Plasmic Life - Death Trip
We all know about the trend back in the day where old jungle tunes would make use of samples from horror films (Ricky, Johnny & Scottie, to name the main three), but this one was a bit more overlooked than most. This came out on a release on 1994 on Bizzy B's label, Brain Records, which pushed the darker side of jungle, coupled with heavy mangling of breakbeats and this tune is that in a nutshell. It samples of Screwface from Marked From Death, a film from 1990 where Steven Seagal battles with a gang of Jamaican drug dealers, ominous atmospherics, setting spines to chill and some of the heaviest stepping amens around, edited to the point of madness. One thing that I really like with this tune is that the bassline works just right with the amen edits, coming in at the right times, like it's been syncopated and that seems to give it a bit more movement than most other tracks, where the bassline and breaks don't switch and change in tandem, which I think is a nice touch. Bit of info on Plasmic Life, it was one of the early aliases used by Mark Caro, before he settled on his main artists name of Tech Itch. Back in the day, before he found his niche of snarling reeses and rinsing breakbeats, he was making some fine oldskool jungle, with this being just an example of what he was capable of. Also, check out the other tunes on this EP, one done with another producer named Alistar, who I think is still around and another solo track, where Mark shows his versatility by tackling other breaks.
Kenny Ken - The Pied Piper (AWOL VIP)
Kenny Ken is most likely more known for his DJing nowadays than his production, but way back when he used to create the odd tune every now and then, like Everyman for example, which went onto become a jungle anthem and arguably was the main factor in establishing himself as a big name in the scene. But just to pick a different tune he did, there's this one from the rare AWOL Live album, which was mixed on CD, with GQ on hosting duties whilst Kenny Ken, Randall, Dr. S Gachet, Darren Jay & Micky Finn were all throwing down VIP after VIP after VIP. It's a well worth a listen, but if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one of the rare vinyl copies, then you'll be able to get an unmixed version of all the tunes, this included. It starts off nice and calm, standard procedure, setting it all up, getting the crowd pumped with those uplifting pads & vocals, then building it up to that heavy heavy drop, where the amen & sesame street are brought in, the bass kick in, the vocal rolls out over the top and the crowd goes wild. But like I said, you'll need luck (or a large wallet) on your side if you want a copy of this on vinyl, which is the case with a fair amount of jungle releases and it's a real shame.
Kenny Ken - The Pied Piper (AWOL VIP)
Kenny Ken is most likely more known for his DJing nowadays than his production, but way back when he used to create the odd tune every now and then, like Everyman for example, which went onto become a jungle anthem and arguably was the main factor in establishing himself as a big name in the scene. But just to pick a different tune he did, there's this one from the rare AWOL Live album, which was mixed on CD, with GQ on hosting duties whilst Kenny Ken, Randall, Dr. S Gachet, Darren Jay & Micky Finn were all throwing down VIP after VIP after VIP. It's a well worth a listen, but if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one of the rare vinyl copies, then you'll be able to get an unmixed version of all the tunes, this included. It starts off nice and calm, standard procedure, setting it all up, getting the crowd pumped with those uplifting pads & vocals, then building it up to that heavy heavy drop, where the amen & sesame street are brought in, the bass kick in, the vocal rolls out over the top and the crowd goes wild. But like I said, you'll need luck (or a large wallet) on your side if you want a copy of this on vinyl, which is the case with a fair amount of jungle releases and it's a real shame.



