Alboy's Best of 2011: #5
2012-04-10 by The Mighty AlboyActive Minds – Hobsons Choice (Boys Mix)
This one definitely not from 2011- but thanks to the present day interest in bass music, UK Garage has enjoyed a bit of a revival of late.
I was reminded of this belter from 1998 (holy moly- that’s 14 years ago!) by 4tet’s very fine Fabric mix, where it features and stands proud among present day output.
Recorded by west London boy (quite liderally- he was a mere 17 at the time) Jess Jackson and put out on a limited edition 500 copy white label. Proper bit of 2-step/reese bass toughness.
He’s now in Los Angeles and looks to be working with Peter Andre. How the world turns…
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2-Step to heaven
2011-03-20 by The Mighty AlboyM-Dubs ft Richie Dan – “Over Here (Sugar Shack Break Funk Mix)”
Classic bit of UK Garage here from producer and occasional Radio 1 DJ Albert Doku, aka Ras Kwame, aka M Dubs.
Big tune in ‘98, still sounding good today and still putting out fresh releases
Been putting a spring in my step for the new season, so thought I’d share …
:)
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Gimme an A!
2010-06-28 by The Double KOrdinary People – Baby You Make My Heart Sing
Here’s a tune I’ve been meaning to post for a while now, and this seems like an opportune moment for it, due to the Oooooohoooo Baby You Know You Make My Heart Sing! vocal that probably captures pretty much how our man Squeaker feels about little Max at the moment (I’m guessing he feels it minus the pounding, tuff-as-hell garage beat in the background though!)
The main man in Ordinary People is Jason Kaye, who, like Dilated Choonz favourite Steve Gurley, made the transition from the hardcore and jungle scene into UK Garage production: he was/is part of the legendary Top Buzz crew.
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Still needing some warmth...
2010-01-07 by The Double K
Lenny Fontana – Spirit Of The Sun (Steve Gurley Remix)
Snow covers the ground and we’re in the middle of the worst cold snap in x-amount of years, but the sun is shining here in London and it is bright out there, so this tune is less unseasonal than you might think at first!
Following on from Body Heat here is another devastating 2-Step Garage lick from back in ‘98: skipping syncopated beats with a couple of big bass Waaaaarps and some “heeey yeah”s is all we get by way of introduction, then Shine on! Shine on! Shine on!, the awesome bassline drops along with one of the sharpest 2-step beats ever and the tune is away.
Despite being over ten years old the overall effect here sounds totally futuristic to my old codger’s ears, and probably always will, no matter how far into the future we actually get.
I’ll sign off with a slightly belated Happy New Year to you all! Hope you had fun over the festive season and that 2010 has plenty of good things in store!
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In need of a little Body Heat...
2009-12-21 by The Double K
2 As 1 & MJ Cole – Body Heat
As snow falls heavily here in London and with temperatures set to plummet over the next couple of days here’s something to warm the cockles, and hopefully a few other places too…
An absolutely wicked garage cut from back in 1998, with the inimitable touch of MJ Cole who brought magic to so many great tunes for a few years back then. I so love the way that garage can be both lively as hell and incredibly laid back at the same time, all depending on your mood (much like the best jungle), and this is a perfect example. Have a listen – the beats skip along at quite a pace and it’s got that wicked bouncy dancefloor-devastating bassline but at the same time the spacey sounds, beautiful melodies and ultra-smooth production allow it to wash over you like the mellowest ambience if that’s what you need.
I particularly love the vocal bit following the into at around 1.00 minute in – “I’m gonna take you to my world boy, just me and you…” and the way the beat seamlessly drops right back in at full pace without jarring in the slightest. Pure class.
Oh, and I should take this opportunity to wish a very Happy Christmas to all our readers/listeners – apologies once more for the sporadic service but stick with us, you know it’s worth it in the long run!
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A Gurley Easter: Maundy Thursday
2009-04-09 by The Double K
Jesus’ face expresses both resignation and pain. He knows what is about to happen to him. Judas greets him with a kiss, so the soldiers know whom to capture.
Victor Romeo – Inside You (Steve Gurley’s Penetrate Full Vocal Mix)
All this talk of Steve Gurley has made me think that we probably need a mini-series over the Easter weekend to show off a bit more of his stuff.
