Joey Breakdown - Hearing Is Believing (Fall 1995)

 So a while back I posted my very first very amateur attempt at a mixtape, recorded not long after I got my decks and had very little experience. A good 4-5 months later, I "released' this as my first official mixtape in an effort to promote my efforts, distributing and handing out copies at nights like NuWorld @ Fever on Thursdays and various other one offs. I spent those months leading up to this completely immersing myself in the drum n bass and jungle genres, getting familiar with the labels, artists, subgenres, etc. As you can tell from the tracklist, I'd gotten a handle on the quality output from this time period, though the mix does rely on the heavyweights of Good Looking, Metalheadz, and Moving Shadow - easily still 3 of my favorite labels. 

Listening back for the first time in probably over a decade, I can say I'm pretty proud of the mix. It's actually programmed well and the blends are fairly seemless, especially considering the crap gear I made this on (Numark mixer from the 70's with virtually no crossfader, and Gemini belt drive turntables with a pitch DIAL that I mastered like nobodies business!) Lots of copies of this tape got around, a good bit of feedback always came back so I'm excited to share it now. Most of these are some of the first jungle/dnb records I ever purchased. I did a bit of remastering the EQ's on this one so its sounding pretty decent for 17 year old cassette. :)

Joey Breakdown - Hearing Is Believing (Fall 1995)

Side 1 (download)

Photek – Waveforms (GLR)
Doc Scott – Far Away (Metalheadz)
Peshay – Vocal Tune (GLR)
DJ Rap and Voyager – Burning Love (Proper Talent)
DJ Krust – Jazz Note (V)
Goldie – Kemistry (Doc Scott Rmx) (Metalheadz)
DJ Harmony – Serious (Moving Shadow)
Andy C – Roll On (Ram)
Source Direct – Currents (Certificate 18)
Voyager – Haunted (Lucky Spin)
DJ Krust – Burning (V)
Tech Itch – Making Me (Tech Itch)
Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Foul Play VIP) (Moving Shadow)
Aquarius – Dolphin Tune (GLR)
Omni Trio – Shadowplay (Moving Shadow)

Side 2 (download)
Aquarius and Tayla – Soul Searching (GLR)
Omni Trio – Rollin' Heights (Foul Play Rmx) (Moving Shadow)
Peshay – Piano Tune (GLR)
Aquarius – Aquatic (GLR)
Bay B Kane – Seconds And Hours (Whitehouse)
LTJ Bukem – Horizons (LGR)
DJ Crystl – Sweet Dreams (Deejay)
Bay B Kane – If You Believe (Whitehouse)
Doc Scott – It’s Yours (Metalheadz)
Blame – Groove Research (Moving Shadow)

Stay tuned for more sets coming sooner than you think! I've been on a tear lately ripping all kinds of old cassettes - from myself, J. Smooth, Karl K, Kaos, some mean Mason sets, among other yet to be disclosed gems. If you are sitting on any old school Philly related jungle/dnb mixes (pre-2000 please) make sure to contact me so we can get them posted here! Its all about preserving this amazing time of music! https://www.facebook.com/djjoeybreakdown

DJ Kaos - Artificial Paradise (1997)

Last year Chris [Kaos] randomly sent me a link to one of his mixes he had recently re-discovered. I've been sitting on it for a bit but wanted to share with the class. No tracklist (you're welcome to have a go), but expect perfectly seamless blends and 'nuff rolling 1997/98 atmospheric business from the likes of LTJ Bukem, Intense, Blu Mar Ten, and imprints like Good Looking and their affiliates. Next Step heads know the deal on this one.

or download side 1 or side 2.

J. Smooth - Enter The 37th Chamber: (1996)

This blog is like the bastard stepchild I just try to avoid. Just kidding. :) Just busy. :( Sorry for the lack of posts. Comments on these posts would motivate me (hint!). Also tell your friends about our FB page. "Like" us.

