DJ Mag #144

DJ THE dance music and clubscene magazine No. 144 / 20 July - 2 Aug 1995 / £1.85 / $5 cover stars TWA pic by Chris Scott LOVE PARADE BERLIN GOES TECHNO CRAZY JUNGLE MCs WHAT DO THEY DO EXACTLY? DANCE MUSIC RADIO DJs THE BEST AND THE REST SONAR ADVANCED MUSIC IN BARCELONA TWA BOYS IN DRESSES MAKING IT BIG

Ray Keith club one nation suburban jungle Aldershot is probably not the first place you'd think of going for a jungle club, but Club One Nation at The Rhythm Station plays host to some serious underground names. The streets of Aldershot are littered with cans and broken glass, and the last remnants of the booze-addled debauch that is the Airborne Forces Weekend stumble to god knows where, slurring obscene songs into the breeze. Meanwhile those who really know about a good night out descend upon the Club One Nation, with locals being joined by a large London contingent, and posses as far as Kent, Essex and Winchester. Having passed the security who look like the bike gang from 'Mad Max II', but treat punters with humour and respect, they pay their tenner (£9 for members) and step into the large auditorium of a converted cinema, to be overwhelmed by the sweaty futuristic groove that is the drum & bass sound. The club came into being with the demise of an unsuccessful house night, when Rhythm Station owner Chas ("it's an alias") went into partnership with promoter, geezer and all round face on the jungle scene, Terry Turbo. Terry had put on One Nation events before at the Roller Express and the Astoria, but realised whilst flying endless half empty house clubs that there was a bigger demand for drum & bass. "It's the first time in the south of England there's been a regular all-night club that plays proper drum & bass," he says. "We get a capacity crowd every week, because apart from AWOL at The Ministry, and events at the Lazerdrome (Peckham) we're it..." Capacity is 1000 people, though numbers do go down when there are competing one-off events. Chas adds, "When house music first went into clubs, they were raves in clubs, now it's all glitzy nightclubs full of pissheads and people with shiny shirts on - they're not really into the music. You do get the occasional ones that are up for it, but if you go in One Nation at 2am you'll see what 'up for it' really means." The crowd is as good as Chas's word and is dancing as one. About 50% black/50% white, they're all quite friendly, ("the music's changed," Terry points out, "and so have the people who are into it. They don't go out to be a Bad Boy anymore.") and there's none of that "what's-yer-name-what-yer-on" business either. They have good reason to keep moving with a DJ line up that includes the skills of LTJ Bukem, Ray Keith, Kenny Ken and Jumping Jack Frost on a 16K turbo sound system; pure, fierce rhythms all night ending with the eagerly awaited Ron and SL back to back set. The MCs, so often derided in the past, are an integral part of the proceedings. Fearless, Flux and Navigator take the crowd up and down with a delivery style somewhere between ragamuffin and wide-boy. Upstairs is a lounge bar where the amiable Rich D and Alan Littlewood soothe the weary with house and garage which ticks along pleasantly without ever going anywhere. But it is downstairs in the swirling smoke corridor of the green 10K laser that you can smell the future. Let Ray Keith have the last word: "At the end of the day it's good to see the clubs are busy and there's a good response. People can't say that drum & bass is dead. We've been there from day one, we've rolled out and we've showed the people that there's this different aspect to dance music. Now Joe Public can come and take notice and see what's happening." Words: Thomas H Green Pics: Paul R Massey LTJ Bukem and MC Fearless DJ 34

JJ Frost Kenny Ken 35 DJ

