Dilated Choonz: rave

Pig Flu - It's Had A Remix

The Double K — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:16:00 +0100

Sorted – Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag (7” Edit)

Following on from Hal’s posting…

There was a rave muzak cover version of Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag, from none-hit wonders Sorted on PWL International. Not the worst pop-rave cover version ever, but I can’t really sell it any stronger than that – it’s nice enough, but compared to the original they have managed to suck all the funk and energy out of the tune.

It’s not big and it’s not clever, but at least it’s topical.

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We Can See If You Can Dance!

The Double K — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Release – Dance In Eden

PARTY PEOPLE: WE CAN SEE IF YOU CAN DANCE!

A treat for the weekend here in the form of some rip-roaring 1992 hardcore. This tune has pretty much everything you could possibly want in a rave anthem: from the opening melancholy strings, the massive techno stabs, slamming breakbeats and bouncing bassline, to the heart-wrenching hands-in-the-air piano section complete with cheesy-as-fuck flutey bits. Absolutely wicked stuff.

The original vinyl is pretty sought-after and will set you back a pretty penny, but some kind souls re-pressed it last year and you can still get hold of copies through Discogs.

Buy the 2008 re-press here :: Limited edition of 300
Buy the original here :: More money for fewer tracks!

The Dilated Choonz Crew Grows Again!

The Double K — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Mental Cube – Q (Santa Monica Mix)

BREAKING NEWS… BREAKING NEWS… BREAKING NEWS…

Great news! Our very own P.Rice & Doodle D this morning became parents for the second time – they have a new little girl, although I have scant information for you beyond that. I’m sure everyone will want to join me in sending them Congratulations and all good wishes!

And so to commemorate the occasion, a tune that captures the kind of elation they’ll be feeling once they get over the initial tiredness (so probably in about 18 years or so!), and one of the Future Sound Of London’s finest moments (albeit under a different pseudonym) – the enigmatically titled Q. I’ve gone for the Santa Monica Mix, perhaps against my better judgement as the original totally kicks. This mix doesn’t differ hugely, but has brighter production overall, most notably sharper sounding bleeps.

Either way it’s a stone cold killer techno/rave track that still gives me goosebumps when I hear it.

Music's Hypnotizing [1]

The Double K — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:17:00 +0100

The Hypnotist – The House Is Mine (Dark Syndicut Remix)

It seems to me that the late, great Caspar Pound has been almost criminally under-represented here at Dilated Choonz so far. At the age of 16 he was (partly) responsible for A Homeboy, A Hippie & A Funki Dredd’s Total Confusion, arguably the greatest hardcore record of all time (I think he was the Hippie). He then went on to found Rising High Records, a key label in the development of the UK’s Techno, Hardcore and Ambient scenes with artists such as Mixmaster Morris, The Black Dog, Pete Namlook and Luke Vibert, as well as his own projects. He was also responsible for licensing Sven Väth’s Harthouse and the mighty Underground Resistance to the UK.

He released a lot of his early rave stuff as The Hypnotist, and (predictably?) these are some of my favourite of his tunes.

First up we have a 1992 remix of the 1991 tune The House Is Mine. It’s a crossover track between house and hardcore – the original version opens up with a lovely bit of housey piano and vocals which soon descend into a massive Belgian-style techno workout before the piano is reprised. This remix opens the same but replaces the hardcore Belgian techno bit with some breakbeats and samples pinched straight from 2 Bad Mice, making it a little easier on the ear. (Don’t get me wrong though – the original is also great and I commend it to you!)

Music's Hypnotizing [2]

The Double K — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:15:00 +0100

The Hypnotist – Hardcore U Know The Score (Edit)

Now I know the title of this will immediately put some of you off (I can’t imagine why, but there’s no accounting for taste I guess…), but this isn’t your average banging ‘91 hardcore rave track. OK so it opens up with some huge techno stabs and a man shouting “Hardcore U Know The Score” – great if you like that sort of thing (and I do) – but nothing to write home about particularly.

