This came out in 2006, which was really at the end of me following (and buying most notable releases from) the drum & bass scene. I bought his 2005 'X-Ray/Scarecrow' single, which was massive in the clubs (and sounds distinctly like it samples Nirvana's 'Breed') but I have to say, I'm not really a massive Sub Focus fan. His sound is very slick, very "software" sounding techy drum & bass. I'm usually much more into more organic sounding tunes. That aside, this is pretty sedate for Sub Focus (and for the wider Ram Records stable). Andy C was hammering this around the time.
A 2003 slammer from Shy FX on his Ebony label. I've got a few Shy FX tunes and they're always totally dancefloor orientated. 'Power Of Ra' originally came out on a single sided, Ltd. edition etched 12", which I listened to in the shop, thought it was a bit generic and didn't buy. After then hearing it a few times out on big systems, I regretted that decision. Haven't heard the Original Sin Remix as yet, but I'm interested to see whether it's got a better run-in so I can blend it more in the mix. (That was one of the issues with buying the original).
The Origin Unknown remix was a bit of a monster circa 2002. 2001 had seen the release of Adam F's 'KAOS: The Anti-Acoustic Warfare' LP. Whilst a leading producer in drum & bass circles, Adam F had assembled a stellar cast (including Redman, M.O.P, LL Cool J, Guru and more) for his first foray into Hip-Hop and was at the time being touted as the new Dr. Dre. 'Stand Clear' recycled the bassline from Adam F's drum & bass classic 'Brand New Funk' from the 1998 V Recordings 'Planet V' compilation, so had an existing drum & bass pedigree. Add to that is a trademark Ram Recordings modulated bassline and you've got the perfect track to open a dancefloor set.
Based on my purchase of the Adam F 12", the seller also offered me a vinyl copy of Adam F's 'Drum And Bass Warfare', which collected all the 2002 drum & bass remixes of the material.
To my surprise, what arrived, rather than being the standard vinyl release, was a 2 x 12" picture disk set:
Without having listened to this yet, at a guess, it's going to have Dillinja screaming "Re-Mix.." into an echo chamber and then a bassline from another Dillinja tune. I'm not a huge Dillinja fan. I don't really get Dillinja tunes.
Of all the artists here, Mickey Finn probably has the longest track history in doing jungle/drum & bass remixes of hip-hop tunes as part of the Urban Takeover crew alongside Aphrodite, so I'm really interested to hear what's on here. This is pretty late for Mickey Finn as well. Whilst being pretty prolific in the mid/late nineties, he was pretty quiet by this time.
Fierce used to live round the corner from me in Bristol. Didn't know him though. Matrix is a great producer, though perhaps unfairly underrated when compared to his older brother, Optical.
Interesting that it's done by Adam F's best mate, J Majik who's possibly the only second wave D&B producer as well regarded as Mr. Fenton himself. Weirdly, I picked up a 12" promo of the original hip-hop version last week in Real Groovy for $2.00.
Original, Radio Edit and Instrumental. A bit of a steal if you ask me.
I don't really go out of my way to buy picture disks usually (based on their consistently awful sound quality), but whilst unexpected, the "Drum & Bass Warfare" features the artwork from the original 'KAOS' LP inner sleeves, which link up into a cartoon style depictions of all of the artists featured on the LP:
Horrifyingly, this came out 11 years ago. Whilst it's taken me a while, I think that I can safely say that I comfortably "own" the project on vinyl.
(N.B. Whilst I've not bought it on a couple of occasions that it's come up, I may well end up looking for a copy of Adam F Feat. Redman 'Smash Something' (Roni Size Remix) on 12" out of a sense of completism).
No comments:
Post a Comment