Great 2 Step?

Woebot

Well-known member
When it comes to 2Step amongst music fans there's quite alot of skimming which passes for erudition. The canons of Ardkore, Drum and Bass and Grime are actually pretty exhaustive. Ardkore especially is known very deeply. I'd like to see the blind alleys of 2Step explored a little better.

Going through my own swag bag of 2Step I have about 2 feet of vinyl (that's two thirds of metre to y'all metric dudes), and while I'm beginning to discover some great slightly more obscure stuff I'd like to know more.

So Dissensoids, no Locked On, no 500 Rekords, no Groove Chronicles, no MJ Cole, chip in with your really obscure 2Step classics.

Quite amused by this Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Step
 
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simon silverdollar

Guest
weird 2 step

just browsing through the sound clips on uptownrecords.com the other day i was really excited by a few really odd 2 step records they've got on there. it's like grimey, minimal 2 step with a bit of that silly boingy boingy sound that grime used to have.

check: 'swing beat' by Question Marks.

'i don't know what to do' by Desert Stomers [this is INSANE- almost happy hardcore]

'juicy joints' by Riplash -this is a bit like scrachy's 'shangooli' gone 2-step


not sure if this weird, grimey 2 step is a really a scene, or if it's just a few records at the moment, but it's certainly exciting and interesting.
 

tate

Brown Sugar
couldn't agree with woebot more on this

wouldn't necessarily call it obscure, but def lesser known - last winter i listened to cooper's (a dissensian, no less) 'transatlantic bass' mix nearly every day, almost all north american producers (jason mundo, dj joseph, deep six, g notorious, et al). info here, clips here. though i'd have to say that eric h's hotflush track steals the show

'course paul meme's abstract 2-step mix is still one of the best things i heard this year, bar none
 

reza

Member
Not that obscure, but Steve Gurley is great:

Bullitproof (Steve Gurley remix) - Breakbeat Era or All Nite Jam (Steve Gurley mix) - Zed Bias & DJ Principal are two examples... See 'Ordinary People' on Social Circles label too.
 

Tim F

Well-known member
i am the king of unheralded 2-step obv and have half written an article on this very topic several times.

All must hunt down:

1) Doc B & Eagle E's "Pure Rumours" - which is a bit like the "Ghost Town" of 2-step. Over a now mysterious and eerie, now excitable and horn-skanking groove, a dapper and gentile ragga singer gets locked up because he's out with a stylish woman, who provides a nice female vocal counterpart, before some random old-skool MC comes on to rave up the party, accompanied by some robotic females chanting "ladies bounce if ya understand!"

2) Yardcure Cru ft. Lady Saw and Wayne Wonder - "Life That We Livin'" - again with the "2-step as home of urban diaspora" thesis, this time it's pretty piano, authentic Jamaican stars and a nagging uplifting karma vocal hook.

Will add to this list when I get home.
 

Tim F

Well-known member
more generally i agree entirely with Matt's opening post - I think that (some obvious figures most of whom populate this forum aside) a lot of critics are very lazy when it comes to 2-step. I often wonder if the ubiquity of "Destiny" and "Neighbourhood" as reference points (awesome tunes though they certainly are) ultimately boils down to most people not really bothering to think harder.

And it's not about obscurity as we might argue with grime - peeps like Bump & Flex were making amazing and groundbreaking stuff totally in the public eye.
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Oooooh, this thread has me quivering in anticipation at new 2step delights and yes I couldn't agree more, 2step is under-researched.

Matt has taunted me before with visions of his two foot thick cache of deadly 2step wax and all I can say is I WANT IT!

PLEASE do a 2step mix Matt!

Very pleased that abstract 2step is still making people happy. I have another mix from tape done in 99 which I may put out sometime... but it has too many tunes in common with abstract mix...

All my 2step vinyl is in storage until we build the house -- and at the time I missed out on LOADS (I have no 500 Records or Bump'n'Flex for example, arrrgh!) cos of my dad dying, doing Wicca / doing a masters, and getting married, but from memory:

MJ & Rob D: Cum Cakes: a massive tune obviously but doesn't get the props it deserves
Ultrafunkula -- can't remember who it's by: amazing slice of super-swinging abstract funikness
MC Preshus: Rinsin' Out: one of the first 2step tunes I got and one of the best, sepulchral, minimal garage track with superb delicate MCing. Never seen this bigged up anywhere and would love more infomation (probably turn out to be huge...)
VIncent J Alvis: Body Killing: I am scared I may have lost my copy of this. One of the ten best records of the nineties in any genre. Utterly devastating twisted breakbeat 2step with a superb chthonic operatic male vocal. Massive at the time.
M:Dubs / Lady Saw / Bump'n'Grind I suppose everyone knows about. There were a few M:Dubs tunes that weren't big that were excellent, but my memory fails me.

Worst Garage track ever: Monsta Boy, Sorry... he used to play this every fucking afternoon on Upfront. Miserablist shit.
 
D

droid

Guest
Nick Gutterbreakz said:
Going off on a slight tangent...name me some great clown step?

