Alec Empire just posted up a track off the “Bass Terror” EP for Free DL on soundcloud… it’s a great EP, a must for both oldskool and breakcore fans… most accounts on there are limited to 100 downloads so grab it quick! Easygroove used to play a few tracks from this, and I finally nabbed a copy on vinyl when I was in Berlin last year.
Bass Terror
Alec Empire – “Bass Terror” by Alec Empire
I’ve posted a lot of Biochip C/Martin Damm-related material on this site since I started. No reason to break from that trend now, so here’s one of my favorite EPs from him. “Tenebre” reminds me most closely of his other Riot Beats EP as Psychic Parasite.
“Move” uses the classic “nobody move, nobody get hurt” vocal as used in Dance Conspiracy “Dub War”, Gunshot “Nobody Move”, and others. It also takes the main riff from “Der Klang Der Famile” by 3 Phase, as used in the Jeff Mills classic “Phase 4″ not to mention Bay B Kane’s “How Should I start”. Finally, there’s a bit of classic biochip acid in there, along with frantic pitch shifted breakbeats. Oh yeah, the “bad boy” sample from Hijack is in there too.
“What is that name” opens with the classic Poltergeist Biochip C used in “Hell’s Bells”, but gets more extreme than the original, sampling bits of DJ Hype “Shot in the dark” and again pitching frantic breakbeats all over the place.
The B side of this single is nice as well, featuring a solid ragga jungle tune that’s maybe more “playable” than the two tracks posted here. But since I love frantic crazy stuff most, these are the two you get.
Did I mention it’s named after a kickass Argento movie?
Biobreaks – Move
Biobreaks – What is that name (the 200 yaers delay not a jungle track terror remix)
I got an email recently from someone who had run into an old friend of mine (hey Aaron!), who asked them to tell me to post more Psychic Parasite stuff… unfortunately, there’s only those 2 EPs, which I’ve already posted tracks from. However, Martin Damm (Biochip C) has plenty of other great tracks – here’s one off his Biophobia label which is classic Biochip… tons of acid, good breaks, lots of weird samples, etc. I actually wasn’t sure about this track when I first heard it because of the vocals, but it’s defnitely grown on me. It’s also a bit of a challenge to mix properly, since there’s a number of single measure breakdowns that throw the measure count off of a multiple of 4, so that either you let it get off and it eventually comes back around after a few of those, or (as I’ve been doing) you can cut the track at the end of every breakdown and bring it back in after 3 more bars.
This same EP also has Search and Destroy “Iron Man” on it, so it’s well worth picking up for these two tracks.
Another favorite track of mine by Biochip C, this is on the classic Gabber label Mokum, aside from some 4/4 in the background though this is heavily breakbeat driven, with some nice choppy breaks in the beginning. Check the genius wtf-worthy chorus part that makes the song!
The original is actually on this release as well as this release, but I ripped it from some old mokum CD comp I’ve got because my vinyl copy has a click for the first 30 seconds of “Iron Man”.
Search and Destroy – Iron Man
Probably my favorite single by Biochip C, Psychic Parasite was a wicked breakbeat hardcore project by him and Claudius Debold aka BC Kid. More straightforward and less technoey than their other projects, the “100% piano free” EP on Riot Beats is one of the strongest non-uk breakbeat hardcore EPs ever. They also did a wicked EP on Riot Beat’s parent label Force Inc, the Re-Animator EP.
Psychic Parasite – Come Back
Here’s something a little bit different, a totally slamming acid breakbeat track by Biochip C aka Martin Damm. Mr. Damm put out some amazing tunes under a variety of aliases (including the aforementioned Biochip C, Search & Destroy, Psychic Parasite, Biobreaks, Headhunter, etc). This track is from 94 but sounds like it’d mix perfectly with 92-93 tracks.
Biochip C – Agoraphobia
Since the purpose of this site is to post lots of lesser known gems, I try to put a fair amount of focus on non-UK tracks. Even though plenty of international hardcore singles got played by UK DJs, there were also plenty which seem to have slipped through the cracks. “Jonny On Ragg” falls in this category for me. It was released on the Labworks label, which was much more well known for acid/ hardcore/ 4/4 stuff. Perhaps this contributed to why it didn’t get picked up on / featured in many mixes? Regardless, here’s yet one more underrated but easy to find single.
Radagain – Johnny on Ragg
Also, if anyone has any suggestions for non-uk bbhc stuff I should post, leave a comment or drop me an email. I’ll probably post some Swedish and/or Icelandic stuff soon.
Ryanopticon just forwarded me this new youtube video which appears to be a new track by The Mover… aka Alien Christ/White Breaks/a million others, not to mention the owner of PCP records. The last record I got from him was this EP on Tresor back in 2002, which was pretty quality. The next year he collaborated with Scooter on a track, which I assumed meant he was done making good music forever. However, this video says otherwise:
The youtube page also includes an mp3 link to the track:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3yqya5
Maybe this doesn’t fit under the typical hardcore-jungle subject matter of this blog, but anyone into classic techno/rave/4/4 hardcore stuff should be familiar with the amazing work of PCP/Cold Spring records. At the very least, check out some of the Frankfurt Trax comps which have a great sellection of Acardipane’s tracks.
Here’s a track produced by Mark Acardipane, aka the mover / ace the space / alien christ / marshall masters / nasty django / a million more. It’s chock full of samples from other big tracks, including:
Also, here’s clips of the original source tracks:
Synth:
Moby – Thousand
Break:
Brothers Grimm – Sign of the Times
Ragga Sample:
Cocoa T & Cutty Ranks – Going Is Rough
FX:
Sonz of a Loop Da Loop – Breaks Theme (Part 1)
One of the strangest groups I’ve come across while looking for good oldskool stuff is WEIRD BEARD from Germany. Here’s my thoughts after getting a few of their records, on the strength of one track (which happened to be their least, erm, weird)
I just got Weird Works I – III a day ago, and I am still wracking my brain trying to understand what context this group could have existed in… what the producers were intending, what the target audience was, etc… it just doesn’t make any sense! Most of their songs literally sound like hardcore/jungle meets easy listening / instrumental yacht rock (no exaggeration). Lots of general midi sounding preset melodies, piano “solos” that sound like they were played by a 1st grader, midi guitar, etc. A few songs don’t even have breakbeats, but sound like they have sped up live drums. I could almost think Weird Beard had no connection with jungle/hardcore at all if they didn’t also have fast breakbeats and track titles like “raving on the beach” and “hardcore will never die” on occasion. During the most “normal” sections, they sound a bit like Biochip C’s “Biocalypse” material. But before you know it another piano solo or ridiculous general midi breakdown hits.
Overall, Weird Beard sounds like some sort of insane “outsider hardcore” which aliens dropped on the planet 14 years ago. Either that, or if some Riot Beats artists dropped really good acid and tried to make the jungle equivalent of Frank Zappa’s “Jazz From Hell”, but without the musical virtuosity of that album.
If anybody knows anything about this group, please let me know! I’d love to know more about it.
Weird Beard – Raving On The Beach (Sentimental Journey Mix)
Weird Beard – Symphony of the Night
Weird Beard – Walking In Space
Weird Beard – Power to All Our Friends
Weird Beard – Spring Breaks
and I will remove them right away. 
