Spirits From An Urban Jungle are a jungle super group comprising of JMJ (EZ Rollers) & Richie and Tekniq – between them they continued to release music through the 90’s and 00’s on scene stalwarts such as Moving Shadow, Formation and Good Looking. But the group itself only had two releases back in 1994 on White House Records before the disbanded.
Hailing from Norfolk, this Storm From The East were integral to the advancement of the jungle sound in the UK and laid the foundations to for the drum and bass scene that would follow.
Amen Brother’s older brother Vinyl Fanatiks repressed their first EP in 2020 and planted the seed with the guys about possibly making some new music. Lockdown arrived which gave the three of them the time to work on new music and this is the outcome, 25 years after their last release in 1994.
We are super excited to be releasing these tracks and bringing you the class of 94.
Ellis Dee is basically the godfather of rave music and rave events. I think its official to say that a rave wasn’t a rave unless he was gracing the decks! He has was there at the inception of the movement and is still out there now pushing the sound and smashing up DJ sets.
And this is kind of how this release came about. Ellis Dee was booked for an Australian tour and one of the events was in Perth. Without his knowledge, two producers had decided to remake two of his classic tracks and surprise him by playing them at the same event, as they were performing on the same bill. Unfortunately the event was cancelled due to covid and the tour didn’t take place.
So Boykz and Chapman contacted Vinyl Fanatiks as they knew Ellis Dee worked with the label, explained the story and shared the tracks. The remixes were incredible, two respectful revamps, with original samples sourced, but a fresh interpretation that still harked as though it was made 30 years ago.
We couldn’t let these tracks vanish into history and decided to release them on Amen Brother. If you missed out on the originals being repressed on Vinyl Fanatiks a few years ago, don’t sleep on these badbwoys as they will bring any party back into 1992!
a1. Ellis Dee - Rock To The Max (Boykz & Chapman Remix)
b1. Ellis Dee - Dance Factor (Boykz & Chapman Remix)
DJ Pooch strikes back on Amen Brother, bringing his awesome hardcore rave vibes on a brand new 4 track EP. Following up from his sold out debut on the label ‘The Return Of The Skrufneck’, Pooch has transported himself back to 93, digging out his Akai 950 and creating all these tracks on analogue gear, to really capture the sound of those amazing days of rave.
The Skrufneck is an alais he gave to himself back in the early 90’s when he launched his career and now he returns for his second outing on the label. Grab copies fast as these will sell out.
Watch out for more original DJ Pooch material being repressed on Vinyl Fanatiks including his original Skrufneck releases as well as more on Amen Brother and sister label AmenTec.
Crashead has been on a hiatus. A 27 year hiatus to be fair! Originally he released on the Bionic Sound label out of Essex. His affiliation was through the glory years of hardcore into the early jungle era of 1993 and 1994. Then he stopped producing as life got in the way and adult distractions took him into other directions. But in recent times, his music on the Bionic Sound label has increased in popularity, with some of his original tracks on the label, written with label boss Doughbwoy, are fetching high prices on Discogs. The most sought after of his early releases being the ‘Two Evil Eyes’ 12” which has gone for more than £170 a copy!
Unfortunately Doughbwoy passed away recently, but the spirit of those early releases can be felt in this brand new 4 track EP. Probably the hardest of all the Amen Brother releases to date, this is for the headstrong. Prime time underground rave material.
Release number four on Amen Brother and this time we are joined by another old skool legend, DJ Pooch. Producing since 1992 on labels like Lucky Spin and United Dance, he has recently got all his old gear back out again and is producing using just analogue gear, to get that raw essence of the early 90’s.
This EP is pure hardcore rave, you won’t find many who can get it just right like Pooch. Drawing upon his years of DJing at the huge raves in the UK as well as his massive back catalogue, these four tunes will transport you back to a muddy field in the UK, listening to cassette tapes of pirate radio shows on the way!
Watch out for more original DJ Pooch material being repressed on Vinyl Fanatiks including his Skrufneck alias, where this EP gets its inspiration from.
