Hear the mix
This is my first proper mix CD. It's virtually all 1990's House & Garage, nice and deep but with the odd bit of ruffness provided by the London garridge cuts towards the end. I'll talk you through the mix.
Edit: If you hover the mouse over the tracks mentioned in this piece, for example 'Mood II Swing' in the last paragraph, it will link to a Youtube video. I've tried to show this by underlining the words and making them red but Blogger's computer programming is shit.
1. Northbound featuring Mone- Never Gonna be the Same- Bassline 1994
It’s always nice to start off a CD with a beatless intro,
and the soothing keys from this Brian Tappert track help build up a little
anticipation. I’ve listened to this tune for ages on my Ipod and you’d think
that Northbound must’ve been some kind of production powerhouse, but Discogs
suggests their output was small. Like a few people (DJ EZ included) I spent a
few years wrongly thinking this was a Masters At Work track called ‘I’ve
Changed’, but as far as I know it’s definitely a UK one.
2. Johnny 'D' & Nicky P Present All Star Madness- Magic- Henry Street 1996
Like the previous record I got this off one of those white
label reissue E.P’s that the likes of Uptown Records specialised in. I have to
wonder why such blatant illegality was par for the course in House & Garage
yet wasn’t tolerated so much in other London centric scenes such as Jungle.
Whatever the reason may be as a customer it was great to be able to get hold of
classic tunes cheaply- plus there was usually a good track or two on the flipside
that you’ve never heard before. This is hardly the best Kenny Dope/ MAW
offering from this era but the big bassline is hard to fault.
3. Guess Who?- Sweet Lurv (Smile) Ice Cream 1996
‘Sweet Lurv’ is the kind of thing I should have heard long
before I bought it given that I’d been listening to UK Garage for a decade, but
it was only on the recent Ice Cream Records reissue series that I discovered
this. Surprisingly it’s not a RIP Productions pseudonym- apparently a (since
deceased) trance producer made it.
4. Kalani Bob & Remegel- Deep Breath- Groove Yard 1995
This is sometimes known as the Cheese & Pickle EP. It’s
one of those illusive records that although it rarely appears on compilations
(or on vinyl for less than fifteen quid) if you listen to this era of music
long enough you’ll eventually discover it and hopefully love it. Brimming with big organ
breakdowns and relaxing throughout, it’s hard to believe these producers had
the skills to churn out this classic and then disappear off the face of the
earth. Even stranger when you consider that two of the b-sides to this track
are also top, top quality.
5. R.I.P. Productions- Obsessed- Ice Cream 1996
There are few mixtapes in this genre that won’t be better with
the addition of a Todd, Tuff Jam or RIP Productions track, so it’s a good look
when Tim & Omar’s contribution is one of their best productions. If DJ sets
are all about peaks & troughs then this is the first summit. Not got
much to say about this one, if you don’t like ‘Obsessed’ then you probably have
syphilis.
6. Ron Trent & Chez Damier- Hip to be Dissillusioned (Shango Dance Edit) 2006
Consciously taking things down a gear or two, I draw for
this weird (almost?) techno sounding record. This was released in recent years
but I suspect this was probably a dubplate floating around Chicago sometime in
the 1990’s. I like my CD’s to have at least one weird track from another genre
so this clearly fits the bill. Probably a bit repetitive but it gives the mix
an opportunity to calm down a bit.
7. George Morel- I Don't Know What it is- Strictly Rhythm 1992
If the last record was a bit po-faced then this one restarts
the upward trajectory. This E.P. was something I got for a pound or two in Soul
& Dance Exchange, half expecting it to be the more famous ‘Morel’s Groove’.
Turns out there were a whole series of them so better luck next time. My one
fault with this riddim is that it ends abruptly, which is why there’s a
post-recording sound effect added in to cover the unexpected silence from Deck
1 as ‘I Don’t Know What it is’ peters out unexpectedly.
8. MK featuring Alana- Always- Charisma 1992
This is one of Mark Kinchen’s early, pre Nighcrawlers tunes.
I got this on one of those white label EP’s about five years ago and it was new
to me then, having been more familiar with his famous remixes like Jodeci or
Celine Dion.
9. Shawn Christopher- Make My Love (Kerri Chandler remix) BTB 1993
This wasn’t the first Kerri Chandler record I heard- not by
a handful of tunes/ years. But it was the first one I heard that made me realise that
Kerri was a very, very talented producer. If anything this tune is underrated.
