Original Clique "North of Watford" EP

Woebot

Well-known member
Picked this up for £3. Surely somewhere lurking in the Energy Flash Discography.

EXCELLENT. Bleep'n'Bass. "Just hear me now" super-murky 3 finger riff and nasty cranky free-wheeling spiralling high tonalities (like a broken childs toy )

Just love the way this stuff is so leaden and funkless compared to the sleek spring-heeled Detroit stuff, and yet the sounds and palatte are the same. In many ways the practical low-slung primal thrust of these tunes invites a more unhinged reaction on the dancefloor. They just DEMAND over-compensation in the dancers, rather than expect compliance/effort to be invested.
 

blissblogger

Well-known member
got at least one other thing by Original Clique, and a few other things on that label, Chill (i think) -- excellent

dont' know anything about who they were, OC... anybody know? (Gutta?)

and did Chill have some connection with Unique 3?

bleep is something i've never really heard played out... it was 'over' by the time i got into raves, Belgian and early breakbeat ardkore was the thing... and when i've gone to old skool events, they hardly ever play the bleep stuff -- like maybe they'd play NoW's 'aftermath' or an LFO. would love to hear a whole hour of pure bass-bleep presha, it must sound amazing on a proper system

it seems like you can find bleep going cheap cf later ardkore -- i've always assumed that was cos bleep 'n' Belg coincided with the absolute peak of rave's popularity and also its unity -- it wasn't fragmented yet -- so the sales ceiling for tracks was quite high, there were real hopes of them being hits -- so more were pressed ... meaning more copies are still circulating... hence the prices never get that high --
 

Woebot

Well-known member
i saw rhythmatic in the marcus garvey centre in st pauls in bristol in (was it?) 1990.

they were absolutely mental. the bass was just brutal, merciless. even more pulverising than that at abashanti/shaka.

i remember standing on the wooden balcony/mezzanine and the whole thing shaking and it was only feelings of euphoria which kept my concerns that the whole thing was going to collapse at bay.

(i've told this story a hundred times before)

and i got mugged at gunpoint in my car outside! :) bit of a frisson that was! very thrilling! ;)
 

Martin Dust

Techno Zen Master
We are on before Shaka at the Bestival - we are loading the machines with special sub-bass - we plan to take him :)
 

hamarplazt

100% No Soul Guaranteed
blissblogger said:
it seems like you can find bleep going cheap cf later ardkore -- i've always assumed that was cos bleep 'n' Belg coincided with the absolute peak of rave's popularity and also its unity -- it wasn't fragmented yet -- so the sales ceiling for tracks was quite high, there were real hopes of them being hits -- so more were pressed ... meaning more copies are still circulating... hence the prices never get that high --
This reminds me of something Martin Damm have said in several interviews: that back then it was actually much easier to earn a living from producing techno, because there were still so few doing it, that you were simply sure to sell a lot just by releasing it.
 
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