Pearsall's Tunes

New blog

2008-08-08T09:42:00.002+01:00

I am going to, in future, post all of my mixes at Sonicrampage. Check it out!

Pearsall presents Mean Machine

2008-06-21T16:06:00.005+01:00

Here's a new mix I recorded last weekend. It's a tribute to the early years of the legendary Metalheadz label (including the short-lived sub-label Razor's Edge), which was one of the key players in the transition (for both good and ill) of jungle into drum n' bass. Established in the mid-1990's by future tabloid-fodder Goldie this label, and the club night of the same name that ran on Sunday nights at the Blue Note on the (then-desolate) Hoxton Square, helped to define a new sound in drum n' bass. This was a darker, more futuristic, more techno-influenced sound that helped move drum n' bass away from its roots in the pop-pupilled days of the early 90's rave scene. Eventually, sadly, this proved to be a bit of a dead end as people competed to make the darkest and heaviest tunes, and it all got a bit bleak (and hence the later turn to more tuneful, nay, cheesy elements).

For a moment, though, this sound just worked, and this is my tribute to that moment.

This was recorded on two Technics 1210's, with a Pioneer DJM-600 mixer, without any Ableton or editing, in one take. Enjoy!

Pearsall presents Mean Machine
37:16, 256 kbps vbr MP3, 69.2 MB

Back cover
Cue file

01. Codename John - The Warning (Metalheadz)
02. Ed Rush - Skylab (Metalheadz)
03. J Majik - Repertoire (Metalheadz)
04. Peshay - On The Nile (Metalheadz)
05. Doc Scott - Drumz '95 (Nasty Habits Remix) (Metalheadz)
06. J Majik - Arabian Nights (Metalheadz)
07. Adam F - Metropolis (Metalheadz)
08. Rufige Kru - Dark Metal (Metalheadz)
09. Dillinja - Deadly Deep Subs Remix (Razor's Edge)
10. Asylum - Da Base II Dark (Metalheadz)
11. Goldie - Kemistry (Grooverider VIP Mix) (Razor's Edge)
12. Dillinja - Jah Know Ya Big (Metalheadz)
13. J Majik - Your Sound (Metalheadz)

Enjoy!

Pearsall - The Waveform Cult

2008-03-30T14:51:00.004+01:00

Here is a new acid mix that I recorded yesterday, my tribute to the brain-altering majesty of the Roland TB-303! It's mostly pretty old and obscure stuff, and it starts off a bit housier (although not that housey) before heading into stomping techno territory. Enjoy!

Pearsall presents The Waveform Cult (right-click, save as)
78:48, 146 MB, 256 KBPS VBR MP3

Back cover
Cue file

Tracklisting:
01. DJ Futureshock - Third Wave (End Recordings)
02. Clones - Clones 3 (Clones)
03. Killa Productions - Feelin' Acid (Side B1) (K.B. Records, Inc.)
04. Traxmen - Make A Wish (Dance Mania)
05. Mike Dearborn - An Acid Memory (Djax-Up-Beats)
06. Kings Of Punani - Fantasy Girl (K.O.P.)
07. Killa Productions - Feelin' Acid II (Side A) (K.B. Records, Inc.)
08. DJ TJR - Ear Worm (Aciiieeed)
09. Lochi - London Acid City (Acid House Remix) (Routemaster)
10. The Binmen - Wiped Out (C.O.S.H.H.)
11. JvA - Foxy Acid (Crashes & Shares Mix) (Bang On)
12. 2 Bald Men - Acid Phonk (Experience 2000)
13. Plantastik - Tardis (Kickin')
14. The Pump Panel - Ego Acid (Thomas P. Heckmann Remix) (Primate)
15. Ant & Syber Symon - Right Hand Drive (Infected)
16. Acid Perverts - Stick It In (Smitten)
17. C.A.T. - Revenger (Choci's Chewns)
18. DJ Misjah & Groovehead - Delirious (X-Trax)
19. Pumpgun Pro - Sex Workz (Holzplatten)
20. Enri Lorenz - Mobile Telephone (Routemaster)
21. R.S.P. - Hypocrisy (Local)
22. DJ Misjah - Ultimate High (X-Trax)
23. Push To Flush - Then You'll Be It (Pro File)
24. DJ Skull - Acid Wiss L (Sino)

Pearsall presents Eurotrash 2

2008-02-18T20:18:00.005Z

Here's a mix of some obscure (and some not quite so obscure) old European hard trance and techno. Enjoy!

Pearsall - Eurotrash 2

68:21, 256 kbps VBR MP3, 126.3 MB

Cue file
Back cover

Mixed in London, February 2008
01. DJ Baphomet - Ehec Injection (Evolver)
02. Mr. Burns - Everlasting Part 2 (Unreal)
03. Razor's Edge - Sleepless (Underground Contribution Mix) (Prolekult)
04. Commander Tom - Space Sexual (Noom)
05. Elektrochemie LK - Positive Vibes (Confused)
06. DJ Randy - More And More (Smoke Free DJ Tools)
07. D-Factor - Tripwire (Tri Lamb)
08. Mandala - The Acid Of House (Noom)
09. Lectric Cargo - Active Sensing (Phuture Wax)
10. Genlog - Nightmare (Low Spirit)
11. Casseopaya - Powertrax 2.1 (Prolekult)
12. Signum - The Other Side (Jinx)
13. Insider & Stephenson - Inda (Bonzai)
14. Gollum & Hunter - Feel So Good (Strictly Alarm Mix) (Tunnel)
15. Neuronoid - Neurobashing (Time Unlimited)
16. Amorph - Sunflow (Oliver Lieb Mix) (Formaldehyd)
17. Cortex Thrill - Infiltration (Bonzai)
18. Aurora Borealis - The Milky Way (Lunatic Acid Mix) (F Communications)
19. Nature Party - Stoned Nation (Corrosive)
20. Code 27 - Got To Be Better (Stepp Off Mix) (United Ravers)

3 new mixes

2006-11-13T13:22:00.001Z

I don't play in clubs any more, but occassionally I still do new mixes for my own amusement, and here are three new (more or less) mixes to download if you are interested. One is electro, one is techno/trance/acid, and the other is hard techno. All of these were recorded in one take.

