Who Say Reload mixed by DJ Aphrodite

 

 2 months ago my book Who Say Reload was published. It was really well received and I've had lots of nice comments and positive feedback. It actually sold out faster than expected (within about 2 weeks) but it's finally back in stock after some brexit related nonsense at UK customs that delayed things for a bit. For promo push #2 none other than Aphrodite has put together a 3 part mix using all the tunes featured in the book. Part 1 is below and part 2 and 3 will be following over the next week or so...  

[EDIT: parts 1, 2 & 3 are now all available here]

 

tracklist

Lennie De Ice - We Are I.E

Ragga Twins - Spliff Head

A Guy Called Gerald - 28 Gun Bad Boy

LTJ Bukem - Demon's Theme

Metal Heads - Terminator

Nookie - Shining In Da Darkness

Omni Trio - Renegade Snares (Foul Play remix)

Ray Keith - Terrorist

DJ Crystl - Let It Roll

Foul Play - Open Your Mind (original & remix)

Peshay - Vocal Tune

Peshay - Piano Tune

T Power vs MK Ultra - Mutant Jazz

Having Aphrodite do the mix for me was quite a big deal as when I first started learning to mix and buying drum n bass on vinyl I was hunting down pretty much everything with his name on it, so it was great having him included in Who Say Reload. Having been responsible for the hardcore classic Some Justice in the early 90s, and the massive Calling All The People (as A-Zone) in 1994, he really nailed the hip hop based jump-up D&B style that was big around 96-98 and alongside everything he was putting out on his own Aphrodite Recordings and Urban Takeover label he was killing it with the remixes. The Jungle Brothers, Blackstreet and Luniz ones remain personal favourites to this day.

Once all the work for the book has settled down a bit I do intend to resume normal service on OB4ZL, although that might be dependent on there being more hours in the day than the current 24. I'll be updating the Who Say Reload blog occasionally in the meantime. If you're in the London area at the end of May we have a free launch party at Signature Brewery in E8. Limited spaces as the venue has restricted capacity due to covid etc etc but pass through and say hello if you can.

Who Say Reload - now available for pre-order!

For the last few years I've been putting together this collection of interviews chronicling the classic jungle / drum n bass records of the 90s. I'm proud to say that it's now available for pre-order through Velocity Press and is due to be available on general release in March! 

Each chapter focuses on a different classic jungle track, with the artist providing the backstory on their influences, creative processes and memories of the burgeoning jungle scene of the mid 90s. There's also additional interviews with some of the genres key figures providing additional detail and commentary of the stand out records, raves and club nights of the era. Photography is from the archives of my man Eddie Otchere, who you might be familiar with from his shots of Wu Tang, Biggie and Aaliyah amongst others. 

I've written a short piece on how the book came about here. If you get in quickly you can also cop the limited edition poster featuring records included in the book.

featured artists include

Shut Up & Dance – Ragga Twins – 4Hero – Lennie De Ice – Goldie – LTJ Bukem – A Guy Called Gerald – Fabio - Basement Phil – Nookie – Q Project – MC GQ – Omni Trio – Andy C & Ant Miles - DJ Rap - Sean O’Keeffe (Deep Blue) – DJ Crystl – Pete Parsons – Danny Donnelly – Foul Play – Ray Keith – Floyd Dyce – Tobie Scopes (Chimeira/Serial Killaz) - Jumpin Jack Frost – Bryan G – DJ Asend (Dred Bass) – Junior Hart & Steve B (Renk Recs) – UK Apachi – Krome & Time – DRS & Kenny Ken – Pascal – J Majik – Peshay – Storm – DJ SS – T Power – DJ Flight – Shimon – Aphrodite – Micky Finn – DJ Hype – Roni Size – AK1200 - Doc Scott – Dazee – Friction – Mampi Swift – DJ Krust – Moving Fusion – Optical – DJ Fresh

 Quite typical of me to spend 10+ years cultivating a reasonably sized following off a blog focusing on classic hip hop and then going and writing a book about a completely different genre, but as far as hip hop goes I couldn't come up a fresh angle to write about and then there's obviously issues with access to artists etc. Jungle/D&B (essentially the same thing and for the purposes of my project the terms are pretty much interchangeable) is my second musical love and although I had been into it since 94, it was the phase of hip hop influenced records around 95-97 that really peaked my interest. Despite the widely recognised influence of reggae and sound systems, along with its foundations in the early 90s hardcore rave scene, a large proportion of the artists I interviewed have their roots in hip hop. The first wave of producers often cited the likes of Marley Marl, the Bomb Squad and Mantronix (where do you think they got that amen break from?) as their inspirations. Anyway, I won't go into too much detail here but suffice to say: GO AND BUY MY BOOK. Thanks. 

DJ Step One - Old Skool Jungle Roll-Out (2016)

The March edition of my First Of The Month mix series and I've gone to the bottom shelf, for that is where the old skool jungle lives. One hour of 1993-95 selection on this, and it's mostly on that rolling, more musical tip rather than the tear-out/ragga style . Bass heavy, amens chopped up, and just right....

