Great 4x4 Garage

elgato

I just dont know
ok so we had the great 2 step thread, and I thought it'd be good to have an accompanying thread about 4x4, UK or US.

so, what are your tips? obscure or otherwise...
 
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elgato

I just dont know
this is big

Vibezin (United Vibes) Old School Special

http://www.sendspace.com/file/8g158q

R.I.P Productions - ? ?
Greg Stainer / MJ Cole – Weakness
Smokin’ Beats – Look Who’s Loving Me
Leena Conquest – Boundaries
Chris Mac – Set it Off
Baffled Republic – Bad Boys
R.I.P Productions – Players
R.I.P Productions – The Rub
Donna Dee – Clock the Dough (New Horizons Rmx)
Ordinary People – Keep Your Love
Dawn Tallman – New York City Girl (Karl Brown Dub)
Anthill Mob – X2C
Tuff Jam – Sweet Sensations
Tuff Jam – Love R
Tuff Jam – Key Dub
R.I.P Productions – Burning Up
Jeremy Sylvester – Crazy Dub
Rocksteady – Breathless
Hermit & Daniel Ward - Feel the Music
HardDrive - Deep Inside
New Horizons – Put Your Mouth on Me
Paulo & Rodriguez – Barn Times
? ? - ? ?
Darkstar - Saytar

as is this...

United Vibes - FourFour Special

http://archive.subfm.com/UnitedVibesFourFourSpecial05Feb07SubFM.mp3

Ramsey & Fen & MJ Cole - "Underground Explosion"
Greg Stainer & MJ Cole - "Closer"
Todd Edwards - “Steal U’re Heart”
Sunship - “Sun Funk”
Jason H & MJ Cole - "Control"
24Hr Experience – “Jazz From the Heart”
Todd Edwards - "Winter Behaviour"
DJ $ki – “I Need You 98”
DJ Speedy – “The Harder They Come”
Tuff Jam - "Tumblin Down"
Matt Jam Lamont- "Feel My Love"
Dj $ki- “Do it : To – Nite”
Daniel Ward & Hermit – “Step to it”
Ant Hill Mob - "Player”
Groove Chronciles - “Nobody But You”
Smokin Beats - "Look Who's Lovin Me"
Jason Kaye & Steve Gurley - "Set It Out"
Rocksteady – “Watcha Gonna Do”
Todd Edwards - "The Dream"
R.I.P. – “Burning Up”
R.I.P - "Obsessed"
Jeremy Sylvester - "Stay"
KMA - "Cape Fear"
Tuff Jam - "Experience" (New Horizons Rmx)
? ? - ? ? (Duty Free)
Jeremy Sylvester - "Crazy Dub"
High Times - "Feel It"
Ordinary People – “Baby You Make My Heart Sing”
New Horizons - "Find The Path" (Tuff Jam mix)
Tuff Jam - “Out of my Head 97”
R.I.P – “Players”
Groove Chronicles – “Voices”
Louie Vega & Kenny Gonzalez – “No Cure”
Anthill Mob - "X2C"
NCA – Goodbye (Laurence Bagnall mix)
Ordinary People - “Keep your Love”
Big Bird – “Flav”
Anthill Mob - “Enchanted Rhythm”
? ? - ? ? (G.O.D. 4)
Dem 2 - "Beautiful People"
Groove Chronciles - "Hold On"
Smokin Beats - "Jazz House"
Ordinary People - "I Need"
 

nomos

Administrator
i love those UV mixes.

how many distinct branches of 4x4 could we trace out? speed garage, early 2step-era 4x4 (kma, tuff jam, etc.), post-2step dark garage (narrows, sirus, wire...), grimey (dexplicit/dxp, more2dafloor), ... obv. there's a lot more too. oh and the UK-influenced north american stuff, most of which isn't released (but check cooper's transatlantic bass).

does qualifide have a mix CD?
 

elgato

I just dont know
wouldnt Tuff Jam be speed garage? they started releasing in like 95 or something... but i dont really see what differentiates 4x4 and Speed anyways

also very importantly US garage... and not just Todd Edwards, who as far as i can tell is something of an anomaly really (albeit a dominantly influential anomaly). but things like (some) Strictly Rhythm and Kerri Chandler and the artists who appeared on the first Locked On mix i think would also be central to any map of garage

tbh the stuff im feeling most now is the harder end of speed garage, Tuff Jam basically! and obviously RIP/Double 99 and 187 Lockdown and the obvious ones. i'd like to hear some recommendations for stuff like that, although im doubtful as to how close anythings gonna get to Tuff Jam. Although the Hotpoint releases which Steve Gurley was involved in are pretty serious
 

Logos

Ghosts of my life
Wasn't 'Speed' more of a media/major record compilation invention?

I think the speed garage period was essentially part of the continuum that began with the DJ-led reinterpretation of US b-sides and early 4x4 UK productions.
 

