Dilated Choonz: jungle & D'n'B

Alboy's Best of 2011: #2

The Mighty Alboy — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:52:00 +0100

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.

File Download (0:00 min / 0 MB)

Paul B - 'Blues'

T Pot — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:28:00 +0000

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

T Pot — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:08:00 +0000

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!

The Double K — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:12:00 +0100

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.

File Download (0:00 min / 0 MB)

Bassline like it's 1993 [1]

The Double K — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:20:00 +0000

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!

File Download (0:00 min / 0 MB)

Gimme an M!

The Double K — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:05:00 +0100

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.

File Download (0:00 min / 0 MB)

electro tune made with reason 4 & rebirth

T Pot — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:21:00 +0100

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.

File Download (4:37 min / 9 MB)

And Just Because...

The Double K — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:15:00 +0100

...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

The Double K — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:04:00 +0100

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!

The Double K — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:43:00 +0100

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]

AWOL - A Way Of Life :: Revived since 2007 when Micky Finn & Darren Jay took over the AWOL licence
The Jungle Debate :: Old article - a conversation with Darren Jay, DJ Rap, Clarkee, Bryan G, L Double and more

A Gurley Easter: Easter Sunday

The Double K — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:30:00 +0100

Ray Keith & Nookie meet Steve Gurley – Express ‘95 (Ray Keith & Nookie Remix)

For Easter Sunday I’m taking us Up Up Up with a wicked jungle track from 1995. The long spacey intro, complete with wooshing star-trek sound effects, gives way (via a great vocal bit) to the massive waarp waarp waarp bassline. Rolling chopped-up breaks soon drop, and we’re away!

This track was another favourite of Kenny Ken, who I think played it on his “Mix & Blend Part 5” mixtape.

So that’s all folks for the Steve Gurley mini-series. No track tomorrow – it’s a Bank Holiday don’t you know, commemorating when Jesus felt sick from eating too many Easter eggs.

And this Easter remember: Just Express Yourself!

Holy Saturday: In Steps The Rider!

The Double K — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:30:00 +0100

Inta Warriors – Your Love Is Yours

Holy Saturday is a day when everyone rests up and gets ready for Easter – commemorating the time when Jesus just hung out in his tomb a bit – and so we’ll give Steve Gurley a break for today too.

Following on from the beautiful Music Is The Key we’ve got more great lighter-than-air hardcore, this time from the Inta Warriors, aka Grooverider himself. This came out on DeeJay Recordings back in 1993 and is played by Kenny Ken on one of my all-time favourite mixtapes from AWOL.

The track builds up and up over a long time (it is almost two minutes in before we get a really discernible breakbeat) and is all about the wicked hands-in-the-air synths and “baby your love is yours” vocal sample for quite a while. But then of course there’s the breaks too: wonderfully crafted chopped-up beats that simply fly.

Absolutely top quality stuff from The Rider.

A Gurley Easter: Good Friday

The Double K — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:30:00 +0100

Foul Play – Music Is The Key (Omni Trio Remix)

For Good Friday we’ve got an amazingly soulful piece of Jungle, from the combined talents of two masters of lighter-than-air breakbeats: Foul Play (a trio of whom Steve Gurley was a member) and Omni Trio (who confusingly are just one guy).

The beautiful vocal in this tune well-reflects the pathos of Good Friday, having an overall melancholy feel, but driven by hope for a better world:

There are times in my life…
When I wish the world was a better place.
No more suffering and no more pain,
No more war and no more hate.

A sentiment we can all relate to, I hope. OK so it’s naïve and idealistic, but honestly what is wrong with a bit of that now and again? Like the song says,

We could all reach for the stars…

Fats: The Singing MC

The Double K — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:26:00 +0000

DJ Hype featuring MC Fats – Peace, Love & Unity

Apologies to all readers – I’ve just realised how terribly remiss I’ve been. Having a look at the Jungle category I’ve just found it’s a full seven months (to the day) since we had any jungle here. I knew I hadn’t been posting much but didn’t realise it had got quite that bad.

So to put things straight, an absolute stormer from back in ‘96: Peace, Love & Unity was the first release on DJ Hype’s True Playaz imprint, and is (thankfully) devoid of the sometimes excessive scratching that marks out many of DJ Hype’s productions and remixes. What we do have is rolling beats, sinister ambience and one of the fattest Reese basslines you’re likely to come across, all accompanied by the legendary MC Fats – the singing jungle MC. I first came to know Fats from his MCing alongside GQ at AWOL – some of my favourite mixtapes from around ‘93-’94 have him singing along to killer jungle, and he’s still strong on the scene, MCing raves (he toured Japan and USA a few years back) as well as featuring on D’n’B tracks.

