On reflection this selection is
heavily breakbeat oriented with less representation than you might expect of
the straight ahead r'n'b-flavoured uk-garage, and no 4x4 tracks. Maybe I'm falling
prey to a perceived "Big Beat-ization" of uk-garage.
Many will object to the almost juvenile drooling over Old Skool and its recycling
into 2 Step which is so prevalent at the moment and to which I am clearly not
immune. But fuck it, these are great tunes and I for one don't care much if
I offend people's sensibilities by getting into some fabulous and apparently
obsolete music whose appeal is created as much by nostalgia as by excitement
at the recycling of now-historical material.
Just as Congo Natty excels in danceability where too much modern drum'n'bass
dissolves into self-referential trick-nology, yet is vilified for being retro,
so the jump-up excitement of "breakbeat garage" is too-often dismissed as comic
book and not "propah", when instead it's deeply linked with the electro-soul
of mainstream garage.
While there's an enthusiasm here for the beat-driven and banging, it is set
against a background of mainstream garage which is far more r'n'b- and vocal-flavoured,
and which I still adore -- I just haven't been buying much recently.
So don't think that the muscular tunes here represent a retreat from Soul. It's still here.
1. DJ Zinc -- Untitled (Bingo
Promo)
On the flip of the promo for "Jammin'" is this astounding piece of spacey breakbeat
that seems to work at every tempo from trip hop to jungle. Slotted into a breakbeat
garage set it adds a unique vibe of deepness with ferocity. It's simultanously
old skool in the use of the breaks, and futuristic because there hasn't really
been a garage record like this before. And it's deep. It's excellent.
2. The Bomb Squad -- No Dub /
Bad Acid (Big Kid Productions)
Two absolutely blinding breakbeat garage slammers pressed really LOUD on concrete-like
vinyl. No Dub is a smokey Louisiana funk 2 Step headnodder in the vein of It's
A New Dawn or Section 13's mix of Freak The Funk, with delicious southern soul-jazz
vocals and mighty set of Hammond licks. It's both understated and rocking at
the same time. The flip is possibly even better -- a raging darkside paranoia
track with a lovely twisted voice-over sample and superb junglistic programmed
breaks and hardcore bass. You know you need this.
3. De'Souza Feat. Marcelle Dupree
-- Keep It Comin' -- Dem 2 Twist Up Dub (Locked On)
Omigod this is SO twisted but it is so sweet and funky too. Subtle cut-up melodies
perfectly intertwine with Class-A labyrinthine steppin' beats that retain their
R'n'B bitter-sweetness. Yet the hook is a massive distorted wailing noise that
you just don't expect on a garage record. This is an extraordinary record. Dem
2 truly are the kings of funky tech-step uk-g.
4. F.O.S. Project -- Check It
-- Zed Bias mix (White)
Oh yes, you'll know this one. Supersharpshooter remade as a breakbeat garage
stormer, this rocks like the best, but has a garage sheen to the beats that
is akin to all but the best-modulated drum'n'bass. Zed Bias adds exemplary discordant
breakdowns, scratchable rap stabs and muscular grooves.
5. Divine Styles -- Directrix
-- Dem 2 vocal mix (Mo Wax)
Suddenly paranoid 80s industrial-funk is jammed into the UK garage blueprint.
It's a fantastic funky rap groove which has mutated into cut-up 2step, with
Dem 2's unsurpassed syncopated dub production glistening all over it. The flip
has a decent Optical mix too.
6. ATFC Feat onephatdeeva --
Bad Habit: Stanton Warriors Mixes (Defected)
I've no idea what the original is like -- probably spangly gliterball house,
though I like a lot of Defected stuff -- but the Stantons' mix is groovy as
you like -- they never disappoint. They create a new breaksy-2Step / luscious
house hybrid in a completely different vein from the r'n'b stylings of MJ Cole
et al. Wicked Moog riffs, distorted funk bass lines and snarling soul vocals
are twisted into a quality cut that plays both sides of the rough / smooth UK
Garage divide.
7. No Artist -- Funkula / Wait
(Doghouse Records)
Funkula is the yummiest, most laidback funk-garage groove that slowly builds
to raging big bass. Wait is a gorgeously discordant gospel soul cut up, which
is just this side of breakbeat / garage divide. No idea who it's by but they're
damned hot.
8. Let It Roll -- White
This is a massive throbbing bass monster, just spare breaks, slow-mo aicd bass,
808 booms and dancehall chants, plus well-judged metallic washes and bleeps.
Very focused, deep hard garage.
9. Beatfreaks -- Urban Don (White)
Just another bad boy ragga garage tune? No, it's great! These tracks are like
good punk records. Urban Don excels due to its tasty reggae hook, which put
a BIG smile on John Eden's face recently. Good toasting and a thumping 2 step
beat make it not very subtle, but a bit of a winner, really.
10. Same People -- Dangerous (Locked
On)*
OK this has been around for ages and ages but it's still great and still relevant
to today's 2 Step sets. The original is 96-style big bass garage with hefty
doses of hardcore samples and attitude. And the bassline! It's tech-reggae simplicity
at its most devestating. The 98 remix adds sweet vocals and crisper bits to
a laidback but still bass-heavy mix, while the 4x4 mix tight loud and lethal.
* Though I could just as easily have included the Dubaholics' mix of Artful Dodger's What Ya Gonna Do as Same People's Dangerous -- both are old-ish but still relevant records, but What Ya Gonna Do is a vocal-led r'n'b song at 2Step speed rather than a tracky bassline tune, albeit with fantastic, almost frightening, syncopated breakbeats added by the Dubaholics.