Way back when I started this blog, one of the first EPs I featured was by Nick Ball. While I don’t know who this EP is by (no idea who Emanuel is), Nick Ball is listed as one of the producers on it. Both sides of this EP are strong tracks, with this side being the darker of the two – perhaps a bit reminiscent of Formation Recs releases of the time, though the beat production is different. Speaking of which, anyone care to ID the amen used here, with the little rolling fill at the end? I believe it’s also used in Yolk “Bish Bosh”, so I’m not sure whether this track sampled that, or if this version of the amen is off some “Beats n breaks” record. Emanuel – Internal Mind
Here’s an EP that I’m a bit hesitant to post since it’s such a top personal fav, but it still manages to stay under a lot of people’s radar – I would almost rather eventually drop it in a mix or something like that. But, it’s been ages since I recorded an oldskool mix, so here you go. DJ Massive did a BUNCH of cool EPs before disappearing off the face of the earth (anyone with contact info for him – PLEASE CONTACT ME!!). This EP is arguably my favorite by him. Ironically it’s the second track on each side which is the top pick for me – on the A side you have “Slammin”, a frantic almost happy hardcore sounding track which Easygroove dropped in Dreamscape VII to devastating result. And on the B side, you have this absolutely awesome proto-ragga jungle track – similarly hyperfast dense breaks coupled with ragga vocals that don’t let up. absolutely sick tune, A+++ / good communication / would buy from again, etc.
Here’s another one of those “how could I have gone 2 years without posting it” yet tracks. This one is by Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx, and is one of THE most essential hardcore whitelabels. The production is pretty low fi, but fits the track fine – a haunting piano loop, a multitude of break layers (probably too many – a regular amen, nwa-men, funky nassau and at least 2-3 more standard breaks I forget the names of and am too lazy to go hunting for now), a deep breakdown partway through which segues back into the tough-as-nails main part. This is simply a great hardcore track that doesn’t need razor sharp modern production to get its point across!
Since the track is pretty low fi, I tried re-eqing it a bit and running it through a bit of compression – feel free to let me know if this sounds too squashed and I’ll hold off doing it from future tracks. Also, despite the lowfi track sound, my copy of this is in suprisingly good shape – if anyone is aware of a bootleg pressing (which had the original logo) and of any ways to differentiate, please let me know in the comments, since I’d love to know if mine is original or not.
Been a bit lazy about posting this week, so here’s a sick obscure whitelabel to make up for it. Absolutely no idea about the artist behind it, but both sides smash it! Tracks have quite a few little changeups and combine a more techno hardcorey sound with quality breakbeats. Maybe not my typical favorite style of stuff but a really nice single nonetheless. Also, both tracks are high quality instead of there being just one strong side. Existence – Zebra
Here’s one of my favorite EPs on Ruff Quality. DJ Dextrous is better known for his later jungle tracks circa 94-95 on labels like Jet Star, Renk and Suburban Base… this cut is significantly earlier but not too different in style – good ragga sounds combined with quality beats and (in this track’s case) bleepy melody. Both mixes on this EP are pretty similar but I like this remix a bit more, it brings in the main melody sooner.
Here’s a track which may be unknown for even the most diehard obscurity-seekers… almost no one has it listed on discogs, and the few people who do seem to be general dance music single collectors rather than oldskool collectors. It’s far from rare though, with tons of copies in the $1-3 range – no doubt hiding in plain sight by virtue of being a reggae/R+B single with just one hardcore remix on it. The remix in question (the “raga rave mix”) is a late 91/early 92 sounding track. It reminds me a bit of early SL2 stuff a bit – straight ahead, simple and kind of catchy. There’s also some decent vocal chopping later in the tune. Maybe not the most interesting track ever, but a bit fun to mix due to the 4/4 intro section and halftime breakdown.
Not the easiest record to find, Cool Hand Flex’s “ZX2″ EP is well worth tracking down for its 3 totally different sounding but all excellent tunes. The A side is the massive track “Your Risk”, also released on this EP. Definitely one of my favorites by him and one of his catchiest early tracks. The B1 side switches things up totally and features weird choppy drums in the A1 tune, ala Uncle 22’s “Super Mario EP”.
And then there’s this track. I don’t think I ever gave it too much thought because of the strength of the A1 track on the EP – but I just listened to it this weekend and was suprised how weird it is! The main melody sounds really familiar to me, perhaps also used in another De Underground release? There’s also some nice pitched up Zapp and Roger sounding vocoder funk stuff at 2:11 in the track.
Usually, I’d be just post “Your Risk” because that’s the bigger tune, most people would like it more and I realistically play it a lot more than B2. But I’m always looking for strange/interesting/off kilter sounding oldskool tracks, and this b2 track fits the bill perfectly. In addition, I think this track is a good example of some of the cool weird sounds found in some of those early De Undeground/related label releases, which gave their releases their own unique vibe in comparison to slightly more streamlined stuff on Sub Base and shadow. Cool Hand Flex – ZX2 B2
Sorry for the weird sound, the track is pressed kind of quiet so I ran it through a maximizer to boost it back up – think the bass might have ended up rumbly in parts though. For anyone not into the the above track, here’s the aforementioned “Your Risk” tune as a consolation prize:
Now that Pete has kindly granted me access to his back-end (oo-err missus;) I will be intermittently posting my own obscure favorites. Youtube links for starters but, who knows, maybe I’ll up a few mp3s in the future. To kick things off, I’m linking to a fave of mine from the excellent Out Of Orbit label which along with it’s sister label, Orbital, released some real gems in 91/92, including DJ Trace’s first releases. This is a weird and wonderful tune that hits me right where it hurts. Enjoy!
From the rare and pricey back to some “price of a cup of coffee” tunes- here’s one of the many overlooked Boogie Beat singles. As with the other EPs on Boogie Beat, this EP is a bit easy to miss since was plentifully pressed, and is a bit rough around the edges – however this track is pretty nice in my opinion. Good samples/layering, nice piano drop part way through, solid breakbeats… the melodies get out of tune in places, but that’s oldskool for you The artist who did this (Dance on Arrival) is more well known for his other Boogie Beat single, Muppets Mayhem, which was also released in this form. That EP famously samples some song from the muppets, erm… not my cup of tea (fun track though which other people seem to like). This one is nice though!
Here’s a slower track than I’ve posted lately.. Cool Hand Flex is one of the most prolific-yet-underrated early hardcore/jungle producers and engineers. A lot of his early tunes are split over De Underground and its numerous sublabels (Oddball, IE, Ruff Groove, U No Dat, In Touch etc), though he also did tracks on Brain and Suburban Base. I wouldn’t even say this is one of my top favorite singles by Flex overall, but I totally love this tune: it’s stripped down but solid, with nice layering of drum hits and breaks. The slow tempo makes it mixable with a variety of styles (not just faster 92-94 hardcore/jungle), and the main synth and vocal (”I just wanna hear a good beat” from Dee Lite “Good Beat”) are wicked catchy. Cool Hand Flex & Uncle 22 – Odd Ball EP (A1)
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and I will remove them right away. 
