GrimmRobes
First XI
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2007
- Messages
- 317
As Dave's on holiday I've been made caretaker manager of his "One to Start the Weekend" slot. First thing I thought when browsing YouTube for some classic tunage was "how on earth does he pick just one song each week?", so as the cat's away I'm going to spoil you with "Three to Start the Weekend"...
First up is a genre-defining track that still sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1995 - Goldie's "Inner City Life". The late 80s rave sound progressed at light-speed and by the early 90s the leading lights of the scene had created the burgeoning 'jungle' sound. People like Fabio and his Swerve club were instrumental in moving the genre forward, and LTJ Bukem's early output was also seminal. All well and good, but it took a half-Scottish/half-Jamaican former graffiti artist from Walsall called Clifford to take it overground. "Inner City Life" is quite simply a breakbeat masterpiece (thanks in no small part to Rob Playford, Dego and Marc Mac who handled the bulk of the engineering) which captured the moment as perfectly as any piece of music before or since. For genuine urban street kids all over the UK it represented their reality, for us suburbanites it reflected what we always felt life was like on the other side of the fence. The fact that the album from which this track came ("Timeless") went straight to #7 on it's release sums up how big Goldie was at the time. I'll say that again - #7 for a drum & bass artist album!!! And that was 12 years ago when top 10 albums meant more than 'which major label spent the most on marketing this week'. The world truly was drum & bass's oyster back then, what nobody knew was that in many ways, "Inner City Life" was a peak that would never be reached again...
Goldie "Inner City Life"
Second is a bit of an overlooked gem from one of the biggest names in dance music - "Two Months Off" is the perfect encapsulation of Underworld's sound and is pure dancefloor euphoria. What makes it all the more remarkable is that this was the first time Rick Smith and Karl Hyde had worked as a duo (following the departure of Darren Emerson) for over a decade and after the slightly disappointing "Beaucoup Fish" they'd been pretty much written off. If all you know of Underworld is "that song from Trainspotting" then get a load of this...
Underworld "Two Months Off"
Finally, we have (IMHO) the greatest dance track of all time. Underground Resistance is a fiercely independant label run by a collective of legendary Detroit producers. Started in the late-80s by Jeff Mills and "Mad" Mike Banks, the label has been home to such techno luminaries as Robert Hood, Blake Baxter and Drexciya and its influence is immeasurable. Their never-weakening anti-major label stance meant that they remained a largely underground phenomenon - that was until 1999 when new recruit DJ Rolando produced this crossover anthem which knocked the entire dance world for six. Now enter the 'Dr Evil' of the music industry, Sony Music - fair play to them, they instantly saw the potential of Rolando's track as an epic, floor-filling monster. However, knowing that Mad Mike would rather lose a limb than sell out to a major, Sony decided not to approach UR for a licence and instead, got some joker to record a "tone-for-tone" (their words, not mine) cover version which they planned to release Worldwide without permission from the label or composer. UR got wind of this at the promo stage and the dance world united to fight their corner and put pressure on Sony. After weeks of legal wrangling, Sony backed down and pulled the release of their cover version. UR went on to release the original track Worldwide themselves (something of a rarity for them - most of their releases are/were only ever available here as US imports) and while it wasn't the commercial success it deserved to be, you somehow felt it wouldn't have been right to see UR at #1 anyway - the main thing is that they took on the biggest corporate giant in the industry and won.
So, time to enjoy the tune - ideally I'd have posted the Jeff Mills remix but it was nowhere to be found on YouTube so I've gone with the original mix. 8 years on and I still get shivers down my spine as soon as I hear the opening syncopated latin flavoured rhythm. Then the 4/4 beat kicks in and the groove drops a little deeper, distorted ride cymbals are followed by hi-hats as the track begins to build at the 30 second mark. Handclaps add a bit of a different emphasis and then just before the minute mark, those strings start to creep in. Chunky, analog strings carrying the beautiful melody - by 1 minute 30 seconds I'm in heaven, my house could be falling down around me and I'd still be dancing for the next 2 minutes. It really doesn't get any better than this (nice video too)...
