CLASSIC RAVE HITS! (except I don't know what any of them are)
All of the following house and breakbeat rave techno tracks were taped off the radio in '93 and '94, specifically during DJ Jeff K's live mix show, "Edge Club," on KDGE-FM in Dallas (besides killing Kennedy, that city has been a haven for club music since the late '80s, as Simon Reynolds noted in his book Generation E). I made them as "studio tapes" (i.e. to play as background music while working on paintings in my studio), but found them indispensable when I moved to NY shortly thereafter and had all my other music in storage. Some tracks were played by Jeff K himself, others by the guest DJs he had on each week (DJ Icy, the Hardkiss collective, Utah Saints (!)). What they all have in common is (1) I still play them on my battered cassettes and (2) I don't know any of the artists or titles, except as noted below. Now that they've been extracted from the longer mixes where they originally appeared--digitally clipped, sutured, & faded in or out as .mp3s--a little attribution help would be greatly appreciated: any information you might have about this weird, E'd-up, often gemlike music.
Techno-Rave
Track 1 [4.5 MB]. "Like this," "come down," and an uncanny "blablablablablablablablablah" are the samples punctuating this frenetic Two Bad Mice-like track. [Update, 2013: finally identified one -- this is a variation of Krome & Time's "Manic Stampede"]
Track 2 [3.4 MB]. The insipid "different strokes for different folks" vocal commencing this number is soon belied by Mentasm stabs and other craziness. The ending sample of a lad saying "only originate and never pirate" (as in "pyrate") cropped up a lot around this time. [Update, June 2021 -- Isotonik - "Different Strokes" (1992) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 3 [3.7 MB]. Very minimal breakbeat rave recorded on Jeff K's birthday. A sequence of 12 notes is repeated (with the filtering constantly changing) until the middle, when it is replaced by another sequence of 12 notes. [Update, June 2021 -- Psychotropic - "Psychosis" (1990) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 4 [4 MB]. From a live mix at the Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum, this peppy number (possibly by a Texas producer) merges flawlessly into Joey Beltram's famous "Energy Flash," right before the fade.
House
Track 5 [4.1 MB]. A bouncy little march opens and closes this Dixieland-inflected track. [Update, June 2021 -- L'il Louis - "I'm Hot for You" (Rhythm Method Tribal Mix (1994) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 6 [5 MB]. Disco-era drum pads, a Chinese prepared piano hook, and a vaguely Middle Eastern diva wail: it's catchier than that sounds.
Track 7 [5.5 MB]. Digs and Woosh of the UK's legendary DIY Crew guest-mixed this deep house track. James at Satellite (who met the DIY-ers in Dallas) thought it was from Chicago, maybe Balance Recordings. The string riff magically smeared dozens of ways sounds like turntablism but I assume it's the sampler. [Update, June 2021 -- Last Session (Ron Trent & Chez Damier) "Sometimes I Feel Like" (Chicago Vox Mix) (1994 -- Blue Cucaracha label) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 8 [5 MB]. Spare (as in lean) organ riffs from guest DJ Germ-E's mix.
BONUS: Downtempo Rave (?)
Track 9 (5.5 MB). Not sure what else to call this; it's too giddy to be considered triphop. It's from a mix by guest DJ Kid E. [Update, June 2021 -- "Melt City" by Overmow (1992) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
my top three in order of preference:
track 9
track 8
track 5
Made me nostalgic for my old favourite "Injected with a Poison" which I found here . You can hear it with Real Player if you are so inclined. In my opinion it has not well withstood the tests of time.
I kind of prefer the house tunes but since I billed this selection as "classic rave" I figured I better put the techno ones first. I like 3 a lot, and 4 is actually what got me started taping: "hey this is like prog rock." I agree with the writer about that "poison" track--the "dark" tunes are better than the "good time" vocals but the producers usually did indiscriminately mix the two. I like the energy level and the "let's try this" nuttiness of the (then new) genre.