I heard it first on a BBC 1Xtra show in 2004 which was billed as a Todd Edwards
special, only they cheekily neglected to mention the fact that they hadn’t
actually bought plane tickets for ‘the God’ to fly to the west London studios and
perform himself and that it was just going to be Jay da Flex playing from his record
collection (which of course was no bad thing). After an hour Jay got bored of
playing strictly the work of one producer and decided to draw for the standard
mid 90’s US Garage/ House classics. Now although by this stage I’d clocked up
dozens of Garage compos and was starting to build up a good collection of ‘97
era twelves, in a single hour this show educated me to the fact that there was
more to Old Skool Garage than the more obvious Tuff Jam, Grant Nelson et al. Locked On
recordings famously started out by re-licensing popular (often American) tracks
from the Sunday Scene era, but it took me a while to twig that that was just
the tip of the iceberg. On this one off show at 5 in the morning Jay Da Flex
dusted off previously unheard (by me at least) classics like UBP’s ‘Your Heaven’, Smokin Beats’ ‘Look Who’s Loving Me’ and DJ Disciple’s ‘Keep On Moving’- the kind of stuff that gets played on London pirates probably every
week of the year but, like early two-step, was largely passed by when it came
to commercially released CD compilations. Over the years I would learn that
Jay’s selection was almost a standard Top Ten of ‘Back to 95’ type material. I know
this sort of stuff better now but at the time it made me dig deeper for earlier
records, the era before Garage became it’s own self-contained scene. And that’s
really what I’ve done with my record buying habits since and effectively what
I’m trying to achieve with this CD.
10. Alex Agore- Nothing I Wouldn't Do- Development Music 2011
If I’m doing a CD of old skool stuff I aim to cover three
decades (the 90’s/ 00’s & 10’s) if I can. I didn’t quite achieve it with
this one as the high tempo of 2001-3 Garage is usually tricky to mix with much
slower American stuff from the early 90’s. With this decade it’s much easier to slip
in a current Deep House tune. Alex Agore uses an obnoxiously loud kickdrum
similar to Kerri Chandler’s one so it’s no surprise that I found myself cueing
this up in my headphones. He has got a busy vinyl release schedule that could
rival the work rate of producers who were making music when people actually still
used Technics in clubs. He’s not a buy on sight producer but at his best he is
brilliant, and this track from a solid E.P. that came out Christmas two years ago is perhaps him at the top of his game.
11. Kerri Chandler- Atmosphere E.P. Track 1- Shelter 1993
I was slow to get into this; it’s not as obviously catchy as
something like 'Bar a Thym'. But it’s often touted as one of Kerri’s best.
Eventually I got bitten by the bug too.
12. 24 Hour Experience- Together- Nice 'n' Rype 1994
Arguably the first UK Garage record, everyone’s heard this a
million times by now but hopefully they still like it. I’ve had this for around
ten years and it was pretty cheap when I picked it up. Most of the Nice N’ Ripe stuff
has been reissued on mp3 but this on vinyl seems to have shot up in price for
some reason.
13. Todd Edwards- Dancing for Heaven- Bean 1995
One of my favourite Todd tracks, and in a career dominated
by remixes this one under his own name stands out. Pre i! Records days.
14. Dawn Tallman- New York City Girls (Tuff Jam's Caution dub) Unda-Vybe 1998
From here onwards I’ve decided to take things in a harder
direction, bringing in strictly London stuff like Tuff Jam. This era of UK
Garage is the foundation of what I play. I got into the garage when it was
mostly 2-step (which I still love) but it was the slightly older stuff that was
always battered to death alongside the contemporary dark bits (Bingo Beats,
Ammunition, etc) that I liked just that little bit more, and the reverence the
scene had for it’s four to the floor past made it near impossible not to build
up a knowledge of people like Tuff Jam. A lot of genres waste the four to the
floor rhythm by making it too monotonous, but the tracks on this CD and Garage
in general (and the best House music) have that swing in the percussion that distracts your ears from the bass kicks.
15. New Horizons- Find the Path (In Your Mind) 500 Rekords 1997
Another well-known Garage track, you have to wonder what
happened to New Horizons- because their records round about 1997 were good. The
b-side, 'Inspiration' used to be a Heartless Crew favourite.
16. State of Mind- Take Control (MJ Cole Vocal mix) Ministry of Sound 1998
MJ Cole when he produced 4/4 records was probably his best era. If
anything this is one of his less accomplished tracks from that time, but then his release schedule was choc a bloc with memorable records. This segues nicely from ‘In Your Mind’.
17. Moreso featuring Damon Trueitt- Take My Hand (Filthy Rich's Deep Part 1 mix) i! Records 1998
This is Filthy Rich Crisco, a mate of Todd Edwards from New
Jersey. Best known for Somore’s I Refuse (What You Want), this also features
Damon Trueitt on vocal duties. Probably better known for the (admittedly good) Dem 2 two-step
mix, I love the deepness of the original.
18. Smokin Beats- Do you Know About Love- Smokin Beats 2000
'Do You know about love' is like Luton’s answer to Mood II Swing's 'All Night Long'. I
only found out about this recently. I’m assuming it was overlooked a bit
because it was an album track rather than a standalone single, and the 2000
release date implies that it was too late in the game for the Garage audience to still be paying attention to songs like this. Smokin Beats ended up producing 2-step under the Zoom & DBX alias. But this is arguably the best thing they ever did, and a good swan song for Sunday Night In Volume 1.
