DJ Red Alert & Mike Slammer - Don't Need Your Love / In Effect

One of the greatest records ever made - and probably one of the first to coin the "happy hardcore tag" - red alert and mike slammer's seminal release "in effect" blew my mind when i first heard it - their then trademark blend of dreamy chords (this time nicked from plutonic by bizarre inc.) with heavy mashed up breaks, crazy rave stabs and tons upon tons of bass - make for something which will either change the way you think about things for ever.. Or scare the living shit out of you.. Or both.. They certainly don't make stuff like this anymore

The Slammin Vinyl boys really knew how to push their limited hardware to the limit. This release, strung together on an Amiga computer, sounds lo-fi as hell but is ironically a sonic marvel. There's as much attention to detail as some of the best beard stroking electronica of the present day, with the tracks mutating in both arrangement and sample selection every few bars.

Both tracks were unbelievable fast and manic for early 1993, and despite obvious samples (for example Spectral - Touch Somebody, Xpansions - Elevation and Bizarre Inc - Plutonic) they don't sound like blatant rip-offs.

'In Effect' is the most played of the two, with it's awesome thumping breakbeat intro which builds and builds into distinctive sections mutating from piano to hoovers, 'Bad Boy' ragga samples and that euphoric Bizarre Inc breakdown.

Whilst the production quality and chipmonked vocals date both tracks, there's a level of energy that few artists have managed to beat, despite access to superior studio equipment.

Err...I meant 1993. In Effect samples Bizzare Inc. - Plutonic for that great breakdown.

In Effect is one of the Hardcore anthems from 1992. Played in many many sets by many different djs it represents Hardcore from that era and can easily be mixed into Breakbeat Happy Hardcore tunes made 2 years later. Don't Need Your Love is even more happy and is a great tune too.