All were done for amusement - I no longer am playing out (although if anyone wants to book me, I won't say no!) so I don't spend much time obsessing over keeping absolutely up to date. The Maximalism mixes are purposefully full of old and obscure stuff. The Night Owl mix has far too many Anthony Rother tracks. But they work (in my opinion), so why not, right?

Anyways, download these if you are interested, I hope you like them if you do!

Pearsall - Night Owl (66:04, 92.4 MB, 195 VBR MP3)

Electro mix!
Mixed May 2006

tracklisting:
01. Sterac Electronics - Destination Reached (Music Man)
02. Miss Kittin & The Hacker - Sweet Dreams (International Deejay Gigolos)
03. Nasty & Tresher - Robot Repair (Electrix)
04. Ozone Layer - Planetary Deterioration (Anthony Rother Remix) (International Deejay Gigolos)
05. Christian Smith & John Selway - Altera (Electro Remix) (Tronic)
06. Mystic Letter K - Caprilectrix (Electrix)
07. Anthony Rother - Father (Datapunk)
08. Boys Noize - Jaguare (Datapunk)
09. Odissi - Groupie (Cyberfunk)
10. Mystic Letter K - Ropa_Dopa (Electrix)
11. Anthony Rother - Adam & Eve (Datapunk Limited)
12. Ra-X - Kontrol (Angelmaker)
13. DJ Controlled Weirdness - Suburban Menace (Fdb Recordings)
14. Bass Kittens - It's Better To Oscillate Than Never (Bowwow)
15. AE35 - Samurai Sword Sharpness (Tokyo Electro Beat)
16. DJ Controlled Weirdness - South London Bass (Unearthly)
17. Chris McCormack - Saturation Point (Electrix)
18. Anthony Rother - Describe Reality (Kanzleramt)
19. Dexter - D-Funked (Clone)
20. DJ Nasty - No Mercy (Motor City Electro Company)
21. AE35 - Electro Beat Stepper (Tokyo Electro Beat)
22. Kronos Device - Machine Breed (Battle Trax)
23. The Advent - Light Years Away (Electrix)
24. ATF - Hiding The Pain (Zero One Music)
25. Skream - Midnight Request Line (Tempa)

Pearsall - Maximalism 2 (64:12, 102 MB, 223 VBR MP3)

Acid/Techno/Trance
Mixed October 2006

tracklisting:
01. Thera - Skyscrape (Boscaland)
02. DJ Misjah - Obsessed (X-Trax)
03. Rob Vanden & Tailbone - Tipping The Scales (GBT Submerged)
04. D.O.M. - THC (Stay Up Forever)
05. Schall & Rauch - You See That Voice (Construct Rhythm)
06. Wax Scientists - In Your Face (Phuture Wax)
07. Superspy - Sumo V2 (Noom)
08. Men Of Noise - The Yeti (Definition)
09. Parasonic - Timeless Worlds Of Space (VCR)
10. Tasha Killer Pussies - Killa Wipers (Vixen's Car Wash Remix) (Dog Bone)
11. Norman - Bad Pulse (Suck Me Plasma)
12. Sylverbox - Circle 7 (Choci's Chewns)
13. Neuronoid - Neurobashing (Time Unlimited)
14. Mirage - Keoma (Technogold)
15. DDR & Choci - Mangled (VCF)
16. Pagemaster - Drug Center (Thai)
17. NooNoo - Submission (Titanium Trax UK)
18. Smog Blanket - Arkansas (Cluster)
19. Phuture - We Are Phuture (Slam Remix) (Primate)
20. DJ Amok - 16 Bit Rage (Kne' Deep)
21. Arpeggiators - Discover Your Innerself (Harthouse)

Pearsall - Maximalism 3 (71:30, 115 MB, 225 VBR MP3)

Hard Techno
Mixed November 2006

tracklisting:
01. Chris Liberator - The Heart Of Trance (Thomas Heckmann Remix) (TeC)
02. Thomas Krome - Soulcollector (Corb)
03. Junk Project - The Green Series A2 (Block Busters)
04. Hardfloor - Lost In The Silver Box (Harthouse)
05. DJ Misjah - Karin's Paradox (X-Trax)
06. Mike Ink - The Spoken Word Is Weak (Supersition)
07. Waverider - Untitled (Cluster)
08. Darkside - Aftershock (Dark Knight Recordings)
09. Healium - Plume (Djax-Up-Beats)
10. Chris Liberator & D.A.V.E. The Drummer - Happy Birthday (Noom)
11. Massimo Cominotto - Eroi Di Carta (Hell For Heroes Mix) (Alchemy)
12. Sonic Perverts - Apologize (Punish)
13. Static Drum - Last Story (Static Drum)
14. Phuture 303 - Professor Trax (Creators Of Deepness)
15. Trevor Rockliffe - Visions Of You (Smith & Selway Remix) (Intec)
16. Andrew Richley & Ryan Rivera - Rumba de Barcelona (Primate)
17. D.A.V.E. The Drummer - Hydraulix 11 B1 (Hydraulix)
18. Alex K. Katz - Continue (Construct Rhythm)
19. D.O.M. - Lethal Enforcers (Stay Up Forever)
20. Sudden Death - Semtex (Thai)
21. Max Walder - Orbit (Lupp)
22. Pounding Grooves - Untitled (Tortured)
23. The Weathermen - Manual Dump (Boscaland)
24. Dave Clarke - Thunder (deConstruction)

Pearsall - Called To Valhalla

2006-03-23T08:44:00.001Z

Ridiculously fast brain-bashing nrg trance/trancecore! A mash up of some of my favorite acid trance and trancecore classics. I really enjoyed doing this mix. :)

Pearsall - Called To Valhalla
(64:20, 89.8 MB, 192 KBPS VBR MP3)

01. Warlock - The Sound (Andy, Choci & Weaver's Blue Butterfly Mix) (Majestic 12)
02. Choci & The Powder Front - Just Feel It (Public House)
03. Karim - Columbia (Do Not Bend)
04. DJ Fury - Lemonade Raygun (FDN)
05. Cortex - Eurosis (Xy2)
06. Trance Masters - Call Of The Last Tribe (GBT)
07. Lab 4 - Candyman (Fragile)
08. Penguin Conspiracy - Welcome To The Future (Digital Beats)
09. Legend B - Lost In Love (Baby Doc Remix) (Perfecto Fluoro)
10. DJ M-Zone - Rave To The Slave (UK44)
11. D-Zyne - Digital Havoc (Xy2)
12. Miss Nic & DJ Swoon - Voices (GBT)
13. MC MC & Rushour - Music Maker (DJ Fury Remix) (Clued)
14. DJ Energy & Safe N' Sound - The Baptism (Nu Energy)
15. Helix - Now Control (Stompin' Choonz)
16. DJ Eclipse - Light Cycle (Bonkerz)
17. Air Bomb - Hidden Code (Techno Mix) (Electric Kingdom)
18. Shanty, Tazz & Loopy - Outbreak (Shanty Remix) (Digital Beats)
19. Suburban Delay - All I Need (Eurostomp Remix) (Jolly Roger Lite)

Pearsall - Dreadnaut

2006-03-09T20:57:00.001Z

Banging hoover-tastic rave silliness.

