Category Archives: All Label Mix

All Label Mix, Cross Genre, Ear & Drum Session, Old Skool

31 Seconds Part 1 – Ear & Drum Session 14

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Doc Scott’s 31 Records is a seminal label in D&B. It has released so many classics down the years with tunes like Shadow Boxing, Liquid Fingers, Mechanics and Deadline all becoming synonymous with defining their various genres. 31 is also the label that launched Pendulum onto the world with the almighty Vault, a track that has had more rewinds than you’ve had hot dinners.

When 31 Records first hit the scene I bought everything they put out. With artists like Dom & Roland, MIST, Optical, Digital, Nasty Habits and Klute on board it was pretty much impossible to pass up on a release. I unfortunately missed out on a lot of the later output on the label until A Bunch Of Cuts opened up its MP3 store and laid down the entire back catalogue of 31. I couldn’t resist, I had to down the credit card and start filling in all the holes in my collection.

This mix is the first in a 3 part series covering the early days of 31 Records. Part 2 & 3 will cover the middle and later part of the labels history. What you get in this mix are the choons that made 31 Records a must have label for every self respecting D&B DJ. Tracks like Chilling Out, Prototyped, Technology, The End Part I and Part II, Liquid Fingers, Deadline and of course Shadow Boxing stamped 31 Records as one of THE premier labels in the mid to late 90’s.

Even though these tracks cross all sorts of genres they all have a distinctive 31 sound. A futuristic and technological edginess that always made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and the dance floor go mental. This one goes out to Doc Scott and his merry men for leaving a legacy 99% of labels can only dream of creating.

 

31 Seconds Part 1 – 1hr of 31 Records early masterpieces

Deep Blue – Immersion
Optical – The End Part I
Octave One – Chillin’ Out (Deleted Mix)
Dom & Roland – Mechanics
Octave One – Chillin’ Out ’94
Nasty Habits – Liquid Fingers (Goldie Remix)
Fortran – The End Part II
Dom & Roland – Prisms
MIST – Dreamworld
Klute – Song Seller
Klute – Dawn of Reason
Nasty Habits – Shadow Boxing
Nasty Habits – Prototyped
Digital – Deadline
Octave One – Technology
Total Science – Get It On

2008, All Label Mix, Hard D&B, Old Skool, Requested Archive, Tech Step

Prototypical – Jungletrain Session 191

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Prototype recordings is one of those labels that chose quality over quantity. With artist like Photek, Dillinja, John B, Boymerang, Ed Rush & Optical and Bad Company on your books you are bound to making some pretty hot music. Add to this Grooverider selecting the tracks, running the label and producing under his Codename John alias and you’ve got one of the best D&B labels ever!

With derivative production becoming the norm, we need labels like Prototype. D&B needs labels who don’t imitate sounds or styles, but rather blaze their own trail of unique music. Prototype haven’t had a release for almost 5 years now, but I still hold out hope that one day Grooverider with blow the dust of his old label and start releasing some more groundbreaking tracks.

This mix covers from 1994 through to 2000, but they did release up to 2004 with smash after smash. Tunes like One Nation, Subway, Still and Locust set the standards when first released, and other labels scrambled to get ‘that sound’. Grooverider toured relentlessly to bring the Prototype sound to the four corners of the globe, and for me it was his golden era.

 

Prototypical •• 1hr of Prototype Recordings 1994-2000

Codename John – Deep Inside
Codename John – Dreams of Heaven
Photek – One Nation
Cybertron feat. Dillinja – Threshold
Ed Rush – Subway
John B – Secrets
Boymerang – Still
Dillinj – Silver Blade
Ed Rush, Optical & Fierce – Alien Girl
Ed Rush, Optical & Fierce – Cutslo (Locust Remix)
Ed Rush & Fierce – Locust
Codename John – Inta The Anthem (Special Forces Remix)
Bad Company – The Pulse

All Label Mix, Cross Genre, Requested Archive

Commercially Suicidal – Phuturefreq Session 47

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Another old mix from the vaults, this time from 2005. 

Commercial Suicide is Klute’s label (if you didn’t already know) and hence something special. Klute’s production is always of a ridiculously high quality, and he brings this ear for quality to his label’s output too. With artists such as AI, Break, Ill Skills, Silent Witness, Bullet Proof and the mighty Amit on his books you just know that almost every Commercial Suicide release is going to be worth buying on sight.

At the time when this mix came out there was some contention about whether doing an all label mix was ‘good for the label’, with some saying that people wouldn’t buy the tracks if they could just download them for free in a mix such as this. However Klute, being the old punk that he is, weighed into the debate to say that he basically didn’t give a fuck.

Seeing as he was so kind as to back me up on this can I just say that if you like what you hear in this mix then do go and buy the latest stuff and even the older albums that are still available. I don’t cover half the great music that has been released on the label in this mix and it is only by supporting them that they can stay afloat to keep providing us with more great music in the future.

