blog to the oldskool

To contrast the essential but very early track I posted by Leo Anibaldi yesterday, here’s a slick 94 jungle tune on a not-so-well known label. After years of digging for tunes, I’ve definitely grown to like labels like Zulu Records – labels that got in and got out with just a handful of releases to their name. Not just a single one-off, but also not 20+ releases where half of them are disposable.

On to the track itself: it features vocals as used in Cloud 9 “hold me in your arms” (though a smaller vocal sample than in that tune, where the 2nd vocal line resolves the melody of the first), and the Chuck’s Beats amen which is aka the Bizzy B amen, the Demons Theme Amen, or whatever else you want to call that wicked combo of “amen brother” and isaac hayes – “breakthrough” breakbeats. The main music is just 808 State “Pacific State” pitched way up… simple but effective.
If anyone happens to know who this tune is by, please leave a comment here.

Unknown Artist (Zulu Records 1) – Hold Me

Here’s a single that typifies what I like to post most on this blog – obscure but excellent singles which are still easy to find for anybody “in the know” enough to be aware of them. Normally I just post one track from an EP, but both sides of this EP are great in their own way. The A side is all about the beats: intricate break switching and layered drums with minimal eerie sci fi sounds on top. The gated vocal breakdown in particular sounds like it could be off of either an early Legend Records or Lucky Spin / Dee Jay records release. In contrast, the B side of this EP is more of a well-rounded track, with some creepy atmospheric bits leading to an uplifting vocal breakdown, followed by some gloriously pitch shifted beats mixed with amens. Surprisingly enough, it appears that one of these songs was used in a 2001 UK horror film named Long Time Dead. Despite track credit in the movie, the song credited on the soundtrack and the soundtrack sampler is a newer song by Ed Case.

Edcase – Ed’s Venture (Side A)

Edcase – Ed’s Venture (Side B)

Here’s another nice choppy amen tune by W. Wilson AKA Subnation (”Scottie”) and Warrior Bass. Nothing too out of the ordinary here, nice melodies and well chopped beats. This tune reminds me a bit of Studio Pressure stuff.

Natural Forces – The Solid Rock Tune

My turntable needles are still gone, so here’s an rip I did for my own listening purposes ages ago… it actually fits in very well with what I’ve been posting a lot of lately: singles which, by virtue of not being particularly rare or well known, are super cheap and in heavy supply despite being really good. In this case, you’ve got some EXCELLENT 94 choppy jungle. There’s a solid Pete Parsons engineered A-side which is great in its own right, coupled with this remix by 2 of my favorite proto-choppage maestros: Gimp & Steve C from Skeleton Records. The music is a little bit “94-95 jazz-lite”, but not unlistenably so, and if anything this contrasts nicely with the totally out-of-control drum programming. Good stuff!

DJ Rap – Your Mind (Gimp + Steve C Mix)

I had no idea about this record, checked it out since I didn’t recognize the title and was not dissappointed – weird and cool 93 ragga jungle engineered by Bizzy B. The timestretched vocal bit reminds me of Formula 7 “Timestretch the Bass”, and while I probably like that tune more overall, this track has some great bits in it – massive breakdowns, choppy beats, and weird cut up vocals peaking through.

Persian Prince -Persianina Babylon