• Contributed Releases (5)

• Pending Submissions (3)

• Browse Collection (3080)

• Browse Wantlist (2251)

• Contact

pete.devnull's groups (6)

• Hardcore Breaks / Nu Rave
• Noisecore
• OLD SKOOL LOVERS '80 - '93
• Track IDs
• UK Oldskool Hardcore
• ~-Junglist/Oldskool Lovers-~

Drop The Lime - I Survived The Blackout - 31-Jan-09 01:16 PM
I'm surprised this doesn't have a review yet. This is one of DTL's best breakcore singles, along with the Mutant Sniper EP and his "1 for the team" EP. The B side has a dnb-worthy ragga breakdown, and both tracks are catchy as fuck while still being totally classic ADD DTL style.
Whether or not you happen to like the new direction this guy has gone in over the years (I do), the fact of the matter is he did more for this sound in his couple of years making it than most other artists who stuck with it who are still doing the same safe in-the-box stuff.

Audio Illusion - The Energy E.P. - Remixed By The Scientist - 07-Jul-08 01:58 PM
An excellent, obscure but cheap & easy to find 4 tracker.
"Scrambled" is one of the best of the 4 songs, though the production lets it down a bit... one layer of drums beading with the others mid measure. Still, it has great frantic breaks with sci-fi background sounds and an addictive "it's jungle techno!" chant. "Energy" almost has a kind of pre-intelligent jungle vibe to it. "Submission" was played by Easygroove in his Fantasia 92/93 NYE set, it's a nice happy hardcore sounding track. All in all, plenty of deadly tunage for a single cheap piece of wax.

DJ A.K.A. - The Right Way / Farside - 04-Feb-08 10:44 AM
Farside is a criminally underrated tune, combining tasteful orchestral stabs with quality breakbeats and complex dark background pads. The drums are well layered and snappy, utilizing less typical breaks for a more original drum sound than the average think/amen rinse out. You can almost hear the uplifting 92 era decaying away through the samples in this track. The classic "do it now" and "rush!" vocal snippets appear halfway through, but are answered by a pitched down voice whispering "no!".

Top notch darkness in my humble opinion.

Criminal Minds, The - Mind Bombing - 20-Dec-07 11:25 AM
Easily one of the strongest EPs of 1993. Criminal Minds are mostly known for "Baptised by dub", despite releasing a good deal of lesser known singles on Labello Blanco. Fans of b-boy influenced hardcore jungle ala Sonz of a Loop da Loop Era (heavy scratching, chopped breaks, hip hop vocal cuts) would be wise to track this down. Aside from those influences, Criminal Minds also brings a heavy ragga vibe and some acid sounds into the mix, resulting in a set of top-notch jungle tracks which even an oldskool neophyte could appreciate.

Weird Beard - 07-Dec-07 11:57 AM
I just got Weird Works I - III a day ago, and I am still wracking my brain trying to understand what context this group could have existed in... what the producers were intending, what the target audience was, etc... it just doesn't make any sense! Most of their songs literally sound like hardcore/jungle meets easy listening / instrumental yacht rock (no exaggeration). Lots of general midi sounding preset melodies, piano "solos" that sound like they were played by a 1st grader, midi guitar, etc. A few songs don't even have breakbeats, but sound like they have sped up live drums. I could almost think Weird Beard had no connection with jungle/hardcore at all if they didn't also have fast breakbeats and track titles like "raving on the beach" and "hardcore will never die" on occasion. During the most "normal" sections, they sound a bit like Biochip C's "Biocalypse" material. But before you know it another piano solo or ridiculous general midi breakdown hits.

Overall, Weird Beard sounds like some sort of insane "outsider hardcore" which aliens dropped on the planet 14 years ago. Either that, or if some Riot Beats artists dropped really good acid and tried to make the jungle equivalent of Frank Zappa's "Jazz From Hell", but without the musical virtuosity of that album.

View all 16 reviews...