In 1995, at the height of jungle’s the dog barking, ragga chatting, gunshot firing tear-out militancy fabio launched the creative source label with this wonderful Carlito release.

While there had always been a thread of deeper, spacier and (this always makes me cringe a bit) more soulful sounds in the development of jungle, Heaven really laid down the blueprint for what was to come in the liquid funk explosion (which gained its name from a Creative Source compilation, on which heaven featured).

For me the defining beauty of this tune, as with all Carlitos work is the crispness of the drums. While a lot of early hardcore and jungle tunes are endearing in their rough and ready approach this tune is absolutely polished.

The very beginning of the intro has a couple of nods to the more choppy sounds that were obviously very much the order of the day in huge parts of the scene, but once the flute comes drifting into the mix the drums take on a more relaxed rolling vibe to make way for the simple but beautiful vocal sample from which the tune takes its name. To my ears these drums are a canvas on which Carlito paints a sun kissed scene with a gorgeous array of samples. Classy, understated and subtle – this tune is an absolute classic.

Play loud and on repeat and pretend the summer might last forever.

Currently available on Discogs from as low as £1.00. A bargain for such a landmark track.

The post Bargain Jungle: Carlito – Heaven appeared first on Drumtrip - Hardcore / Oldskool Jungle Blog.