DJ Alex Corton – Good Looking Records

FFRR / Good Looking – 828 739-1

L.T.J. Bukem – Logical Progression

1996

As we move on, forward bound… 

    When this album was released around April of 1996, I took a look at the tracks featured on here and realized that nearly every one was already on my shelf. Having locked into the allure and addiction of everything that LTJ Bukem touched, I was kidding myself that this was going to be one I could “live without”. How very wrong. It was largely down to one track though, that I had to get this album. PFM – ‘Danny’s Song’. I was fortunate enough to be at Dreamscape XI to experience what I still believe to be one of my favorite raves. It was mental, hot and had some of the best DJ sets across the board. Bukem’s set was no exception and stood out as a classic as soon as I heard it. Bukem dropped ‘Danny’s Song’ and the world of atmospheric drum and bass became a connection that will never break. 

   Then we have ‘Coolin’ Out’ and a Conrad (RIP) vocal of PFM’s Western Tune, which are the other two tracks that did not find their way onto 12” single. The rest were nestled on the shelf already. These three tracks sold this album to me. 

   But it wasn’t about the die hard GLR fanatics. It was about releasing an album for those unaware of the underground sounds that Bukem and his label had been pushing over the last 4 years, and opening up those sounds to the surface community. To many, it was a first taste of the labels mission and path, and to a few, it was a lesson in how fucking good Bukem’s journeys in the mix, are. The CD (pictured) holds a delightful story, told by the Jackanory master. 

    The cover for Logical Progression was a picture that Basement Phil was called in to help choose. It signifies the dawning, the horizon, and the Earth signified by the light emerging and the growth of the GLR label which had broken with massive impact into the scene. It is a classic image, conveying a moment that released the undeniable progression of this electronic music in the UK and the broadening of the scope of the roots of drum and bass. 

    For the tunes on the 3 x 12” vinyl release, many will be put on the operating table and dissented piece by piece when we reach the Good Looking label. It is with this in mind, that we will be focused on a brief review of each of the tunes that feature as releases on GLR and plunge into more detail on the three tracks that do not. Conrad’s vocals are on ‘Western’ but we will have the original within the GLR reviews too. 

   We therefore start today with the first 12” and 4 tracks which provide just how superb Bukem’s label is during the early days of its existence. Side A is Bukem’s first release on his GLR label, ‘Demons Theme’, which dared to be so different and risky, but succeeded in every way, followed by Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard’s, ‘Links’ under the Chameleon name. I’m itching to go into more detail on these again, but we have done so, with the GLR 12” single reviews. Side B has Bukem’s ‘Music’ backed with PFM’s ‘One & Only’. Music was a unique release at the time, unlike anything else I’d heard before, and hearing again. I still love the simplicity and things like that little bass switch between “low-low-high-high” to “high-high-low-low” building to the breakdown. PFM had that gift of hooking you and carrying you into dimensions of paradise. ‘One & Only’ hit so many chords with this beauty. ‘Horizons’ & ‘One & Only’, are the only two on this album that are on Looking Good (Good Looking’s sister label). This plate alone, puts the 5 course Italian dinner down in front of you and feeds you a style of music that dissolves words and stirs up euphoria within. The purest and deepest drug. 

   Next, we go onto plate two and 2 tunes we will sink our teeth into, while the other two after, we will scan over, as they’ve already been picked apart during our extensive 12” Single collection on Good Looking.