Pearsall - Dreadnaut
(MP3, 76:08, 105 MB, 192 KBPS)

01. Dream Plant - The Mighty Machine (Kinki Roland RMX) (Prolekult)
02. S-J - Estrella (Baby Doc RMX) (Arriba)
03. Fallen Angel - Little Girl (One Inch)
04. DJ Choci - Can You Feel The Force (Daniel Bunter & Steve Vanden RMX) (Cannon)
05. Lab 4 - Reformation II (OD404 RMX) (Alien Trax)
06. Mark NRG - Don't Stop (Baby Doc RMX) (Tripoli Trax)
07. Karim & Phillip Walsh - Technomove 3 (Tuff Trax)
08. Chris C - Adastra (Nile)
09. DJ Misjah & DJ Tim - Access (KY Jellybabies RMX) (Tripoli Trax)
10. Unknown - Hocus Pocus (Tuff Trax)
11. The Captain & RR Fierce - Street Tab (Tinrib)
12. RR Fierce - Narcan (Fierce Technik)
13. Equinox - Get Up (Tonka Trax)
14. Dynamic Intervention vs Rich & Gordi - Move It (Disco Damage Mix) (Dip)
15. Paul Glazby - I'm Your Nightmare (Tidy Trax)
16. Mad Gay Mafia - Welcome to the Arena (Go & Fuckin' Have It Mix) (Efadrine)
17. OD404 - Xpress (Hard NRG Mix) (Kaktai)
18. RR Fierce & K-Live - Yamamba (Vicious Circle)
19. Tony de Vit - Are You All Ready? (Tidy Trax)

Pearsall - Eurotrash 1

2006-03-05T17:09:00.001Z

Mid to late 90's European hard trance, with a minimum of fluffy hands-in-the-airness (although there is a bit of that towards the end to be fair).

Pearsall - Eurotrash 1
(MP3, 72:21, 99 MB, 192 KBPS)

01. Dominators - Future Is Now (Jetset Mix) (Nothing)
02. Nuw Idol - Kick Drum Domination (Well Wicked)
03. Sonic Tube - Switch off (Organic)
04. Stormtraxx - My Acid Dream (Byte Progressive)
05. S.h.o.k.k. - Folie A Deux (DJ Natron RMX) (Pulse)
06. Blade Attack - Seelenwandler (Junk Project RMX) (Drizzly)
07. Dare Devils - Daredevil (Chaos)
08. DJ Scot Project - O (Arome RMX) (Overdose)
09. DJ Fire - Spirit of Techno (Dark Spirit Mix) (Sigma)
10. DJ Jo - Progressive (Club Mix) (Fog Area)
11. Heatseeker - Xplicit (Hard Trance Mix) (Clockwork)
12. Troop - Homecoming (Noom)
13. Kinetic A.T.O.M. - Borg Destroyer (Phuture Wax)
14. Brain 20 - Acid Motherfuckers (Junk Project RMX) (Brain)
15. Nuclear Hyde - Axis (Moon X.I.S.) (Noom)
16. Planet Fuse - Innocent Game (Egoist Mix) (Fuse)
17. Mass In Orbit - Overdrive (Hubble Mix) (Massive)
18. DJ Mind-X - Nightingale (Suspicious RMX) (Overdose)
19. Commander Tom - Are Am Eye? (95 Millennium Mix) (Noom)

Pearsall - Squat Rocking 2

2006-03-05T10:58:00.001Z

Screaming acid techno in the hizzouse!

Pearsall - Squat Rocking 2
(MP3, 73:44, 101 MB, 192 KBPS)

01. DJ Orange Peel - Crackhead (Organgrinder)
02. Cores - Matabu Part One (Noom)
03. Sentience - Robotics (Full Blown)
04. Kektex - Extasy Is Fantastic (Routemaster)
05. The Weathermen - Don't Stop (Boscaland)
06. Chris Liberator - Cat's Eye (Prolekult)
07. Dynamo City - Dynamo City (Stay Up Forever)
08. Audio Pancake - Detox (Smitten)
09. Dirty Blonde - Son Of A Crack Whore (Havok)
10. Dr. Octopus - Dr. Octopus (Quazar Remix) (Millennium)
11. A&E Department - White Widow (Stay Up Forever)
12. Uneven Surface - Slacker (Stay Up Forever)
13. Geezer - The Long & Short Of It (Smitten)
14. Audio Pancake - Pull The Trigger (Karmic)
15. M.A.N.I.C. - I'm Comin' Hardcore (Hans Delbrook & Igor Farenhiet Remix) (Teknik)
16. Lab 4 - Soul Fire (Elementary)
17. Well Paid Scientists - To The Batrave (Coshh)

Something for the Weekend?

2006-02-18T00:50:00.001Z

My little tribute to early Renegade Hardware and their seismically awesome drum n' bass.