Really this track is all about the parts where an incredible techno noise swoops in above the breaks. It can first be heard at about a minute into the track, and then it comes back a couple of times later on. You’ll know the bit I mean when you hear it – it’s totally wicked.

I’ve posted a short version of the track from one of those crappy rave compilations rather than the full seven minute version because the edit seems to have just as much of the swooping techno bit but less of the Belgian hardcore nonsense in between, which even I admit can get a bit much these days if you’re not really in the mood for it.

Piano Reprise [1]

The Double K — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:35:00 +0100

Electric Choc – Shock The Beat

Before we all get too carried away with Detroity techno, I’ve been meaning to sort out a couple of omissions from Piano Week (way back in April) for absolutely ages now.

First up, a track from 1991 which should definitely have been included in the “Italian Piano” section. It features one of my all-time favourite piano breakdowns, as sampled in DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer’s Let’s Do It, and probably a few other places too.

With it’s sing-along vocals, wicked mellow breakbeat and cool bleepy section at the end it’s a true classic of the genre.

Encore: Just One More Piano Tune!

The Double K — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:56:00 +0100

Awesome 3 – Don’t Go

Due to popular demand (ta, Anthony :o) let’s have just ONE MORE TUNE!...

...and as the house lights come up on the wide-eyed and sweaty crowd of ravers, whistles are blown and hands are clapped, and the opening stabs of Don’t Go can be heard pumping from the speakers…

...and as the final piano chords sound out Security are starting to shuffle about muttering “haven’t you lot got homes to go to?” and “come on get yer coats”. It’s time to go.

Peace!

Piano More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine

The Double K — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:45:00 +0100

Together – Hardcore Uproar

So it’s Friday and by now I’m sure you’re beginning to grow weary of the enforced jollity that listening to piano anthems all week has entailed. And believe me, I’m wearying of writing about them too…

But soldier on! I’ve saved the best until last. And it’s almost the weekend! Your jollity no longer needs to be forced quite so hard. And this is the final instalment (from me at least) of our piano anthems series – hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have!

Kicking of today’s trio of goodies we have Hardcore Uproar. For those of you too young to remember, this made it to #12 in the UK charts back in August 1990. It is a lot less hardcore than you might expect from the title (it would fit best into last Friday’s Warehouse Piano section), and starting from about 2.45 into the tune it has some of the best rave pianos you are ever going to hear in your life.

Really – I can’t think of any other tune that rinses the pianos quite as well as this. It wins hands down.

The Warehouse Piano [1]

The Double K — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:44:00 +0100

Mr Monday – Future

OK let’s go back in time a little to a time before breakbeats dominated the rave scene, to 1990 to be precise.

Let me be clear here: when I say “Warehouse” I’m talking about raves that happened in warehouses in the UK around 1990, not the Chicago discotheque. I never attended any raves in warehouses myself, but am reliably informed that if I had then I might have heard either of these fantastic piano-based tunes there.

Future is funky as hell house music, and the pure joy of the synths and pianos captures the spirit of positivity of a movement preparing to change the world with love, or to at least get totally off their faces while talking about it.

If hearing this doesn’t lift your spirits then you might as well go out and shoot yourself now.

Tinkling The Ivories

P Rice — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:46:00 +0100

Blame – Piano Takes You

...back to the pianos. A ‘92 classic dusted down from a corner of my record collection. My copy was bought for me for my birthday (my 19th I think), and has birthday messages from friends scrawled upon it. A nice touch, but it could substantially reduce its value. Some friends eh?

If you’re listening to this for the first time, get to a minute or so and wonder where the pianos are, they turn up in a big way a little way in. ‘Whistle posse, I can’t hear you’ etc.

Copies on ebay ::

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The Rave Piano [1]

The Double K — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:37:00 +0100

The Prodigy – Your Love

OK so let’s get this piano show on the road, and to kick it off we have arguably one of the greatest piano anthems of all time.

The Charly 12” (which this track comes from) was the first ever rave record I bought. I heard Charly out at a club on the Friday night and was in the record shop on Saturday – still spaced out – asking the guy “have you got the one that goes Meeeowwowooowoooo”, in proper sing-along-a-techno-karaoke style. He immediately knew the one I was after and sorted me out.