DJ Rolando aka Aztec Mystic "Jaguar"
Sit back, crank up the volume and enjoy - normal service will resume next week.
Thank you.
First up is a genre-defining track that still sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1995 - Goldie's "Inner City Life". The late 80s rave sound progressed at light-speed and by the early 90s the leading lights of the scene had created the burgeoning 'jungle' sound. People like Fabio and his Swerve club were instrumental in moving the genre forward, and LTJ Bukem's early output was also seminal. All well and good, but it took a half-Scottish/half-Jamaican former graffiti artist from Walsall called Clifford to take it overground. "Inner City Life" is quite simply a breakbeat masterpiece (thanks in no small part to Rob Playford, Dego and Marc Mac who handled the bulk of the engineering) which captured the moment as perfectly as any piece of music before or since. For genuine urban street kids all over the UK it represented their reality, for us suburbanites it reflected what we always felt life was like on the other side of the fence. The fact that the album from which this track came ("Timeless") went straight to #7 on it's release sums up how big Goldie was at the time. I'll say that again - #7 for a drum & bass artist album!!! And that was 12 years ago when top 10 albums meant more than 'which major label spent the most on marketing this week'. The world truly was drum & bass's oyster back then, what nobody knew was that in many ways, "Inner City Life" was a peak that would never be reached again...
Goldie "Inner City Life"
Second is a bit of an overlooked gem from one of the biggest names in dance music - "Two Months Off" is the perfect encapsulation of Underworld's sound and is pure dancefloor euphoria. What makes it all the more remarkable is that this was the first time Rick Smith and Karl Hyde had worked as a duo (following the departure of Darren Emerson) for over a decade and after the slightly disappointing "Beaucoup Fish" they'd been pretty much written off. If all you know of Underworld is "that song from Trainspotting" then get a load of this...
Underworld "Two Months Off"
Finally, we have (IMHO) the greatest dance track of all time. Underground Resistance is a fiercely independant label run by a collective of legendary Detroit producers. Started in the late-80s by Jeff Mills and "Mad" Mike Banks, the label has been home to such techno luminaries as Robert Hood, Blake Baxter and Drexciya and its influence is immeasurable. Their never-weakening anti-major label stance meant that they remained a largely underground phenomenon - that was until 1999 when new recruit DJ Rolando produced this crossover anthem which knocked the entire dance world for six. Now enter the 'Dr Evil' of the music industry, Sony Music - fair play to them, they instantly saw the potential of Rolando's track as an epic, floor-filling monster. However, knowing that Mad Mike would rather lose a limb than sell out to a major, Sony decided not to approach UR for a licence and instead, got some joker to record a "tone-for-tone" (their words, not mine) cover version which they planned to release Worldwide without permission from the label or composer. UR got wind of this at the promo stage and the dance world united to fight their corner and put pressure on Sony. After weeks of legal wrangling, Sony backed down and pulled the release of their cover version. UR went on to release the original track Worldwide themselves (something of a rarity for them - most of their releases are/were only ever available here as US imports) and while it wasn't the commercial success it deserved to be, you somehow felt it wouldn't have been right to see UR at #1 anyway - the main thing is that they took on the biggest corporate giant in the industry and won.
So, time to enjoy the tune - ideally I'd have posted the Jeff Mills remix but it was nowhere to be found on YouTube so I've gone with the original mix. 8 years on and I still get shivers down my spine as soon as I hear the opening syncopated latin flavoured rhythm. Then the 4/4 beat kicks in and the groove drops a little deeper, distorted ride cymbals are followed by hi-hats as the track begins to build at the 30 second mark. Handclaps add a bit of a different emphasis and then just before the minute mark, those strings start to creep in. Chunky, analog strings carrying the beautiful melody - by 1 minute 30 seconds I'm in heaven, my house could be falling down around me and I'd still be dancing for the next 2 minutes. It really doesn't get any better than this (nice video too)...
DJ Rolando aka Aztec Mystic "Jaguar"
Sit back, crank up the volume and enjoy - normal service will resume next week.
Thank you.
Last edited:
