Hello! long time no speak. I wonder if there are any other fans of Techstep here? Just in case you don’t know, it’s a sub-genre of Drum & Bass that appeared in the mid-90s that was characterised by a thick, dark and dystopian sound provided mainly by a heavily manipulated Reese Bass (a bassline sampled from Kevin Saunderson’s ‘Just Want Another Chance’) and a pitched down Amen break. Famous exponents are Ed Rush & Optical, Bad Company, Ram Trilogy, Trace, Dom & Roland, and almost the entire roster of the Renegade Hardware and No U Turn labels. These days it seems to have morphed into Neurofunk, which has more or less discarded the Amen break, and as a result can at times sound dangerously close to what I’d consider to be EDM or Brostep. (Caveat: I know very little about either EDM or Brostep, so I could be talking out of my backside.)
Here’s Bad Company’s Nitrous (er, direct click the bottom). It’s all good, but if you’re impatient to enter the darkness the fun really begins at 1.04. That WAAH-WAAH-WAAH sound is the Reese Bass. Then when the Amen break comes in, you can hear how it’s so much more metallic and brittle than the usual Jungle way it’s used.
Here’s another classic. Trace & Nico’s Squadron, described by Simon Reynolds as ‘dark exultation… Carmina Burana-gone-cyberpunk fanfares slash and scythe like the Grim Reaper.’ He’s right, it’s absolutely terrifying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp9h9gszscQ
This, then, is what I think of as Neurofunk. It’s Bullet Time by Bad Company’s Bullet Time remixed by Spor, whose March Esssential Mix was a very, very intense two hours indeed. It probably is a bit Brosteppy, but I can forgive it that, what with it being so outright epic and awesome.
Any more for any more?
Poppy – good to see you back on here.
I was a big fan of Techstep in the late 90s. In particular the first Ram Trilogy album (Molten Beats), which I still dig out every now and then to this day. Here’s a fave track:
It’s been a long time since I heard Nitrous, but that brought back a lot of happy memories.
The below was also a favourite moment from that scene – the bass drop at about 3 mins 53, played loud to an up for it crowd, is one of my favourite things ever in music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27H-RvBkWek
Hello, Bingo! I’m with you on Ram Trilogy. That’s an amazing album. Alongside Ed Rush & Optical’s Wormhole, a genuine classic of the genre.
That EZ Rollers track is class. I first came across it on Essential Rewindz, a Renegade Hardware compilation that features many of the classics, including this little baby…
LOVE wormhole!
Hadn’t heard Messiah before, but that’s a TUUUUUUNE.
My first encounter with the Origin Unknown remix of “Tough at the Top” was on these awesome little sampler CDs put out by Moving Shadow records in about ’98. sold in HMV for about a quid each and colour coded. One of the best record store purchases I ever made, at that price.
Okay, well, look, we’re the only ones in here, so I don’t suppose anyone’ll mind if I stray off-topic and into more jump-up waters…
That breakdown from 1.18 to 2.45 is like all your orgasms arriving at once.
Great to have you back Poppy.
Just because the rest of us aren’t commenting doesn’t mean we aren’t lurking in the shadows of the warehouse and taking notice.
Ta much, KFD! Back on a darker tip, there’s this little cracker.
And some seriously speaker-bothering business as techstep favourite Dillinja gets his hands on this. It starts off normal but by the middle it’s an avant-garde dancefloor destroyer.
Hey Poppy, good to see you here. But I have no idea of this music of which you speak. No idea at all…..
It’s wonderful to see you back, Poppy. The Afterword has missed you!
I’ve no idea what you are rattling on about but I’ll have a good listen tonight & get back to you.
Ooh – Dillinja! I was a HUGE Dillinja fan circa 95/96, when he was doing stuff for Metalheadz.
This thread is really taking me back. Drum & Bass was just the most exciting noise back in the day.
I’m in the middle of a major jag. I haven’t listened to anything else for about a month. My jag is so advanced that I actually listened to the whole of SaturnzReturn the other day and I’m still not cured.
Jesus christ.
Saturnz Return really did take a lot of the joy out of that whole scene, for me at least. Before that album dropped the genre felt boundless, like there were so many possibilities to be explored, and frontiers to conquer. It could be deep and dark, it could be light and airy. It could have me frantically brucking out in nightclub basements, and then sat stroking my chin thoughtfully the next morning.
Saturnz Return showed that there really WERE some limits. I had wanted that record so badly: I was freaking obsessed with Timeless for absolutely ages, and this was going to be Goldie’s opus, transcending the entire scene and pointing the way to the future. I was still young enough to believe the hype.
When the album finally arrived it was the aural equivalent of watching the Universe succumb to heat death. Ugh.
Oh blimey – that Q Project tune is an absolute cracker!
Thank you so much, Tigger and Blue Boy. Don’t know how to enlighten you regarding the tunes other than to point you at the OP and say (rather obviously) that you do need to hear them with decent speakers.
(I’m not sure mine are *that* decent, come to think of it, but I do have a sub-woofer, which makes all the difference.)
Salut Poppy! I’ve missed your posts which, to these ears, always put me in mind of this Chris Morris skit:
(Blue Jam – Club News)
As a for instance, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term Techstep before, but I do own some of the music mentioned above.
Disc 2 of Wormhole, which was the whole lot mixed together, used to be my morning headclearer of choice back in the day..
While we’re doing D&B, a lot of my favourite stuff used to be on Good Looking records. The first 2 Logical Progression albums are absolute stone cold classics in my eyes, particularly the second.
Atlantis (I Need You) – LTJ Bukem. Still one of my favourite tunes, just a great vibe to it.
And this takes me right back to one of my favourite “live” pairings: Bukem with the inimitable MC Conrad. Many a happy night down at Turnmills with these two back in the 90s.
They’re not really Techstep, and don’t have that dark heavy energy, but they’re still ace.
I revisited one of the Earth albums the other day but I must admit it didn’t really hit the spot. A bit too ‘nice’ for my current mood.
Hey, welcome back Poppy. Glad to see you, although my wallet might not be if you start posting more reviews.
I’m not that up on tech step at all, I’m afraid. In the mid to late 90s it was all straight up techno round my way, Purposemaker, Cari Lekebusch and so on. I hated the Logical Progression stuff at the time, decrying it all as a load of noodle jazz bollocks. These days, i quite like noodle jazz bollocks, so maybe I should revisit it…
Yes, I know what you mean. Simon Reynolds is good on this in Energy Flash, which I’ve just re-read. As Jungle became a more commercial concern it fell over itself to employ rather obvious signifiers of musicianship such as soulful vocals and jazz. The music should have been *like* jazz, in the sense of reaching for the skies, but instead of aping the process of jazz, the ‘intelligent’ brigade chucked in a few tasteful sax solos and hey presto, commercial rehabilitation and Mercury Music Prizes followed.
That’s what I like about techstep. It brings the darkness and the boisterousness back into the music. I love the idea that producers would smoke strong skunk and stay up for nights on end in order to get the right feeling of claustrophobia and paranoia in the music. These guys weren’t trying to attract the attention of Pete Tong, they were imagining themselves the survivors of a new dark age.
(Purpose Maker, by the way. Swoon.)
Another old favourite: DJ Krust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8tyuHwIwdI
I’ve had that going round my head while reading the earlier posts, and here it is!
If we’re having “Warhead”, I always associate that (for no real reason, other than I’ve got them linked in my head somehow) with “Bambaata”. So let’s have the Dillinja remix to tie back into an earlier post.
(“Bambaata” (Dillinja remix) – Shy FX)
Good to see you back Poppy!
The term techstep passed me by (or I just plain forgot it) but I do have stuff by the like of Ed Rush, so I was obviously just being genre-blind at the time. Or just not paying attention for likely. Either way, some interesting sounding stuff to check out here from you and Bingo, so thanks both.
