Here come the drums

Whatsup geez. This month we mix up all of the vinyls ever released on another one of my all time favourite old skool jungle labels, Face Records.

In semi-related news this month I happened to check out Andy C play another one of his increasingly regular 6 hour sets, this time at Brixton Academy here in London. I have to say I was incredibly impressed… not just with Andy himself – he always smashes it, but also at the sheer depth of selection that the 6 hours allows. DJ Taktix – The Way VIP and Studio 2 – Dirty Games, for example. Genuinely epic shit. Was not bored for a single second.

The label

I can’t really do much better than the existing Discogs intro, so me copypasta:

UK hardcore and jungle label started off in 1992 by Pascal & Sponge. Was responsible for the original release of the “Marked For Death” sampling jungle track “Johnny”, along with several other notable underground anthems. Folded at the end of 1994 due to an amicable split of Pascal & Sponge. Pascal went on to run Frontline Records, while Sponge started his own IQ Records label.

Face Records is one of those labels that totally epitomises ’93-style darkside hardcore/jungle. The entire output of the label is devoted to that singular sound – mangled, crunchy breaks with deep, dark atmospheres and twisted fx. The breaks in particular, are very distinctive… layered breakbeats all with a certain amount of swing left in the loops that gives the tracks a chaotic and unnerving quality to them. As easily recognisable to me as anything by, say, Bizzy B or Remarc. The beats flow, but sometimes it’s not entirely clear if there are multiple tunes on top of eachother or just one. Sometimes difficult to mix, but stylistically I really like that. This is tough, teeth-grinding, face-gurning, gun-finger shit. Simply brilliant.

Total end of the world music, and somehow appropriately, it didn’t last very long. A single release in ’92, but by the end of ’94 Face Records was done. Perhaps the genre really had nowhere left to go.

For such a short-lived label, there are numerous classics in the Face back catalogue… Johnny is on almost every old skool comp out there, but tracks like Tell Me, Inesse, Let Me Tell You Something, Nosebleed, Underground Feelin’ Remix, Night Stalker Remix, and X Amount of Shots (among others!) all deserve attention. Interestingly, all of the above tunes come from the middle peak period of the label, after a brief ‘hardcore’ period when it was still finding its feet, and a comparatively dull straight-jungle period towards the end (almost all of the new tracks on the Face of the Future compilation are like this). Minor trivia point, Mission Impossible, the last track in the mix, is a nice co-lab between Pascal and Goldie… it certainly has that mid-90s Metalheadz sheen to it. Probably an appropriate point just to let the whole thing disappear into the nostalgia of that not-quite-as-happy but instead slightly cracked-out MDMA fog of ’93.

If you’re looking to pick these up for yourself the only release that might be difficult to track down is FACE107, Clone Inc – Fear of the Unknown as that did not make it to full release (see below). Everything else is reasonably priced, although many of the earlier releases are in the £20 range, currently.

Tracklist

Jack Horner – Untitled A1
> D’Prophet – Hipnotised (Remix)
D’Prophet – Hipnotised (Original Mix)
Dopeski & Jakes – Ever So Cold
> Jack Horner – Untitled B2
Jack Horner – Untitled A2
Dopeski & Jakes – Pay the Penalty
Jack Horner – Untitled B1
Dopeski & Jakes – Be Warned We’re Back
Johnny Jungle – I Like To Cry
Dopeski & Jakes – Mutant Ideology
Johnny Jungle – Johnny
> Pascal & Sponge – Nosebleed (Mix 1)
Pascal & Sponge – Nosebleed (Right Nostril)
> Pascal & Sponge – Nosebleed (Mix 2)
Pascal & Sponge – Red Face
Pascal & Sponge – I Got You (Ezee Boy)
Pascal & Sponge – Raw Basics
Pascal & Sponge – Just Rollin a Fat B
Hardware – Night Stalker
Torchman – Alight In The Dark
Mayhem – Inesse
Jim Polo & Neil Vass – Underground Feelin (Pascal & Sponge Remix Part 1)
Jim Polo & Neil Vass – Underground Feelin (Pascal & Sponge Remix Part 2)
Hardware – Night Stalker (DJ SS Remix)
> Hardware – X Amount of Shots
Mayhem – Inesse (Ray Keith Remix)
Torchman – Tell Me
The Full SP – S-Capaid
Mayehm – Let Me Tell You Something (Ray Keith Remix)
Mayehm – Let Me Tell You Something
Hardware – X Amount of Shots (Bizzy B Remix)
The Full SP – Raw Basics (Tango Remix)
> Pascal & Sponge – Nosebleed (Left Nostril)
Ginetix – All Torn Up
Hardware – Skanka
Wax Doctor – Logical Progression
Ginetix – Main Feature
Wax Doctor – Logical Progression (Logical Mix)
Hardware – T-N-T
Clone Inc – Fear of the Unknown
> Hardware – Nightstslker (VIP Mix)
The Full SP – The Process
Fallen Angels – Fallen Angels (Back 2 Basics VIP Remix)
Clone Inc – Mood Swing
Hardware – Class of 94
Complex State – Revival
Complex State – Sax Fiend
Covert Operations – Mission Impossible (Edit Mix)

