your favorite junglist auteur

[hucks]

he couldn't live without his house (meaning like early 90s Sasha prog house) records...sums it pretty well to my mind...

I'd have taken that to mean Classic Chicago House (TM), rather than Sasha, plus him and Wax Doctor did make hardcore records as Fallen Angels (I think). And his mixes of DJ Phantasy, Tricky and Neneh Cherry were all really good dancefloor fodder. No, I won't let this go

& let's leave "ambient jungle" out of it man; - that's an honorable term; "Aquarius", "Angel", Omni Trio & so on...

Oh totally. I used to love that stuff. There's a thread elsewhere where Craner, I think, seeks to identify the last good ambient jungle tune. Early GLR/ LGR all gems. I think One and Only by PFM was the last really good track.

 

[hint]

OK, neck on block time now. Is Alex Reece so unspeakable now? Pulp Fiction is one of the greatest jungle tunes ever, but seems to be disregarded these days as some coffee table ambient junglist bollox. I saw Mickey Finn and Ray Keith drop that in my junior junglist days in Norwich and it was a massive tune across the scene. The whole drumnbass/ jungle delineation hadn't really happened by then (or at least it hadn't in the provinces), so as far as I was aware it was jungle.

I think Pulp Fiction was arguably the big anthem that set the ball rolling for the eventual switch away from breaks and towards the stripped-down stepping drum patterns. With Shadow Boxing sealing the deal a year later. Maybe this is why people hate on it now?

At the time though it was pretty striking.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

also this has nought to do with anything but man like Bassnation got me thinking about lesser-known (or least less talked about) darkside stormers;

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LOVE LOVE LOVE this one...oh the name is "Journey Into the Unknown" for anyone not familiar...
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Luna-C of all people does darkside...
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from that brief period when happy hardcore & darkside could sit side by side in the same track...
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and...
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[mms]

At the time though it was pretty striking.

I know what you mean, but it was all about the bassline - its an incredible bassline, everything else about it was a bit horrible, esp the nasty trumpet parps, but it was mersh as well cos pulp fiction the film was big then too.

few other ppl, who did some key things.

marvelous cain - for his live dancehall crossover album / cb4 - which is incredible, limb by limb, the thing- cos it's bassline is ridiculous
cb4

trace - who became part of the problem but he did the brilliant splash babylon remix and that mutant jazz remix which was a key dark record.

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I'd have taken that to mean Classic Chicago House (TM), rather than Sasha, plus him and Wax Doctor did make hardcore records as Fallen Angels (I think). And his mixes of DJ Phantasy, Tricky and Neneh Cherry were all really good dancefloor fodder. No, I won't let this go

I dunno I remember it being quite clear that it was prog house...ok here it is (about 2/3 down the page, under unfaves of 1996) "ALEX REECE/DJ PULSE/WAX DOCTOR...ET CETERA, AD NAUSEAM - The kind of pony-tailed twats who put me off listening to house music for years... Ever notice how Alex Reece never gives props to anyone in jungle and says he loathed hardcore, but then testifies that he'd "cry if I ever lost my house classics" and that his ambition is to get house bods to dance to breakbeat rhythms? This he and his cohorts have achieved by the simple expedient of removing the rude, disruptive energy from drum and bass and flattening the rhythms out into a slinky, E-Z rolling flow. White-bre(a)d jungle with all the ruff-age removed..."

well I guess I was wrong about the prog house bit but you see what I mean...really I think the point is that Alex Reece is on the other side of the divide yunno, a proper "tasteful" mentality & that...tho hey man whatever yunno...

 

[mms]

I dunno I remember it being quite clear that it was prog house...ok here it is (about 2/3 down the page, under unfaves of 1996) "ALEX REECE/DJ PULSE/WAX DOCTOR...ET CETERA, AD NAUSEAM - The kind of pony-tailed twats who put me off listening to house music for years... Ever notice how Alex Reece never gives props to anyone in jungle and says he loathed hardcore, but then testifies that he'd "cry if I ever lost my house classics" and that his ambition is to get house bods to dance to breakbeat rhythms? This he and his cohorts have achieved by the simple expedient of removing the rude, disruptive energy from drum and bass and flattening the rhythms out into a slinky, E-Z rolling flow. White-bre(a)d jungle with all the ruff-age removed..."

well I guess I was wrong about the prog house bit but you see what I mean...really I think the point is that Alex Reece to me is coming from that "tasteful" mentality yunno...that he did/would've sided with the Sashas over the Remarcs...not that everything has to be ruff & rude & dark but still...tho hey man whatever yunno...

weird i never saw house as being particulary tasteful, it's got lots of kitch and filthy angles, but yeah when ppl start talking about house anthems they don't mean video clash usually.

 

[droid]

but surely there's no one better educated on the issue...come on Droid suck it up & pick one...can't be passing the buck on to us junglist dilettantes...

LOL.. Im sure theres many who would disagree with that... Ill have to think about this one.

