Kicks Like A Mule Featuring Longsy D – Number One

early breakbeat/jungle/hardcore so good. this dropped so well in the clubs back in the day. warehouse rave to the max.

I don't know why i loved this more than "The Bouncer". It might have been, that people that have been there at the time could relate more to the Bouncer with its dark and twisted soundscape and theme. (Who didn't get refused by the bouncer of a club once in their lifetime)

But Number One has always been THE tune from the guys who ran XL Recordings and signed The Prodigy and numerous hardcore, techno artists and managed to diversify the portfolio in the early nineties.

This is a great ragga/hardcore/protojungle track with Longsy D with chock full of ragga samples and funky breakbeats.

I've never been fond of the Rockers Mix. It is not so much different from the Housequake Mix, but i guess it's the strange stabby piano section in the breaks that don't work for me.

The Housequake Mix is the one to go to straight away. Dubby reverb effects on the Longsy D vocals, ragga stabs, scratches that were not present in the Rockers Mix and that breathy/airy organ stabs that replace the piano of the other mix. And then in comes that massive bass section with the offbeat ragga section. I loved it ever since i heard this almost 20 years ago.

DJ Talk is a great DJ tool. I guess KLAM didn't want to be strictly seen as a Hardcore act and wanted to show their HipHop side, too. Using Cutty Ranks Stopper as the main driving sample it treads through a lot of well known melody, bass and vocal loops, that all compliment the vibe of the tune. This is a good track, but clearly never meant as a standalone track for its own. This is for the DJs to keep the vibe a bit afloat in between breaks.

I actually am also fond of the Tribe Mix, they did with Rebel MC. I guess it was a courtesy as they release the Bouncer and Number One on Rebel MC's own label Tribal Bass. It's actually a mixture of "The Bouncer" and "Number One" with several elements nicked from both tunes. It's much grittier, raw and driving as the other mixes.

As i said above: This is my favorite tune from KLAM. Not as ravey and dark as "The Bouncer", but not too cheesy to be classified as a throwaway hardcore track of that time. Great music and IMHO it aged very well. I still listen to this and have the same great feeling i had when i first heard it.