Bonus

• As mentioned, FACE107, Clone Inc – Fear of the Unknown, is quite scarce as it did not achieve a full release and doesn’t come for sale very often (there are hardly any on Discogs at the moment). The plate is single-sided and the track itself is… ok… but to me it sounds somewhat sparse and unfinished. I’d be interested to know why more weren’t pressed (sample clearance?), but it’s stuff like this that makes life fun for the trainspotting nerds in us all. This is included in the mix even though it’s technically against the rules.
• Pascal & Sponge’s Nosebleed (RAINT003) is a damn awesome ruffneck hardcore tune, and on the release itself we get two similar mixes of it… but completists will be interested to know that the promo version contains two different, presumably unfinished, mixes compared to the full release. This means that across the two records we have 4 slightly different versions of the same track to choose from. Bonus! Ok, they’re not THAT different, but again, this is fun trivia, if somewhat annoying to have to accomodate in a set like this, haha. I did anyway because fuck why not? For what it’s worth I think the full release versions are the better plays.
• The Face of the Future compilation LP was actually released on the Suburban Base subsidiary Breakdown Records, but there’s no way I couldn’t include all of these tunes. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money you’ve got most of the label highlights right here on this album… a good mix of previously released and exclusive Face cuts. Perfectly fine and loud enough for DJing too.
• There were a few things that I intentionally chose not to include in this mix, as it was getting long enough as it is. These include all of the numerous Johnny remixes (not on Face anyway) as well as the original version of Underground Feeling and the I Got U Ezee Boy remixes, both on Dark Horse Records. Check out my all Dark Horse post from earlier this year for those.

The mix

Have at it. All the tunes ever released on Face Records. The mix itself was not overly problematic, save for the usual story of less-polished tunes at the start. Had some difficulties matching breaks on tunes with very heavily layered and swung loops, but where’s the fun if it’s all four to the floor, hay?

Face005, Dopeski & Jakes – Approach With Caution EP did actually throw me for a loop. All 4 of the tracks on the EP sound and feel more like ’92 hardcore tunes (with the BPM to match) as opposed to the darker style stuff the label had been running with for some time already. As a result I had to move all of these tunes to the front of the mix. Makes sense when I listen back to it. I wonder if they were sitting on the tracks for a while and only got around to releasing them late?

Download Mp3 320kbps 108 mins

So, as you can see, we back in business. One more post before Xmas I hope… another one of my favourite crusty jungle labels. Peace, love.

GFT

GFT here. This blog is about 6 months old. To celebrate, I’m breaking the rules. Throw the boat out!

