixing was a little more slack than usual but listening back, there’s the obligatory clangers but some lucky nice blends too.

Right then, there’s no way I’m prattling on about forty individual tracks so just take out a shade under two hours to listen to this (or split to suit your commute, “bathroom” time, face mask purchasing, I’m not bothered) as I really do feel that it epitomises the Darkside scene.

Also note that I’ll now be including in each blog post a Mixcloud stream from my account (huzzah!)

DJ Swipez – Halloween 92-94 Darkside Special 2020 (Mixcloud stream)

DJ Swipez – Halloween 92-94 Darkside Special 2020 (Mediafire download)

• Crazee M & Webe – Engineers Nightmare (Spoken Intro only)
• DJ D Lux – Annihilation
• Nookie – Spellbound
• Side Effect (3) – Never Ending Saga (Quantum Mix)
• Double Dipped And Dr. G. – It’s Emerging
• Joint Project – Dark In Da Jungle
• Pascal & Sponge – Nosebleed (Right Nostril)
• MC Lethal – Prince Of Darkness (The Raw Mix)
• Dark & Moody – Volume 1 (AA1)
• First Prodject – The Bleach Up (White House Crew Remix)
• The Bookworm – Listen
• Tango And Ratty – Final Conflict (’93 Dubplate Mix)
• System X – Feel It
• Electronic Experienced – I.Q.
• Cool Hand Flex – Dark & Misty
• Skanna – Nightstalker EP (B1)
• Ironik – Fantasy (Dark Mix)
• DJ Seduction – Really Dark (But Not To Dark Mix)
• Studio Pressure – Presha III
• Section 47 – Ascent
• DJ Seduction – Sub Dub (SS Remix)
• Ironik – The Calling
• Nut-E-1 – Liquid Affray
• International Rude Boyz – Digital
• Lewi Cifer – Heat (Lewcified Remix)
• The House Crew – Untitled
• Hyper On Experience – Lords Of The Null Lines (Foul Play Remix feat. DJ Randall)
• DJ Crazee M – The Light (Destiny Mix)
• Intense – Paradox
• Rob Andrews – Mind Games
• Human Being – The Box Opened (Bedroom In Space)
• Mad Ragga Jon & Stetly – The Power
• Dubtronix – Fantasy (Remix)
• DJ Fokus – Chill Out
• Lennie D Ice – Concrete Jungle
• DJ Smokey Joe – Friday Night Style
• Mo2vation – Kriss Biskit
• Tango And Fallout – Positive Chaos … (Mix 1)
• X Dream, Troy & Cortex – X.T.C. E.P. (A1)
• Eternal Bass – Way Of The Future

Here’s a set that’s been begging to be mixed since the turn of this bemusing year – mashed up, mental amen that was at its peak in 1995. On a personal level, it was just bliss and I’ve always appreciated the drum and loop programming the artists created. It kind of died off quickly as the Techstep was introduced and punters were more akin to a punchier, deeper level rather than heavily-edited drum sequences and besides, weren’t amens old hat now? This shift in the scene was dramatic for me and made me look (listen) to it in a different perspective; the nightclub-goers were younger. Amen-worshipping DJs like me would no longer be booked, and believe me, it was gold dust to get a slot in the Birmingham scene back then (due to the amount of raw talent). Even the booze and hypnotic chemicals had changed. I slumped off, still buying the odd vinyl just to keep my foot in the door but for me, it was a goner. Regretfully, I went to other genres. The amen came back a little more than a decade later, all be on it on a technical scale and the modern producers who weren’t even alive in 1995 are banging out some right amen nastiness, so fair play to them. That 1969 sample will never die…

About ten years ago, I heard on an old Gachet tape a track that I just had to have, and so did another chap on the dreadful Drum&Bass Arena forum that I nicknamed ‘The Circus’ because it was full of clowns: I won’t elaborate any further. Anyway, this track, it got ID’d as Jonny L’s Dub Mix of Roz’s U Can Be My Lover. I could not find that banger, anywhere, not even on a torrent. So I bought it. On CD. Off eBay. For £2. I uploaded it in a lovely WAV format onto the internet and, to my knowledge, was the first time this track was available individually on the web. Not exactly legal, but damn, this release deserved it.

