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Unknown Artist – Easy Life EP [EL001]

Here’s a killer whitelabel I’ve been playing for years now, while being a bit grubby and trying to keep it a secret from tracklists etc (my copy was a bit battered, it didn’t pop up that much and I was hoping to find a cleaner one for cheap eventually). Randomly, the producers popped on discogs recently and provided a bit of info in it which I think is worth immortalizing, along with some cleaned up audio of both tracks.

Me and my good friend Jim made this record in my bedroom in the summer of 1994. Running Cubase 1 of the Atari ST with 2 x Akai S01 samplers and a Yamaha sound module. Only 500 were ever press, fresh out of a lab in Dalston. This was our only ever release but we wish we’d carried on. I’ve recently been listening to the Legend DJ Kenny Ken play it in one of his sets. He was in my local town just last Saturday. Happy days

– Kyle / EasyLife
The Artists behind Easy Life… they uploaded this pic to discogs but picky discogs users downvoted it / removed it

Here’s a bit more info, which one of the two guys behind Easy Life provided…

Jim and I were young teenagers when we got these pressed and until recently we didn’t even know if DJs were playing it. We found a couple of youtube recording of DJ Kenny Ken dropping both sides which was amazing. And a few friends heard it once or twice being played on some London pirate radio stations way back in 94/95. 

We spent so much time in our little studio and even had some good contacts, what with Nookie ( Gavin Chung) living close by and working in Daddy Arms House record shop in our town centre of Hitchin. 

Even a few of the Moving Shadow were local. If you remember Deep Blue – Sunset over Stevenage. (A town just 4 miles away) .

Gavin also introduced Jim and I to some major players when we used a club in London Called the Mars Bar in Charing Cross. We met Goldie, Kemistry & Storm and DJ Rap. Had a magical moment there, listening to Photeks – Water Margin for the very first time. 

It’s really surprising this is the only release they did, as it’s quite well done for a one-off. The B side is more what I would class as a typical A-Side, a tearin’ amen number that moves along at roughly 170bpm hanging off a humorous sample with some english lady inquiring about the meaning of a jamaican cuss word. Not a lot of surprises in store in terms of track structure or flow, but a really fun amen track that would stick out and be memorable in sets (especially the main sample). Last time I remember playing it was in a b2b2b with Sully and Luke Handsfree in London a few years back.

In comparison, the A side is a lot more vibey, but I’d say also a bit more accomplished sequencing-wise. There’s a nice bell stab for the intro melody, leading up to some female vocals and thundering layered breaks at the drop (think and sweet pea are the two I remember, open to suggestions what the other ones are….), along with the classic “oh baby” vocal chop from The Real Thing – “You Are Everything”:

All in all, this is a killer whitelabel worth tracking down. Not sure it’s in demand enough to ever warrant a repress or anything like that, but it’s got 2 very cool and worthwhile tracks, and serious collectors should keep an eye out. The fact these guys did no other jungle stuff to my knowledge just goes to show how exciting the scene was back then, with tracks like these seemingly popping out of nowhere.


Unknown Artist – EL001A
Unknown Artist – EL001B

7 Replies to “Unknown Artist – Easy Life EP [EL001]”

  1. I moved to Hitchin (the town mentioned above) about 8 years ago and I’m only just discovering its secret hardcore and jungle history! These are great tracks too, thanks so much for sharing.

  2. these are so f’n sick, that second tune is just so EVIL <3 <3 <3
    thanks for the finds! have your page bookmarked

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