invisible man - on a missionHailing from Oxford, Graham Mew started life as a producer as Doctor G producing vintage breakbeat hardcore in 1991 and ’92.
The Invisible Man alias surfaced that year with the launch of his new label Timeless Recordings in late 1992.
The labels first release was the seminal On A Mission EP which helped laid the blueprint for the convential drum and bass sound.

Oxford was a hotbed for the ethereal, techno influenced sound with compatriots at Legend Recordings pushing a similar style with The Invisible Man often working as engineer for Q-Project and Gwange on tracks such as the anthemic Champion Sound.

Further releases on Timeless and Bukem’s Good Looking imprint concreted his status as one of the top producers and engineers on the circuit.

One of my favourite tracks of his was under the name of The Undergraduates called ‘Into Da Future‘.
It was revealed in an interview some years later, that Mew used The Undergraduates alias as the track was one of the first to use the breakbeat found on a recent issue of Future Music magazine CD after Andy C and Ant Miles made it famous on Valley Of The Shadows.
He confesses it would have been released under the ‘Invisible Man’ pseudonym if he came across the sample just a couple of weeks earlier.

To the mix….
A selection of pretty much all his work between 1992 and 1994, rolled out on vinyl and mixed by hand for your listening pleasure.

01.. The Invisible Man – The End… (Drug Induced Psychosis Mix) – Timeless
02.. The Invisible Man – The End… (Alternate Mix) - Timeless
03.. The Invisible Man – Twisted - Timeless
04.. The Invisible Man – On A Mission - Timeless
05.. The Invisible Man – Cyclone – Sublogic
06.. The Invisible Man – Power - Timeless
07. The Invisible Man – The Beginning - Timeless
08.. The Invisible Man – The Tone Tune – Good Looking
09.. The Undergraduates – Space – Camden Tunes
10.. The Invisible Man – Skyliner - Timeless
11.. The Invisible Man – The Flute Tune – Good Looking
12.. The Undergraduates – Into Da Future - Timeless
13.. The Invisible Man – The Bell Tune – Good Looking
14.. Mysteron – U Don’t Know - Timeless
15.. The Invisible Man – Skyliner (Remix) - Timeless

Tidy mix here by Evade

Roughneck tracks from the Kemet crew, Remarc, EZ Rollers and more.
A word from the man himself;

I gone done did a mix, ennit.

There are a few lesser known tunes in there along with some classics. It’s available to download and stream from Soundcloud. The track listing is as follows:

- Family of Intelligence & Beefy – God Alone [Kemet]
- DJ Flash – Pulp Fact [Urban Gorrila]
- Remarc – Sound Murderer (Loafin’ in Brockley Mix) [Planet Mu]
- FX – The Sound of FX [Tone Def]
- Dark & Deadly – Proline [Drum & Bass]
- The Boogie Down Kru – Cake [Runninz]
- Fusion ft Jucksey Nice – No Resistance [Kemet]
- Tek 9 – Pushing Back Remix [Reinforced]
- G-Force – Lively Body [Big Orange]
- Half Breed & Redneck – Selecta [24 Carat]
- 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Drowning in Her (4 Horsemen Mix) [Tone Def]
- E-Z Rollers – Believe (Foul Play Remix) [Moving Shadow]
- Family of Intelligence – October 16th [Kemet]
- Prisoner – Mr Fix It [London Somet'ing]
- Family of Intelligence ft Vernon Smith – The Seed [Parousia]
- Urban Shakedown ft D.Bo General – Some Justice ’95 (Nookie Remix) [Urban Shakedown]
- Siamese Minds – Killer Instinct [Collusion]
- DJ Vern & DJ Ash – Squeeze [Tearin Vinyl]
- Remarc – Ice Cream & Syrup (Hard Mix) [Planet Mu]
>Fallen Angels – Hello Lover (Desired State Remix) [IQ]

salt-water-fish-peshayInspired by listening to both J- Rolla and Blick’s excellent All Peshay Mixes todays bargain jungle tune is Ruby – Salt Water Fish (Peshay Remix).

Ruby was the collaboration of singer Lesley Rankine and Mark Walk.
The duo, were originally from London, relocated to Seattle, Washington and concentrated on their trip hop / industrial styles resulting in two albums and and three remix albums.

On one of those albums Metalheadz stalwart Peshay was comissioned to remix the track Salt Water Fish.
Released in 1996 the Peshay mix might not be ground breaking but it has the ingredients we love in a remix; snippets of the original atmos and vocals, combined with cutting amen loops and sub bass. It reminds me a little of Photek’s excellent remix of Therapy? – Loose .

The track would fit nicely in any Bukem set of the time, strings aplenty and ethereal keys play out over the hectic, almost tinny amens.

The remix was released on promo with just Peshay’s work, in full on the white label on Creation records, a subsidiary of Sony music at the time.
The full length, single sided promo copy is bountiful on Discogs and can be snapped up from just £1.25 at the time of writing.

rudeboy_recordsOrigination consisted of a certain Rupert Parkes AKA Photek and Rob Solomon (Lexis & RJS) before they both found solo success of Certificate 18 and beyond.

The tune in question is ‘Music Takes Control’, a classic mix of rugged early jungle vibes with tough beats and bass, combined with uplifting strings and of course; the all important chipmunk vocals.

