Shout out to my Barry’s ‘Da Mix’, Leon, Vonnett, James, Tilde, Jamie K, Edem, MR2, Fugee, 88.2 Crew, Leon at Music House, Loxy, Mike P, Logos, Parris, Mickey Pearce, Scratcha, all the silent listeners and all the bedroom ravers.
Run out groove etching “I’m oldskool like Stratford Rex, I’m oldskool like Temple”
Pure raw unfiltered Hardcore, just like it was back in the day. Stepping up here on contemporary UK rave imprint, Sneaker Social Club - Jerome Hill re-animates his Hornsey Hardcore alias for a third time. The object of the Hornsey Hardcore project is to make early 90's style Hardcore tracks but without using any extra production frills or modern twists. It's legit!
DJs - The Black Madonna, Special Request, Minimal Violence, Serge, Octo Octa, Kate Miller, Gigsta, Jackie House (Honey Soundsystem), Happa, Coco Bryce, DJ Guy, Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Alan Fitzpatrick, Object Blue, Extrawelt, Len Faki, Stenny, Mark Archer, Deft, Julia Govor, 96 Back, Ciel, Johanna Knutsson, Neville Watson, Perc, De Sluwe Vos, Nick Craddock, JD Twitch (Optimo), Billy Nasty, Solid Blake, ASOK.
Etch's 'Ups & Downs' album is a collection of dubs which date as far back as 2014 and up to the present day. The album's tracks are united by being examples of the artists' efforts to escape the shackles of reality by using music as a vehicle.
The theme of space recurs across the material - both the 'outer-space' of the universe and galaxies that surround our planet and the 'inner-space' of exploring the infinite recesses and depths of our mind's imagination.
However these creations were made during a period experiencing a (not-uncommon) lifestyle of mad peaks, joy and optimism, and yet also, times of struggle, adversity and depression. That is of course a familiar human tale - but expressed here through Etch's own singular musical vision. Etch's music is informed by psychedelic experiences, sci-fi, occult and horror themed films and the evolution of gaming - (these being tools often used to escape the prescribed tedium of society's rules and roles).
This is then combined with a deep love of sampling vinyl and rearranging breakbeats in an unforced homage to his family roots in UK hardcore breakbeat, jungle and d'n'b. Furthermore, these hybrids are often filtered through a keen understanding of current musical developments which are then explored and deployed where it feels appropriate. Add to this a smattering of teenage Goth influences that rear their heads within the dark sound of certain tunes and you've got a serious distillation of culture being explored within these beats.
More than ten years since he first emerged on Skull Disco, Appleblim presents his debut album. The label he co-founded with Shackleton was the first the world heard of his productions, but Laurie Osborne’s innate relationship with electronic music culture reaches back much further than those groundbreaking early days of dubstep. Early days spent soaking up hardcore, jungle, techno and plenty more besides were fundamental foundations from which to spring into the then-unknown realms of sub-low half-step club music. At that time FWD>> and DMZ were the church for this ritualistic sound, and Appleblim was a regular fixture at both.
As dubstep matured, magnified, mutated and meandered, so Appleblim moved beyond Skull Disco to explore different avenues of expression in the new many- layered club music landscape. His own Apple Pips imprint was a natural vessel on which to explore the emergent fusions of hardcore-derived sounds and the US-born house, techno and electro, while labels such as Aus Music equally provided a home for his work (often alongside Komonazmuk). Meanwhile long-standing collaborations with Alec Storey (Al Tourettes / Second Storey) finally manifested in the hyper-modern mind-twist of ALSO, captured as an album on legendary rave label R&S.
More recently it’s been possible to hear Appleblim delve into electro-acoustic and ambient production alongside bassweight sounds on Tempa, one of the original bastions of dubstep culture. As the existing boundaries between genres, cultures, eras and scenes continue to dissolve, on his debut album Appleblim offers up a fresh approach that brings some of the foundational sound ethics of rave culture into a modern framework.
Hardcore breaks are still a regular sound source in contemporary club tracks, but on Life In A Laser it’s instantly apparent that Appleblim has moved beyond choosing popular drum samples to truly tap into the elusive feeling engendered by the music of the era. It’s a tricky feat to manage, but in the pie-eyed chords of “Ignite”, the subby 808 tom basslines on “NCI” or the Mr. Fingers synth flex on “Manta Key” the sonic finish sports the same understated grit and grime that made those early records so timeless. There’s still space for modernism, not least on snaking 2-step killer “I Think We'll Let The Gas Sort This One Out”, but it’s offset by a layer of dust, not to mention an inherent moodiness that can’t be faked.
This fine balance of rave romanticism and future-minded approaches binds together in a cohesive conceptual statement. First and foremost it’s Appleblim’s personal reflection on the music that has moved him on countless dancefloors since his first flirtations with soundsystem culture. At the same time the canny influx of modern ideas into the soundworld of the 90s genuinely results in a new proposition, making for a perfect fit on the modern-day ‘ardcore fetishists label of choice, Sneaker Social Club. Many may claim to draw on old-skool influences in their modern trax, but take one listen to “Flows From Within” and you’ll feel the same time-slipping surge of future-shock as the ravers at Lost, Dreamscape, The Dungeons, Clink Street, Blue Note and all those other iconic spots.
"Dream Cycle returns with his second instalment on Sneaker Social Club. Offering up 3 distinct moods across the EP - “Influence" is a stripped back, technoid stepper, "Afters (3am mix)" explores the dubbier side of UKG while "DCYX 5" takes things into more uplifting territory - a skippy piano roller arriving just in time for Summer."