Labels with a loooong release history are always going to be difficult for me to do, and as Ram is now coming up on 200-ish releases, that would have resulted in an unmanageably long mix… a long dark tunnel, you could say? 😐

Luckily, there is a handy dividing line available to us. When Ram turned its direction towards the straight-up DnB sound of the late ’90s it also updated its label logo to the familiar horns logo still in use today. Prior to that, the logo consisted of this fairly quaint little goat’s head design, hence, ‘the sheep years’. This month, as I stand here in my Ram sheep’s head t-shirt drinking a cup of tea from my Ram mug, surrounded by stacks of Ram wax, Nightlife CDs, posters, keyrings and other assorted Ram detritus (all of which you can buy from the Ram shop!), we delve deep into that now-brief period of history when Ram’s bread and butter was hardcore jungle tekno – the first 23 12″s from the Ram back catalogue, plus the 4 x 12″s from the Speed of Sound LP. 64 tunes in 78 minutes… not too shabby, and all vinyl just like it was back in the day.

The Label

Ram Records needs no introduction, but that won’t stop me from giving it one anyway. In a statement that always makes me question my own validity as a human being, Ram was founded in 1992 by a 15 (!) year old Andy C along with Ant Miles. As Desired State, the pair had already released several underground hits, including the hardcore anthem ‘Dance the Dream‘ which was remixed several times. As Origin Unknown, the duo hit it big (#understatement) with the fourth release on Ram, The Touch/Valley of the Shadows. Valley of the Shadows became an all time classic in the scene and in 2014, some 200 releases later, Ram is still going strong as the undisputed biggest label in DnB. Whatever anyone wants to say about how the Ram sound has changed and evolved over the years, you must respect that journey. Ram Records has released countless classics since then and shows no signs of slowing down. There are loads of all–Ram mixes on the internet if you need history lessons that confirm this fact.

Also, I can’t let this go by without mentioning the demonstrably insane skills of Andy C, the DJ. This has without doubt been one the key ingredients to the success of Ram. As anyone who has ever seen the man in session will know, Andy C cannot be tested on the decks. Even if you’re not necessarily a fan of the tunes, his skill and speed is obvious. Andy C is my go-to DJ when responding to the ‘beatmatching is dead easy’ statement. If that were true then everyone would be as on-point as Andy C, right? (Edit: here is a really great interview with the man himself)

For this mix, I’ve gone with the first 23 releases on Ram, ending with their last true jungle release and coincidentally the last 12″ featuring the sheep logo, Nighflight/Quest. From RAMM18 onwards, roughly around the time of the first LP (see below), the Ram sound changed dramatically as it followed, and in many ways led, the rest of the DnB scene towards a more stripped back, minimal 2-step style with lush, futuristic arrangements. You can hear this sound start coming through on the Speed of Sound LP.

As far as getting hold of these tunes, most of them are fairly available, although the further back you go the more in-demand the records are. Many of the older tunes have not yet been released digitally which, along with natural age/scarcity, probably explains things. Even so, there are no super-hard-to-find records here. The Eastern Promise EP (RAMM02) did not make it past promo, so expect to pay top dollar for a genuine copy. If you’re not bothered by the ethics then a bootleg pressing does exist to mitigate the issue.

Tracklist

> = teased
** = no digital (afaik)