Although Charly was massive at the time, Your Love is the one that has proved to have longevity, and to me is the best thing The Prodigy ever produced (the remix which they put on the Experience LP is crap in comparison).

So get those hands in the air and we’ll move on to more piano-led goodness…

The Rave Piano [2]

The Double K — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:09:00 +0100

Rhythm Quest – Closer To All Your Dreams (Piano Mix)

We already had the Hibrid Mix of Closer (from the same 12” as this) on here back in 2006, but if we’re after piano tunes then the Piano Mix is surely worth digging out too. This version is produced in the “big rave” style, complete with fat synth basslines, air horns and crowd noise (similar to Dream Frequency’s sound). And (of course!) piano aplenty right from the opening bars of the intro throughout the tune. If anything fits the category “rave piano anthem” then this is it.

So about this “piano anthem” theme… The piano is, after all, one of the most versatile instruments out there and while flicking through my records in search of “piano anthems” I quickly came to realise that there are many kinds of piano tune, and full-on “rave anthems” like this are a small-ish subsection of the kinds of thing I have in mind.

So today I’m getting some of the raviest, most stupid, most anthemic piano tunes out of my system, with more subtle piano-y stuff to follow over the next week. (There is always the possibility of a rave reprise somewhere towards the end!)

The Rave Piano [3]

The Double K — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:08:00 +0100

Congress – 40 Miles (Original White Label Mix)

There’s simply no way we can do piano anthems without including this track. It was absolutely huge in the clubs at the time (which was 1991) – any DJ worth his salt spun it (I definitely remember Easygroove playing it) to rapturous cheers, and it even made it to the dizzy heights of 26 in the UK charts.

To be honest 40 Miles was never one of my favourites… it’s a little too lame, a little too cheesy (yes even for me!). The pianos are nice, but I just think the whole thing chugs along without any real oomph.

But like I said, there’s no way it can be overlooked as far as piano tunes go so here it is. Classic or clunker? You decide.

Birthday Rave-Up [Part 1]

The Double K — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:31:00 +0000

Bizarre Inc – Raise Me (Eon’s Ascension Mix)

Time for a brace of rave belters now, in honour of my birthday (and in keeping with the tradition established over the last couple of years that that’s what I post here on my birthday).

We’ll kick things off with the Eon remix of Bizarre Inc’s Raise Me, which was the B-side of their #13 hit Such A Feeling back in 1991.

This track holds a special place in my heart as I have a distinct memory of hearing it at a party/rave in the Wenault Woods just outside Cardiff, jumping about to it in strobe-lit slow motion, the trees flashing stark white around and above the gathered ravers.

The track kicks off with what I have a feeling is the opening piano from “I Will Survive” (can any fans of Gloria Gaynor or regular karaoke-goers confirm this?) and then we’re immediately grabbed by the main synth hook. We jump round to this for a little while and are gradually teased with the beautiful “oooh baby” female vocal and heavy breathing bit via a series of short hands-in-the-air sections where the beat drops out.

I can see how it might all sound a bit dated these days, and perhaps you had to be there in the woods, but I still love this and hearing it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Birthday Rave-Up [Part 2]

The Double K — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:30:00 +0000

Bizarre Inc – Playing With Knives (The Climax)

Another rave/club classic from Bizarre Inc here, from around the same time in 1991. This also holds a special place in my heart, this time because it was on a favourite Sasha tape (mentioned here several times before – see, for example, here and here) that got played to death by me and pretty much everyone I knew at the time.

This tune is essentially all about the pianos. They just don’t make piano tunes like this any more, and it’s a shame. Perhaps one day we can run a season of piano anthems on here… we’ll see.

And of course it’s also about the girlie vocals:

Hold me baby, drive me crazy, touch me… all night long!

The regular Quadrant Mix of Playing With Knives made it to #4 in the charts in November that year after a re-release (it originally came out in January). It’s a very different tune from this one, a proper rave banger – see it performed live on Dance Energy (including amusing rave dancing, fashions, and a conga through the crowd) below: