crikey yes that was terrible.
and Krust been doing interesting, abstracty-electronic stuff like "Soul in Motion' that was a bit dry and frigid but at least sonically strange.
i found UKG as a culture offputting, not being good with clothes and having a bit of that Socialist-Methodist streak of finding flashing the cash suspect and unseemly.
but the music was great, even more so when it became 2step - and the conquering the pop charts was a wonderful development; i loved the way it could be both dominating the pirates AND running things in the Top 20 simultaneously
very much like hardcore pt 2 - that blend of ruff + cheesy, bass-heavy + toppy-melodic, underground + overground, bliss + dark, technical beat-intricacies + anthemic hooks
the tipping point for me with UKG was a pirate tape a journalist friend sent me from London in the late summer of 1998, which had Groove Chronicles 'Stone Cold' on it. up to then i'd liked speed garage tunes a lot but had some reservations, feeling that it was a backward step from jungle/techstep, a retreat into pleasantness - but then hearing the MC interacting with this track, and the amazing shift from slinky sexy noir Aaliyah-sampling into the doomy bassline, it all clicked - yes, this is the next crucial phase of what i'd been following - and all the more so because it's confounding for a lot of drumbassheadz.
The NYC jungle scene bods reacted to speed garage like it was apostasy, treason. But if keeping the faith meant listening to "Bambaataa" and "Warhead"....
it's funny because I see groove chronicles being more house than jungle. for me the clear junglist in garage was Mike Millrain: much less housier, much more reggae basslines. fantastic mix btw... 🔫