As promised, we've got loads of classic sets lined up from the likes of the original, undisputed, jump-up/hardstep king: Joe Candidi, more commonly known as the one like J. Smooth. Many people have been asking me to post these sets, so here we are. Rest assured this is just the beginning. It's been a really great experience to reacquaint myself with this set in particular, as it's a reminder of a very specific, very fun time in my life. I was introduced to Joe probably a year or so before this mix hit the streets and was lucky enough to witness first hand the very initial inklings and early development of the bouncing, rumbling, breakneck jungle/rap hybrid he would become widely known for. This set serves as an enjoyable reminder of what the beginnings of jump up and hardstep sounded like. So much soul and so much funk. A quick google search proves this is fairly widely available mix, but a fitting kick off to this series of posts. Stay tuned. More soon come.

Enter The 37th Chamber: Jungle Style '96 Side 1
Stream on Divshare:

or Download


Enter The 37th Chamber: Jungle Style '96 Side 2
Stream on Divshare:

or Download

Big up to the cats @Golden Era Jungle for the cassette scans.

Joey Breakdown: 7/14/95

My first ever mix tape. This was made for some friends and got passed around. It never had a proper title so I titled it after the date it was recorded. Yes, the mixing and track selection maybe leave something to be desired but it's really not that bad for a 17 year old who just got his first pair of decks two months prior. I think I had already played out @ the then Club Nile by this point. I had picked up the technical side of DJing fairly quickly. Mostly because I watched other DJ's I very quickly knew what I was doing technically. However, this mix shows I had a while to go before I understood how to program a set and especially that I was still feeling my way around what records to buy and play. Nonetheless, it's a fun trip down memory lane for me. While hesitant to post such an amateur effort, a few friends have asked for copies over the years so it's nice to have it digitalized...

No full track list as I sold a lot of these years ago and have no clue what they are, but I can say you'll enjoy the likes of Goldie, Remarc, 4 Hero, DJ SS, Ellis D, Leviticus, Origin Unknown, Bizzy B, and some cheeky Toni Tony Tone remix, among others. Enjoy.

Joey Breakdown: 7/14/95
https://www.mixcloud.com/JoeyBreakdown/joey-breakdown-71495-july-1995

Kaos - Underground Selection Vol 2 (1995)

OK so it's safe to say I've got a nice grip of old mixtapes by both Karl K and Kaos, so expect many more, but rest assured I've got some bits by J. Smooth, Boy Blue, Trace and a few of my own first tapes coming up real soon. Also, keep an ear out for Episode 2 of the Drumskool215 podcast. Click here to check the first one, mixed and hosted by yours truly.

Anyways, on to the business at hand. This mix, which hit the streets in summer of 1995, remains an all time favorite of mine - it's superbly mixed and programmed, spanning a multitude of styles and tunes, from the likes of LTJ Bukem, Photek, Aphrodite, Dillinja, Lemon D, DJ Crystl, Q Project, Source Direct, and if memory serves I recall that side 1 of this mix kicks off with a very early DJ Kaos original? No full tracklist (though I could probably work it out if I had time) but nonetheless the mix is wicked stuff. Check it.


Download Side 1
Download Side 2

Karl K - Dubplate Selection (1995)

Throughout most of 1995, I, along with a good chunk of the Philly rave scene, regularly attended the dark, cavernous confines of the basement known as Club Fever, specifically the Thursday night weekly New World parties. This tape hails from that time period, as it was not only acquired from Karl K at one of those parties but a good chunk of what's on this tape is stuff he regularly dropped in his sets at the time. This mix was a fixture in my walkman, cassette deck, and any car I was riding in, and remains of of my favorite mixes to this day.

