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Pearsall presents Drop The Hammer 12: The Jungle Tekno Edition

A crate-digging session from Pearsall, looking at the meeting point between hardcore and jungle, with tracks from Doc Scott, LTJ Bukem, Dillinja, Nookie and more

Drop The Hammer 12 Jungle Tekno

Pearsall presents Drop The Hammer 12: The Jungle Tekno Edition

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100% Vinyl!
Mixed in Berlin, September 2015
(43:56, 100 MB, 320 kbps MP3)

Cue file
Large Cover

Style: Darkside Hardcore and Early Jungle

Direct link to the mix:
http://sonicrampage.org/mixes/dth12/Pearsall-DropTheHammer12(JungleTeknoEdition).mp3

Tracklisting:

01. Nookie – Give A Little Love (Reinforced)
02. Skanna – Nightstalker (Sublogic)
03. Doc Scott – Rage (Reinforced)
04. Essence Of Aura – Floodlite (Sublogic)
05. Bizzy B & Cool Hand Flex – Come Back To Me (Brain)
06. Doc Scott – Drumz VIP (Metalheadz)
07. LTJ Bukem – Enchanted (Good Looking)
08. Desired State – Killer Beat (Ram Records)
09. DJ Crystl – Inna Year 3000 (Force Ten)
10. Dillinja – Deadly Ceremonies (Deadly Vinyl)
11. Lee & Tango – Solutions (Legendary)
12. DJ Spinback – In Effect (Remix) (Legendary)
13. Ed Rush – Bludclot Artattack (Lick 1) (No U-Turn)
14. Nookie – T-Three (Reinforced)
15. Trip-One – Snowball (Remix) (Kniteforce)

Happy Halloween!

I am very pleased to present for your listening pleasure the latest edition of my Drop The Hammer series of crate-digging bass music mixes.

This time around I have moved even further into the past than usual to focus on that period in UK rave music from 1993 to 1994 where darkside hardcore was beginning to morph into jungle, where chopped-up breakbeats co-existed happily with stomping four-to-the-floor kickdrums, and delirious pianos and Essex ravebird vocals snuggled up to dread-heavy darkside ambience … and, of course, everything was underpinned by heavy heavy bass.

As you might know, I am more of a specialist in jungle/drum n’ bass, so this particular mix is something of a departure for me, and honestly just a good excuse to have some fun, because it’s not like going through my collection to pick out the tunes featured here was a real chore.

I make no claim that this is a definitive darkside/early jungle set, and in fact I guess you could argue that this is a semi-obvious selection, at least by virtue of the fact that this mix mostly features artists who had a long-standing presence on the scene – no super-obscure white labels from Essex-based chancers who would put out one release before disappearing in a flash of curtain hairstyles and Vicks vapo-rub.

But you know what? These tunes are good man, and there’s some really cool stuff on here, like Nookie and Doc Scott fusing techno melodies to roughneck hardcore beats, as well as a typically luscious slice of breakbeat from LTJ Bukem (the b-side to the much more famous ‘Music’), or super darkside rarities from the fantastic Legendary label (neither of which came cheap, to be honest), or the man like Ed Rush in an early darkside excursion with the Bludclot Artattack remix.

For me, there’s just something so special about this era of music, and I don’t think that comes just from nostalgia (as this stuff was released a few years before I really got in breakbeat music) – it’s the constant interplay of light and dark, the whole synthesis of disparate influences from different musical styles. Sweet melodies, rough beats, deep bass – there’s something for everyone in here. And honestly I don’t think it’s just about being in your thirties (like me) and having experienced 90’s rave culture first hand; this music is just flat-out fantastic dance music. I can pretty much guarantee that if you play these records on a big sound system, even people who were born after they were released will go wild to it.

And in fact if you do want to hear these kind of tunes on a decent system in a dark room, well then you are in luck if you are in Berlin, because I will be playing at Parallax at St Georg in Kreuzberg on November 28th. Please come down to join myself, Yen-Cee, Vali NME Click and Scheckkartenpunk for a whole night of old skool hardcore, rave and jungle … including a set from yours truly!

More info:

Parallax, November 28, St Georg, Kreuzberg
Parallax, November 28, St Georg, Kreuzberg

There will be some more exciting promotion from me about this party coming soon, so keep your ears open …

If you want more darkside sounds to enjoy, I suggest heading to Soundcloud to check out the most recent mixes from Recoil and DJ Problem Child.