DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

DOPE – Travelling Pt. 2

1994

As we steam across into 1994, the Good Looking Records label was now in a position to gather the work of artists from different backgrounds, with a hardwired vision on how the sound could be experienced. Piggybacking off the essential and thunderous work that Ben and Ray (who worked downstairs at Passion in MASH, on Oxford street), produced as DOPE on Rugged Vinyl, the adaptation to the sound on here is quite remarkable. For the class of ‘93, when they released ‘When We Were Young’, the power and energy that boiled over, was piping hot, largely due to the DJ Easy B and T Bags Revisited Mix. Let’s roll out this one and drop an Aspirin into the glass of Good Looking. The DOPE initialism stands for “Defenders Of Planet Earth”. This release also has the ‘Rugged Vinyl’ logo stamped on the label, as it was one of the only joint ventures on the label, at least one of the only that I can think of. Golden Girl by Makoto & MC Conrad, Earth Vol 7. and Progression Sessions 10, had ZYX (Benz Music), distribute with GLR. Rugged Vinyl did work with Naughty Naughty too, but that’s another story.

   To mix with his A Side is one of the most fun and crossfade friendly experiences for a DJ. There are a number of sections within each bar that you can use and maneuver with. Not only with its intro, but its outro (where you don’t have to be fooled by its 4 bar quiet section toward the end, just drop the tune when that begins and you’re all set*). This first tune is one that I’ve battered through the years, but thankfully it’s still in good nick.

   ‘Travelling (Pt. 2)’ is a track that you could drop in nearly any jungle set, as it’s breaks and sounds barrel along like a glass cased locomotive, displaying all the inner workings of a machine in poetic motion. As the beats hit that first breakdown, you are engulfed in the middle of the cogs, belts, chains, pistons and steam of a golden age of music. The galloping, rewinding and frenetic culture of this tune is summed up with these beats, a bassline that plunges a depth charge through your core and the echoes of the myriad creatures bounce off the subjects in the undergrowth of atmospheric bliss. Once we hit the breakdown, we hit a moment that words will never justify. Euphoric, tear jerking and very hard to leave. The climax is a true testament to the DOPE boys who dished up the finest entrée of musical wizardry. Pure class.

   Side B returns to treating us to a track that holds a slightly different approach to the normal run of things. Much like GLR 003 with its ‘Return To Atlantis’, we get a stripped down ambient version of the flip, and while this maintains the drum and bass flow, it’s a lesson in percussive expertise from DOPE. ‘Travelling (Slow Train To Philly Mix)’ takes the Red Bull out the machine and lets things open up, gliding up with the thermals and silently drifting across the skies of paradise. This is one for the chillers, designed to turn down the pressure cooker inside your mind. 

   DOPE really nailed it. A very special release this. 

*There is no charge for that DJing tip. Next time I’ll send you an invoice..ha ha!