DJ profile>> Lick a shot! Booyaka bass! Hol' up your lighter if you're a Silk Cut man! Treat yourself to a Bukem set and you won't - repeat won't - hear such jungle. You will, however, be presented with breaks of an intelligent, more melodic vintage with fine woody tastebass and delicate aromas that tantalisingly tingle the roof of your mouth. You may gurgle with glee at his swirly selection but you certainly won't spit it out! Having always expressed an aversion to the more musical side of the breakbeat, DJ LTJ Bukem, with his Good Looking/Looking Good recording stable has played a very important part in the creation of jungle's latest subgenre; the intelligent blend that, with its introspectively deep vibes and smoke wisp feelings seems like a complete throwback to the frantic 'in yo face' blends that have hogged the spotlight since jungle's status elevation. He was playing such blends before a name was even coined for them. "From an early age I've always liked 'soundz'," says Danny Bukem lounging on his comfy armchair in his west London abode. "I learned to play the drum and the keyboards and the trumpet. I've learned the ins and outs of these types of sounds. Everything in my life of music has always involved melody, about putting loads of sounds together to make a composition and it's something I've always leaned towards. "So from the off when I was young, I began with the classical training, with Bach and Mozart and all that and eventually got totally pissed off and bored with it until I met this guy who was basically willing to show me what I wanted to learn. So I used to play him old Chick Corea stuff and other jazz records and he used to show me how they performed certain techniques and how this chord was done and that... Then we'd do the scales and stuff at the end and I didn't mind doing it that way because I still got what I really wanted out of it." So, jazz. Is that what has dominated the playlists of the various musical instruments you have owned in your life? "No. I never really followed any one particular sound as I grew up. I just did what everyone else does and took what appealed to me from all musics. Someimes I was kind of annoyed when there wasn't more of the sorts of stuff I really liked, but I never consciously sat down and said, this is the stuff I'm into and this is the stuff I'm not." A Bukem tune, much like the other recording artists in his stable like Peshay, The Wax Doctor and The Invisible Man, certainly has a distinct and unmistakable flavour to it. The characteristic rolling drums and 16 bar plus swaying beatless dropouts at the beginning, middle and end of each track display consistent thematic qualities while the professionally played instrument riffs compliment the bass drone to the point that Bukem is often cited as the jungle DJs favourite producer. Mix his extra long dropouts in with a previous record and you'll begin to see why, as the spacial soundscapes and mellow string, wind or synthesised instruments permeate gently over this previous break and take over as the old record finishes - evolving or mutating into a full-on crescendo of sounds and laying the path for the chugging drums to make their entrance. The sounds present seem played around with until they are unrecognisable from their original form - clearly more special FX than Steven Spielberg! "That's the fun of it! You get one little sound and you add all these strings and progressions around it until it's completely mashed. That's the fun of it! "It is quite an emotional style, isn't it?" Bukem continues. "I like to whirl it all up and that's what music should do anyway, if it isn't then it ain't being done properly. It might be different emotions like anger or anguish but at the end of the day it's a feeling definitely. It has to move your body and your mind." But the Bukem blend hasn't always been the flavour of the month, especially in the conceiving days of Good Looking Records, when the words 'hardcore' and 'melody' were ones you wouldn't expect to be side by side in a thesaurus! "The first single, 'Demon's Theme' (still cited as a classic) was on dub plate for over a year and I still played it wherever I went because I absolutely loved it!" Bukem says modestly. "Some people at the time were like "'Ey? What's this?" and others thought it was brilliant so over that year I got like half and half response. That didn't bother me though because priority number one the music that I make is primarily for me, that's what it's all about. I like to make music that you can still pick up in five years time and listen to it. Aquarius, Omni Trio, Peshay, that's all like that but you wouldn't be picking up General Levy 'Incredible' in five years time. You'd be like, what the fuck's this?" So you've always turned a blind eye to the mainly ragga face-punch style? "Well, come four or five years ago I used to play all the ragga stuff when Reinforced Records were doing things like 