I seem to be justifying my bad mixing but this week, I got into a debate with the missus about pizza options for two mixes halfway through the set. Rock ‘n Roll, me. Anyway, I’ve found my waffling head again so let’s climb into that shit-heap of a DeLorean and go back a quarter(ish) of a century…

DJ Swipez – Mental Drumz (Mediafire download)

DJ Swipez – Mental Drumz (Mixcloud stream)

• Jonny L – I’m Leavin
• Override – Critical Phase
• Tango + Fallout – Positive Chaos (Essence Of Aura VIP Remix)
• Lionist – Loving You (Drum & Bass Mix)
• DJ Nut Nut – The Rumble (Mad Ragga John Remix [Drum + Bass])
• Digital Pressure – Back To Da Future Part 2 (SDR & Subsonic Remix)
• F.X. – The Sound Of F.X. Chapter II
• DJ Rap & Voyager – Mad Up
• Heavyweight – Payback
• Jonny L – I Want You
• DJ Terroreyes & Mr Mix – A Future Journey
• Roz – U Can B My Lover (Dub Mix)
• Mensa – White Rock
• DJ SS – Rollidge (Bonus Track)
• Time Square – 2 London Girls
• Unknown – Promo Five (AA)
• Austin M – The Step Up
• DJ Rescue – Surround Sound [Vol. 1 – side A]

Right, time to get this blog up and running again with – hopefully – a wider audience. I have lots and lots of sets lined up (but haven’t been arsed to mix them yet) so I’ll kick off with Blog# 8 mix: pure amenage and deep bass to satisfy the most stringent of 175bpm breakbeat enthusiasts. Decent selection, this, and I can’t even remember when or how I compiled it because every tune is first-rate and reminds me of a different time and place in all the three decades I’ve been listening to Hardcore Jungle.

Also, there’ll be a monthly mix of Darkside Hardcore 92-94 from the wicked Facebook group, and October’s is looking plenty meaty already…

DJ Swipez – Blog#8 Mix (download)

• Beat Twins – Dance The Night Away
• Bonny and The Highlander – Summer Breeze (Mickey Finn’s Breeze Mix)
• Suburban Knights – State Of Art
• MA1 – Motion (Bonus Mix)
• Corruption Productions – Go Again
• Jack Horner – The Hoover (Instant Attractions)
• The House Crew – Superhero (My Knight)
• The Groove Gangster – Let The Drummer Go
• Megashira – Mental Strength
• Jack Ruby – For Adults Only
• Blinded By Science – Scanners
• Moby – Unloved Symphony
• XTC – The Way
• Motiv One – Loop Progression
• Digital Pressure – Watch Dis Space
• Bunny Gemini feat. Frankie Paul – Round & Round
• Splash – Babylon (Daz Remix)
• JDL – Give It Up
• Da Intalex – I Like It (Remix)
• Phrenetic – Candy Man
• Bunny Gemini feat. Gregory Isaacs – Off Mi Fender
• Paul T – Direct Action
• Under Rhythm – Feel The Passion
• Rampage – Friday
• Cutty Ranks – Soundboy Retreat (Nebulist Jungle Remix)

Again, been a while…

Something I’ve always deliberately avoided are Facebook groups; they seem toxic like everything else on the internet when it only takes two people to have a different opinion and it all kicks off like an 18 year-old full of Stella Artois wind-milling in a boozer. However, I received a suggestion for the oldskool Jungle/Hardcore groups and I’ve joined a few and left a few – they’re not bad groups but they are a bit… beard-strokey. One I do like is Darkside Hardcore 92-94 which proved my theory that most of the Darkcore leans toward the Hardcore side of the scene and I’ve concluded about amens in a darkside tune: they seem (to me, anyway) somewhat odd now. Imagine a Skanna tune with chopped up amens. No? Me neither.

So, here’s a mix of a selection of the tunes posted in the ace above-mentioned group for September. And, yes, of course there is a sprinkling of amen 🙄 Yet again, I’m not justifying the poor mixing towards the last 20 minutes of the set, but I had to put the vacuum cleaner away and help put the shopping away too. I lead a thug life in 2020. I was then told by the missus that as a reward she’s going to be driving me around several country pubs later on today, so I was a leeeeetle distracted.