Pearsall - Renegades
(MP3, 32 minutes, 45.9 MB, 192 kbps)

01. Usual Suspects - Doorway
02. Usual Suspects - Spawn
03. Dylan - The Eyes
04. Monochrome & Subphonics - Capacity
05. Genotype - Toxic
06. Future Forces Inc - Strontium Jazz (Dillinja Remix)
07. Future Forces Inc - Point of Origin
08. Usual Suspects - Killa Bees
09. Dom & Roland - Trauma
10. Future Forces Inc - Cold Fusion
11. Genotype - Extra-Terrestrial

Pearsall - Morally Diminished

2006-02-16T06:38:00.001Z

Pearsall - Morally Diminished Part 1
(MP3, 85.1 MB, 62 mins, 192 kbps)

01. Scott Grooves feat. Parliament - Mothership Reconnection (Daft Punk RMX) (Soma)
02. Callahan's - The Sound (Sense)
03. Mood II Swing - Do It Your Way (Groove On)
04. Bob Sinclar - New York City Music (Yellow)
05. Le Night Club - Santa Claus (Crydamoure)
06. Cassius feat. Ghostface Killah - Thrilla (A Bass Day Remix) (Virgin France)
07. DJ Col vs 091 - Girls Don't Like Electronic Music (White Plus)
08. The Youngsters - Smile (Smirky Mix) (F Communications)
09. David Carretta - Lovely Toy (International Deejay Gigolos)
10. Miss Kittin & The Hacker - Frank Sinatra 2001 (International Deejay Gigolos)
11. Killer Loop - Broken (Housey Doingz RMX) (End Recordings)
12. Agoria - Sky Is Clear (PIAS)
13. Gui Boratto - Molestado (City of God)
14. DJ Falcon - Unplugged (Roulé)
15. The Wamdue Project - In The Back Of Your Mind (Strictly Rhythm)
16. Trevor Rockliffe - The Groove (Mentor)
17. Nathan Coles - Flobadob (Big Hair's Manor House Mix) (Wiggle)
18. Kings of Punani - Acid Thunder (Tronic)

About a week or two ago I decided to sort through my old records and do a mix. This is the result. It is, as you can tell, house music, and not of a particularly recent vintage either. The idea with this was to cover a variety of styles, from deeper stuff to electroey bits to more techy house.

It's not earth-shaking stuff, but it's fun.

Enjoy!

Etc. etc.

2006-01-24T22:25:00.000Z

Um, there will be no new mixes until next week, contrary to what I said in the previous post, as I've had to re-name my mixes directory because I've already transferred 75 gigs worth of stuff off of the Sonicrampage.org server this month alone, with a limit of 80 gigs.

In the meantime, if you want cheap entertainment, check out Videos on Road for the videos from the (ahem) 'UK urban music scene'. Quality ranges from quite entertaining to mind-bogglingly awful, including the most hilariously cheap-assed rip-offs of American hip-hop cliches.

Oh, and rent/go see 'Rize' if you get the chance. It's well worth it, a winning combination of impossibly acrobatic/strangely spastic dancing, teenage artsy angst, somber real life stuff, and boomingly bassy soundtrack. Good times.

Me, I'm looking forward to 'Walk the Line' opening here in Britain. Anyone seen it?

New(Ish) Mix, Updates, Etc.

2006-01-22T21:24:00.001Z

Here's a mix I recorded a couple months ago of some pretty fiercely banging stuff.

Pearsall - Squat Rocking 1 (click to download)

01. Diplomat vs Trouble - Tantalum Cones (Deathchant)
02. Megamind - Taub (Nukleuz)
03. Kai Tracid - Destiny's Path (Warmduscher RMX) (Tracid Traxx)
04. Lectrolux - Baloney (Baby Doc RMX) (Tec)
05. Ironik - Slave (Tec)
06. Immersion - Squat Rock Part 2 (Smitten)
07. Trash Compactor - Interstitial (No Entry)
08. Medicine Man & Switch - Vitamins from the Pharmacy (One Inch)
09. Rim n' Chop - The Italian Job (Karim RMX) (DP)
10. The Captain, Superfast Oz & Kristian - Let's Go (Tinrib)
11. The Hellfire Club - Voodoo Magic (React)
12. K90 - Bomb Jack (Chris Liberator RMX) (Telica)
13. DJ Choci & The Geezer - Silver Box (VCF)
14. DJ Riddler - Riddle Me This (Public House)
15. Greenforce - Afro Acid (Acid Test)
16. Cortex - Cuba (Xy2)
17. Bang The Future - Atomik Lullaby (GBT)
18. Propulsion - Without Fear (Mesh)

It's just more of the same turbo-charged head-bashing stuff, a tribute to the mid to late 90's London squat party/underground club scene that I was so into. In theory, I'll write a bit more about it when I post the second part, but that remains merely a plan.

Anyways, besides Squat Rocking 2 (which is an acid techno extravaganza), I have either done or am contemplating doing the following mixes:
- Morally Diminished: extreme crate-digging activities, fishing out stuff that is pretty old and then combining it into a cohesive(sort of) whole. I've mixed the first one, which is house/tech-house/whatever, and will theoretically upload it at some point this week. The second one will be melodic techno but I haven't actually mixed it yet, or even worked out a tracklist for it (although I do have twenty records pulled out for it).
- Rampage Teknikal: The return of my old series of techno mixes. After a year off from buying tunes, I've recently started spending money on records again. Perhaps unwisely. I have tunes for two new mixes, and one will be techno and the other electro (mullets ahoy!).
- A mix of old and very fast European hardtrance. And a mix of old and very fast UK hardtrance. Why not?
- A slower mix of old European hardtrance called, fittingly, Eurotrash. This one is already done, but just needs to be uploaded. Also finished is Dreadnaut, which is one long ode to the hoover.
- Another old dnb mix. Maybe.
- Maximalism Part 2. Same as the first one basically, a smorgasborg of techno, acid, hard trance, and whatever else is to hand.

Also, you should check out Frank McGahon's new music blog. Get the Masters At Work mix, it's lovely!

Pearsall - Maximalism Part 1

2006-01-06T17:40:00.001Z

Whether anyone actually checks this any more, I dunno, but here's a new mix of stuff for your enjoyment. It's actually all old tunes, but whatever. I apologize for how garbled my writing is, but I've had a couple of months off from blogging.

