blog to the oldskool

Here’s a 92 piano hardcore jam I finally picked up recently, from the great D Zone Recs camp. Although D-Zone might have been a bit better known for their earlier stuff, their slightly later tunes are hidden gems with a few being mega-rare highly sought after obscurities now. This tune is far from the rarest but it IS a really solid anthemy hardcore number. This is the “not-on-label” version but supposedly this was also issued on D-Zone itself under the alias “Tekno Too”… I don’t have that release though so I can’t compare them.

DJ Eevil – Cum On (Mix 2)

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Definitely check the d-zone soundcloud page as well for loads of great classics!

Also, they have some nice looking merch for sale now… been meaning to pick up one of those hoodies or shirts!
http://dzone.bigcartel.com

Been slack for a few days now so here’s a banger to make up for it… super catchy poppy stuff from Menace Makes 3 (aka Dylan Rhymes). This tune is in line with the other big Menace Make 3 tunes “Do you feel What I’m Feeling” and “Pure Hysteria”. Certainly not the most experimental or challenging tracks out there, all 3 feature catchy melodic stabs, catchier vocal hooks and solid breakwork – really fun hands-in-the-air tracks clearly made for the dancefloor and which fetch a fair price these days. This one has the added bonus on being on beautiful marble blue vinyl, with some great vocal bits throughout the track: the chanting at the beginning isfrom Quantum Jump – The Lone Ranger, and the main vocals are from a classic Strictly Rhythm jam Photon Inc “Generate Power”.

Menace Makes 3 – Feel the Friction On My Feet (The TTL Crew Mix)

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Here’s a nice track I picked up in Toronto maybe 6 or 7 years ago, by Chris Paul. Paul is quite well known in the rave scene for his work in Isotonik, whose track “Different Strokes” is a huge anthem. He also was promoter of the absolutely massive Orange raves of the early 90′s. Music-wise he didn’t release all that many records early on, the only other hardcore/jungle related thing excepting this and isotonik was a pretty dope single on Kikman which I have yet to grab (I probably should have waited to post this until I nabbed a copy, since only one is for sale right now on the ‘cogs.. uh oh…)

This EP contains two remixes of the same track, a nice 93 style vocal hardcore/jungle tune clearly for the dancefloor.. .nothing too experimental or heady going on here. “Music Is My Life” combines the classic “keep Em comin” C+C music factory acapella, as used by Omni Trio in “thru the vibe”, with breaks taken from Foul Play’s remix of Hyper-on Experience “Lords of the Null Lines”. Those breaks get chopped up a bit, and some nice melodic synths are added on top . Again, not a million crazy samples, and it makes sense that this is a tune made by a succesful DJ and promoter of massive parties since it’s basically frankensteining several absolutely essential elements together in a kind of early mashup way (think Carl Cox’s success n effect meets landlord “I like it” track). Really cool EP though!

It appears that Chris Paul is still quite active in music to this day… he’s been involved in some big techno labels etc, not to mention being back making dnb for a while now.. Be sure to check his website at www.djchrispaul.com for more information as well as links to his other sites, etc.

Chris Paul – Music Is My Life (Remix)

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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 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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Oh well, so much for that experiment.. no point in posting every day if there’s so few comments/replies to any of my posts… back to haphazard schedule. Here’s a track that’s worth the wait though! I previously posted a youtube of this track here, in a piece about Zero B Lock-Up (which this track as well as many others sample). This remix is much more upfront and borderline happy hardcore than the zero b original, which makes sense since the artists behind it (JDS) are better known to me for theuir 95 happy hardcore hit “Higher Love”.

This earlier tune might not be QUITE as hands-in-the-air, but it gets pretty damn close, adding the Baby D “Daydreaming” vocals (as used in Manix “Head in the Clouds”) to the “Lock Up” melody. Combo works quite well and just makes for a super fun, uplifting hardcore track… good luck finding a copy on the cheap though!

JDS – Classified (side A)

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Here’s a nice oft-overlooked b-side for the fast nutty hardcore lovers. Aside from less than amazing production, the “166 BPM Rush In The Right Direction Mix” on this EP is a super fun rushy hardcore tune. As the name indicates, it’s a Jungle speed track but clearly hardcore, with the prerequisite dodgy sample (led zepplin vox) sitting precariously on the line of being too cheesy / occasionally kicking its foot over just to see your reaction. You also get Fat Boys “human beatbox” stick em beats with way too many other sounds layered up on top for me to even distinguish, let alone source them. The other mixes on this are decent but more laid back / not as much to my liking. There’s a nice stompy nyc acid hardcore remix by Adam X & Lenny Dee though which could be fun to play in other contexts.

In addition to this EP, Redshift also did two singles on Pro-One, both of which I have and both of which are good albeit not super memorable… may need to go back and check them though as apparently one (“in the mood”) looks a bit rare!

Redshift – Sweat & Groove II (166 BPM Rush In The Right Direction Mix)

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Here’s a decidedly non-obscure classic, basically the opposite of the obtuse white label tracks with loads of mashed samples I often post. Instead, here we have simple, feel good 91 piano hardcore vibes, combining vocal cuts from Bridget Grace “take me away” with Jocelyn Brown “Love’s Gonna Get You”, dominator synth, etc (piano riff sounds familiar just can’t place a name to it right now).

Elicit put out quite a few good early hardcore singles, they also seemed to do pretty large presses so most of their catalog is still quite easy and cheap to find. The artist behind this was on a few of the better ones, including the Blood Brothers EP, Psychopaths EPs and 54321. He also did some nice singles on chill as the Boogeyman.

Bass Construction – Dance With Power

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