But… just before we get there – the blog has changed considerably since it’s birth over a year ago; individual tune downloads will never occur again for obvious reasons, and as for individual tune descriptions, I simply cannot think of any more terminology for describing releases, or simply: I’m a lazy shit. I think you’d rather hear a tune than reading about it.

Let the doom begin:

DJ Swipez – Darkside 92-94 Sep 2020 (download)

• Skanna – Heaven
• Thunderhead – Untitled
• Nebula II – Clocked It
• Mayhem – Fierce
• The White House Crew – Where The Sun Don’t Shine
• Skanna – Untitled
• Warped Kore – The Power
• EQ – Void Of Xstacy
• Aurora – Firin To The Core
• Jack Horner + DJ Pulse – No Gunshots
• FBD Project – Breakin Up
• DJ Distroi & Boykz – Jungle Warrior
• Scott-Free – My First Adventure (Art Of Fighting Mix)
• Rotating Heads – Dark Secrets (Wishdokta’s Mash-Up Mix)
• Desired State – Killer Beat
• The Untouchables – Don’t Be Afraid
• DJ Wax – Darkwax Dub
• Hellrazor – Beauty Of Obscenity
• After Dark – Truly One (DJ Rap Remix)
• Tango + Fallout – Positive Chaos (Essence Of Aura VIP Remix)
• Dynamix – Pipes
• Tango & Fallout – Violator Vol 1 (A)
• Secret Squirrel & A.J. Flex – Come Rudebwoy
• Enforcer – Dam Tuff

Strange thing, time. Whilst I wish my life away at work waiting for the finish hooter-klaxon-fing, you blink and the 1992 ‘Ardcore sound that got me into the whole damn scene is sadly no longer with us. I’ve also just realised that it’s been over 2 months since my last blog post and it’s surprised me; thought I’d gone, huh? Although I’m always dimly aware of this blog, getting down to the nitty-gritty of a whole mixed set lately is sorta way off limits; I’ve been downloading lots of new/old stuff, see. So every time I fire up my decks (i.e. switching my PC on truth be told), I can’t stick to one genre because I’ve downloaded that much electronicalizaballistic (©️ DJ Swipez 2020) music I’m like a kid in a sweety shop.

Anyway, I have also been going through my proper Hardcore folder with a fine tooth-comb and am finally happy with it so I though it only right for the blog to do a set, Ardcore III: a razzmatazz of strictly 1992 Hardcore, unlike my previous ‘Hardcore’ sets which drifted into Jungle – it’s in my DNA, y’know? I decided to also go down the 1992 technological route of keeping my virtual decks in analogue mode like, sliders & faders only, mixing by cutting down bass or midway and all at 145 BPM so all tracks are within the traditional 8% pitch range of each other à la Technics 1210s. So, here it is, I do get a bit nervous mixing Hardcore because I respect it so much and there’s a hell of a lot of very good DJs who mix it better than I – but that’s no excuse for the mixing, it’s alright to be fair apart from one or two crossovers. Acen tracks, as usual, were a bitch to mix but also fun and challenging.

Enough mumbo-jumbo, let’s get this on…

DJ Swipez – Ardcore III (download)

• N.R.G. – Unity
• The Awesome 3 – Headstrong
• M.T.S. – Used To Know
• Es-Pee-Dee & DJ Distroi – Untitled
• The Charm – Mind Overdose
• e.kude – Never Let Go
• Is That It – Ulterior Beats
• Addiction – One Ting Now (Ruff Neck Remix)
• Smart Es – Magnificent
• Phuture Assassins – Future Sound
• Miranda – The Miracle Maker
• Menace Makes 3 – Do You Feel What I’m Feeling (Matrix Rise Remix)
• Acen – Close Your Eyes (Optikonfusion!) (Remix I)
• The Brothers Grimm – Field Of Dreams
• The Dark Syndicate (2) – Do It Jah
• Recall – King of Rock
• Cyanide 45 – Notice Me
• Nebula II – Atheama (Remix)
• Nino – The Gun (I See It Around Me)
• Acen – Ruffneck (Scout Mix)
• Woodstock – Feelin’ Groovy
• Unknown Artist – Ghosts And Goblins
• Yolk – Bishbosh
• Mystery Man – Love E (Remix)