Logan Sama

BestThereIsAtWhatIDo
Speed Garage was a term coined by Todd Terry referencing the playing of US Garage dub mixes at +8

But it ended up being something else. The interpretation of house with jungle b lines by people like Tim and Omar, Armand Van Helden etc
 

elgato

I just dont know
no problem man. united vibes are the ones to thank!

another awesome one here...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/hl3ud4

Oris Jay on the Basement, 1Xtra, 2004

Scott Garcia- Music Takes You (Buzz Bomb)
Unknown- Unknown
Big Bird- Flav (City Dub Traxx/ Nice ‘n’ Ripe)
Livin Large ft Colonel Abrams- Love is what we need (unknown mix) (probably Nice ‘n’ Ripe)
New Horizons- Find the Path (In your Mind) (Tuff Jam remix) (500 Rekords)
Underground Distortion- Everythin’ is Large (Boom City/Satellite)
4 Deep Connextion- Twisted Future (DFL)
New Horizons- Inspiration (500 rekords)
Colonel Abram- So Confused (The Bootleg) (Great Jones)
New Horizons- It’s My House (bassline mix) (500 Rekords)
Somore ft Damon Trueitt- I Refuse (What You Want) (Industry Standard Mix) (Locked On)
Tuff Jam- Track No Name (Unda-Vybe)
Mike Dunn presents the MD Express- God Made Me Phunky (various labels)
Nu-Birth- Anytime (Locked On)

courtesy of Owen Griffiths on dsf

the two Tuff Jam tracks on that are ridiculous
 

nomos

Administrator
I've got a DJ Mag article from 1996 when they were calling it 'Raggage.' I'll scan it if I get a chance.
 

Ach!

Turd on the Run
also very importantly US garage... and not just Todd Edwards, who as far as i can tell is something of an anomaly really (albeit a dominantly influential anomaly). but things like (some) Strictly Rhythm and Kerri Chandler and the artists who appeared on the first Locked On mix i think would also be central to any map of garage

Yush!
Thanks for the link, been looking for that for ages :)
 
Speed Garage is a funny bugger. Many people hated it with a passion, but then you have other garage DJ's who were firmly in the mainstream but happily used the term. To make matters even more confusing it is sometimes used to describe a style within Garage- The kind of tracks that were the closest Garage came to Trance/Hard House. And stealing the Ray keith 'The Terrorist' bassline being a common theme.

The most obvious producer I can think of for that style is Serious Danger, who churned out a shedload of remixes for 97-98 Locked On promo double pack 12's, none of which were deemed popular enough to make it onto the proper releases. But then tracks like Rip Groove and some of the 187 Lockdown ones like Gunman, and their remix of Boris D'Lugosh- 'hold your head up high', had a speed garage type bassline, but were firm favourites of the punters and the top DJ's, and probably managed to avoid the 'Speed' slur.

The best place to hear this kind of sound would be which can also be bought (ilegally) from the russian mp3hotfly.com site.

Also
has a few Speed tunes at the end. These 2 CD's were also rereleased as 101% Speed Garage Anthems

The Speed thing doesnt exactly represent the best in the Garage scene, but it's harmless fun in small amounts
 

elgato

I just dont know
yeh a few serious danger tunes are sick, so dark, tribal, dubbed out.

you're blatantly right owen, but i think theres still quite a bit of ambiguity as to the phrase speed garage, i think it applied to a much wider range of stuff initially then i guess it just got hijacked and then artists started conforming to an imposed idea of 'speed garage' and thus the weaker 187 stuff etc. still some amazing bits within that narrower definition though, Ripgroove being the obvious...

i read an interview with Tuff Jam today where Matt Jam Lamont has a bit of a rant about the term, i guess this was around the time that it was really crossing over and losing that early vibe surrounding its birth, darking out and conforming to a template for wider appeal. makes for quite interesting reading in the context of dubstep's current position

but the stuff im really feeling at the moment is the really early 4x4/speed garage... Tuff Jam, early 500 Rekords, RIP etc... basically all the stuff on those mixes! its such deep music, so bassy and bashy, but so soulful and uplifting. but then there are occasional tracks which take it somewhere completely next...
 
Going back to the whole American thing. There was always that theory that Garridge started off by playing US House dubby b sides and pitching it up; I reckon that by and large this is probably true.

The last tune on that United Vibes mix before the Dubstep one is Logic 'Blues For You', another Strictly Rythmn track (that mix is one of the best Garage sets I've ever heard). A bit like Roy Davis Jnr's 'Gabrielle', this was a b side mix that was presumably a surprise hit. likewise the producer of Tina Moore's 'Never Gonna Let you Go' was amazed that the obscure 2 step mix was so popular in the UK.

One US duo who I think doesnt get enough mentions in the same breath as UK Garage is Masters At Work. Some of their 90's tracks were uncannily UK sounding. Good examples are 'I've Changed', 'Photograph Of Mary', and that 'Deep Inside' tune from the mix.

One of the key elements in that era of Garage was the kind of keyboard melodies that the tracks often had. Unlike bassline or skippy drums, this is the hardest part of the tunes to actually describe, but I think that like the other two features this was something that the Brits were heavily influenced by the Americans.
 
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