@luka u gotta hear this mate it's really bad.
reinforced (ha) my love for those early drumfunk/choppage guys. drumfunk is autistic jungle but so what.
Torque was great for sure, a slice of an era.
I still remember the first time i heard the Replicantz remix...so gross.
A label that time has mostly forgotten but I really dug back then was Audio Blueprint.
Very dark and atmospheric, predated the more techno-influenced techstep sound of the very late 90's early 00's.
i still wish tech step had crossed with hard acid, pcp sttyle gloom and harsh noise to create the ultimate genre to scare off goldsmiths post-dubstep diaspora and crowleys mates who have relocated here.
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?
It's just heavy metal weight-pumping crap, admit it.
I hated Warhead back in the day, and I still do. In late 1997 I heard this EVERY night, at least the first few seconds. It is one of those "toilet tracks" meaning the DJ dropping it ususally sent me to the toilets immediately.
Funny bc I consider Krust to be a top producer - aside from the horrible Warhead. I have quite a collection of his work still on my shelves.
Ive made the argument that the early 90's were an unusually brilliant time for all music, dancehall, hiphop, techno, jungle... but that said, the late 90s were brilliant for garage.
Looking at discog dates, I think I have to recalibrate the death knell of d+b back to the end of '96, early 97 at the latest. I remember buying those two cybernet and genetix 12"'s along with the two Tonic 12"s on SOUR that came out at the same time. I couldve sworn it was dec 97.
I can see how if you were into jungle in the early - mid 90s techstep would seem like a regressive, joyless betrayal of promise.