DJ Support: Andy Hart, James Zabiela, Benji B, Tensnake, Octo Octa, Sascha Dive, Dimensions Soundsystem, Contours
Awesome new Etch release from Sneaker Social Club. Immense list of DJ support: FaltyDL, Josey Rebelle, Mosca, Zinc, Foul Play, Stenny, West Norwood Cassette Library, Warlock, Mr.Beatnick, Adam Marshall, Xxxy, TEED, Konx-om-Pax, Photonz, Jerome Hill, Mark Archer, N-Type, Happa, Doc Scott, Ryan Elliott, Jakwob, Shenoda, Hrdvsion, Tim Parker, Franklin De Costa.
DJ Support: Ben UFO, The Black Madonna, Maya Jane Coles, Stenny, Luke Handsfree, Gene Farris, Jackie House (Honey Soundsystem), Denham Audio, Dan Curtin, J.Phlip, The Revenge, Justin Robertson, Doc Scott, Pressa, Kamera, Edmondson, Jon More (Coldcut), Moxie, rRoxymore, Konx om Pax, Truss, 2 Bad Mice, Soulphiction, Bruce, Marco Zenker, Benjamin Damage, Norman Nodge, Dixon Avenue Basement Jams, Michael Serafini, Mark Archer, Zinc, Serge (Clone), Rob Smith/ RSD, DJ Guy, Dismantle, Xxxy, Etch, Joe, Kornel Kovacs, Mark Broom, John Heckle, Red Rack'em + many more
a1. West Norwood Cassette Library - (Everytime You Touch Me) I Get Hype
a2. West Norwood Cassette Library - Theme to Street Knowledge
Seekersinternational sends dub into another dimension, a place where the laws of physics appear irrelevant. Formerly solid structures are made improbable and surreal; songs become dizzying, recursive mazes. But for all this weirdness, the Canadian producer has generally hung onto dub's loved-up feel. This cassette is different.
Appearing on Japan's Diskotopia, the RaggaPreservationSociety EP traces dub's sonics as they developed into ragga jungle. The manic style is sunk deep in the dance music consciousness. Hearing it get a cubist makeover is a bit like having familiar memories smashed up and reassembled as crazy paving: in other words, disorientating. Crowds of sampled ragga chatter vie for attention, repitched chords and cartoonish basslines hint at two (or more) different keys, and breakbeats and delay trails meet in gruesome pileups. Structures are fragmented and, thanks to the release's mixtape sequencing, it can be hard to tell what is "track" and what is "transition." Most are probably a bit of both.
The chaos is glorious, but the EP is made extra special by the moments when unexpected order emerges. Somehow, several of these tracks are, well, catchy. The best come in a run on the A-side: "SoundDedication"'s sliced piano chords and delirious chipmunk coos, into "DanceGwaan(EazeUp!)," whose skittish breakbeat is cut with tender synth chords, and then "NoCompetition"'s quiet storm sweetness, aided by twinkling Rhodes and a female vocal. On the flipside, "ChannelTwo(MurderousDub)" is just as good. A sliced vocal and bassline form an improbably singable hook, before tumbling into a big old sentimental piano breakdown. Or perhaps the word "breakdown" is redundant on this marvellously broken release.
Club life would never be the same again now that he had left the building. He was gone and so too would this place be very soon. The world mourned the last dancer, out the door he had walked never to return to a floor in which he had spent many a night lost under the glowing lights and disco balls. His movement had been legendary, the talk of the town. Now all that was left was an eerie shadow and an empty space where he had used to stand. This night was for him, they would move in honour. The night had only just begun. Let's ride.
UK pioneers, rave fanatics and living legends 2 Bad Mice return with a bang. Social Sneaker Club release the first EP from the three since 2004 in what marks a landmark occasion for UK rave culture.
Sneaker Social Club follow up a slew of experimental, bass-driven records including Neil Landstrumm's Dragon Under LP and 12"s from Bass Clef, Luke's Anger and Throwing Snow with another solid piece of club tackle courtesy of Brighton based Etch.
Staying true to form in the follow up to acclaimed releases on Soundman Chronicles, Wisdom Teeth and Lapsus - Etch returns with 4 breaks-laden tracks reminiscent of Moving Shadow's golden era, rife with brash and burly kick drums, scattered snares and capacious atmospheres showcasing a young artist firmly on the ascent.
![Etch - Ups and Downs LP [2x12"] - Unearthed Sounds](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/snkrlp003_{width}x.jpg?v=1607033165)
![2 Bad Mice Remixes (Sully & FaltyDL) [Repress] - Unearthed Sounds](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/snkr014_{width}x.jpg?v=1607024478)
![Appleblim - Life In A Laser LP [2x12" Vinyl] - Unearthed Sounds](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/snkrlp002_{width}x.jpg?v=1607025994)
![The Brothers Grimm - Exodus (The Lion Awakes) [Special Request & DJ Die / Addison Groove Remixes] - Unearthed Sounds](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/snkr009-2_{width}x.jpg?v=1607052599)
![The Brothers Grimm - Exodus (The Lion Awakes) [Luke Vibert & The Maghreban Remixes] - Unearthed Sounds](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/snkr009-1_{width}x.jpg?v=1607052595)
![2 Bad Mice - Gone Too Soon EP [Repress] - Unearthed Sounds](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0488/8057/products/snkr008_{width}x.jpg?v=1607024475)