In the meantime, heres a few more suggestions:

Paradox/Mixrace
Smokey Joe/No Smokin
Trace
Splash
Marvellous Cain
Did RAM get a mention? Killer first couple of years...

If you could include 'middlemen' youd have to put in Nico and Pete Parsons.

Ive always had a soft spot for Underground Software, but they hardly released anything.

You got to the Slammin' vinyl cru before I did...

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

I know what you mean, but it was all about the bassline - its an incredible bassline, everything else about it was a bit horrible, esp the nasty trumpet parps, but it was mersh as well cos pulp fiction the film was big then too.

let's not forget too that DJ Flash made a much much better"Pulp Fiction" (silly embed disabled) around the same time...

few other ppl, who did some key things.

marvelous cain...

trace...

marvellous cain yeah there's one I forgot...trace is covered under the No U-Turn cru I reckon...

 

[mms]

yep paradox / mixrace - he's sick
he's not really a tunes kinda guy, i can't think of many standout tunes hes done, his stuff is weirdly genius but also weirdly esoteric.

 

[droid]

ha... mms got there while my retarded home connection was freaking out. Great to see a mention of CB4. "WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM" awesome tune.

RE: Reece - Fallen Angels did a couple of good tunes (tango remix of frequency is the best), but afaik, nothing very hardcore. Earliest thing from them is the overrated 'Hello Lover' (sampling evil dead obv) on IQ '94.

Also - J malik anyone? Didnt do much but was very influential. See also: Lemon D

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

LOL.. Im sure theres many who would disagree with that... Ill have to think about this one.

In the meantime, heres a few more suggestions:

Paradox/Mixrace
Smokey Joe/No Smokin
Trace
Splash
Did RAM get a mention? Killer first couple of years...

If you could include 'middlemen' youd have to put in Nico and Pete Parsons.

Ive always had a soft spot for Underground Software, but they hardly released anything.

You got to the Slammin' vinyl cru before I did...

Paradox/Mixrace - yeah frankly I never got into his stuff tho I guess he should be included as he's carved out a piece of rather unique territory, oh that "Maniac Drummer" record on Moving Shadow is ace...

totally forgot the No Smokin cru...they're responsible for "Lightning & Tunda" jesus what a great record...not really too into Splash's oeuvre other than a couple tunes tho of course "Babylon" is one of the all time CLASSICS...

yeah I got RAM in there under Andy C/Ant Miles

Pete Parsons yeah there's an interesting one, tho I reckon he's kind of included with DJ Crystl as he engineered most of Crystl's classic tunes...actually did you see the interview with Parsons at blogtotheoldskool a few months back? great stuff - also a really cool interview with Bay B Kane...

 

[Ory]

how does everyone feel about d'cruze, overall?

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

Also - J malik anyone? Didnt do much but was very influential. See also: Lemon D

you really think J Majik was that influential? not that he wasn't I'm just curious to hear why you think so...

& Lemon D I just dunno if I'd rate him in the top tier of producers...the Urban Flava 12" is really good tho...

 

[droid]

yep paradox / mixrace - he's sick
he's not really a tunes kinda guy, i can't think of many standout tunes hes done, his stuff is weirdly genius but also weirdly esoteric.

Outta Hand (Mixrace)
The programmer

Certain sound
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Deep sleep

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[droid]

how does everyone feel about d'cruze, overall?

As I was posting those videos i was hit by a bolt of lightning reminding me of D'cruze.

Absolutely brilliantly crucial producer. His Subbase output is practically flawless. Might even rate him higher than Bay B kane...

 

[Tentative Andy]

Random thought - I find it cool that with a lot of these people, within the space of just a few years, you can trace quite complicated histories in terms of changing aliases, styles, collaborations, labels etc. Even if jungle as a whole served as an outer bound on their sounds, within that there really seemed to be an impluse never to stand still for long.
(Of course, it does sometimes make it a bit tricky to keep track of who's who though ).

 

[mms]

not heard that deep sleep b4 but that's green on black wax.


bukem atlantis is genius too, his only moment of genius but genius, ha ha i just found a bukem track on youtube called watercolours hahaha.

 

[Tentative Andy]

I neeeed you, I waaaaant you...

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

btw I'm quite glad to see that someone voted for the hardstep sound...I was just listening to the hardstep-defining Still Smokin compilation...what an amazing record...corker after corker...I can see how it failed as dance floor fodder, it's like genetically designed to run off all the ladies...but still hard as F**K drums plus g-funk synths & early-mid 90s rap samples is a winning formula for sure...

also glad to see that someone voted for Gerald...

 

[padraig (u.s.)]

bukem atlantis is genius too, his only moment of genius but genius

not only that but I'd submit there's more magic in "Atlantis" than most producers put together in their whole careers...I don't even care that the synths were lifted straight from a Juan Atkins track...I think it's probably my favorite track ever regardless of genre...& it can't be nostalgia cos I was 8 years old when it came out...