Maundy Thursday traditionally commemorates the day when the sleazy, dark Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, so for today’s selection I’ve gone for this completely sleazy, dark, monster garage track from back in 1998. Huge bass and stripped down beats add nightclub sexual tension to the base lust of Romeo’s “Right now all I wanna be is… inside you” vocal. Wicked stuff.
Just One More Sparrage...
2009-04-06 by The Double KRobbie Craig – Lessons In Love (Steve Gurley Mix)
As per Brainchild’s request, here’s some more classic speed garage from way back in 1997.
I can’t tell you much about Robbie Craig I’m afraid, except that he’s the vocalist on here, and is almost certainly not the man pictured. But he isn’t the main man here anyway – it’s all about Steve Gurley on the remix, and I can tell you a little bit about him.
Before turning to speed garage Steve Gurley was a member of Foul Play – my favourite ever hardcore/jungle outfit, who we’ve heard from several times here in the past (see here, here, here, and here).
In 1997 Gurley turned his hand to producing Speed Garage, and was pivotal in creating the dark, sparse, bass-heavy style that you can hear here. Tunes like this formed the basis of what later became Dubstep, and Gurley can be regarded as a key figure in its inception.
Respect is due.
Sparrage Sunday [1]
2009-04-05 by The Double KN’n’G featuring Rose Windross & Creed – Liferide
With a head thick with snot and last night’s booze I’m not really in the mood for anything too heavy this morning, so what better to complement the glorious sunshine than a bit of speed garage? (This is a rhetorical question – I know many of you will have plenty ideas for what might be better, but I don’t want to hear them :)
First up from 1999, featuring the unmistakeable vocal talents of the MC Creed, who managed to found an entire career as an MC on the “We-da da da da doing it” thing he does (you can hear it at 0.49 into this track), alongside Soul II Soul diva Rose Windross (whose brother Norris ‘Da Boss’ Windross is/was also big on the Sparrage scene).
I absolutely love this track song (and it is a proper song – a duet no less – not just dancefloor fodder). After a dreamy intro the beats kick in and we’re skipping along straight into the main hook – the wicked kind-of-plinky-plonk-sort-of-bassline that I really can’t describe properly but it’s what makes the track so compelling for me. And it all just bubbles along from there with some nice string orchestration and pianoy bits – lightweight and poppy, I know (the wife thinks I’m totally lame for liking this track), but proper feelgood stuff for sure.
Sparrage Sunday [2]
2009-04-05 by The Double KNu-Birth – Anytime (Nu Vocal Mix)
And second up for Sparrage Sunday a track from 1997 (Jesus I can’t believe the birth of the whole Speed Garage thing is a full 12 years behind us now!). The hook here for me is the wicked bassline which first drops at about 1.20, along with the repeated echoey “Anytime” vocal. This is much more of a straight-up dancefloor number than Liferide, but great sunshine listening all the same.
Unto them a child is born!
2007-12-31 by Kevvy KNoze – Remember love
This goes out as a big shout out to Mrs Double K and the Double K who brought forth a big, gorgeous, bouncing, baby boy on Christmas Day. He’s a bit of a whopper at 10 lbs 5 oz at birth, and by all accounts, it was a fairly smooth and at home affair. Alas, the they have eschewed the more obvious Jesus name options (what’s wrong with that? It’s a very respectable name on the Iberian peninsula.. my late ‘father-in-law’ was called Jesus) and gone for the less messianic, Joe. Hearty congrats to the extended clan, and I’m glad all that wood touching paid off in terms of everyone being safe and whole.
I had downloaded and had ready to line up I Was Born on Christmas Day by St Etienne, but I listened to it, and it is bloody awful, even for a bit of a fan like myself. So I sacrificed the literal allusion for this instead, a quirky little French, clipped skippy beats house number that I am hoping might worm its way into the parents’ hearts with its two-step sensibilities and sub-bass activities. I like the first lines of this review that appeared on Resident Advisor: “The first twenty seconds of ‘Only Love’ are nothing short of AMAZING – a looped piano that sounds like ‘Strings Of Life’ as played by Chas and Dave. You can almost see Derrick May sitting at the piano in a fag-stained East End boozer, pint of old peculiar resting on top, a Babs Windsor lookalike at his side, washboard under his arm, knocking this little ditty out. Almost…”
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