Pearsall - Maximalism Part 1 (MP3, 69 minutes, 95.4 MB, 192 kbps)

01. Mark One - Hoovers & Spraycans (Retro)
02. Underground Resistance - Punisher (Underground Resistance)
03. Cyber S - Decadance (Nitric)
04. Wicked Snails - People (X-Trax)
05. Emmanuel Top - Mars (Kai Tracid RMX) (Tracid Traxx)
06. Winnebago Warriors - Trailer Trash (Chris Liberator & The Geezer RMX) (Stay Up Forever RMX)
07. Heckmann - Satan & Deibel (Wavescape)
08. W. Jorg Henze - Domestic Nude (Pocket)
09. Millsart - Step to Enchantment (Axis)
10. Mike Humphries & Glenn Wilson - Aural Exciter (Punish)
11. Martyn Hare - Bang Harder (Chancer)
12. Megamind - Taub (Nukleuz)
13. Geezer - Liquid A (Stay Up Forever)
14. Y.A.G.O. - Acid Traxx (Sigma)
15. Karlton - Terrordome (Lectrolux RMX) (Tec)
16. Three n' One - Reflect (Chris Liberator RMX) (ffRR)
17. Sybren Danz - Dynamic Injection (Well Wicked)
18. E-Razor - Yeti (Technogold)
19. Special Force - The Hype (Gang Go)
20. DJ Randy - Pandomia (Smoke Free DJ Tools)
21. Karim & Phillip Walsh - Technomove Part 2 (Tuff Trax)
22. Madam Zu & Jon Doe - 999 Matrix (Houserockers RMX) (Mohawk)
23. DJ Funk - Fear the World (USA Hard Mix) (Pro-Jex)
24. D.O.M. - Locomotive (Stay Up Forever)
25. Arjuna - Totally Lost It (Cenobite)

I did this mix on Boxing Day for my own entertainment. It's a mish-mash of techno, acid, and hard trance, starting off with some properly old skool hoover techno before moving through some more acidic gear, then into some trancier bits, before culminating in some rather stomping nu-nrg and 'ard tekno and even a bit of ye olde Dutch hardcore (the Arjuna tune at the end). I've tried to mix it up between the UK, continental Europe, and the US in terms of the origins of the tunes, and I've tried to make it flow in a way so that it is not just seventy minutes of the same-old same-old, but something that moves through different sounds and styles while still making sense as a cohesive whole, while still avoiding the dread trap of overly chin-strokey 'radical juxtapositions'.

There's not a huge amount of dj trickery on this mix, the odd bit of cutting and chopping, but for the most part it is fairly standard smooth mixing, just done quite quickly so that I could fire through the tunes. The thing with techno is that it is pretty boring if you just let it go for about five or six minutes, and it is much more entertaining if it is constantly moving and shifting.

This is the sort of stuff I used to dance to when I was younger and, despite being considerably fatter and lazier than I was when I was, say, 17, this is still the sort of music that, when all is said and done, I most enjoy. It has never been, and will never be, the trendiest sound as it is pretty much purely functional four-to-the-floor European rave music. The culture surrounding this stuff has not spawned philosophical/sociological investigations in the way that something like jungle has. I'm not particularly bothered by this, of course. I like the relentlessness of it all, its sincerity (it is daft rave music, but it takes itself seriously, unlike consciously 'ironic' neo-electro).

If you like this sort of stuff, I hope you enjoy this mix!

Pearsall - Silver Dawn

2005-11-17T08:27:00.001Z

Pearsall - Silver Dawn

01. Secrets - Time Travel (Street Beats)
02. J Majik - Arabian Nights (Metalheadz)
03. Photek - Complex (Photek)
04. Kosmos - Liquid Beats (Droppin' Science)
05. E-Z Rollers - Synesthesia (Moving Shadow)
06. Dillinja - In The Mood (Mo' Wax)
07. DJ Trace - Mutant Revisited (Emotif)
08. Paradox - A Certain Sound (Renegade Hardware)
09. Source Direct - The Crane (Source Direct)
10. Dom & Matrix - The Vandal (Moving Shadow)
11. DJ Kane - System (Renegade Hardware)
12. Nasty Habits - 4 Da Cause (Reinforced)
13. The Specialist - Deep & Rolling (Dread)
14. Ed Rush - The Raven (Metalheadz)
15. Trace & Nico - Squadron (No U-Turn Limited)
16. DJ Peshay - On The War Path (Street Beats)
17. Goldie - Jah (Peshay VIP Rollers Remix) (Razor's Edge)
18. Dom & Roland - Hydrolicks (Moving Shadow)
19. MTS - Hard Disk (DJ Zinc Remix) (Juice)
20. Origin Unknown - Truly One Remix (Ram)
21. Dillinja - Silver Blade (Prototype)
22. Rufige Kru - Dark Metal (Metalheadz)

(words tonight)

Re-Upped

2005-11-06T14:08:00.000Z

I've re-upped that wicked Grooverider tape from a United Dance rave in 1994. Go get it.

Something for the Weekend?

2005-10-28T23:02:00.000+01:00

Gotta go out soon, so, having spent much of the evening uploading, here's a monstrous selection of stuff to check out. Don't say I don't spoil you! Btw, I promise that the next post will be non-jungle in orientation (although there's still plenty of tapes to rip).

Grooverider - Live @ Helter Skelter Energy 97 (Side A, Side B)

First up, here's a wicked Grooverider tape from the same tape pack from which I ripped that Andy C tape earlier in the week. Lots of wicked tunes on this one, a much more modern-sounding selection than the previous tape, which is not surprising considering it was three years later; it's also somewhat saddening as this was at the real tail-end of dnb's true fertility. There's a bitter-sweet quality to these tunes for me - on the one hand I absolutely love them (the Andy C remix of 'Circles' that Groove drops on this tape is an all-time favorite), but on the other I know that this was right when the music hit the wall in terms of formula. By the year after this the sounds had barely budged from the stuff featured on this tape, after years of hyperspeed development, and that was it, jungle/drum n' bass's golden era was over. Of course, today it is more popular worldwide than ever, and dnb has established itself globally - there are now dnb scenes literally around the world. What was once, almost literally, purely a London sound is now international and, in a sense, this international market is now what drives it. It's great that it's taken off to the degree it has (and it's cool that people like Dillinja are now making pretty decent change off of the music); nothing makes me happier. Still, though, I can barely listen to the modern stuff, not because it is bad per se, just that it's no better, and often worse, than the sort of stuff Grooverider was playing when this tape was recorded eight years ago.

Dr S Gachet - Live @ Dreamscape 27 (Side A, Side B)

Here's a tape from a Dreamscape NYE party, with AWOL legend Dr S Gachet. Pretty decent tape (although there's better to come from the pack). Enjoy (I really have to go out, or I'd add some more).

Back On Track

2005-10-25T23:01:00.000+01:00

As you can see, brand new look to this place. Since I've been away for so long, I figured it could do with a sprucing up. So, in the same stylee as Pearsall's Books (but with different colors), here it is.