'Ragamuffin' and Shut Up & Dance and Rebel MC were knocking out their bits... It was quality stuff then, I was havin' it. But you've got to move on though, haven't you?" Contrary to what many might believe when on the subject of heavyweight jungle DJs, their journey to the top isn't necessarily a mistake free venture. "What's your most embarassing moment?" is often a favourite question of hacks when interviewing their idol DJs and Bukem's hilarious reply has got to be printed as a warning to all other up and comers. Check your booking before loading your dub plates and driving off, you'll thank yourself! "About four or five years ago, I got totally the wrong club and wrong address!" he admits begrudgingly. "There I was, I marched into the club and stood by the decks. It was a garage guy playing at the time but I just thought it was like, a different concept, a garage DJ and then a jungle DJ. So there I was standing by the decks but the promoter wasn't showing. Then the DJ finished playing and I got my headphones out of my box, plugged 'em in and started to play. Then the promoter did come along and said to me "Who are you?" and I told him and he replied that I had got it totally wrong. I fucked off out of there right sharpish!" We're all human, mate! Thankfully for Bukem, since then it's definitely all been 'alright on the night'! Alex Constantinides

"It is quite an emotional style... I like to whirl it all up and that's what music should do anyway, if it isn't then it ain't being done properly. It might be different emotions like anger or anguish but at the end of the day it's a feeling definitely. It has to move your body and your mind." ookingDJ Good Looking/Looking Good Discography LTJ Bukem Demon's Theme/A Couple Of Beats Tayla Bang The Drums/Remnants Apollo Two Return To Atlantis LTJ Bumek Music/Enchanted The Wax Doctor Logical Progression The Invisible Man The Bell Tune/The Tone Tune Bukem & The Peshay 19.5/Reprisal LTJ Bukem The Dolphin Tune/Aquatic PFM Wash Over Me/Love & Happiness Peshay Piano Tune/Vocal Tune PFM The Western/Hypnotize Aquarius Drift To The Centre LTJ Bukem Horizons/Rain Fall 37 DJ

MC5-0 MC5-0 MC Navigator MC Navigator MC Fluz MC Fluz mou

MC profile>> In a pool room above a pub in Holborn one sunny afternoon, three of London's finest MCs are raging against the critics of their profession. Slim, slick, articulate Navigator interchanges laidback West Indian patois drawl with heated animation. "The MC has got the shitty end of the stick," he states bluntly. "He has to please the promoter, the punter AND the DJ. Who's got the most brain work to do on the night? Producers and DJs shun the limelight. The MCs take the forefront and people think we're glory-grabbers but we're not - we're on stage - we have to present this shit to the public." 27 year old Rocky Thomas, alias MC Flux, chimes in at this point. Famous on the south coast's drum & bass scene and reputedly originator of the term 'hardstep' he is physically and vocally somewhat shy in manner despite gold teeth and a shaven pate. This subject, however, fills him with righteous indignation: "A lot of MCs putting the vibe back on the dancefloor are coming across as DJs who say, "I can't play my things." The crowd want to hear you as well but if you give them some lyrics the DJ looks at you like, "Waddya think you're doing?" You can shut up but you're in a pressure situation. If you've got time you can pace yourself but if you're only doing one or two hours you can't do nothing. How are you supposed to perform?" This is not precious artistes whinging at their rough deal, merely concern that acknowledgement of a vital role in one section of the dance community is not forthcoming. No doubt if the clubs you attend are mainly of the techno, house or garage variety you will not have heard an MC for a few years and may indeed recall them as idiots bawling drug-addled nonsense over your favourite tunes. I once attended a dodgy Hypnosis warehouse party where the MC wandered about the dancefloor with his mic bumping into people and monotoning, "You're on an E". Endlessly. Times have changed. The sparse sound of jungle/drum & bass is empty enough for the DJ and the MC to interweave their techniques. These days at most jungle joints the MC is an essential intermediary between the decks and the people, but it has taken a while to evolve to this