Linking very nicely from the Bizzy B stable, I bloomin’ loved Swift & Zinc. My first encounter with these artists’ releases coincides with probably the most bizarre purchase of vinyl in Jungle history: I had a neighbour who was a bit younger than me who heard me blasting one of my own mix tapes out of an open window so he knocked on my door and asked me about the music. When I explained to him my limited knowledge of the scene he went out that very weekend to ‘town’ (ironically used by us Brummies to describe the city centre) and bought Swift +Zinc’s Vol II. He didn’t play it that much on his singular hi-fi turntable and I was a little jealous that he had a copy and I didn’t. So a few weeks later he remarked how much he admired my very plush office chair that was worth a few quid that my dad had nicked for me from the British Gas offices. I said he could have it if he’d swap something in exchange… you guessed it. I caned that vinyl so much that the beautifully sampled Frankie Knuckles’ Tears drop on Other Side Of The Moon scratched when the amen kicked in – one of the most frustrating vinyl glitches ever, trust me. Note the Brain Progression artwork, epitomising the whole of the 1993 Jungle scene for me and probably my most favourite of all time. On another note, that tearing synth riff at the intro of the same track used to reduce my then girlfriend at the time to tears where she’d grit her teeth in anger at how much she hated that style of music. Twenty years later we sort of bumped into each other and she said she still loathed electronic music due to “the beginning bit of that record you always used to play”. Respect.

Fast forward one year to 1994 and I heard Refuze on a mix-tape and just had to have it – I’m very hazy on how I ID’d tunes back then but I knew it was Swift & Zinc’s Volume 5 because I went up to the DJ booth at a club when I heard it again and simply asked – I think it was either Slipmatt or Ratty. I got nicknamed ‘Trainspotter’ by my raving buddies and Ian was so mortified by my constant trotting to the DJ booths that one night he physically wrapped his arms around me to stop me talking to the ledge that is Dr. S Gachet. You may think teenagers knocking on neighbours’ doors asking about tunes or even marching up to DJs who are actually playing in a club to ask similar questions may be odd, but times were different then; we were bolder, politer and had no internet to use and hide behind. Rose tinted glasses? Absolutely.

So, here it is, a Swift & Zinc set created, mixed and recorded after a little, erm, lubrication on a Friday night. More disheartening, I’ve since found two more tracks by them that would have fitted in nicely with this set on a one-off release label, Fat Chance Records that sells for north of £100.

Pump up the bass.

DJ Swipez – Swift & Zinc Mix

• Swift & Zinc – Refuze
• Swift & Zinc – Azur (V272 Revisited)
• Swift & Zinc Featuring Steve B – It’s Time
• Swift & Zinc Featuring Steve B – The Secret
• Swift & Zinc – Brightness
• Swift & Zinc – Crazed (Remix)
• Swift & Zinc – Deep Feelings
• Swift & Zinc – Blind Faith
• Swift & Zinc – Heavenly Dreams
• Swift+Zinc Feat. MC Rage & MC Wicked – See You Swett
• Swift & Zinc – X Rated
• Swift & Zinc – Hit Me
• Swift + Zinc – Up Above
• Swift & Zinc – Dezire (Z Mix)
• Swift + Zinc – Niceness
• Swift And Zinc – Fatters
• Swift & Zinc – Rockin’ With The Best
• Swift+Zinc – 2 Warm
• Swift+Zinc – Other Side Of The Moon

So there was going to be another 1993 set but I just simply couldn’t get the same vibe as White Gloves n Whistles. It left me a little disheartened but then I watched the excellent 808 little box documentary on Apple (again) and felt all bleepy & technoey so sought for my conveniently-titled “Techno” folder where I found thankfully 4-beat patterns in all the tracks… but they ranged from Acid House (I dunno how that got in there) at 125 beats per minute to Gabber at 200. Sorta went down the lower third at 150bpm and chucked in a couple of classics, all feeling very kickdrummey and acidic. It all starts off a bit serious and Trancey but we eventually get into it.

