Here’s a bigger track than I usually post, but I’ve checked a number of mp3 sites and don’t see it for sale anywhere… also, this one has been in my head all week, need to exorcise it by posting it here! I’m not sure how well it’s known by name, but once you hear the music to this remix I almost guarantee it’ll be familiar (at least if you’ve heard your share of oldskool mixes…) Absolute classic 92 uplifting hardcore anthem.
SL2 are still around doing occasional shows, and Slipmatt plays out quite a lot, so definitely check his website here for mixes, tourdates, etc. You can also check the official SL2 Facebook page here Psychotropic – Hypnosis (SL2 Remix)
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Here’s a special treat for you guys… an unreleased 1994 dubplate by Mega City 2, who I’ve previously posted a few tunes by. This is a one-off dubplate that got made in 1994, according to the guy who posted a link up:
It was amongst a batch of 100 Acetates that were stored in a hole in a wall behind a kitchen sink for 18 years. It was sadly the one at the top and it was out of a sleeve. I tried my very best to clean the dust off this but just couldn’t budge the crackles at the start. It is the only one ever pressed (Confirmed by Artist). Thought id share this briefly and the take it down. I’l take it down very soon and i’m sure enough of ya will have a WAV now to share amongst yourselves.
The tune itself is great, nice choppy jungle with standard 93/94 sounds. The link posted was a WAV, and it was pretty crackly… so I got a friend to run it trhough some basic EQ and declick/denoiser plugs, and converted it to 320 mp3 for you guys. Mega City 2 – Spice (Unreleased) remaster
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Here’s a nice EP I took a chance on recently, because it was cheap and I noticed it was released in the NL not UK – not sure if the artist behind it was Dutch as well, but I’m always looking for hardcore tunes produced and released outside of the UK 91-95. Despite the lulzy artist name, there’s 4 tracks of really solid late 91/early 92 style ragga hardcore here. This is probably my favorite because of the intro – the synth starts up with vocals on top, then cuts for an extended vocal sample, before kicking back in with the main song.. not something you hear all the time! Otherwise it’s a nice bleepy ragga hardcore track, pretty repetitive and with way too long of a fade out, but definitely vibey. Any artist info or info about the reggae samples here would be appreciated.
I opened the Ustream on Friday with this and ID’d it for a couple friends, so if you want to get the scoop on tracks like these TUNE IN because there’s no telling how long it’ll take me from playing a track on there to actually posting it here…cheap copies might be bought up by then >:) Pum Pum Brigade – Tuffer Than Words
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Here’s another stone cold classic, this time a 92 oldskool piano stormer. My copy is a bit tatty but it’s still OK sounding, also to be clear this is the original rawer version on whitelabel not the more polished rerelease… big big tune played by all sorts of DJs back in the day! The artist behind it (Eric Peyronel) is responsible for quite a few house tracks since then, this is his only hardcore EP. UDG – Heaven
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So, I’ve been slacking on the ustream as of late since I’ve been busy with other stuff (preparing for first live PA in a year in a couple of weeks), and my ripping setup has been out of commission… time to get back into the habit, so I guess I’ll give it a go for 2-3 hours tomorrow at 6pm EST/ 11pm GMT. http://www.ustream.tv/blogtotheoldskool I still probably won’t record this one, though I may start recording some going forward… really I’d much rather have people checking it out live though and chatting / making requests / etc, rather than it just being one more non-interactive thing for people to stream or download.
Also, as much as I want to keep this on a regular schedule, I’m pretty slack about that and am much more likely to start doing these at totally random times with at most an hour’s notice… so if you use ustream regularly, you can “join the crowd” for my channel to get updates when it’s streaming : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blogtotheoldskool Or, you can follow @blog2oldskool on twitter or join the Blog to the Oldskool Facebook page, since I post in those two places when it’s going on.
Sorry for the lack of posts, I’ve been stuck with more audio ripping issues… digital clicks all over the place, both through a USB->audio preamp device (clicks whenever a reasonably loud signal goes through), and through a standard USB recording device (random digital clips). I *think* I’ve got it kicked now, using an old laptop which seems to handle audio a bit better… let me know if you hear any digital clicks in this rip though! (versus light surface noise + vinyl pops).