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CLASSIC RAVE HITS! (except I don't know what any of them are)
All of the following house and breakbeat rave techno tracks were taped off the radio in '93 and '94, specifically during DJ Jeff K's live mix show, "Edge Club," on KDGE-FM in Dallas (besides killing Kennedy, that city has been a haven for club music since the late '80s, as Simon Reynolds noted in his book Generation E). I made them as "studio tapes" (i.e. to play as background music while working on paintings in my studio), but found them indispensable when I moved to NY shortly thereafter and had all my other music in storage. Some tracks were played by Jeff K himself, others by the guest DJs he had on each week (DJ Icy, the Hardkiss collective, Utah Saints (!)). What they all have in common is (1) I still play them on my battered cassettes and (2) I don't know any of the artists or titles, except as noted below. Now that they've been extracted from the longer mixes where they originally appeared--digitally clipped, sutured, & faded in or out as .mp3s--a little attribution help would be greatly appreciated: any information you might have about this weird, E'd-up, often gemlike music.
Techno-Rave
Track 1 [4.5 MB]. "Like this," "come down," and an uncanny "blablablablablablablablablah" are the samples punctuating this frenetic Two Bad Mice-like track. [Update, 2013: finally identified one -- this is a variation of Krome & Time's "Manic Stampede"]
Track 2 [3.4 MB]. The insipid "different strokes for different folks" vocal commencing this number is soon belied by Mentasm stabs and other craziness. The ending sample of a lad saying "only originate and never pirate" (as in "pyrate") cropped up a lot around this time. [Update, June 2021 -- Isotonik - "Different Strokes" (1992) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 3 [3.7 MB]. Very minimal breakbeat rave recorded on Jeff K's birthday. A sequence of 12 notes is repeated (with the filtering constantly changing) until the middle, when it is replaced by another sequence of 12 notes. [Update, June 2021 -- Psychotropic - "Psychosis" (1990) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 4 [4 MB]. From a live mix at the Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum, this peppy number (possibly by a Texas producer) merges flawlessly into Joey Beltram's famous "Energy Flash," right before the fade.
House
Track 5 [4.1 MB]. A bouncy little march opens and closes this Dixieland-inflected track. [Update, June 2021 -- L'il Louis - "I'm Hot for You" (Rhythm Method Tribal Mix (1994) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 6 [5 MB]. Disco-era drum pads, a Chinese prepared piano hook, and a vaguely Middle Eastern diva wail: it's catchier than that sounds.
Track 7 [5.5 MB]. Digs and Woosh of the UK's legendary DIY Crew guest-mixed this deep house track. James at Satellite (who met the DIY-ers in Dallas) thought it was from Chicago, maybe Balance Recordings. The string riff magically smeared dozens of ways sounds like turntablism but I assume it's the sampler. [Update, June 2021 -- Last Session (Ron Trent & Chez Damier) "Sometimes I Feel Like" (Chicago Vox Mix) (1994 -- Blue Cucaracha label) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
Track 8 [5 MB]. Spare (as in lean) organ riffs from guest DJ Germ-E's mix.
BONUS: Downtempo Rave (?)
Track 9 (5.5 MB). Not sure what else to call this; it's too giddy to be considered triphop. It's from a mix by guest DJ Kid E. [Update, June 2021 -- "Melt City" by Overmow (1992) -- hat tip to dj buttstuf on IRC.]
- tom moody 4-26-2004 6:48 pm
my top three in order of preference:
track 9
track 8
track 5
Made me nostalgic for my old favourite "Injected with a Poison" which I found here . You can hear it with Real Player if you are so inclined. In my opinion it has not well withstood the tests of time.
- sally mckay 4-27-2004 1:31 am
I kind of prefer the house tunes but since I billed this selection as "classic rave" I figured I better put the techno ones first. I like 3 a lot, and 4 is actually what got me started taping: "hey this is like prog rock." I agree with the writer about that "poison" track--the "dark" tunes are better than the "good time" vocals but the producers usually did indiscriminately mix the two. I like the energy level and the "let's try this" nuttiness of the (then new) genre.
- tom moody 4-27-2004 2:41 am