It's a blistering weave of ragga, techstep, hardstep, jump up, rnb & hip-hop vocal samples, and jazzy atmospherics combined with Karl's usual cutting and scratching - it's, in a word: jungle. And it's awesome. Look out for the brief appearance of MC Dub 2 in the second half. Below is a partial track list, if anyone is willing to fill in the blanks please do in the comments :)

https://www.mixcloud.com/JoeyBreakdown/karl-k-dubplate-selection-who-run-tings-1995/

SIDE 1
Tonic - The Mack
Ed Rush - Gun Check
T Power - The Mutant (DJ Trace Remix)
Eternal Bass - One Movement
Roni Size - Timestretch (Origin Unknown Remix)
DJ Krust - Set Speed
???
Ray Keith - Sing Time
DJ SS & Mental Power - Blue
Funki Porcini - King Ashabanapal (Dillinja Remix)
Shy FX - This Style
Babylonian - Ball Of Fire
MTS - Baad Boy Sound
Therapy? - Loose (Photek Remix)
Q Project & Spinback - Riker's Island (Dream Mix)

SIDE 2
???
JMJ & Richie - Free La Funk
Shogun - Reflex
The Mack - Hip To The Hoppa
Desired State - Here & Now
???
Splash - Babylon (DJ Trace Remix)
Dillinja - You Don't Know (Remix)
Photek - Complex
???
Roger Johnson - The Drifter
Jack Ruby - Another World

More Classic Kaos (1994)

I don't know when this flyer is from as there is no date, and the same goes for the mix it accompanies as my good friend (who, like me, also happens to be a card carrying member of the Geriatric Raver Society ;) Celestial donated to the blog. She cautioned the tape might not even play. But lucky for us it did! Judging from the track selection (Origin Unknown's "Valley Of The Shadows", "The Dark Stranger", Goldie's "Fury", and DJ Crystl's "King Of The Beats" all make appearances, among plenty more stormers), I'm guessing that the tape (and most likely flyer) hail from maybe late 1993, early 1994. The mix is a bit dark, but mixed impeccably, as expected. Enjoy. :) Brings back memories.

DJ Kaos - Untitled - 1993

Download Side 1
Download Side 2
Keep in mind these are ripped from very old cassette tapes, the sound quality is not the best!

DJ Trace Live on Bassquake, 103.3 (May 1997)

Philadelphia drum n bass heads had it lucky in the mid 90's, as one of the originators of the sound, DJ Trace had settled into our fine city and regularly rocked it's dance floors with dubplates no one had or heard, from his occasional visits back to the UK. This set was recorded during the height of that period, with Trace stopping by Michelle Sainte's infamous Bassquake radio show on Princeton University's 103.3 WPRB, as most will remember to be one of the only places to hear jungle or drum n bass on American FM radio (though it is a college station).

I remember it being miserably rainy the day this aired (Friday the 13th!), I recorded while at work (in an office, mind you)on a crappy boom box, but I did my best to do a bit of remastering and boosted the levels. Please don't forget, these are being ripped from cassette tapes!

While it isn't the full set, it is most of it, at least all 90 minutes I could capture. In addition to loads of still unreleased stormers, it overflows with classic No U-Turn, Metalheadz, Prototype, Ram, and Renegade Hardware techstep and early neurofunk. This was the first taste many of us got of bits like "The Shining", "Sonar", "Cells", "Replicants" and of course "To Shape The Future VIP", and it's mixed and selected in typical Trace style, with the usual Bassquake shout-outs and banter. An excellent listen for any fan of the sound. Sorry no tracklist, maybe we could compile one?

DJ Trace Live on Bassquake, 103.3 - May 1997

Click to download Side 1
Click to download Side 2

Karl K & Kaos 1994 Face-Off!

If you happened to be one of the many attendees at raves in Philadelphia during the early 1990's, the only time you heard jungle, breakbeat or UK hardcore music was most likely from these two pioneers of the local sound. Karl K & Kaos, basically a duo @ the time, (and augmented by the likes of the one and only MC Dub 2) released these two seminal mixtapes, both in late 1994, so we're posting them both up here in an attempted face off! All in good fun, of course. You be the judge!

Personally, these were the golden years of the genre. While many amazing tunes were released, and subgenres spawned after this point, so much ground was being broke at this point in terms of production and where the genre was headed.

DJ Kaos - Causin Up A Stress

Download Side 1
Download Side 2

Karl K - Untitled

Download Side 1
Download Side 2

More to come!