To make up for it, here’s a top favorite of all time – a wicked and bad tune by Intense aka Babylon Timewarp. This record (and this track in particular) are absolutely tip-top shelf jungle with moody pads, well layered breaks etc. “Time Space Continuum” is probably my favorite due to the melody and epic breakdown section taken from the movie “Army Of Darkness”. I’ve seen that movie a couple of times since getting this record, and every time now I have to rewind the scene featuring it to listen to that part again… secretly wishing the rest of this tune would kick in!
Intense did quite a few great records, starting with the Drowzee EP (“the tournament” is a longtime favorite), and continuing with this and the “Paradox” EP which are two of their better known early ones. They went on to do some more jazzy intelligent stuff on Good Looking, including some tracks with saxophone by (if I’m remembering correctly) one member’s dad? At least I think that was how the story went. Not as much my cup of tea as the harder earlier stuff, but some good tunes there nonetheless. Also, there was at least one later track I know of which harkens back to the darker, earlier sound: “Destruction”, off the Solar EP on GLR:
Pretty crazy this came out on GLR in the 00′s, huh? Definitely an underappreciated gem I remember playing nonstop when it came out.
More recently, Dan Duncan from Intense has been doing a minimal techno project called Pig And Dan which is quite popular (nice guy to boot!) Also, Sublogic issued a never-released tune by Intense two years ago, which is sort of a hybrid of the track I posted here and “paradox”. Unfortunately it’s out of print and seems to be going for a bit right now on discogs. Maybe Will has a copy or two kicking around though (I should probably check before posting this since I’m not sure if I ever bought that one!)
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Here’s a record I’ve seen around a lot for cheap, finally grabbed a copy and I’m reasonably happy with the purchase. It’s by Vocation, of “Equilibrium” fame (and this tune) under the name “Black ‘Ash”. Pretty energetic with lots of samples getting thrown in non-stop. In general, it’s probably the raw quantity of (good) samples which makes the tune rather than any particularly smart sequencing, but it’s a fun track nonetheless… worth the $3 I grabbed it for anyway. Black Ash – Cosmology
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Another top favorite, hopefully this track gets some more appreciation than the classic I posted a couple days ago. Bad Influence was a project by Pascal and Sponge who did 5 EPs under this alias, as well as several others (Johnny Jungle, The Full SP, Pascal and Sponge) before branching out and doing more tunes on their own. This is probably their biggest track under the “bad influence” name, a frantic hardcore tune with great bouncy samples and nontstop energy throughout. The remix isn’t too shabby either, released on the later “Unfair Justice” EP. Definitely check the Nosebleed EP I posted a while back for a totally different style tune by these guys.
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OK I’m cheating and posting a more well known track… in fact, I’d wager it It doesn’t get that much more classic than this tune. Although primarily a hiphop act earlier on, Demon Boyz did some amazing hardcore/jungle stuff as well. This tune is one of those early tunes alongside the best by Rebel MC , Ragga Twins and SUAD, which show the final merging of all necessary elements (hiphop breakbeats, ragga bass and samples, techno synths) into a really coherent final product (hardcore/jungle). In fact, despite the fact this came out in 91, you could probably pitch this up and play it along side any old 1992 track, since all the same elements are there and the production is top notch. Still, it sounds great at a lower tempo as well, especially during the more ominous synth part.
Can’t recommend this one enough… pure vibes!! Demon Boyz – Jungle Dett
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Here’s a quality 94 darkside jam I’ve been hoarding. Evil Dead 2 samples, some nicely panned think-work and eerie synths, everything you could want in a seriously dark jungle track – up there with the darkest creepiest stuff by Mega City 2, Love Dove Jay, etc. Dub Rush did a bunch of great singles on his label Back II Back, most of which are pretty hard to find now… I’ve only got a couple of them but the rest are sort of permanently on my want list, waiting for copies to show up on the cheap. The only Back II Back track I’ve posted so far was this one track by by X Rated, which is one of the easier to find tracks but still pretty essential. Dub Conspiracy – Da Gathering
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Comments, questions, unreleased oldskool trax to: Twitter:@Blog2Oldskool Ustream:blogtotheoldskool every other wednesday, 19:00 (7PM)EST/24:00GMT Attn labels/artists featured on this blog: I run this because I love your music and want more people to know about it. If you want your track(s) removed, just email me and I will remove them right away.
