Alboy's Best of 2011: #2

2012-05-08 by The Mighty Alboy

dBridge – “Inner Disbelief”

I know the suspense must be killing our listeners (both of them), so time I brought this pitifully late list of ten tunes that only have anything to do with 2011 because of my own out of whack listening habits, to a close.

At number 2, a sublime piece of drum n bass from prolific and multi-talented producer- and exit records officianado Darren White aka dBridge. A long time producer, dBridge was one of the three original members of Bad Company back in the mid/late nineties, and before that, part of the production crew on Lennie De Ice’s we are ie. So he goes waaaay back.

This track- which was released on Exit Records in Dec 2009- features dBridge on all aspects of the track- including lyrics and vocals. It’s built for the floor, but it’s got a broad streak of the blues running through it. As you’d expect from a track called inner disbelief. As Mr White says:

“The thing about my lyrics is that they do generally start off quite bleak, but I try to resolve them in some ways. As much as I do write about how much of a prick I am, I do want things to be better; there is hope.”

Not a lot of people know…
Darren’s brother is Steve White aka Steve Spacek, of Spacek Sound System fame.

Download MP3 (0:00min / 0MB)

Paul B - 'Blues'

2012-01-09 by T Pot

Just found Paul B on Soundcloud. I suggest checking out his stuff.

Loving the really deep & minimal style of this track. Instant hit for me as soon as I heard it – didn’t realise its 3 years old !

Sounds great on the car sub :)

Paul B – Blues by paulbmusic

6 Hour SEBA mix !!! Merry X-mas

2011-12-19 by T Pot

As the title suggests. A downloadable mix full of tunes by one of my fav all time dnb producers here !

Mav @ Scientific Radio – Show 023, 024 & 025 – Through The Eyes Of.. Seba (Full 6 hour mix) by Mav

Wicked man in Madenabena!

2011-10-14 by The Double K

DJ Dextrous & Rude Boy Keith – Wicked

Here’s one from the golden age of Jungle, 1994 to be precise. It comes from an EP called “The Kings of the Jungle Part One” on Suburban Base, but at the time I had this track on a mixtape bought from a man with a suitcase full of tapes outside Brixon tube station with nothing written on it except “Noodles – Razor Jungle Dub”.

The tune kicks off with the familiar “Ring the Alarm” reggae bassline and horns combined here with absoulutely tearing distorted and chopped breakbeats. The reggae then gives way to some absolutely devastating pure dark jungle bass with snippets of various vocal samples. The relentless beats carry on, there are a couple of great breakdowns and some spacey off-key synths add to the ruffness. Eventually the Ring The Alarm b-line and horns return as the tune draws to a close.

Pure ruffness – razor jungle dub indeed.

Download MP3 (0:00min / 0MB)

Bassline like it's 1993 [1]

2011-02-02 by The Double K

Skanna – Nightstalker

Nightstalker is taken from Skanna’s well-named The Future EP on the awesome Whitehouse Records. I say well-named because the sounds of the forward-thinking hardcore you find on there wouldn’t be amiss on much later records. In fact the bleeps on here really remind me of the hook in DJ Mujava’s Township Funk that devastated dancefloors just a couple of years ago.

But anyway, these postings are mainly about the BASS, which in this track is a huge, warm and deep Reese-style bassline. The Reese bassline originated in the track Just Want Another Chance by Reese (aka Kevin Saunderson), but was later used on a plethora of jungle tracks due to it being absolutely killer… far too good not to use over and over again!

Download MP3 (0:00min / 0MB)

Gimme an M!

2010-06-28 by The Double K

Tom & Jerry – MAXi(mun) Style

This is a post (actually 3 posts) in our long-running occasional series of tunes dedicated to the new offspring of Dilated Choonz crew members. This time it is the fecund loins of Tommy Squeaker that we’re celebrating, as he and his good lady were recently blessed with a baby boy, Max.

Squeaker steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the superiority of Jungle over other musical forms, despite the existence of tunes like this one by Tom & Jerry (an alias used by 4 Hero from '92-'94), which literally has everything you could possibly want out of a tune: it’s got soul, it’s got funk, it’s got shouty ragga vocals, it’s got flutey bits, it’s got an enormous fat bassline, it’s got spacey ambient noises, it’s got girls singing and it’s got a variety of breakbeats. I mean, what else could you possibly need in there? What other genre gives you all that in under 5 minutes? Absolutely brilliant.

Still, despite this oversight in musical taste, Tommy Squeaker is a great man, a true gent and the best friend anyone could hope to have, so I’m sure you will want to join me in congratulating him and wishing him all the best in his new role as a dad.

Download MP3 (0:00min / 0MB)

electro tune made with reason 4 & rebirth

2010-06-05 by T Pot

ez folks, here is a track lurking on my HD. Quite an odd tune…. the vocal was taken from an xbox360 game. I ran the mix through a decent multi-band compressor afterwards.

Download MP3 (4:37min / 9MB)

And Just Because...