Thats a contradiction in terms! :D

Ive always been a bit depressed at the way 2step was utterly unavailable here in Ireland... After years of scraping away at Jungle and hardcore bits, and finally getting a decent supply in 96-97, two-step came along, and we were back to square one when it came to availability of tunes...

I would happily have followed Steve Gurely wherever he went musically if only Id been able to hear the damn stuff!
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
Nick Gutterbreakz said:
Going off on a slight tangent...name me some great clown step?

John B's 'Blandwagon Poos' - one of the funniest d&b tunes ever made especially when it drops and he switches between breaks in random places like a hyperactive child with a remote control.
 

Tim F

Well-known member
Remix corner...

<b>Some-Thing-Else? - Peace, Luv & Happiness (New Horizons Mix)</b>
Not quite 2-step but close enough, New Horizons going crazy with da beats, enormous bassline and a hyperventilating diva's cut-up vocals splashin' like champagne. At the time New Horizons reminded me of Basement Jaxx, these days Tiefschwarz and Dominik Eulberg kinda remind me of New Horizons... They are kindred spirits of inspired maximalists everywhere. (see also 88.3 vs New Horizons' "Back 2 My Roots", a vampy piano number in the same vein as "Find The Path").

<b>Matt Darey's Mash Up - Beautiful (Dubaholics Dub Mix)</b>
Sometimes I think this is the sexiest 2-step record ever. Actually it reminds a bit of a 2-step Herbert: every sound is so lasciviously micro, clicking and whirring like cogs inside the hips of a fembot. Plus enormous flushing dub bass, and the whispered promise "ecstasy...ecstasy..."

<b>Cleptomaniacs - All I Do (Bump & Flex Dancefloor Dub)</b>
I defy y'all to find a harder groove by anyone ever. I was not surprised to find this turn up as riddim used on the first Street Anthems comp, it's got that's dark compuslive vibe that totally presages grime (think "Are You Really From The Endz?" or Danny Weed stuff) - also reminds me a lot of Lenky's Dreamweaver riddim.

<b>Kavana - Will You Wait For Me (Shanks & Bigfoot Dub</b>
People tend to dismiss out of hand 2-step mixes of pop acts (forgetting the obv 2-step classic "Flowers" belongs to this group), esp. when done by suspicious chancers like Shanks & Bigfoot. But S&B were actually great DJs and great producers when they wanted to be, and this is awesome, a sly spybeat with sinister horns, eerie faux-flutes and a bizarre carnivalesque interlude. It's also got that langorous slow vibe which S&B did so well on "Sweet Like Chocolate", a lassitude that disappeared from 2-step sometime in 2000. Music for a secret summer night's rendezvous.

Woebot's already ruled out Locked On, otherwise I would big up my all time fave, London Dodgers' "Down Down Biznizz"...
 

reza

Member
Chris Mac - Dubplate Style and others on First Class Records
Sovereign put out some good beats, as did KMA.
Look for V.I.P label and first two releases on Bug Records - some MJ Cole-produced tracks.
 

bun-u

Trumpet Police
I always thought DJ Luck and MC Neat’s ‘London’ was overlooked (their white label follow up to ‘a little bit of luck’). Plus there’s all those unnamed r’n’b bootlegs which were a bit part of the scene….I have a dig through when I get back home…
 

Leo

Well-known member
Tate said:
'course paul meme's abstract 2-step mix is still one of the best things i heard this year, bar none

Still available? How might one get ahold of a copy?
 

Whoa-B

Brüt Force Family
not sure how obscure, but the whole Gush Collective discography is classic. Personal favorites are Adam K - Selecta and Nordstadt Union - The Drums.
 

owen

Well-known member
Leo said:
Still available? How might one get ahold of a copy?

ha, can i second this? was, woefully, not listening to the pirates or generally being in any way engaged when 2-step had its day (was probably listening to The Make Up or something :p ) but recent listening to (obvious) wonderfully effete things like dem 2 has made me wonder if i didn't miss quite a trick...
 

boosted

Active member
These are obvious to me, but maybe others weren't so lucky to check these the first time around?

Anything by Wookie, especially on Manchu, also check for exemen
Many of the "Acetate" label
Anything on the D'n'D label or produced or remixed by D'n'D
Most early Sticky productions
All the Turn U On / Tempa releases (yeah, later called dubstep, but I'm talking 'bout in the beginning)
Many Sunship remixes
Early Johnny L (AKA TrueSteppers)

So, yeah, that's it for a bit. If you want to check the mixes, there's a few old 2step archives on my site at http://www.boosted.com

And to whomever said they liked the Transatlantic Bass comp ... respect for that!
 

echevarian

babylon sister
Can I third the request for Paul's mix.

I downloaded it and enjoyed it,
but unfortunately had a complete computer meltdown shortly afterwards.


Would be much appreciated!
 

tryptych

waiting for a time
Juvenile Records - Future Beat EP, by DJ Fresh

Although I'm not even sure if this is really 2step. But is is mental.
 
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