point. Navigator says, "There's three different MCs on the jungle rave scene; those influenced mainly by hip hop, those integrated straight into the dance thing, and then you have the other side of it which is reggae..." The third MC in today's trio is Five-O. Smaller than the other two with a hieroglyph tattoo from California on his arm representing heart, mind and spirit, he is a wiry ball of energy who explodes into life in great loud upbeat bursts. For him, as with Flux, it all began with raving; Sunrise, Genesis, Biology through to Rage at Heaven until one night in 1990, "I was in the Astoria and Kenny Ken was playing. A lightning bolt hit me on the head, I was in a good spirit and suddenly jumped on the mic. People like myself and (MC) Moose set a standard that had to be met. It was no longer "come on make some noise", it was more addressing the crowd on the wave of the music. Then Roast started at Turnmills and Moose brought me in. We worked hard but people used to slate us. We got persecuted but we redefined the MC's position." All three agree that Roast was a turning point for the scene for round this time hardcore, that refreshing uproarious combination of hip hop breaks and European techno with solid dub influences, was breaking down into its componenet parts and while techno's white boys grabbed the 303 or pressed the trance button something heavy and naturalistic was happening to the breakbeat. Something that was to pull in those from a different musical background. Navigator, formerly known as Speccy Ranks, was rechristened by mates during a smoking session for his ability to "put everyone in the right direction". Growing up around a father who loved reggae he soon adopted chatting skills picked up from artists ranging from Dillinger to U-Roy, Lone Ranger to Yellowman. Taking up with Demon Rocker and Flinty Badman (later The Ragga Twins) he became part of the Unity Sound System, the toast of north east London. The tradition of the DJ in Jamaican culture does after all have a long heritage of those who select (records) and those who chat over rhythm track b-sides. The 'ACIEED' storm of 88 passed the Navigator by but he was also tiring of slackness in his own kind of music and so took time out in the West Indies. When he came back The Ragga Twins were "bustin' up da place big time" and asked him to be their warm up man. "At that time I started going to raves. I went to an Energy, stood in there, arms folded, face bent up screwin'. Most of them were jumping around, I was like, what are these guys jumping around for? What the fuck is this? But you see I had to know why they were jumping; I had to know and that's why I'm here now. I stuck in there, started going to more, then late 91, early 92 Roast turned me on to the real soak vibe; when you're soaked through to the bone with realisation that the concept of this thing is enormous. Them times I was jumpin' out of my skin as a raver, comin' out of the place drenched with sweat." Nowadays Navigator is regarded by his peers as one of the most lyrical MCs and is putting together a debut album stepping the gap between reggae raggamuffin and raver wideboy. His work on D*Note's 'Criminal Justice' (out on Dorado earlier this year) was a classy example of conscious intelligent lyrics in the rough and ready drum & bass format. "There are horrible injustices in the world," he continues from behind his gold chain and shades. "But certain people just turn up at raves, pop their Es and are completely oblivious in their own little world. They're locked off; they've got their blinkers on and can only see down the track. They ain't got no scope so the MC can be a voice that makes them aware of issues. A lot of people never knew the Criminal Justice Act was passed until they realised too late, "oh my god, the police can come round and take all my equipment if I make too much noise" Flux and Five-O have no such vinyl ambitions at the moment. The former is happy touring as a host "making people feel good and giving a little message" with Moving Shadow's international showcases while the latter can be found along with MC Moose on VIP's new 'Jungle Hits 1'. Both are almost spiritual in their eagerness for and commitment to the scene. "Jungle, as I see it, was born out of London," says Flux. "It was inside people for a long time. Jungle gave us the opportunity to make something