blog to the oldskool

Fun radio show last night, thanks to the regulars that tuned in… will be sending out mp3 links via DM to the few people that RT’d it. That experiment in getting people to help spread the work didn’t do so well, guess I need to just wait and see if these radio shows sort of grow on their own though…
Here’s one of the new tracks which I played and gave away last night… a strong white label by Tike and Krimson. Not sure who these guys were, but both sides of this are great & of equal quality (in fact, Easygroove played both sides during a classic Universe set). As the A side track title indicates, “Let the Music Go” uses the “let it go” bit from Sinnamon “I need you now”. This bit is also used in Bloodclat Artattack plus about a thousand other hardcore/jungle tunes, with the overall acapella used in about a billion more hardcore tunes. The synth line almost reminds me a bit of a Tom + Jerry track (the “he keeps dreaming… he keeps.. freaking!” one). Solid breaks, very functional and nice.
On the B side, we get a really solid ragga hardcore number… I might have posted this one instead, except my copy has some marks on the first 15 seconds. Here’s a clip of it from youtube though:

I guess these guys had another release which is a lot rarer, never seen it around. Anyone got a clip I can hear?

Tike and Krimson – Let the Music Go

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Onto something a bit slower, more stompy and ravey. This EP is from 92, but sounds like it could have been made a bit earlier (late 91?) – relatively simple breaks with massive orchestra-rave stabs. A bit straightahead for my taste, but fun to mix and a good contrast to the mega choppy manic stuff I usually post. Also, the slower tempos on this EP mean I get to mix it with various non-hardcore stuff, though usually I end up playing the other tracks as they’re a bit less crazy.

Technoskins – Rumbledove

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Thanks to Dara for selling me this one recently, a favorite of mine which might be an acquired taste due to its mega-rough production. The break layers are kind of hectic and don’t fully match up, the samples range from low-fi to lower-fi, there’s lots of variation in the levels, and the beats don’t seem to hit as hard as I’d like (even for old hardcore stuff)… Still, a great tune is a great tune! “Sphere” has some good vocal cuts combined with an unexpected end-of-the-world orchestra breakdown part way through that gets me every time. The A-side is better known and might be a bit catchier,and for spinning out I’d probably opt for one of the A-side tracks… But “Sphere” is still my favorite in all it’s sloppy glory!

DEA – Sphere of Destiny

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Here’s an obscurity which has picked up value in the past year or two… it’s no wonder, since both sides are really solid late 91 / early 92 sounding hardcore tracks. I picked the A side to post since it’s a bit weirder, the B side is great too… much more of a feel-good piano number.

No idea about the artist, or if they did any other tunes… if anyone has any info, please leave a comment!

Mesonic – Right On Time

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I’ve had this for a while and still get a chuckle whenever I come across the title – given how prolific certain producers were BITD, I wish other producers had been as straightforward as on this EP and put out singles named like this. It’d be funny to come across loads of records with titles like “Cool Hand Flex’s Mate”, “Dave Charlesworth’s Mate”, “”Bizzy B’s Mate” (that one would be about 8000 records deep), etc. Still, this is a great little white label, loads of samples crammed in, etc. Not much more to say about this since I know nothing about the artist, aside from the fact that he was mates with DJ Phantasy.

DJ Phantasy’s Mate – Edit Vol 1 side A

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Here’s a totally manic 92 whitelabel track by JBL and Bigga. These two are relatively unknown but JBL also did the great “Lesson in Ruffness” EP with Ruff & Ready. Sorry my copy of this is a bit worn – still a total tune! Layered breaks, airhorns, tons of vocal samples – all the makings of a fun 92 whitelabel.

JBL & Bigga – Respect

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Trying to make up for the weeks of lazy posting, here’s another nice tune – this time some stripped down 91 hardcore. This track is way more basic than what I usually like, but it more than does the trick – a simple breakbeat, a catchy vocal sample (“get up, feel the dancefloor justice!”) and an even catchier piano part… good stuff!! I originally thought this was by the Boogie Beat artist Kenetic, but Discogs is claiming it’s by the same guy (Michael Hazell) who did the awesome Golden Girls “Kinetic” EP with Phil Hartnoll of Orbital.

Kinetic – Dancefloor Justice

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