At 15 years of age Danny aka DJH worked at his Dad’s record shop at the weekends in Kings Lynn. He also built himself a basic studio in the back of the shop where he linked up with a local customer and started to make music. These tracks would form an EP called The Bass Project which went on to be one of the most sought after hardcore records, being offered for up to £750 a copy. Not bad for a 15 year old kid who made his one and only release back in 1993.
26 years later and Danny has linked up with Vinyl Fanatiks and entrusted the label to reissue his childhood gem. And from the success of that EP, long since sold out on Vinyl Fanatiks, came a slew of fresh music, transporting an older DJH back to his youth with a succession of Eps on Amen Brother, under the Unfinished Bizzniz series. This is Part 2 of that series and DJH continues to delve through his samples to bring fresh takes on the hardcore scene that helped him cut his teeth in the business and eventually getting him signed to Nervous Records with his Tech House output.
Part 3 of this series has already been cut and ready for release in 2022. So don’t sleep on this top selektion my selekta!
X-Plode is a master of the 1992 rave sound. Listening to any one of his tracks, you could easily imagine them being part of a Top Buzz set back in the early 90’s. Hailing from Bolton, Lee aka X-Plode self-released his debut EP on white label in ’92, which would go on to be a highly collectable item and in turn would prompt Vinyl Fanatiks to track him down, which was not easy I can tell you, in order to repress it in 2020.
A friendship was born and in turn Lee was inspired by the interest in his old EP when reissued that he decided it was time to start making music again, 27 years after he downed tools. And we are very luck he has, because he is a rare talent, with an ability to capture an era in music so genuine and respectful that you would struggle to even tell it was made in the 21st century.
This is X-PLode’s second EP on Amen Brother and another EP has been made for a new label run out of the Vinyl Fanatiks stable called Acid Boom, where Lee showcases his unique ability to perfectly capture another era of British dance music… Adddiieeeeddd!
Fugitive is Dave Wallace, who started producing in 1991 as Rave Doctor. But as the hardcore sound started to take shape, he shifted to his alias Mad Dog for Underdog Recordings, where he created numerous anthems.
As the jungle sound swept through the UK, Dave switched up yet again and formed Fugitive with Shaun O'Hara, also on Underdog Recordings. And a year later, he formed Aquasky with Brent & Kieron.
This EP is Dave's return to the early 90's jungle sound of 1994, as the harder vibes merged with the musicality of the Bukem era that was sweeping through the scene at this time. It is also the first Fugitive release for 25 years, so a very special moment for fans of this era of UK music.
Ova Doce self-released a highly sought after EP in 1992 called ‘Feel The Rush’ which he used the money that his parents gave him for his 18th birthday to fund. His Dad hated rave music, so to annoy him, Nathan AKA Ova Doce sampled Bob Dylan in one of the tracks. Surprisingly his Dad quite liked it and was intrigued by his sons work. Fast forward 28 years and that track, along with others from the EP and some unreleased tracks written in 1992 were put out on Vinyl Fanatiks.
Amen Brother is the young brother of Vinyl Fanatiks and its ethos is to put our brand new hardcore, rave and jungle tunes by original artists from that era (though this USP is changing in 2022). Ova Doce has arrived on label brining his authentic Walsall rave sound with him, creating 4 brand new tracks, though a few are actually sketches created back in the 90’s that he recently finished off.
Think Acen, think pitched up chipmonk vocals, think being off ya ‘ead in a field raving ya tits off! Now check this EP and feel the rush!
‘Free Your Mind’ is an iconic track made and released in 1991 by the Cowan brothers – Mark and Andy. They had previously put out a couple of records beforehand, but the release that got them forever known is the ‘Psychology’ EP, which the original version of ‘Free Your Mind’ appears on. It was also an all-time favourite tune for Amen Brother boss, Brent Aquasky. So much so, that when he started his repress label, Vinyl Fanatiks, he hunted down the brothers in order to re-release it.