of ourselves and there will never be the rivalry and warfare that has been associated with hip hop." "Security are there to police the place," says Five-O. "I'm there to police the dance tune. I don't know where the words come from sometimes, I just dig deep like an athlete at the last hurdle. I go places that I know are BNP (British National Party) country but I don't give a fuck, I'm gonna entertain 'em; Braintree, Dagenham, Basingstoke - they all understand cos this stuff is multi-racial." "It takes a lot of bottle to go on the mic," concludes Navigator with finality. "People think 'MC? He just stands there and talks all night'. Well, come and try it..." "I just like an MC who works the crowd but leaves space for the music." Words: Thomas H Green, pics: Paul R Massey "Late 91, early 92 Roast turned me on to the real soak vibe; when you're soaked through to the bone with realisation that the concept of this thing is enormous. Them times I was jumpin' out of my skin as a raver, comin' out of the place drenched with sweat." Navigator

for those that know jungle column Remarc RIP (DJ Hype/Remarc Remixes) Suburban Base Hype bangs the final nail into the RIP coffin, giving this highly played and highly loved jump up hard ragga classic a new unbelievably 'hyper' angle. The 'RIP' syllables are separated and given a mad squiggly Reese b-line as a background accompaniment, an arcade game bomb lauch/land sound effect comes through for good measure and the patent DJ Hype wobbly distortion/melody in his bombing basslines makes this a tearer of the highest quality. Just as firing ominous Remarc mix on the flip. Manix Intelligent Hoodlums EP Reinforced From the great Manix what you might as well call a mini LP with its six tracks of happy 'tonne 'a bricks' jungle. Lead track is at first improvised and soulful then slicing into wallpaper stripping tearing live drum and Just Ice 'back to burn' contaminated needle jabs. 'True Mathematics' is a lesson in hard simplicity, 'Jazz Bop' and 'Crystal Wind's title and quality speak for themselves and the Tek 9 mix of 'Intelligent Hoods' is the hidden room. HMP Runin's/Lifa's Mix Frontline Might be seen as a dedication to all those detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure, but really stands for Hardware Meets Pascal, a head swaying drum & bass beat changer with old skool hip hop "we're gonna do a song, that you've never heard before" and dubby voice echo rinses. Hard and aggressive altercation between ruff 'Copter' and 'Amen' rhythms, Pascal, Thomas Hardware, thanks for the twoons.. Cutty Ranks/DJ SS Limb By Limb Suburban Base After the runaway success of Marvellous Cain's 'Hitman' with its "see mi mi, see the hitman 'a come" Cutty Ranks vocal stabs, the public demand for a full jungle version of Cutty Ranks 'Limb By Limb' has reached feverish proportions. In steps DJ SS to fill the vacuum with a bumping warped bassline bounder with the "all we have fi do is send fi the new gun" and "limb by limb we 'a go gun dem down" lyrics of Cutty. Also Marv Cain's original 'Hitman' and 'Limb By Limb' ragga version on the flip. Deadly D Aim To Please/United Flex Standard ragga fare given the consistent golden touch by the never fail to please Flex stable. Still raining up there is it boys?! Dillinja Genius/Missing You Unknown Dillinja loves rinsing his beats and feeding them through his hungry filters and you're here given a double dosage with his latest single. The undercover Dillinja has an immediately recognisable netherworld dimension flow and here he uses that fade in/out effect on the snaricide breaks underneath the 'first class - genius', 'so tough' cute female cut ins while the zooming 'cloak & dagger' bassline seeps in. Barrington Levy/Beenie Man Two Sounds (Tom & Jerry Mixes) Greensleeves Not usually that firing with their jungle mixes but with the conscription of Reinforced stablemates Tom & Jerry at last we have one that rox. One side of the sandwich is like an old dub style bassline played with an electronic tinge and the other slice of bread is hype but not frantic pans while Barrington & Beenie voice is echoed and sandwiched in between. Omni Trio Nu Birth Of Cool/Torn Moving Shadow Even though the Rob the Haigh has very recently released an LP his latest single is still highly awaited. Who else can really tap you in all the right places with such a range of skin