2010-05-17 by The Double K

...we haven’t had any PURE RUFFNESS like this on here for absolutely aaaaaaaaages…

Edcase – Untitled (Ed’s Venture EP Side A)

From an obscure 1993 white label, this is a Darkside tune from those amazing few months that saw the evolution of hardcore into jungle proper, when no two tunes sounded the same and literally anything went. The tune kicks off with some crazy chopped breakbeats that gradually fall into an almost military-style 4/4 march and stomp right along until 1.38 when the MONSTER bass drops and darkness descends with spooky melody and creeping insect beats. The atmosphere builds and there is more HUGE scary bass at 2.40, the choppy pots-and-pans breaks marching through the whole while.

What strikes me listening to this now is the sheer amount of stuff that goes on in the (too short!) four-and-a-bit minutes: the massive variety of breakbeats, bassdrops, noises and patterns – so many ideas thrown in to the mix that it just makes for totally exciting listening. These days each separate element would be worked up into a repetitive six-minute DJ tool, but back then they just threw it all in to the tune without dwelling on any one element too much.

I just fucking love this stuff… so much going on, so fresh, so totally ruff. Amazing.

Doc Scott 2009 Mixes

2009-09-17 by The Double K

OK OK so we are slacking off round here lately. Don’t worry – things are bound to pick up now the nights are drawing in again… maybe.

In the meantime why not grab yourself this amazing collection of mixes from the man like Doc Scott – over 9 almost 12 hours of the deepest new D’n’B cuts blended by a master. No headbanging D’n’B nonsense here – it’s all pure class sound-of-the-future productions.

Doc Scott’s own productions from yesteryear have had much love on Dilated Choonz in the past (see here, here and here), but he’s also got the sound of now totally nailed.

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 1

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 2

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 3

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 4

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 5 – The Deep End

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 6 – Going Deeper

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 7 – Going Deeper

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 8 – Sun And Bass Aftermath Mix

DOC SCOTT 2009 PART 9 – Sun And Bass Aftermath Mix

If anyone finds parts 1 and 2 then drop me a line… had a quick look around the web but couldn’t see them anywhere.
UPDATE: links added above for parts 1 & 2 – thanks, d1111s!

Normal service will be resumed… sometime! Watch this space, but not too hard.

Shot like this could never miss!

2009-08-18 by The Double K

Dr S Gachet & MC GQ – Live @ AWOL, November 1993

A special treat for you here – over an hour of top quality ‘93 uplifting hardcore from the man like Dr S Gachet. This was one of my favourite tapes back in the day and I was gonna make a rip of it but instead managed to download this version which actually sounds better than my old tape does these days. We’ve had quite a few of the tracks here on Dilated Choonz over the last few years, but this is how they should really be heard – deep in the mix from one of the masters.

This comes from the glory days of AWOL at the Paradise Club (which later became The Complex and then the Blue Note before being demolished) when it was the jungle night to be at – they had the best soundsystem, the best DJs and the best MC of all time in GQ – you can hear him in full flow here. Tapes from raves/clubs (especially those with MCs) often lose something in translation to the bedroom, but somehow the AWOL tapes are amazing for conveying the buzz of the club. GQ is an amazing host and true Master of Ceremonies here – not just a Mic Controller: he knows the music intimately (the artists, the dubplates, etc.) , knows people’s names and where they’re from, and includes all in the party. One of my favourite bits on the tape is where even the medical man gets a shout out – “Big shout going out to the medical man… for any of those feeling sick and he’ll sort it right out – yes he will!”

Gachet brings the lighter side of ‘93 hardcore here – it’s (nearly) all pianos and beautiful uplifting rushy tracks, with very little of the darkside flavours that were big at the time (and which regular readers will know I also love).

There’s honestly something for everyone here and even if you think you don’t like hardcore I urge you to have a listen. If you don’t feel the rush at some point then you’re probably dead inside.

Tracklisting
(from Hardscore.com – to be fair I got 12 of these myself, but then turned to the internet for a more complete listing.)
Side A
1. Studio 2 – Dirty Games [Studio 2]
2. Foul Play – Finest Illusion [Section 5]
3. Nookie – Gonna Be Alright (Cloud 9 Remix) [Reinforced]
4. Bass Selective – Blow Out PT II [DJ Only]
5. Citadel Of Kaos – Earthquake [Boombastic Plastic]
6. Sunshine Productions – Symphony In September [Just Another Label]
7. Shades Of Rhythm – Sweet Sensation (Ray Keith remix) [ZTT]
8. Ed Case – Ed’s Venture Side A [Cat No. ED01]
9. Cloud 9 – Mr Logic (remix) [Moving Shadow]
10. Dancemaster – Kan U Feel It [Grand Larceny]

Side B
1. Dancemaster – Kan U Feel It [Grand Larceny]
2. Smokey Joe – Gimmie My Gun (Desired State Remix) [Labello Blanco]
3. Boogie Times Tribe – The Dark Stranger (Origin Unknown Re-remix) [Suburban Base]
4. Studio Pressure – Jump MK II [Certificate 18]
5. Origination – Sunrise [Rudeboy]
6. Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Foul Play remix) [Moving Shadow]
7. ???
8. Potential Bad Boy – Fly Like A Butterfly [Ibiza]