 

Commercially Suicidal – 2hrs or Commercial Suicide Recordings

Klute – Now Always Forever (Calibre RMX)
AI – Soul Good
Klute – Galaxian
Klute – Ether
Klute – Now Always Forever
Klute – Oshima
Klute & Marcus Intalex – Make a Stand
Klute – Crosby
Klute – Saviour
AI – Switched On
Klute – Lost Connection
Ill Skills & Bullet Proof – Shadowplay
Klute – Hell Hath no Fury
Klute – Traffico
Klute – Tacky
Klute – Take a Breath
Klute – Time for a Change
Amit – Sound Warrior
Klute – Silently
Amit – Roots
Silent Witness & Break – Flipped Out
Klute – Learning Curve
Amit – Village Folk
Klute – Ferrox
Ill Skills & Bullet Proof – Hardwired
DJ Trace & Tactile – Body Move
Klute – Junk
Klute – Jam the Box
Amit – Re-Order
Silent Witness & Break – Trippy
Amit – MK Ultra

All Label Mix, Ear & Drum Session, Liquid D&B, Melodic

Rolled Gold – Ear & Drum Session 9

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This is just as much a review as a mix, as I focus on the amazing label Golden Orb. This label has been up and running for about a year now and already they are up to release number nine. The fact that I could find an hours worth of quality music to fill a mix is a real testimony to the quality control set down by those at Golden Orb.

Operon, the labels manager, pricked up my ears with release one which had the madly funky Inside Man on it and from there the label has never looked back. The artist roster has some better know producers such as DJ Clart and Melbourne’s ATP, but the label isn’t shy with breaking new talent. They have a string of producers I’d never heard of, but who I will be keeping a serious ear out for in the future.

The best way I can describe their sound is a cross between the golden age of the ‘intelligent’ Moving Shadow releases (think Storm From The East), Good Looking and Fokus recordings. Even though Golden Orb has all these similar elements, they still manage to have a distinct and unique sound which is both lush and deep all at the same time.

Their last two releases, the Eastern Promises EPs, sees them toughening up their sound quite substantially with Invisible Landscape’s – First is Forever and Shebuzzz’ – In Infinity clear standouts. In Infinity is what can only be described as an out and out Amen spanker and is a dead cert for making the floor go mad.

If you like what you hear in this mix please give them your support by buying their stuff from .

 

Rolled Gold – 1hr mix of Golden Orb Digital

D-Fect – The Dayz
Cutworks – Alone in the Silence
ATP – Montego Funk
ATP – Struggle
Koritsa – Mine (Infuzoria Mix)
ATP – Soho Lament
DJ Clart – So Selfish
Intelligent Manners – Showtime
Command Strange – Goa
Flirt with Dirt – Taken to Reverie
D-Fect & Crix – All I Ever
Operon – Inside Man
Invisible Landscape – First is Forever
Shebuzzz – In Infinity

All Label Mix, Ear & Drum Session, Jump Up, Old Skool

Tru To Form – Ear & Drum Session 7

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One of the labels I have invested the most time & money into down the years is True Playaz. DJs Hype, Pascal & Zinc between them amassed a huge amount of THE best Jump Up tunes between 1995 to 2002. Whether united as the Ganja Kru, or producing under their separate identities, the Tru Playaz label always represented firing beats, funky riffs, hip-hop samples and always mashed together with a phat Jump Up bass line.

Their massive output over this time is amazing considering how high they kept the quality of the music. Albums like Still Smoking, Real Vibes and Playaz4Real offered great value because they always contained way more hits than misses on them, and the string of great EPs on True Playaz is too long to list here.

I think Jump Up today has lost it a bit. Making the as track loud and noisy as possible seems more important that making it funky, and the fun and the good vibe seems to be lacking. But during the golden age of Jump Up, this label really did live up to it’s name and was a True Playa.

 

2hrs of Jump Up classics from the True masters

DJ Zinc – The Source
DJ Hype – True Playa’z Anthem
DJ Zinc – Super Sharp Shooter (Short & Sharp Version)
DJ Zinc – Fugees or Not
Ganja Kru – Magic
Ganja Kru – Plague That Never Ends
Ganja Kru – Forbidden Fruit
DJ Nut Nut – The Finest
Ganja Kru – Science
DJ Hype – Closer To God
DJ Hype – Only One Life (Ganja Kru Remix)
DJ Hype – Musically Dope (Ganja Kru Remix)
Freestyles – Come Back
Pascal – P-Funk 2000
Freestyle – God Intendend
Ganja Kru – You Belong To Me
Pascal – Rollplay
DJ Red – Everything Has Changed (Remix)
Pascal – Keep It Real
Fellowship – Dark Flower Remedy
DJ Zinc – Casino Royal
DJ Hype – Help Me
DJ Hype – Dead A’s
DJ Zinc – Reach Out (Remix)
DJ Zinc – Ska
DJ Zinc – Pitcher
The Outfit – Cleancut
DJ Zinc – Freenote

All Label Mix, Hard D&B, Requested Archive, Tech Step

Underfire Storm – Jungletrain Session 133

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Recently reformed as a label and still sounding good Underfire have had a massive influence on the scene ever since the Infantry EP hit hard and heavy. Stakka, Skynet and K-Tee are still big in the game and whilst everybody knows about the Clockwork LP my favourite release from this label is still the Blazing album.