Grooverider - United Dance @ The Rocket, London, 1994 (Side A, Side B)

The first item on the agenda is another tape rip, to go with yesterday's Andy C tape. This one is an absolutely awesome tape that I have absolutely no idea when I got it. As you can see from the image of the tape above, my actual physical copy is pretty badly beaten. All that I know for sure about this tape is that it was recorded sometime late in 1994 at a United Dance rave at The Rocket, which is the University of North London's student union on the Holloway Road in North London. This is probably one of my favorite tapes ever, and if you don't enjoy this, you need your head examined. It's Grooverider at the absolute height of his powers, dropping an absolute onslaught of hardstep classics, including 'Arsonist', 'The Angels Fell', 'Your Sound', 'Renegade Snares', and 'Lighter', amongst others. Awe-inspiring.

DJ SS - United (Grooverider Remix) - An absolute awesome remix by Groove of an SS tune. Rolling breaks, layers upon layers of them, undergird a solid rocking bass and spacey sounds, alternating snatches of incomprehensible female vocal interspersed with odd little sounds riding the gloriously choppy Amen breaks. Simple but superb.

Higher Sense - Cold Fresh Air (Remix) - Magical 1994 release from Moving Shadow. Sweetly sparkling melodies drop into deep sea bass pressure, the lightness giving way to an explosion of churning drum-led darkness, before switching back again (and back to the darkness again after that). One of the finest jungle records ever released. A truly inspirational record.

Dillinja - Brutal Bass - Always overshadowed by the two tunes it shared a release with, the all-time dancefloor classics 'Jah Know Ya Big' and 'The Angels Fell', this tune has held up remarkably well over the years. Far less immediate than the other two, this tune features some shuffly breaks and a few little sound effects, but nothing of the same dancefloor pummeling feel of the drums in the other two tracks featured tonight, but what it does have, in industrial quantities, is bass. This tune seems to be mostly about Dillinja testing out his ability to drop ridiculous basslines one after the other. If you have love bass (and you have understanding neighbors) you'll dig this tune.

New Projects

2005-10-24T23:27:00.000+01:00

Obviously, I put this blog on the back burner for several months, so, for anyone wandering back who doesn't also read my main blog (for which I've been finding decreasing motivation recently), you might be curious as to what I'm doing in London. Well, I decided to come back to London to go back to graduate school, and so I came back. This has also involved moving back in with my parents, which is somewhat pathetic at the age of 25 after having been gone for (more or less) six years, but if I can avoid paying London rents while I do this course, I see no reason not to.

One of the nice things about going home again, though, is being able to go through all of your old crap. In particular, what has been nice has been finding lots of my old rave tapes. So, since I am not feeling imaginative, but I am feeling generous, I have decided to rip these to mp3 out of a sense of general communal solidarity. We start today with a wicked Andy C tape from 1997.

Here's a scan of the tape pack cover (click for a full-size image):

Front

Back

Andy C - Live @ Helter Skelter Energy 97 (Side A, Side B)

As you'll see, this is not massively different from my own mix in the previous post, a pretty similar vibe all in all. I do have plenty more to come, having found all kinds of old jungle/dnb tapes, as well as some of yer proper gabba and hardcore techno! If anyone could let me know about the sound quality of this rip, I'd appreciate that too, as I spent a bit of time fiddling with the eq's on Soundforge to make it sound a little crisper as the tape, unsurprisingly, has degraded over time.

Pearsall - Firestorm

2005-10-19T03:30:00.001+01:00

Yeah, it's been a ridiculously long time since I actually posted on this blog, but I'm back now, baby! To kick it off, here's a fresh mix of old stuff:

Pearsall - Firestorm

01. Tribe of Issachar feat. Top Cat - Champion Natty (Congo Natty)
02. MA3 - Those DJ's (Formation)
03. Prisoners of Technology - Trick of Technology Remix (Fresh Kutt)
04. Ganja Kru - Plague That Never Ends (Parousia)
05. DJ Red - Enta Da Dragon (Trouble On Vinyl)
06. Secret Weapon - Strange Dayz (Protocol)
07. DJ Die - Play It For Me (V Recordings)
08. Mask - Splurt (Dope Dragon)
09. Vinyl Syndicate - Man of Steal (Urban Takeover)
10. DJ Krust - Warhead (V Recordings)
11. Shanie - (You're Gonna) Miss My Face (Dillinja RMX) (Cyba)
12. Mampi Swift - Hi-Tek (Charge)
13. DJ Stretch - Do Or Die (Reinforced)
14. DJ Zinc feat. MC GQ - Bring the Danger (True Playa'z)
15. Substance - Rebuke You (Breakbeat Culture)
16. Renegade - Dark Soldier (Dread)
17. S.I.R. - The Fast Lane (Prohibition)
18. Gang Related & Mask - Tear It Up (Dope Dragon)
19. Smokey Joe - Freakin' With The Cut (Remix) (Smoker's Inc)
20. Alibi & Leo - The Don (Foundation)
21. Freestyles - Play The Game (True Playa'z)
22. Jay-Dee - Vocal Acrobatics (Mecca)
23. Origin Unknown - Lunar Bass (Ram)
24. Dillinja - Unexplored Terrain (V Recordings)
25. Dillinja - Thugs (Test)
26. Micky Finn & Aphrodite - Badass (Urban Takeover)
27. Ellis Dee feat. MC Fats - 97 Style (Saturday Night Mix) (Collusion)

When I first got into jungle in 1995 it was like being hit by a comet. I'd always been into science fiction, technology, all that kind of stuff, and suddenly, BOOM, here was the future in musical form. I'd been sort of aware of jungle for about a year, because you'd hear it flicking through the dials on the radio, sudden bursts of kinetic energy from the pirate stations, but I'd never really paid much attention to it. I was into heavy metal and punk and dance music, all dance music, was 'stupid fucking computer music' that 'doesn't take any talent to make'. Eventually, though, I became curious and started listening to the pirates. And the change was sudden, like a religious conversion. In a matter of weeks, I went from laughing at it as 'crackhead music' to, quite literally, listening to nothing else. I started saving up for decks and started spending pretty much everything I could scrounge up on my weekly pilgrimages to the basement of Blackmarket Records in Soho.

