For my stint on the Sessions roster I decided to go way back to the rave era. However, with it being Drumtrip I didn’t want this feel like a ‘rave’ set (although there is a bit of that in there…), it’s more of a tribute to those early pioneers such as Rebel MC and Shut Up & Dance, who added the essential ingredient to house and techno that would set British dance music apart from its European and American counterparts – the breakbeats.

Before breakbeat music had established an identity of its own, producers were basically musical magpies stealing samples from anywhere they found inspiration. House, Techno, Dub, Reggae, Hip Hop, Electro, classical, Television, Children’s story books, movie soundtracks, Enya… whatever the fuck. If someone liked it, then it was going in. This was at a time before sampling was a big deal in legal terms, which was a good job since with the exception of a few synths nearly all early UK breakbeat tunes were built around samples of some sort.

In the book ‘How To Squander Your Potential’ Luna C writes about the legality of sampling and how it all changed around the time he found himself in some big trub with Columbia for sampling Sesame Street. If I could remember what the deal was I would have written about it here, but I lent the book out to someone about a year ago and typically still not got the damn thing back .

As for the mix I tried to showcase some different styles by starting with dubbed out stuff before moving into the more ravey and early jungle sounds. Some of the tracks show their age – NRG’s simplistic use of bleeps, breaks, and samples on the track ‘Terminator’ could have only ever been written in 1991 (…and that is exactly its appeal). Whilst others such as A Guy Called Gerald’s ‘Anything’ and Nasty Habit’s ‘Make Some Noise’ are fine examples of early proto-jungle that were light-years ahead of their time and still serve as a template for the modern day.

Hopefully you will find something to like in my early breakbeats mix, and will find it a worthy addition to the solid sessions already put forward by eXtreme, Law, DJ Jamie, and J Rolla.

The Scientist – The Bee (Kickin)
DMS – Exterminate (Rush Mix) (Production House)
Rum & Black – I’m Not In Love (Shut Up & Dance)
Rebel MC Feat Barrington Levy – Tribal Bass (Desire)
YFB – I’m All Right (Bizarre)
Tek 9 – Kingdom Of Dub (Reinforced)
2 Bad Mice – 2 Bad Mice (Moving Shadow)
Kicksquad – Sound Clash (Kickin)
The Bogey Man – Horrors (Chill)
The Scientist – The Exorcist (Kickin)
The Psychopaths – Nightmares (Elicit)
D Shake – Tekno Bam (Go Bang!)
Demon Boyz – Jungle Dett (Tribal Bass)
Rotor – Kaleidoscope (Chill)
NRG – The Terminator (Chill)
Indo Tribe – The Owl (Jumpin & Pumpin)
Fozbee & Cooz – Free Your Mind (Another Planet)
Nicolette – O Si Nene (Shut Up & Dance)
Nasty Habits – Make Some Noise (NHS)
A Guy Called Gerald – Anything (Columbia)
Flag – Passion For Science (Jumpin & Pumpin)

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