I did find myself listening to a lot of drum ‘n’ bass last year as it turned out. They might be a bit obvious for yourself, but I did enjoy the albums from Icicle, Profane, Technimatic and Ulterior Motive. No idea what sub-genre they’d fit into…
Thank you!
Regarding the whole nomenclature thing, I wonder what others might say about this, but I don’t recall the word ‘techstep’ being bandied around all *that* much during the mid to late-90s when the music was actually popular. And even though I was aware of the Amen break at that time, I had no idea of the Reese Bass. All that came later. I’d say that most of my understanding of the more cerebral and/or technical aspects of DnB has come through reading about it since. Back then I just used to bug out to it.
It’s worth saying, also, that the best commercial mixes of the era — Kemistry & Storm’s DJ Kicks, Hype’s Mixmag, the J Majik ones — mixed up different styles of DnB. You wouldn’t really get a dedicated techstep mix unless it was the second CD on a release like Wormhole or Molten Beats, or one of the label mixes like Essential Rewindz or Acolytes on No U Turn.
So, sorry if I sound like a bit of one of those Chris Morris people on that sketch. I think in retrospect I should have just started a DnB thread. But, you know… it’s me.
It is you. Exactly that. Hope you don’t think I was having a pop Poppy. Although your scary labyrinth of subgenres makes me dizzy, I enjoy your tours of the obscure. Not many people on here have posted so enthusiastically and eloquently about something that I’ve been persuaded to part with my hard-earned and you’re one of ’em.
Can’t wait for the next installment!
Not at all, I thought it was a really funny sketch!
Talk about having your cake and eating it, though — I remember that guy having an album released on Warp…
As everyone else has said, good to see you again Poppy (even though 95% of what is being talked about is a complete mystery to me)
I’ve had a go at this stuff and enjoyed it. I did actually buy Goldie albums at the time, you know. I don’t think Björk did him any favours. He went downhill after that.
I rely on you, Poppy, to keep me freshened up with electronica. It’s worrying you’ve been immersed in the nineties. Is there nothing catching your ear in the teenies?
I posted this before, but it is worth repeating…this summer, us lucky Bristolians are being treated to an open air gig where Goldie will be performing Timeless with a 42 piece orchestra. Jesus.
I understand tickets are still available.
WTF?! I would actually quite like to attend this. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
At least it’s the right album.
Hello Poppy, nice to see you.
I have a bit of a thing about breakbeat stuff – I don’t really know why, but that whole sped-up-Amen thing has oddly negative associations in my little brain. I think it might be because when I was at uni, our town had regular dnb nights, generally hosted by John B (who was the year above me at uni) and with the likes of Shy FX and Grooverider regularly in attendance. John B’s first couple of records were on rotation in practically every corridor of every cottage, and I just found them a bit… tasteful. Plus, many of the people who rated them were absolute WEAPONS.
So massive overexposure at that point has led to a certain involuntary queasiness at hearing that break in that context. Saying that, I’ve liked some of what I’ve heard on this thread, so I’ll dig further and see if I can’t get over it!
Eek. How about a bit of jump-up? I think you;’d say it came before techstep and was much more about the rolling beats than the Amen breaks. Aphrodite is the don and I could post Bad Ass, which is maybe *the* quintessential jump-up tune, but instead I thought I’d crack open a less-appreciated nugget. It’s Heat Haze. Forward to 1.51, listen to the breakdown and the bass drop — and then make squiggly patterns in the air with your hands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xXchAmAqSs
Yeah, that hits the spot. I really like Aphrodite – See Thru It with Wildflower was my gateway drug to him.
I actually think this might win the thread. From the No U Turn album Torque, which talked of as being the holy grail of techstep comes Damn Son by DJ Trace and Nico.
There’s a long teasing delay on the drop but when it comes, my goodness, it’s the heaviest, filthiest thing imaginable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvhZofXqr_A