late 90s tech-step

L

lowest form

Wild Horses
Alfons said:
not being into the scene at the time and not being in england i'd like to know how big was the techstep stuff in the clubs and big raves at the time? did the no u turn stuff get played out by everybody? did the clubs generally get dark down and dirty with techstep for an extended period of time? coz many nights of that just seems too much!
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I can only really speak from going to Metalheadz @ the bluenote, but the tune that really signaled a change in direction was Doc Scott's 'Shadowboxing' - it just sounded like nothing else, it was so dark and sparse compared to everthing else. However, most DJs were playing a mixture of stuff as the tech-step sound creeped in... this was what I loved most about Jungle up to '97, was that you could hear a jazzy tune by Carlito or Intense and then 10 minutes later you'd hear Ed Rush's 'Mothership', then maybe 10 minutes later there would be some badass bass roller on Juice played, It was truly open-minded.

It wasn't really Tech-step that killed the old school vibe for me, more when tech-step got crossed with Jump Up and hoardes of youngun's started making boring, 2-step tunes with preset soft-synth b-lines and drum machine beats.
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
john eden said:
What was that name of that mad Digital 12" on 31 Recs with all the mad ravey sounds?

I should really dig this stuff out...
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The Deadline / Fix Up - a truly great record. I'm not sure I'd class it as tech step, I think it's more halfstep dub jungle.

I have your copy I think - but it's in storage.

Would love to hear a dubstep refix of it.
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Finally - should we mention Prisoners of Technology here? On the techy end of jump up. Utterly magnificent records. I have spent many a happy hour mixing PoT tunes at Eden's house.
 
D

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
t-t-t-e-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-n-n-n-n-n-o-o-o-o-l-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-y-y-y-y-y-y


best timestretch ever!
 
L

lowest form

Wild Horses
Grievous Angel said:
yes

no?!?


Would love to hear them. His remix of Goldie and KRS1's Digital is pure fire.
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If you go a bit further up this thread I posted a link to a mix I did. At the end of the A side and beginning of the B side (proper C90 vibes) you'll hear the Boymerang remix of Technology.
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
I think Trace & Nico's 'Amtrack' is a perfect anthem for Golda Meir.

Inspired by this thread I went to Amazon and brought two albums I'd got shot of years ago: Torque and the Formation compilation Highly Recommended that came out in 1995. Just listening to it...those No-U-Turn tracks sound so blunt and primitive, notably in comparison to the rather supple and layered sound of DJ SS and his Leicester comrades on the latter CD (the remixes of 'Rollidge' and 'The Lighter' still sound as mangled and huge as ever and are worth the entire album alone). Trace and Nico and Ed Rush and Fierce created an entirely unique sound. The tracks could be made by any of them in any combination, and sound bolder and clearer and cavernous compared to other very similar things being made at the time. You could probably distinguish No-U-Turn tracks from stuff released on Emotif blind. Not a bit of subtlety to the No-U-Turn stable (the beats are dead, it all hinges on those oxygen-swallowing basslines). But, it has clarity and force and there's some aesthetic point to it.

The album I remember really sounding the death knell when I think back was the Ram album The Speed of Sound. And, possibly, The Prototype Years.
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
It wasn't really Tech-step that killed the old school vibe for me, more when tech-step got crossed with Jump Up and hoardes of youngun's started making boring, 2-step tunes with preset soft-synth b-lines and drum machine beats.