DOWNLOAD

Tracklist

Cloud 9 - Mr Logic (Moving Shadow)

Origin Unknown - Valley Of The Shadows (Ram)

88.3 ft Lisa May - Wishing On A Star - VIP dub (Labello Blanco)

Wax Doctor - Kid Caprice (Metalheadz)

Danny Breaks - Droppin Science Vol 1 - side b (Droppin Science)

DJ Krust - Set Speed (V Recordings)

Tom & Jerry - Maxi(mun) Style - Nasty Jungle remix (Tom & Jerry)

Omni Trio - Together VIP (Moving Shadow)

Roni Size & DJ Die - Music Box (Full Cycle)

Rude Bwoy Monty - Summer Sumting (Frontline)

DJ Crystl - Perpetual Motion (Payday)

P Funk -  P Funk Era (Frontline)

Omni Trio - Thru The Vibe - 2 on 1 mix (Moving Shadow)

Apollo Two - Atlantis (I Need You) - LTJ Bukem remix (Good Looking)

Lennie De Ice - We R E  - Hyper Crew mix (Armshouse Crew)

Omni Trio - Renegade Snares - Foul Play remix (Moving Shadow)

Not my finest mix as far as technical skills go but in my defence I'm a bit ill (off work sick today)  and I haven't played some of these tunes in years (or ever in couple of cases as they're recent purchases). Some heavy tunes on here still. One of the reasons I thought I'd drop a mix every month this year is to try an put you on to some music you might not know about otherwise. Hopefully this does the trick. Enjoy.

theres more to life than rap music pt.2

Just over a year ago I dropped a post with a few non-Hip Hop mixes. The picture that accompanied it was responsible for a significant amount of hits in the following months so I thought that if I was going to do again it was only right we gave Victoria Moore (her above with the guns/expression combo) some more time to shine. Anyway, as I just re-upped all the links on the aforementioned post here's the second installment...

DJ Benny B out of Brooklyn just put together this House/Nu Disco mix of 20 R&B/Hip-Hop/Disco influenced tracks from the past year GO HERE

If you like that kind of thing check my peoples Groove Motion for some cheeky re-edits and original tracks. Tell 'em I sent you.

Finally, if you pine for the days when Drum & Bass nights weren't full of students wearing Vans and shutter shades and remember a time when Radio 1 DJs wouldnt touch a jungle tune with a license payer's bargepole, then you might enjoy the stack of tapes I've ripped recently:

DJ Hype @ Helter Skelter: Energy 96
The first rave I went to and one of the best sets I've ever heard. MC MC & GQ on mic duties and all the big tunes of the year on this one. Still get goosebumps when I bump this.

DJ Hype with Stevie Hyper D @ One Nation 'Biggest & Best' 1996
Hype was killing it back then and Stevie Hyper D never disappointed

Brockie with MC Det & Navigator on Kool FM 1993
&
DJ Ash & Brockie on Kool FM with MCs Det & Navigator
Original London pirate style!

Ed Rush & Optical @ One Nation 2001
One of the best sets of the era. Proper tearout business and not for the faint hearted.
Fatman D, 5ive 0, Skibadee & Shabba D on the mic (Shabba annihilates 'Galactic Jam' on this)

DJ Die with MC Det & Shabba @ Innovation's 8th Birthday (2002)
More Shabba. This was another favourite back in the day.


I'm still working through all the old posts and re-upping everything. Hoping to have it all back to normal by the end of the year. If there's anything you want in the meantime then holla.
Also, I'm still doing my thing on Kane FM but I'm just doing once month (every 4th Sunday) for now. May well be back to fortnightly in a few months so stay tuned.

theres more to life than rap music....

I'm sure I'm not the only person who occasionally needs a break from all that Rap stuff so in the interests of displaying my versatility as a DJ and providing an outlet for my non-Hip Hop mixes, here's a few things you might want to check out when your Karl Kanis and Jansport are in the wash...

Those of you old enough to remember the early days of House music might enjoy this...
88-89 CLASSIC HOUSE MIX

Old school UK Garage, 97-98 style. No 2-Step, more on that Tuff Jam/MJ Cole/Grant Nelson tip...
CLASSIC UKG MIX

One for all the Original Junglists! Taking it back to the days of AWOL, World Dance and Dreamscape. All the anthems on this....
MORE FIRE: JUNGLE CLASSICS 93-95

Some funky/vocal/liquid Drum & Bass from the early 00s. If you're into stuff like High Contrast, Nu Tone and DJ Zinc you'll probably enjoy this...
VIBEZ N STUFF VOL 3

And last up a mix of some of my favorite Funky/Soulful House music, inspired by my time at Suncebeat in Croatia this past Summer...
NOW THATS WHAT I CALL SUNCEBEAT 2011

All these are also available to stream on Mixcloud

Now that I've alienated half of the subscribers to this blog I'll invite those remaining to follow me on Twitter. I only signed up yesterday and haven't really got my head around it all yet so I might lose interest. It depends on how successful my initial attempts at harrassing DJs for untagged, full length versions of mixtape-only tracks go.