How devoted was I? Well, I didn't actually buy lunch at school in my last three years! My parents gave me £2 a day to buy lunch, but that was £10 a week...why spend that on food when that would buy you two twelves? So, I'd just have an apple or a banana that I'd brought from home, and then have a bowl of cereal when I got home.

Ten years later, jaded and all that, it's pretty difficult to imagine how passionate I once was about jungle. I used to daydream in class about everything that was coming out, scheming ways to get my hands on the latest white labels (at Blackmarket all the promos were kept under the counter, and it was all down to their mood as to whether they'd hook you up). This was before broadband, so it was a lot more difficult to keep track of all the dubplates floating around...today you can find out what a track is within a few minutes or, at worst, a couple of hours. Back then I used to phone up the pirate stations and beg them to tell me what particularly awesome tunes were.

What did I love so much about jungle? I guess the main thing, what really turned me on, was that at the time it seemed like the possibilities were literally endless. The music was changing and evolving seemingly at warp speed, and just by going into the record stores on a weekly basis and listening to all the new releases, or going up to Camden to pick up tape packs, you could chart out the development of the music, how new styles and new ideas were constantly forcing themselves to the forefront of peoples' minds. To someone like me, who'd previously been into punk/hardcore which, let's face it, changes at a glacial pace, this incredible fertility, this constant mutation, was just unbelievably exciting. Jungle/drum & bass seemed to offer everything, from light as a feather LTJ Bukem-style chilled tunes to ridiculous rave mayhem from the jump-up crew to the techstep/darkside tunes which sounded...well, like angry alien robots destroying the earth. It was an incredible time, like nothing I've experienced before or since with music.

The amazing thing about this music is how minimal it is, and yet so rich; some of the very greatest tunes, like DJ Krust's 'Warhead' that I've used here, consist of literally nothing besides drums and bass, and yet the producers were able to twist these basic elements into so many wonderful forms. This mix, and the darker follow-up that will be posted soon, is sort of an attempt on my part to showcase the broad horizons of jungle, the incredible voodoo magic that the producers could wrest from their samplers and computers.

This particular mix is mostly jump-up jungle. Why was it called 'jump-up'? Well, because it made you want to jump up and down in the rave! Pretty obvious, huh? I've tried to program it in a way that the transitions between the different styles work well, that they make sense as a whole to the listener, that as it transitions between some of the spikier party tunes to the more deep and minimal rollers and to the more abrasive hard-hitting stuff it all captures that sort of vibe that was particular to the era.

I hope you enjoy it!

Wednesday Night Music Extravaganza (Pt. 2)

2005-07-21T02:35:00.000+01:00

Grime:

Newham Generals - The Anthem - I'm posting three tracks from the awe-inspiring, drool-inducing Lord of the Decks 3 dvd/cd extravaganza. Footsie is, as usual, just sort of ok, D Double sounds like he's trying to swallow his own throat (as always), there's a girl singing 'Newham Generaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal" in a true rave diva style (which is always a nice touch), a tastefully choppy beat, and an eerie, unsettling vibe. Quality.

Ruff Sqwad - Freestyle - Ridiculous beat on this one. Everyone ends their line with "an' ting" which gets a bit annoying, but the main thing on this tune is the absolutely stupidly awe-inspiring beat. Listening to this tune on headphones it sounds like the bass is strafing your ear drums, like the ghost of King Tubby has been reanimated and he has accessed top secret government sonic weapons. Or something. I can't even imagine hearing this on a big system. It would probably cave my chest in. Just awesome. Nice synth horns as well.

Skepta - Single - Skepta does some sex lyrics over the top of Wiley's 'Ice Cream Man' riddim. Skepta has come out of nowhere (as an mc, at least) in the last six months and managed to hurtle to the top rank of mc's in London, following his brother JME. Simon Silverdollar isn't convinced, but I think he's really good. Big bars and all that. Lots of charisma on the radio, and he completely wrecks this tune.

But where did grime come from? Well, it came from UK garage, jungle (which itself came from early 90's breakbeat rave), Jamaican dancehall, and American rap. Since I'm feeling generous, I'm going to hook you lovely people up with two tracks from each of these genres.

Dancehall:

Bounty Killer - Warlord - Bounty over the Warlord Riddim. Lots of odd little sound effects are chucked into the mix, while the dude does his gravel-throated thing over the top. Half the time I have no clue what the hell he's saying, but it's always a compelling confusion.

General Degree & Lady Saw - Who Badda - Propulsive stuff from General Degree (no idea who he is) and the first lady of dancehall, Lady Saw, off the Ragga Ragga Ragga 9 compilation, which I think I picked up in 97 or 98, or something like that.

Jungle:

DJ Zinc - Super Sharp Shooter - Unstoppable jungle classic. I'm assuming that most of you will have heard this at some point, but here it is anyways. Slow start "the s, the u, the p the e the r", slow break with squealing p-funk keyboard line over and throbbing bass underneath, then the drop comes in......phew. Ferocious tear-out Amen drums and wobbling bass, and the whole thing keeps changing up, cycling through different drum cycles, from rolling to tearing, and the bass chops and changes, one moment wobbling and twisting (like a plate of jelly being carried down a mountain), the next subbier and throbbier (is that a word? you know what I mean!). One of the greatest jungle tracks of all time.

DMS & The Boneman X - Sweet Vibrations - Classic '94 business. This is the one with the ragga sample saying "push up ya lighter in the air". There are so many things right with this tune. A simple rolling break that is still complex enough to hold your interest. A slow, rumbling dub bassline that sets off the breaks perfectly; if you want to, you can dance like a nut to the drums, or you can bob and sway to the bassline. Nice strings, too (I'm a sucker for that classic mid-90's synth string sound).

Old Skool Hardcore:

DJ Hype - Shot in the Dark (Gunshot Mix) - The legendary DJ Hype with a murky dark side classic. A weird multi-layered beat, echoing and choppy. This is definitely from the period when the drugs were just not fun any more. Odd breakdown, with a disembodied ragga voice singing over...I'm not sure. It sounds like a robot breaking down. Strange. Nice descending bass in the second breakdown too, to accompany the dying fax machine. I was too young for this stuff in the clubs, but I can't imagine how weird it must have sounded after all the goofy cheer that had earlier characterized rave music. There's a great scratched up riff that comes in at about the 3-minute mark.