When Blazin’ arrived no one had heard THAT sound before, but the Z-plane filter soon became a D&B favourite. Akai samplers fell out of favour and everybody was breaking their necks to get themselves an E-MU.

Find out what all the fuss was, and still is, about with this review of Underfire classics.

Underfire Storm – 1hr of Underfire badnesssss

Kraken – Illusions
Spy – Z-Plane
Kraken – Side Effects
Kraken – Meatball
Stakka & K-Tee – Synthesis
Profound Noise – Luminous
Hard Evidence – Mindfield
Kraken – Analogue Spikes
Spy – Vapour
Profound Noise – Synthesis RMX
Skynet & Stakka – Nu Level RMX
Stakka & Skynet – Clockwork
Stakka & Skynet – Timelines
Stakka & Skynet feat Friction – Altitude
Stakka & Skynet – Clockwork RMX
Stakka & Skynet feat K-Tee – So Confused

All Label Mix, Chill Out, Deep D&B, Melodic, Requested Archive

Earthlings – Jungletrain Session 199

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Earth Records was Bukem’s off shoot label for rare-groove based music. Although a lot of the compilations that came out under the Earth banner didn’t have a lot of D&B on them, the D&B tracks they did have were amazing and sublime.

Bukem’s own Constellations with DRS on vocals sets the tone for the mix, but big back-in-the-day artists like Blame, Crystal, Addiction, Phunky Technicians & Doc Scott all make this a listening pleasure.

Don’t just stand there, chill out. 

Earthlings – 1hr of Earth Recordings

LTJ Bukem – Constellations
Pablo – Do What You Gotta Do
Appaloosa – Traveling
Blame – Revival
Intense – Flashback
Vincent – Scythe (Studio Mix)
DJ Crystal – Mind Games
DJ Addiction – Senses
PHD & The Funky Technicians – Above & Beyond
Words 2B Heard Meets Ad-Ill (Planet Invasion) – Con-Quest
Doc Scott – Tokyo Dawn

All Label Mix, Deep D&B, Liquid D&B, Melodic, Requested Archive

Sharp Fokuz – Jungletrain Session 134

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A cheeky Sea Monkey reminded me that this set was a corker and well worth going in the request pile. It’s an all Fokuz Recordings showcase, so if you like their sound you’ll like this.

Fokuz have been coming on strong in the last 12 months to forge a sound that is both deep, melodic and firing. For me nothing sounds quite like this label and I’ve been itching to put together a mix of their sound for quite a while. With the release of their Treasures from the Deep LP the time is right to lay down a hours worth of pure melodic class.

Big ups to the Fokuz peeps for letting me mix this one up (yes I did ask permission) and big ups to all their artists for consistently putting out tracks I can’t resist buying on site. My only grumble is that I don’t have as much of their stuff as I’d like too.

If you know the label you’ll enjoy this, if you don’t know the label then now is a perfect opportunity to catch up on what you’ve been missing.

 

Sharp Fokuz – 1hr of beats from the deep

Implex – The Shape of Time
Unit One – Two Spirits
Spinor – Revenge
Bcee & Lomax – Letting Go
Icicle – That Tune
Aorta – Love, Hope & Future (Bcee & Lomax RMX)
Psidream – Inner Strength
Mathematics & FX 909 – How I Love You
Autumn & ICR – Yesterday
Greeley & Lomax – Can’t Wait 4U
Spinor – Deep Blue
Icicle – Can’t Be
Icicle – Magnetism
J Cut – The Beginning
Mathematics & FX 909 – How I Love You
Mav – God of Speed

All Label Mix, Hard D&B, Requested Archive

Headz Up – Jungletrain Session 196

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This is an old Jungletrain Session from Aug 2008 that focussed on the Metalheadz label. ‘Hotei’ from a basement somewhere has asked for a re-up.

This is mainly a tribute to Sine Tempus, the Goldie album engineered by Tech Itch three years ago that has only just recently seen the light of day. It seems to have created a bit of a love it or hate it reaction amongst the Headz fans. 

Personally, I love it, even though the album does sound like it was produced in 2005. It’s a bit rough and ready, but that is why I like it. No one is writing epic tracks like Let It Go at the moment, or heavy Sci-Fi beats like on Rhythm Killa. 

So with this is mind I went looking for some of the other hidden gems from the Metalheadz recent back catalogues and found some amazing music that I had pretty much over looked for other ‘bigger’ tracks at the time. A lot of these come from the under-rated Winter of Content and Headhunterz comps which came out around 2005-6. Artists like Break, Spirit, Physics, Blame and Commix all come at the Metalheadz sound from their own unique perspectives. 

 

Headz Up •• 1hr of modern day Metalhead 

Goldie – Truez String
Goldie – Letting Go
Physics – Murder Dub
Commix – Emily’s Smile
Commix – Be True
Blame – Inside Heart
Commix – Broken Man
Goldie – Rhythm Killa
Break – Void Dweller
Sense – Sobotage
Goldie – Something About You
Spirit – Re-Dial
Goldie – Say You Love Me