MC Fats on MySpace ::
MC Fats Discography ::

Don't Try To Change My Plan!

The Double K — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:27:00 +0100

Tribe Of Issachar – Junglist

I recently had my plan changed slightly but let’s get back on track and back on the junglist tip with even more from the man like Tribe Of Issachar aka Congo Natty aka Conquering Lion aka Rebel MC, etc.

Honestly I had forgotten quite how many absolutely amazing tracks this guy has produced. This one tore up the dance back in 1996 and I suspect might have been played by literally every single jungle DJ at some point. A true anthem, featuring vocals from Pete Bouncer of Raving I’m Raving fame:

When I’m weak, you’re tellin’ me that I’m strong.
When I’m right, you’re tellin’ me that I’m wrong.
But I know – now I understand – now I see,
I see your wicked plan.
I’m a Junglist!

...then the bassline builds up Duh Duh Duh Duh – Duh Duh Duh Duh, and when it finally drops the crowd erupts!

Why won’t you understand?
Hmm… I’m a Junglist!

Wicked.

Greetings I Bring - From Jah!

The Double K — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:30:00 +0100

Half Pint – Greetings (Jungle Remix)

Following up on Tom’s request the other day, here we have the jungle remix of Half Pint’s Greetings. The original is a nice reggae tune, a version of Sly & Robbie’s Heavenless Riddim (which you can hear here). This jungle version preserves the whole song pretty much intact but replaces the Heavenless Riddim with a skipping jungle beat, and Half Pint occasionally adds “Junglist Massive” to the lyrics.

A nice tune, which for me is all about Half Pint’s great vocals rather than any particularly noteworthy jungle production.

They Play That Bloody Jungle Music All Night!

The Double K — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:25:00 +0100

Marvellous Cain – The Hitman

More Marvellous Cain – this time The Hitman, a massive club hit from 1994 (if you did any jungle raving around then you will probably recognise it), and considerably less challenging than CB4.

I always loved this track, although it used to freak me out a bit in a club as one of the samples in it sounds exactly like someone saying “Kev” (which is my name) – listen first at 3 seconds in and then every three seconds after that for a while – so I was constantly looking over my shoulder when it was playing!

The sample “They play that bloody jungle music all night!” comes from Babylon, a 1980 movie about a reggae soundsystem in London. (I haven’t seen it for years but remember it being great.) The “Limb by Limb” vocal is by Cutty Ranks. There is a version of this on Gun Talk which is billed as “featuring Cutty Ranks” and has more vocals, but I prefer this original version, which I suspect Cutty Ranks wasn’t consulted on much at all.

Welcome To The System!

The Double K — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:03:00 +0100

Marvellous Cain – CB4

More jungle for ya! This time from Marvellous Cain’s 1995 LP Gun Talk on Suburban Base. I only got myself a copy recently as it seems to be something of a rarity – it crops up on e-Bay only very occasionally, and the only copy on Discogs is priced up at 80 Euros, which is a bit too steep for me, even for a classic jungle album.

This is the opening track on the album and it really sets the stall out. It is uncompromising, incredibly heavy jungle with huge bass, tearing beats, a smattering of hoovers, and the main vocal is just a shout of “GANGSTA!” repeated throughout.

Probably one for committed junglists only I guess, with absolutely zero crossover appeal. Brilliant stuff.

Back in '94, Brockin' With The Rudies [1]

The Double K — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:31:00 +0100

New Blood – Worries In The Dance (Remix)

I received an e-mail on the back of the recent spate of jungle tunes here saying “Tell you what you need: New Blood – Worries in the Dance and Conquering Lion – Code Red... And we’ll be back in 1994 brok’in out with the rude bwoys.”

This sounded like no bad thing to me, so here we go!

First up, Worries In The Dance – I’ve gone for the remix because it includes the “I was fool to let you in, knowing you were playing with my heart…” verse, which I really like and which is absent from the original version. It’s nice to have a bit of jungle that’s a proper song too. You don’t seem get that so much these days.

Back in '94, Brockin' With The Rudies [2]

The Double K — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:29:00 +0100

Conquering Lion – Code Red (Wild Apachi Mix)

Everybody shake your stuff:
The Rebel’s here!

And for the second part of this little trip down memory lane another classic ragga-jungle track from ‘94, and more from Congo Natty aka Conquering Lion aka Rebel MC aka etc.

Code Red is in much the same vein as Champion DJ, only this time with Super Cat on the mic (I think he’s the “Wild Apache” in the mix). The sirens and gunshots are out in force again for this one, and the song (as far as I can tell) is a call for the eradication of gun crime in “the ghetto”. An admirable sentiment to be sure, but basically it’s all about having a good brock out!