I think there's some accuracy there. I remember the subtle transition to utter tedium between 96 and 97 at a semi-famous d&b club night in Leeds that I attended weekly. It was on my 19th birthday that I suddenly realised how fucking dire things had got. In an endless stream of tech-step and jump-up tunes that ended, finally, at about 3am, I picked out about 3 different ideas. Your average jungle tune from 1994 would have about 3 ideas every 10 seconds! I decamped to Northern Soul clubs promptly, and my life improved beyond measure. Apart from anything else, it was fun to dance to. I mean, this is supposed to be dance music, right?
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
oliver craner said:
I think there's some accuracy there. I remember the subtle transition to utter tedium between 96 and 97 at a semi-famous d&b club night in Leeds that I attended weekly. It was on my 19th birthday that I suddenly realised how fucking dire things had got. In an endless stream of tech-step and jump-up tunes that ended, finally, at about 3am, I picked out about 3 different ideas. Your average jungle tune from 1994 would have about 3 ideas every 10 seconds! I decamped to Northern Soul clubs promptly, and my life improved beyond measure. Apart from anything else, it was fun to dance to. I mean, this is supposed to be dance music, right?
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its kind of weird, as most of the big tunes that sign-posted decline in dnb weren't of themselves actually that bad - like you point out, no-u-turn were actually pretty good, but theres no doubt that ultimately the effect they had on the scene turned out to be negative. another tune that falls into that category is krusts warhead - again its utter brutality was a work of genius, but the amount of artists copying it over the next few years saw me decamp to garage and never look back. sad but true.
 
Alfons

Alfons

Way of the future
oliver craner said:
The album I remember really sounding the death knell when I think back was the Ram album The Speed of Sound. And, possibly, The Prototype Years.
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Prototype years? really? Mute, Silver blade, secrets. All classics imo, and not in the least similar to the renegade hardware / bad company stuff that came later.
 
fokse vektaire xeven

fokse vektaire xeven

Arab Nazi
oliver craner said:
'Rollidge'.
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ridiculous tune, one of the biggest dnb 12s ever, with that killer Tango remix of "intro" on the flip

Roni Size "Brut Force" was an influential b side which doesn't get its due, one of the first to really drop with a drum machine rather than a break... that stiff mechanical "piston" sound.

i think the Ram trilogy stuff did cement the move to stadium rock production values. the production sound became more palatable to a young male crossover audience as texturally it was a lot closer to a guitar band.

if it counts as techstep i pulled out justice "mauve flow" recently and that still sounds pretty good. 1998 maybe...
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
Prototype years? really? Mute, Silver blade, secrets.

Well I thought it was a good album. It had 'Locust' and 'Still' on it. They were very popular tunes in Leeds. Those and 'Shadowboxin' were the last big anthems I remember before giving up and going elsewhere. 'Locust', in particular, was universally loved. But it was the superclean & clinical pieces like 'Mute' and Optical and John B. 'Prototype' years was the first time I noticed that style and it was obviously going to take over. It was irresistable for these boys I reckon...because it sounded consumate, and chimed with an inevitable connoisseur's logic: the drive for purity. So basically: the beats and the basslines and all the other bits flatlined all at once! How was that an improvement or a progression??

Maybe I'm wrong. This is just what I remember from the time.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
Locust alone (well, that and the morphing skull cover) was worth the price of Prototype Years, despite cringey filler like Deep Inside. I think the mix CD had a couple of good extras too.

I have a Ruffneck Ting tape where Locust is the last tune of the night and the MC is arguing with club staff over the end time because it was Daylight Savings night. "Eh! The clocks went back so it's one!"
 
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mixed_biscuits

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
fokse vektaire xeven said:
i think the Ram trilogy stuff did cement the move to stadium rock production values. the production sound became more palatable to a young male crossover audience as texturally it was a lot closer to a guitar band.
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Evolution by Ram Trilogy is phenomenal.

The standard of the production/composition on the Molten Beats LP is also top notch.

Post-Molten Beats Ram Trilogy went downhill tho'.
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
The other thing to ruin the era and (I'm convinced) aid the music's steep decline was the plague of abysmal MCs (or the downfall of the doolally jungle MC at least). They all wanted to sound like MC Conrad! It used to drive me crazy. That could have been the real tipping point, actually. "On the ones and twos, the ones and twos..." Oh, fuck off.
 
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