But in 1990 Mark released an EP under the name of Dik Fozbee, inspired by the US house and techno scene. An EP that is highly collectable and was also sampled by 2 Bad Mice on ‘No Respect’. After that EP was released, Mark was tracked down by a young Ron Wells AKA Jack Smooth. Ron was about to make his musical debut as Smooth and Simmonds, but they needed someone who had an Akai 950 and knew how to use it. In steps Mark Fozbee, who lent them the bit of kit and gave them pointers on how to operate it. This is where this EP’s name originated from.
Forward time by 31 years to the buoyant world of the rave repress era. Remixes needed to be done of ‘Free Your Mind’ and both Fozbee & Cooz as well as Ron Wells were big inspirations for Brent Aquasky, so bringing them together for the first time was an idea that thankfully both parties were into. The outcome is this EP… two smoking remixes by Jack Smooth; one in his Ron Wells techno fused direction, the other in his Jack Smooth proper Jungle Techno vibe, which is hugely relevant as Jack Smooth was the creator of that sound in the early 1990’s.
But on top of that, the guys decided to write a brand new track together… ‘Redress’, taking things back to the 90’s London techno era.
These guys are the core of what would become rave in this country and in turn hardcore, then jungle. If you want to learn the history of drum and bass, these are the guys to research. Pioneers!
a1. Fozbee, Cooz & Smooth - Free Your Mind (Jack Smooth 3.0 Mix)
a2. Fozbee, Cooz & Smooth - Free Your Mind (Jack Smooth 2.0 Mix)
The third release on this rave inspired label comes by an old school hardcore legend Diplomat. Diplomat spent the early 90’s recording rave and hardcore on his own Immunity Records with the tracks being engineered by Hellfish. He then joined Hellfish on his Deathchant and Bogwoppa labels where he continued to release Hardcore Techno throughout the 90’s. Recently, Diplomat’s first EP ‘Here Comes Mongo’, a highly collectable piece of vinyl exchanging hands on Discogs for up to £100, was re-released on Amen Brothers sister label Vinyl Fanatiks.
This EP showcases Diplomats original love, that of Hardcore Jungle Techno, in which he draws upon his skills from back in the day whilst utilising the technology of the present. There are three brand new productions that turn up the Fantazia levels alongside a remix by his old production partner Beagle, who he worked with under the guise of NARC on Bogwoppa back in 1993. That EP is highly sort after as well, with prices running up to £200 a copy on Discogs. Enjoy the return of the early 90’s and embrace the sound that went on to inspire the world.
The second release on Amen Brother sees the return of another old school legend that only released one EP and vanished for the next 28 years! Lee X-Plode put out a self-funded EP in 1992 on a white label that became highly sort after in the vinyl collecting world, with copies changing hands for up to £250! Vinyl Fanatiks were lucky enough to be blessed with his permission to re-release this EP, which flew off the shelves.
Lee just loves the early 90’s rave scene and is an avid collector of any rave footage from this era. He is so tuned in to this period of music that when he started producing again in 2020, his tracks sounded like they had all been made back then, 100% authentic with 100% vibes. So when we approached Lee about writing an EP for our newly-founded Amen Brother label, he jumped at the chance and gave us four amazing anthems. This EP includes his track ‘Shock Out’ from the ‘Hardcore Lockdown’ album as well as an incredible revamp of his reggae tinged classic ‘Watch This Go’ which was on his one and only release back in 1992.
DJH was 15 when he wrote his first EP back in 1993. That EP became a near mythic release within the hardcore vinyl collecting circles with a price tag of over £700 on Discogs! Vinyl Fanatiks tracked down Danny and organised its re-release back in 2019, with the release selling out rapidly.
Now DJH is back, 27 years later, in the studio recording his first hardcore tracks since the glory years, inspired by the love and support shown by all who bought his repress. So if that was you, thank you for making him return to his first love. And what a return it is. Four incredibly authentic hardcore tracks, recorded in 2020, including his smasher from the ‘Hardcore Lockdown’ album – ‘Hold Tight’. Not only that, but he has revisited his seminal tune ‘Petruccio’ and has remixed it.
I hope you show DJH your support and love and embrace him and this EP into your collection.