Andy C – Outer Limits
> Origin Unknown – Eastern Promise (Mix 2) **
> Origin Unknown – Losing U (Mix 2) **
Origin Unknown – Eastern Promise (Mix 1) **
Andy C – Mind Rise
Andy C – Something New Pt. 1 **
> Andy C – Visions
Origin Unknown – Losing U (Mix 1) **
Andy C – Is Truth The Light? **
> Andy C – Never Felt This Way
Origin Unknown – The Touch
Origin Unknown – The Touch (Part 2)
Andy C – Bass Constructor **
> Origin Unknown – Valley of the Shadows
Origin Unknown – Valley of the Shadows (Long Dark Remix)
> Andy C – Something New Pt. 2 **
Elevation – Make It Right Pt. 1 **
> Andy C – Bass Constructor (Sonz Of A Loop Da Loop Era Remix) **
Andy C – Slip ‘N Slide **
> Elevation – Make It Right Pt. 2 **
Elevation – Take Your Mind **
> Desired State – Beyond Bass **
Desired State – Killer Beat **
> Desired State – Killer Beat (Q-Bass Remix) **
Desired State – Beyond Bass (Remix) **
> Elevation – Another Time **
Uncle 22 & Navigator – 6 Million Ways To Die – Choose One (DJ Hype Mix) **
Randall & Andy C – Sound Control
Randall & Andy C – Sound Control (Remix)
> Flatliner – No Boundaries
Flatliner – The Big Bang
> Randall & Andy C – Feel It (Stakka & K. Tee Remix)
> Shimon – Within Reason
Shimon – Within Reason (Liftin Spirits Remix)
> Shimon – The Predator
> Uncle 22 & Navigator – 6 Million Ways To Die – Choose One (Uncle 22 Mix) **
Flatliner – No Boundaries (Origin Unknown Remix)
Shimon – The Predator (L Double Remix)
Flatliner – The Big Bang (Liftin Spirit Remix)
> Andy C – Roll On
Andy C – Cool Down
> Randall & Andy C – Feel It
Flatliner & DJ Freedom – Deeper Levels (Remix)
Desired State – Goes Around
Desired State – Goes Around (Remix)
> Desired State – Here and Now
Stakka & K. Tee – Hear Say
> Stakka & K.Tee – Orange Sunshine
Desired State – Mind Games
> Stakka & K. Tee – Danger Zone
Desired State – Invasion
> Origin Unknown – Mission Control
Desired State – Here and Now (Remix)
> Shimon & Andy C – Recharge
Shimmon – Night Flight
> Origin Unknown – Truly One
> Origin Unknown – Lunar Bass
Origin Unknown – Truly One (Remix)
> Concept 2 – Cause N’ Effect
Shimmon & Andy C – Quest
Shimon & Andy C – Quest (VIP Mix)
Origin Unknown – Valley Of The Shadows (Awake 96′ Remix)
> Boogie Times Tribe – The Dark Stranger (Origin Unknown Remix)
> Nookie – A Drum, A Bass & A Piano (Origin Unknown Remix)

Bonus Material

• As mentioned, RAMM02 never made it past the promo stage and was therefore never fully released. According to my self-imposed (wallet-protecting!) rules this automatically puts it out-of-scope, but in this case I had to make an exception. Sadly, I’m not prepared to pay hundreds of pounds for it, but I do have the bootleg (boooo!). All four tunes are in!
• I have also included in the mix the first Ram LP (vinyl release), The Speed of Sound. This is a superb album. Approximately half the tunes are all time classics and rest are merely ‘really good’. ‘Cause N Effect’ and ‘Orange Sunshine’ still get a lot of airtime from me, and the Truly One VIP is my favourite version of that tune. My justification for inclusion is that even though the records labels themselves had ditched the sheep’s head logo, the sheep’s head does appear on the reverse of the LP sleeve. The entire LP is in!
• The last tune of the mix is the ’96 remix of Valley of the Shadows, and rolls out by itself for over 4 minutes. I couldn’t help but think “What would Andy C do?” Answer: tease other tunes over-top, of course! But I’m all out of Ram sheep years tunes? Oh no! Luckily, Origin Unknown were also prolific remixers, so I pulled out The Dark Stranger and Drum, Bass & Piano remixes they did around the same period. Personal favourites.

The Mix

This was probably the most fun I’ve had yet doing mixes for this site. With so many amazing tunes to get through I was forced to go in Andy C-style and tear through tracks rapidly. This resulted in loads of teases and double drops. In all fairness, most of these old Ram tunes are not the kind you want to roll out for 6 minutes anyway, so it worked out fine.

Lastly, what were my favourite tunes? It may be too obvious, but the original Valley of the Shadows is untouchable, and always fun to mix… one of those rare tunes that goes well with almost anything. Quest and Night Flight are incredible tunes that everyone plays. Danger Zone is a great track noone plays. Goes Around remix is another personal fave. Within Reason original mix is another one I can’t put down.

So there you go, all the early Ram vinyls with the sheep’s head logo (plus bonuses), mixed up for your pleasure. Get involved!

Download MP3 320kbps 78mins

Next month

Less jungle. More screwface neuro dnb. Have it.