Here’s a nice choppy amen tune by Deja Vu FM Don DJ D-Lux. Not much to say about this one, though it’s produced and written by DJ D-Lux, it’s on a Brain Records related sublabel and definitely has that brain studio drum production. I remember finding this one when buying records at Bizzy B’s studio years ago, and being really impressed by the melodic timstretched drums in the beginning plus the break chopping in general – really nice enjoyable stuff, coupled with a super simple but effecitve diva vocal line. Big respect to DJ D-Lux for this, he also did a number of other good releases on Brain (plus a 95 one called “Mr Bond” which I’ve got and like a lot).
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Here’s a fun early breakbeat happy hardcore track from 94 – if it was written in 92 or 93 it would have just been considered a normal oldskool track. But since it came out in 94, at which point the split into jungle and hhc was much more palpable, it’s clear which side of that divide this track falls on. Despite the relentlessly happy vocals and melody though, the 4 beat is far from pronounced and it still seems like it could be a fun track to play with earlier oldskool stuff. Wraggy and Riggler – Ill Give My Love To You
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Here’s an underrated 94 tune which I played on Sunday’s Radio show. Unlike the first couple EPs, some of the 94-95 Bear Necessities tunes are really excellent, especially ones Matt Quinn (aka Optical) was involved with: href=”http://blogtotheoldskool.com/?p=48″>NUT-E 1 & Technarchy – Tuneful / You Cannot EP, Matt’s Head F.U.K. EP, Phat + Futuristic EP, and this EP by him and Nut-E-1, “Attitude”. Taking an obvious Madonna “Vogue” sample (“Ladies with an attitude”) which could be cheesy in most contexts, Area 39 instead pair it with sinister pads (the first of which remind me of Plasmic Life – Death Trip), melodic bleeps, eerie stretched vocal samples and great chopped kickback breaks. While “Attitude” isn’t massively layered or dense, there’s enough sounds thrown in throughout the track to keep the whole thing interesting and very listenable till the end. Also, of all the tunes I see talked about when it comes to 93-94 darkside, I can’t say I’ve seen this one listed anywhere… given how that style seems to be the soup du jour these days, here’s a chance to grab one of the records in that style which HASN’T gone way up in price the past year or so… Attitude – Attitude
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In honor of Valentine’s Day (and as an excuse to do a stupid themed post), here’s a bunch of jungle versions of “Sweet Love”.
The primary version is of course the massive M-Beat one.. if you know jungle you know this one. I went ahead and ripped my copy of it, but then checked and noticed that it’s already for sale on loads of legit mp3 stores. So go pick up this track at one of those, plus some of the other classic Renk records tunes. It’s always nice when labels get their collections up digitally so even people who don’t collect vinyl can still support! Buy “Sweet Love” From:[iTunes][Juno][Amazon]
Here’s a clip of the tune being performed live on Top of the Pops… big up the keytar massive!
The second best known version of this tune has to go to Vibes & Wishdokta for their “Sweetest Love” bootleg. Wishdokta sure was great at cranking out no-nonsense fun catchy bootlegs/tracks (see the entire “Naughty Naughty” label), and this is no exception – combining the classic Anita Baker acapella with a tough Funky Mule break and some nice incidental vocal samples later in the tune, I might even prefer this one to the original M-Beat version (though some of the alternate mixes definitely are on par with this). Vibes & Wishdokta – Sweetest Love
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Here’s a much less known version of the track by 2 Dutch producers named J&J, no doubt somewhat cashing in on the popularity of the M-beat verison. I grabbed a copy of this since there’s a certain alternate version of “Sweet Love” that I heard a long time ago in some jungle documentary, and have been trying to track down ever since. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be it. This version is err, OK I guess, not as good as their version of “Sweetest Taboo” (which again doesn’t fully capture the choppy nature of jungle drums but does alright otherwise). I’m posting it anyway since it’s always interesting to hear people outside of the UK producing jungle tracks back then, and who knows it might be an unknown want for someone… J&J – Sweet Love
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This final track has nothing to do with the Anita Baker song at all, and doesnt’ use any resung vocals etc. However it has the same name AND is quite a cool jungle track which can be picked up for next to nothing. So I figure I’ll post it in lieu of the M-Beat one Jack Speed & DJ Mister-E – Sweet Love
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Here’s a tune that lay dormant in my collection for quite a while, unnoticed until someone sent me an additional copy as a “bonus” as part of a recent order. Getting the new copy made me take another listen and, damn if it isn’t a nice little tune!! This DJ Hype remix may not be the craziest, most mashed up track, or darkest, or the most raucous rudeboy jungle anthem…. but it IS a nice, vibey, spacious tune that’s just fun to play and listen to. The samples are nice and familiar: “let no man put asunder” acapella, one of “those synths” used in a bunch of big tracks, nicely layered breaks (sesame street and a few more) nicely chopped but still leaving plenty of room for other elements, and punchy sub bass. Definitely not the most anthemy tune by DJ Hype from the time, but an excellent one that is fun to spin and fits well with a lot of other tracks.
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Big respect to DJ Trace for posting this classic… it might not be the super rare dubplate version, but the original is just as good in my opinion! Download ASAP before it dissapears….
Here’s what will probably be a favorite of the x-mas/boxing day posts. This tune is taken from the B side of a rare and pricey ragga jungle EP, “Lick Him Inna Him Head”, which I found in a bargain bin for a buck or two some time ago. The A side is more of a traditional 94/95 dance floor slammer, definitely cool and nice for spinning. In contrast, this track has those elements but also throws in some tabla samples and what sounds like an attempt at indian percussion/melody. Lloydie Crucial did a number of massive jungle tunes, going back to this “Cow” sample one one I posted from 91 through to “Ribbon in the Sky”, surely one of the most recognizable small-label jungle classics out there.
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Here’s the set for jungletrain this last Wednesday, November 7th. I think it turned out to be a pretty well rounded selection of stuff from the blog ( click through on the tracklisting to get to the tunes), augmented with vinyl and a few curveballs tracks (someone mentioned a grime track in chat so I mixed it in for a minute because why not..)
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Here’s a random unlabeled release by Orca on Force Ten. It’s got a bit of the trademark lucky spin sound of the time atmospheric-wise, but with maybe a bit steppier breaks than usual plus the added bonus of some tough ragga vocals dropping in throughout the track. Definitely one of the less known tracks by Orca but still a really nice single, and mad easy to find as well! Orca – FT006B
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Here’s an interesting weird record I ripped for a friend yesterday. It’s not listed on discogs though there’s a CD comp it’s featured on.
This EP was an attempt at fusing bhangra with jungle… kind of interesting if only for the genre combo and what sounds like a sample of this track:
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Comments, questions, unreleased oldskool trax to: Follow @blog2oldskool Blog to the oldskool Radio on Jungletrain.net every second and fourth wednesday of the month, 19:00-21:30 EST/1:00-3:30GMT 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.