A perfect representation of the crossover between hardcore and jungle, and the ‘happier’ element eventually splitting off completely.

Released in 1993 on Rudeboy Records you can find all the release details here

Recorded live at Carbon’s 6th Birthday event at the Concorde 2 on the 20.3.2010 Brighton

X Nation aka Stimpy with a set of classics alongside some more obscure bits from 93/94.

Carbon 6th Birthday 20.3.2010 – X Nation oldschool jungle by X Nation

Wots My Code – Dubplate (Simply Rolling remix) – Advance
Pascal & Sponge – I Got You (Ezee Boy)  Face Records
Tango – Project 1 remix – Formation Records
LTJ Bukem – Atlantis (I Need You) – Good Looking
Foul Play – Being With You – Moving Shadow
4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Drowning In Her – Tone Def
Bounty Killaz – Approach & Identify – Creative Wax
Origin Unknown – Valley of the Shadows (Long Dark remix) – Ram
Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Foul Play vip mix) – Moving Shadow
Dr S Gachet – Remember the Roller (Roller Coster mix) – Audio Maze
Higher Sense – Cold Fresh Air – Moving Shadow
Timmi Magic – Passing Me By – Decibel
Rob Andrews – Length & Strength – Fokus Studio Productions
Dead Dread – Dred Bass – Moving Shadow
Blipton Factor Wreckords 004

hedgehog-affairA great little mix here from Eazyflow which depicts the history of Basement Records pair Hedgehog Affair.
The duo Spencer T and Ron Wells had only a few releases between 1992 and 1994 but it was more a case of quality over quantity.

One of their best tracks (In my opinion) ‘The Pipe’  has been the subject of a little controversy recently.
Good Looking records artist “Furney” remixed it without the correct permission, resulting in a fairly public argument on Youtube as part of the fallout (most of which has now been removed). The new remix was just called “Furney – Pipez” without any reference the Hedgehog Affair which is a bit wrong considering the remix basically consisted of the original sample, sped up with new beats.

Anyway, enjoy the original sounds of The Hedgehog Affair here…

Eazyflow All Hedgehog Affair Mix 192 by Easyflow

Come On Lets Have Some Fun (Purple Heart)
Oh My God I’m A DJ (Basement)
Oh Wow What A Rush (Purple Heart)
These Are The Sounds Of House (Basement)
Thank Fxxx It’s Friday (Basement)
Second Rush (Basement)
Parameters (Basement)
We Told You (Basement)
Heaven Sent (Basement)
Mystic (Sound Entity)
Don’t Just Stand There (Basement)
Come On (Sound Entity)
The Pipe (Sound Entity)
Psychic Trauma (Sound Entity)
Monomania (Sound Entity)

A new site has popped up online offering a host of vintage rave flyers, new release adverts and more from around 1994 to 1996.

I do the miss the designs of flyers like these, especially the old Fantazia and Dreamscape ones that look like across between Gamesmaster and The Lawnmower man. Early 90′s CGI was fantastic.

Find the site here; http://90sravescene.tumblr.com/
A few of my faves below…..

   

Bukem done up like Sir Patrick Moore is particularly brilliant. Plenty more on the site.

 

A great mix from Recoil here cross all styles from 92 to 94 with some deep from the crates.
A word from the man himself…

Late 92 -> early 94 – all original plates.  It was basically an excuse to rinse out some recent arrivals in the mail, so there’s a variety of oldskool styles mashed together.. pure darkside, piano hardcore, deep atmospheric and strange dubbed-out 93 jungle.

Recoil – On the Strength Vol. 2 (BBK’s Volumus Maximus Version) by Liam Recoil

DJ Crystl – Deep Space – Dee Jay
Subnation – Scottie – Mercyless
Pascal – I Don’t Understand (unreleased) – 2011 remake – dub
Bounty Killaz Part 3 – Silent Voices – Creative Wax
On Remand – Controllin’ – Crack House
The Untouchables – N’Joi This – Tough Toonz
Origin Unknown – The Touch – Ram
Folosaphers – Age of Insanity – Deep Seven
Poosie D & Cru-L-T – Hear Me Hear Me – Kniteforce
Alk-E-D – Selector remix – Kniteforce
DJ Trace – Never Felt This Way (Intel mix) – Dee Jay
Pascal & Sponge – I Got You (Ezee Boy) – Face
T.D.K. – Warp Factor (94 Revamp T.D.K. Mix) – Brain
Mad Dog – D-Tox – Underdog
DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer – IN Effect (The Remix) – Slammin’ Vinyl
JDS – Classifed – side B – not on label
Groove Gangster – Let The Drummer Go – Soundscape
Subject 13 – Armageddon Countdown (Intense remix) – ULR
DJ Kane – Rebel Without a Pause – No U Turn
Jamma – Candyman – Murder By Sound
Gin & Tonic – Month Nine – Ruff Diamond
Who Are The Privy Council – The 12 Major Scientist – Kemet
Hard & Pure – This is Jungleism – Hard & Fast

http://soundcloud.com/liam_recoil  
http://www.rave.ca/en/member/recoil/
http://www.youtube.com/user/originalrecoil 

 

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