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Hardcore, you know da score! Fulfilling a request here for this awesome collection of proto-jungle and jungle classics, compiled by dancefloor theory supremo Kodwo Eshun. Head over to Discogs for the tracklist and to the original post for more info.
(Click on the picture to download.)
(Click on the picture to download.)
The Emotif labe was founded in 1995 as a subsidiary of SOUR. In late '95/'96 techstep was all the rage and Emotif picked up on it pretty soon with this compilation. In fact, Techsteppin' played a major part in both establishing the genre tag and bringing the sound to a wider audience beyond the jungle massive.
Though most of the tracks are Emotif exclusives, it's hardly surprising that Techsteppin' is dominated by Ed Rush, DJ Trace and Nico Sykes of the genre defining No U-Turn label. Of the twelve tunes, five (plus a remix of Mutant Jazz) are by the duo Trace and Nico under their Rollers Instinct and Skyscraper aliases, while three are by Ed Rush aka Hydro aka The Zone. (Here's a complete tracklist.)
Released in 1996 at the tail-end of the classic jungle era, Techsteppin' came out when the genre was already morphing into drum'n'bass. So the two-steppy kick drum is already in full effect, but the drum beats are still a far cry from the broring straight-forward linearity of later d'n'b . Rather, the two-step beat is used similiar to the four to the floor-bass drum in some of the best house and techno tracks: as a rhythmic anchor around which all sorts of crazy percussive shit is going on.
In preparation for this post I've been listening to Techsteppin' for the first time in years. What amazed me was how versatile the tunes are and that most of them sound quite different from your typical techstep. They veer towards the eerie and uncanny instead of launching the full-frontal attack usually associated with the genre. The harsh, punishing rhythms and growling industrial noise are often juxtaposed with forlorn synth sounds slightly reminiscent of the icy beauty of Underground Resistance's Galaxy 2 Galaxy and X-102 releases. It's a vibe that's more Blade Runner (with some 2001 lost in space-feeling thrown in) than Robocop/Terminator. Still, Techsteppin' is jungle/early d'n'b at its most menacing and vicious. It just shows that darkness can have many shades.
(Click on the picture to download.)
What can I say about this record that hasn't been said a hundred times? Well, for starters, that this first edition of Timeless is a very different record from the regular, trimmed-down version. Paranoid, tension-filled darkside tunes like This Is A Bad and Jah The Seventh Seal make it a much edgier and more multi-facetted affair. Goldie didn't call Timeless "inner city ghetto blues for the 21st century" for nothing. But to really feel like a sweeping panorama of life in the more run-down and dangerous parts of London the record needs the epic sprawl across two discs. Only at this length the right balance between a vicious sense of menace, violent rage, lyrical soulfulness and moments of beauty and introspection can be created.
Timeless is not without its flaws and some of the criticism often levelled at it cannot be completely denied. Arguably, it's sometimes a bit too pretentious for its own good, with some of the tracks a tad over-long, and the more soulful/jazzy tunes at times veering a bit too close towards slick eighties-fusion. But Timeless is an album designed to be taken in as a whole rather than as individual tracks and as such it is still pretty impressive. I actually think that in the album's overall context the more conventionally "musical" tunes work pretty well for the most part, with only the r&b-ish Still Life really falling flat.
Also, this record contains some of the most intricate and lethal breakbeat cut-ups ever created: swirling and swarming, fading in and out of the mix, they create an almost nauseating sense of disorientation. And for this astonishing level of rhythm science alone Timeless is well worth listening to.
This is the heavy heavy monster sound! Relentlessly blaring, layered bass riffs, ear-splitting distortion, disorienting, splintering drums, pounding cyborg warrior-two step stomps - all the indgredients of classic techstep are firmly in place on No U-Turns first label compilation. It wouldn't be long before techstep turned into its own parody, full of clichés and corny angstiness. On this release from 1997 the sound was still fresh though and the trio of Ed Rush, Nico and DJ Trace handled it with malicious, skunked-out imagination. For better or for worse, No U-Turn proved to be hugely influential on the direction d'n'b would take in the following years (and don't even get me started on techstep's ugly children hard step and dark step). But this double-disc is the real deal: dirty, poisonous, corrosive alien-funk.
Disc 1
Disc 2
(Click on the picture to download.)
So here we go, kicking things off with one of the best compilations ever. Compiled by the mighty Kodwo Eshun, Routes From The Jungle is a seminal two disc-set documenting the evolution from proto-jungle styles like breakbeat techno, darkside and UK hardcore to jungle proper. The only criticism one could make is that the most overtly hiphop and dancehall influenced end of the spectrum gets left out of the picture. (The Shut Up And Dance crew is only represented by Nicolette's "Waking Up" and there's no Ibiza Rec. or Rebel MC/Congo Natty and none of the countless dancehall remixes.) But the concept was obviously to focus on the post-acid house and rave lineage of jungle's evolution and in this regard Routes From The Jungle really is the definitive collection.
Packed with classics by Doc Scott, Ed Rush, A Guy Called Gerald, 4 Hero, DJ Krust or Boogie Times Tribe this is really all killer no filler. And since it was released in '95, all the later tracks are fantastic peak-period jungle. So grab this incredible two discs of breakbeat mayhem and junglistic madness! Booyaka!