It reminds me of a night down the Institute when Pandemonium left and it was in a bit of limbo before Obsession; we were oblivious to what was going on so just loyally turned up expecting some Jungle but instead the DJs were banging out these kind of tunes all night. Without MC Ranski or any other MCs, which was a bonus. I particularly remember the now-dubbed “conveyer belt” of Jamaican-style cigarettes being passed between us on the bar facing the stage. In the wee hours of the morning at the end of the event the DJ announced, “and that, was garaaaaage!” Funny, I only associated it with house so I’m since confused about the whole scene. Anyway, splendid night. I did a very similar mix ten years ago for a forum (people were moaning that 150 bpm was too fast, pfffffft) and the chopping with the X-fader was mad. I couldn’t replicate it for this mix as I’m full of hay fever and couldn’t even hear the tracks in my cans properly. You never know, I might ‘fix’ it and do another mix at a later date. Be warned, though: this is quite heavy with emphasis on percussion (well, real bassy kicks) that might, just might, turn you to a satanic cult. Hope not though.

DJ Swipez – Technoey Mix

• Marmion – Schoneberg [Marmion Remix]
• New Order – Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix)
• NRG – He Never Lost His Hardcore (Baby Doc Remix)
• Force Mass Motion – Techno Blast
• Alien Factory – Big Brother (Heavy Mix)
• Overdog – Fuck You Up
• DJ Misjah & DJ Tim – Access (Vocal mix)
• Fazer – Hyperspace (E-Tune For X)
• The Pump Panel – To The Sky
• Anti Visa – Ahh Yeah
• Knight Phantom – Slime
• DJ PMA – After Burner
• Conquer – War Path
• Glitch – Heavy Mental

I knew I’d be in trouble mixing Source Direct’s stuff exactly 25 years ago when I first purchased Exit- 9. I’m sure I bought it in a bulk purchase recommended by the seller in the still unknown to me record shop in the back of beyond of Birmingham – I just know that it wasn’t Don Christie’s. So there I was, minding my own business back at home in my bedroom studio frowning at the supposedly better because it was marked the ‘A’ side track Snake Style that did absolutely nothing for me (and still doesn’t) and then, like most of my crappier vinyl purchases that I used to waste my wages on because my argument back then was that I could afford to buy records weekly as I didn’t have a car, I disenchantingly sighed as I flipped the wax over to listen to the other side expecting more – to put it politely – dross. Hmm, creepy intro I thought. Oh, Helicopter Tune snare break (Sesame Street break). Yawn. I probably had another hundred records at the time that incorporated this unique snare sound as just an intro, so was hoping that an amen or something would kick in. I wasn’t disappointed. I probably needed a wee after hearing the exquisiteness of the drum programming so after sorting that out I immediately pressed PLAY & RECORD on my ludicrously-priced twin tape deck to record a set with Exit- 9 as the intro; this was when I knew I was in trouble because I simply could not mix it out. It was good, but not that good that I wanted to hear the tune it its entirety (although it is recommended 😎) – it was just that the break was so complicated. Still, a tune’s a tune, and Ian went bonkers when he heard this badboy on his Dad’s car’s stez on our way to football on a Sunday.

Took me a quarter of a century, but I got all of Source Direct’s aliases and slapped them all into one set. I reckon they must have split their bars into 1,024ths as some of the hats and snares are so offset yet rhythmical that the mixing was really, as always, on a wing and a prayer. And it definitely felt like No Tomorrow as I mixed it in for two minutes twenty seconds into Secret Liaison. I can’t grumble though: the strings, pads and tablas as well as the key they’re engineered in compliment each other excellently and there’s no other distinct sound as these artists that were in the trade. So, Ian – and any other amen purists out there who appreciate this kind of work – this set’s for YOU.

DJ Swipez – Source Direct Mix

• Oblivion – Night Windows
• Sounds Of Life – Intellect
• X-Files – Intensity
• Source Direct – Approach & Identify
• Sounds Of Life – Hidden Rooms
• Source Direct – Stars
• Source Direct – Shimmer
• Mirage – Deep Rage
• Source Direct – Secret Liaison
• Mirage – No Tomorrow
• Oblivion – Sands Of Time
• Source Direct – The Crane
• Hokusai – Jade
• Source Direct – Exit- 9