Phuture Assassins - Roots n' Future (Altern8 Dark Future Remix) - In which the classic reggae/hardcore crossover track gets a re-rub from Altern8. Less dark than the other one. An odd mix of reggae elements and pop-puppilled rave madness, but still lots of fun.

Rap:

Gza - Swordsman - Classic tune off of Liquid Swords, which is probably my favorite rap album ever. From when the Wu were still trying. Awe-inspiring. The Wu-Tang Clan are almost certainly the most famous cultural phenomena to ever come out of Staten Island, and it's quite funny how they are often the only thing that people know about New York's forgotten borough. When I was coming back from a visit to London last July I got picked out of the check-in line to get my bags searched, and the guy who was doing the search, upon finding out I was from New York, was eager to know if Staten Island "is really like the Wu says". He was pretty surprised when I told him that it's mostly middle-class and white, except for a couple of neighborhoods on the northern part of the island.

The Beatnuts - Reign of the Tec - This is off their 1993 album Intoxicated Demons, and it's straight-up New York gangsta rap. I don't have much else to say about this tune, besides the fact that it's good. I think the whole Dipset thing is kind of cool, but New York's rap scene is producing way less good stuff today than a decade ago.

UK Garage:

Maxwell D - Bun Dem - I wasn't really into UKG that much, but some of it was pretty decent. This is one of those tunes. Maxwell D doing his ragga chat over a bass-heavy 2-step beat. Nice and nasty, much better than sugary-sweet horseshit like that godawful 'Sweet Like Chocolate' tune, which always made me want to kill myself.

Sticky feat. Miss Dynamite - Booo! - Most of you should know this tune. Classic Sticky beat with Miss Dynamite alternately singing and doing the bad gal ragga thing over a small lake's worth of bass. Miss Dynamite was another victim of the UK urban music industry's tendency to take anyone with talent and make them do really boring rnb/hip-hop hybrids. I mean, listen to this, and then think back to that godawful 'it takes more' tune...what the hell happened there?

Tuesday Night 's Uncool Selection

2005-07-20T04:30:00.000+01:00

Armand van Helden - Alienz - Ridiculously cheesy, yet great fun wobbly bass house. Stoooopid vocal sample? Check. Junglistic bassline? Check. Total, utter lack of subtlety? Check. More fun than a month's worth of fuckin micro-house? Yes, yes, and thrice yes.

The House Crew - We Are Hardcore - Total and utter classic old skool ardkore. Pianos, chipmunk vocal sample, simple break, primitive stabby noises - it's all here, and it's all beautiful.

DJ Misjah & DJ Tim - Access - Untouchable acid techno-trance classic. There is nothing to beat the sheer joy of several screaming 303 lines all converging in a state of sheer ecstatic madness.

Choci - Death to Ambient - Stomping acid trance. Ridiculously fast, ridiculously awesome. Fun fact: Choci was once jailed for football-related violence.

The Slim Thug Album

2005-07-17T04:55:00.000+01:00

It's actually really good isn't it? Better than the Mike Jones, anyways.

Slim Thug ft. Pusha T - Click-Clack - Gangsta stuff, but nice crispy beat with weird anorexic siren sound, gun clicks, crispy percussion, and thumping bass. Niceness.

I'm going to try and update this blog more regularly, as I've fallen off a bit since I got the taste back for hammering out the material on Pearsall's Books. I guess I'll just up a few tunes or maybe a set every day. Sound good?

Here's some old jungle bizness:

DJ Crystl - The Dark Crystal - Darkside epic from 1994. Compared to the space age production clarity of the Slim Thug tune, this sounds positively medieval in comparison. Ah, the speed at which music technology advances. Brooding, melancholy strings (think of the ice cave on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back) over curly Amen breaks and deep sea sub bass and classic 'tempo has reached critical level' robo-chick vocal sample. A simple formula that has been used so many thousands of times, but so fantastic. From the period before junglists completely abandoned e, has that queasy "end of the dream" feel to it. What happened to DJ Crystl anyways? He made some of the all-time greatest 'artcore' tunes, and then he seemed to vanish. It'd be great to see a junglist 'where are they now' article written up by someone.

New Blood - Worries in the Dance - Inescapably classic '94 ragga jungle anthem. I can't even begin to fathom how many times I've heard this tune over the years. On London pirate radio in 1994 when I started to really listen to jungle, this tune was inescapable. Rolling breaks and a collage of ragga-centric samples. Music best heard with your head drilled into a bass cone, but still good through headphones in a Queens living room on a Saturday evening.

Skyscraper - The Difference - This is off a '96 compilation that SOUR put out called 'Nu Skool Flava', which was reasonably cool. I'm pretty sure this tune was by DJ Trace, it certainly sounds like a vintage '96 No U-Turn studios production. Concussive two-step break that switches up ever four bars, a rap sample that sounds like KRS-One saying "I'm the difference between indo and oregano", mid-range digital thrash metal bassline, an entire galaxy of echo, with the odd snatch of strings or strange mechanical sound thrown in to keep it simmering. Simon Reynolds blames this sort of stuff for ruining jungle, and yeah he's right, but God damn was it good while it lasted.

Reggaetonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

2005-07-13T04:42:00.000+01:00

Since I've been so busy at the main blog, I've shamefully neglected hooking you people up.

Since I moved back to New York City, my thoughts on reggaetong have proceeded along the following path:
- "What is this shit?"
- "I guess it's kind of ok."
- "I actually kind of like it."
- "Jesus, why am I now listening to this stuff as much as I am?"
- "I guess I do actually like it."

It's not like hugely life-changing, it's certainly way less inventive than grime, but at least it's better than baile funk. I obviously don't have any idea as to what they are saying, almost ever, but booty is, I'm guessing, the main topic of conversation.

Nashaly y Voltio - Desespero

Wisin y Yandel - Rakata

Zion y Lennox - Me Arrepiento

I Done Fell Off

2005-06-29T05:01:00.000+01:00

Unorthodox Family & Nasty Crew on DJ Cameo's Pirate Sessions June 12th 2005 - Featuring the awesomely awesome Miss No Lay. This chick is amazing.

Also, check out Luca's interview with the Loganator of Sama at Riddim.

And the blog of Rinse FM's DJ Lioness, where you can download some sweet instrumental sets.