new mix by Pearsall of nu-skool rave - "tracks that capture the spirit of '92 while using modern production techniques"
Tracklisting:
01. Try Unity – Time To Believe (Rave Radio)
02. Soundbwoy Killah – Tell Me (Warehouse Rave)
03. Manix – Hold Dis (Reinforced)
04. DJ Jedi – Acid Test (Rave Radio)
05. Trigger Happy – Vol. 2 (Side A2) (Trigger Happy)
06. Pete Cannon – Here We Go Again (Kniteforce)
07. Systec – Dreams (Peace On Wax)
08. Boykz & Chapman – Relapse (Enormous Mouse)
09. TenTun – Bass Drum (Rikka Jam)
10. Innercore – Suspense (Peace On Wax)
11. 2 Bad Mice – Gone Too Soon (Sneaker Social Club)
12. DJ Jedi – Utopia (Jedi Recordings)
13. Thumps & Bumps – Hardcore Sound (KHK)
14. Systec – Hardcore Generation (Peace On Wax)
15. Stormski – Come Selector (Stay On Target)
release rationale in full here
extracts:
"One difference between then and now is that production standards have clearly improved – these tracks sound crisp in a way that relatively few 1992 rave tracks do. High-end audio mastering technology was a luxury for the few back in the day, whereas every random bedroom producer today has access to the kind of tools that would have been an impossible dream for all but the wealthiest old skool rave producers.
"Another difference is that the march of time has ensured that producers are much more aware of how to program their tracks in a dj-friendly way – I flipped this mix together in one take and everything slid together quite nicely, which is emphatically not the case with many tracks back in the day, as they are often plagued with random bars throwing the mix structure out, strangely-triggered samples, sudden drops and the like.... so many producers were self-taught and basically unaware of how to structure their tracks to make life easier for a dj. For the listener, this unpredictability is part of the charm, but for a dj it can be hair-tearingly frustrating, as you think you have safely navigated the mix in for landing only for something incredibly weird to appear out of nowhere and send the whole mix flying off into fiery oblivion."
Looking forward to Pearsall's promised next mix Get It 005 - "devoted to dark 1993-esque rave sounds"
Rewind for his earlier mixes of new-old skool
Future Proofed
Get It 003 - devoted to ragga-junglish nu-core tunes
interesting discussion of the general issue / idea of new-old skool tracks) over at The Next Groove blog
"In my opinion, imitation (and nothing but imitation) can only take us so far. It seems to me that if we want to recreate the energy of the old school Hardcore era, we have to dig deeper than its plasticity, to unveil what its spirit and approach were, rather than its specific sonic palette. Hardcore was a bastard genre, a sort of Frankenstein's Monster taking bits and pieces from other genres of that era. Techno of that era. House of that era. RnB of that era. Hip hop of that era. Dancehall of that era.
"If we want to bring back the sense of catharsis that the older generation experienced, we have to start by creating our own bastard genre of today. Taking bits and pieces from the music of today. Techno of today. House of today. Dancehall of today. Etc. And we also have look at new genres that have sprung up in the last two decades: Dubstep, Grime, Funky House, Alternative RnB, Drum n Bass, Afrobeats, Afroswing, Gqom, etc, etc. Only then, I think, can we get our own "being there", our own "being part of something new and special", and our own "feeling of freedom and reverie". "
4 comments:
I agree with what you're saying, but the problem for me with the whole continuum thing is that a lot of the "new music" may well be vital and have a sense or urgency that parallels early 90s hardcore, but it doesn't catch the same..I'm struggling for the word here..vibe.
I could listen to a grime track and feel that it captures some of the space that the early 90s stuff inhabits, but not all. It's different. I could listen to a Little Richard track and feel the same.
I'm not sure the search will ever turn up anything that captures all the feeling but none of the sonic palette, all that matters really is that there is music out there that captures a sense of urgency etc, without it necessarily being intrinsically linked to what came before (obviously sounds will be shared etc).
My personal theory to why early - to mid 90s Rave music (of all shades, UK Ardkore to Euro Gabber and bouncing Acid/Techno) was so great was - partly - due to the fact the cold war was finally over, and so was the always looming danger of nuclear holocaust. I was a teenager during the 90s and a kid during the 80s, and I remember movies like "The Day After" very vividly. Thigns of course got better with Gorbachov, but still. And then all of a sudden world politics looked so much better (I guess the second Gulf War 1991 and the atrocities on yugsolavia were somehow successfully ignored)
it was an unrepeatable moment - a whole confluence of factors (state of technology, state of the outside world, the surrounding music-scape esp hip hop and dancehall and R&B but top 40 pop, the drugs, the relative youth of the movement and its lack of history and self-consciousness, but also lack of sense of itself as an industry and a career structure / profession) produced this sound suffused with Zeitgeist and impelled with chaotic energy ... seemingly out of control, set on an evolutionary course whose destination nobody knew.... a thrill-ride on a big dipper that was still under construction
something with many of the same properties and using similar procedures could be made today, as a mosaic of present day musics and social vibes, but it would be very different
one thing that can be agreed i think is that the retro-rave stuff - while highly enjoyable as a facsimile of the form - is contrary to the animating spirit of the original music, which was a plunge into the unknown. this is a meticulous reconstruction of the known, done with love and desperate longing.
That's great, but what are your views on whether the Bukem remix of 'Losing Track Of Time' by DJ Biz is better than the original version? :D
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