tingling noises and emotional jungle vibes? Here we have the tones, FXed pianos and rave reminiscent riffs that Omni is known and loved for in abundance and that are sure to become stuck in your head after a few listens (joy) along with what sounds like a live vocal of a diva chest wail "if you want my love"! Jazz 2000. DJ Taktix Attention/Untitled Back 2 Basics B-boy drum shuffle, dark adrenaline rushing suspense building chords and in and out echoes of a bloke saying "attention". Then with the ensuing flowing rivers of blood in a teeth clenching key drawl, one of those tunes where you see half the people raving hard and the other swaying but all getting their own pleasure from the grooves. DJ SS In Between The Lines (Roni Size/SS Remixes) Formation Not your usual tribal pan drum style of Roni Size, you may not have ever noticed it's him has you not been told. Oh yes! Big up the Roni! Like an 'oop north' SS style jump up happy niceness b-line meets the dial turning FX wizardry of the sound. The hypnotising funky spine bouncing bass changing via a new effect every eight bars will no doubt have those that know jumping high. Lovely to see that Roni can bust many styles and ain't stuck in no musical rut. Alex Reece Pulp Fiction Metalheads Got sent a tacky Tandy tape with this on it but it's so hot it's got to get a review. Hardstep dark intelligence with an irresistible trumpet stab that begins on the haunted house cobweb tip and then turns your insides out with the industrial b-line. Yes please on the vinyl Kemi/Storm! Intelligence worthy of an Oxford honours degree! JMJ & Richie Free La Funk/Torn Moving Shadow The sweet soulful musical jungle by market leaders Moving Shadow continues, a rimmy "the hear drummer get wicked" start with heart pump in your chest swirls giving way to famous jazz schmoove loop and lovers rock sweet style female vocals. Shuffling slowly but constantly like a tide coming in on a cold evening. If you liked Hidden Agenda's 'Is It Love' head for the shop forthwith. Asend & Ultravibe Real Love (DJ SS Mix)/What Kind Of World (Dred Bass/Bad Behaviour Mixes) Back 2 Basics DJ SS goes dark! What a hard drum kick-in! Definitely showing that his current reign (along with Hype) as producer of the moment is not letting up at all. Snare juggling and ever changing from burrowing basslines with backward reverbed lady loving piano shooting stars in the beatless dropout intro and "I got to have a real love" voices. 110% gonna be played to death in raves and on the pirates. Hotter than a Mexico exhaust after a long rally! Platinum dark and heavy Dred Bass quality stamped remix of the seminally sad (and now insanely CS gassed) 'What Kind Of World' on the otha. Pure Anything Test/Positive Steps Suburban Base AKA firing Isle Of Dogs, east London DJ Duo Swift & Zinc who own and run their own 'Brain Progression' recordings. Big up your gold chains Ben Zinc! Lady butt moving soulful musical b-lines and rare groove "pick up the pieces" loops detonate into heavy slam drum rinsing and "anything test dead! Come!" shouts. For the WD40 massives up Manchester way. Bim Jeamland/The Road Is Foggy S.O.U.R A soup of sunshine beating down on your face is the jazzy saxed & strings beginning with unobtrusive rims and 808 boom accompaniment soaks through and relaxes. Will go down a storm in both soul/jazz and connoisseur jungle venues. Mafia The Blackhand Say It Loud Remix/1995 Flavour Mafia Tearin' Dillinja style drums and soundboy stabs, for all the hip hop/ragga men that have now realised that they were junglist all along. Other tearers... DJ Krust Poison/Set Speed v Roni Size & Krust Touch/Daylight Full Cycle, Hopa & Bones So Sweet (Remixes) Outcry, London's Most Wanted Girls Dem Want It Philly Blunt. Alex Constantinides Certain tunes supplied by Boogie Times, Romford. Review copies to: jungle column, DJ Magazine, PO Box 7502, London N22 6QN. If enclosing charts please add name, address and phone/fax details. Jungle Top Ten 1 Asend Take Your Soul (Remix) Second Movement 2 Droppin' Science Step Off (Splash remix) DS 3 DJ Krust Poison V 4 Johnny Jungle Killa Sound (Pascal remix) Suburban Base 5 Ragga Twins Freedom Train (Jungle mixes) TP 6 Aphrodite Mash Up TP 7 The Guyver I'm Coming Alive Reinforced 8 The JB The Realm Back 2 Basics 9 DJ Dextrous Wanted Dead Or Alive Subversive 10 Mikey James The Rhys Project Suburban Base DJ 46