Thrive in '95 - Jungle's zenith

hucks

hucks

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droid said:
A Guy Called Gerald - Finley's Rainbow (Slow Motion Mix)

We continue our vocal diversion here with a trip to the verdant fields of Gerald's rave enclave and this iconic single from 1995's Black Secret technology. The slow motion mix features the full vocal courtesy of the pre-chart fame Finley Quaye and his performance here is full of MDMA soaked, dreamy, swaying optimism, a '93 throwback that seems to ignore the preceding two years of dark side, ragga, amen anthems and sophistication. Tom Ewing does it justice in his top 100 singles of the 90s, so I'll go with his description




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The problem with BST is that is sounds like it was recorded in a bin. How did such a seminal producer get the sound so bad?
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
The remaster isn't that bad, but generally I don't mind it so much... he never really developed his production technique since the hardcore days, and there's something to be said for his ramshackle sound, dunno if it would work at all if it was Photek clean.
 
droid

droid

Well-known member
Photek ‎- Natural Born Killa EP

OK, we've had Trace, Hype, Source Direct - time to conquer the last mountain of '95, Nosferatu himself... the one and only Photek. Im cheating a bit here by including the entire EP, but both of these tunes were monumental in the development of the sound and to me they typify the movement towards total synthesis, a chrysalis moment when an utterly new creature emerges and a kind of ne plus ultra of sophistication in jungle. What most characterises Photek's work in '95 is a move away from linearity in structure towards a more groove based style in combination with an increasing rhythmic abstraction and hypernatural sensitivity to timbre. These excesses were possible only due to Photek's unparalleled production skills and his ability to meld the soul of jungle - the breakbeat - into new forms. The long and enverating descent of jungle was partly driven by production impulse, and Photek was undoubtedly a big influence on the trend, but whilst Rupert used his studio technique to realise radical, boundary pushing work, his successors embraced production as a goal unto itself, eventually abandoning the polyrhythm itself in their quest for engineering excellence.


Ill let 'karlrichard' from discogs take it from here:


This - 'Consciousness' - was a number I remember hearing down at "SPEED" i.e. Fabio and Bukem's night that used to be held down at the Mars Bar on Sutton Row just off Soho Square in London, countless times back in 1995/6...

Always mixed beautifully by Fabio into fresh cut dub-plates from the likes of the then hot producers - such as Danny C and Mike Pears a.k.a. Primary Motive, Wax Doctor, Alex Reece, Peshay, Justice, Subject 13, Big Bud, Carlito, Funky Technicians, Hidden Agenda, etc... - all these tracks were tending towards a more experimental drum & bass edge... But it was the beats from this track that, for the first time I can remember down at SPEED (as I was down there nearly every Thursday night, even if I had an exam the following day), totally hypnotised the whole venue into a frenetic movement of broken down, glitched out dancing. In fact, I remember Fabio doing a rewind on this track twice the first night I heard it down there... Not to mention I remember seeing Rupert Parks - a.k.a. Photek/Aquarius/Special Forces/Code Of Practice - standing there at the back of the club listening and watching the crowd's response. Obviously at the time, I had no idea it was his track that was being played... Otherwise I would have bought him a drink.

On the flip... We have another killer track, called 'The Rain.' This was another cut that was dropped countless times down at SPEED too... Again pushing those boundaries of beat manipulation into some fresh, well produced ruffage... You just gotta listen to these beats now and you can still hear that the way in which they're layered is something that many producers today have forgotten how to do. Seems people are more interested in imitating rather than originating.

Still... It was E.P.s like this that began to change and revolutionise the way in which drum & bass was being produced... These were fearless deviations from the mainstream amen break creations that were just being copied and copied by anyone wanting to give it a go... There, at SPEED, the funk was not forgotten... And it was there that we all had a chance to see the new horizons of limitless possibilities and endless arrays of novel breakbeat magic arise... Bits of magic that could be forged from scratch, if only one cared to diligently experiment and persevere beyond the call of duty. Yes, it was unique... And sure it was hard to break away from the mainstream back then... But then that's why you had to have a head of metal to succeed!
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hucks

hucks

Your Message Here
Also what a year Rupert Parkes had in 95

- Natural Born Killer EP
- Photek 4 (Fusion and Water Margin) - this is linked upthread
- Photek 5 (Seven Samurai and Complex)


Bringing Me Down/ Soul Searching as Aquarius w Tayla


There's another track by Sentinel on Basement records which was good too.

Also according to Discogs Drift to the Centre by Aquarius came out in 95 too but I had it on a Bukem mix from 94 so by Droid's rules above it doesn't count.

I've quite a lot of time for his stuff from 96 too and even his first couple of albums but in 95 he was flawless, basically.
 
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droid

droid

Well-known member
Ah, well dubplates are different from promos - anyone can buy a promo and its basically a limited release. I wouldve put drift to the centre in 95.
 
woops

woops

is not like other people
is this jungle, sounds like drum n bass to me, jean michel jarre with oddly subdued breakbeats that should be banging as fuck
 
woops

woops

is not like other people
mega lame fade out as well. anyway, onto source direct, pink panther theme chords
 
woops

woops

is not like other people
er well i'd say that the problem i have with this stuff is there's too much consideration of "space" and i dunno, it's like that photek stuff ni-ten-karate-dojo or whatever, too much posing and not enough irresistible full-on ness.

dodgy filtering and crime jazz vibes that aren't a million miles from ocean's eleven
 
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